the power of a circle

council as a practice of deepening connection

holding council inside the starhouse. boulder, co

When we hang with our friends, we might go out for a happy hour cocktail or for a meal. Maybe we watch Netflix together on the couch with popcorn. We might have a dinner party or go dance to live music. Perhaps we spend a morning grabbing tea and window shopping together. I absolutely love all of these ways of gathering, and they aren’t always conducive to the deeper connection time I crave — the meaningful connection that can happen when we’re all unplugged from screens, entertainment, crowds, and other distractions, and we can really be present with one another. That is why I am drawn to the practice of council or circling.

As you can tell from the picture above, on its most basic level, circling or holding council involves humans sharing in a circle — and there are ways of making this way of being together a sacred and deepening practice. Council offers a style of communicating that encourages both active listening and authentic expr…