All episodes

In this episode with Mike Irwin, he and Julia discussed:
• It’s okay as a facilitator to be learning and not be perfect! People are looking for authenticity and not superconfident
• Your nervousness can be a gift to the nervous attendees
• The first part of starting the circle is to get present yourself as a facilitator
• You can start with a centring question e.g. ‘What’s preventing me from feeling comfortable here?’ or ‘What do I want to feel like at the end of the session?’
• As important aspect of guidelines is to open up the requirements...

In this episode you will learn how Julia set up her local women's circle. She talks about the people she thought would come and who actually came. You will hear how she adapted the circle to suit the needs of various diverse groups. Tessa and Julia compare what it is like to set up a new circle as apposed to monthly gatherings of a well established community.

In this episode with Nicky Yazbeck (https://nickyyyoga.com/) and Julia, they covered:
• How Nicky holds a women’s circle for those who’ve experienced plant medicine
• Ayhuasca is a serious plant medicine and need to prepare through clean diet and other preparations
• A circle is important for creating a container for the experience
• There is a WhatsApp group important for the integration of what came up after taking the plant medicine – everyone in the group has shared experience
• People are welcome whether it’s a good or bad day
• Separate women and men’s circles are held because...

For the video interview and transcript, go to

In this interview with Marta Fabregat (https://martafabregat.com/), we covered
- How the practice of Focusing works
- Focusing is listening from the body, but can’t separate the experience from the environment
- Focusing is about the art of living rather than a method or technique
- Marta and Tessa both share a short focusing practice
- Focusing creates a pause and stillness through being more fully present and honouring your experience
- With practice, it becomes natural to keep company with what’s happening internally all the time
- Marta shares an analogy...

A common question is trainings is how to balance the role of facilitator and the role of being an expert within a workshop context, in which a talking circle will be one activity. For example, if you run a menopause workshop and teach the first part, how will you shift to a sharing circle where everyone doesn't just turn to you for answers? How do you create an atmosphere where people feel empowered to share their experience? Julia and Tessa share some reflections and tips on how to manage this issue of expertise and power dynamics.

In this episode with Mike Irwin ([https://mankindprojectuki.org/circles](https://mankindprojectuki.org/circles)), he and Julia discussed:
- the evolution of men's groups and GBTQ+ groups
- how to introduce ice breakers and discussion starters
- circle as a conduit for emotional breakthrough
- the breadth of development opportunities through circle in the corporate world
- how men's circles have changed and are addressing current challenges

In this episode, Julia and Tessa talk about creating a circle to look back over the last year and forward to the year to come. This could be with a group of friends in your home or in a special class or workshop.

In this final episode of Series 1 of the Circle Holding Podcast, Julia and Tessa reflect on what they learnt from the diverse circle facilitators who were interviewed. They also look back on their own experiences of being in circle and holding space, remembering magical moments and some challenging ones!

In this episode, Julia and Andy covered:
• Participatory democracy is about a deeper level of democracy e.g. Citizen’s assembly to listen to diverse voices and find common solutions
• Danger of spiritual bypassing when engaged in spiritual practices at the expense of everyday relationships in society
• ‘Deep democracy’ tries to draw inner voices into democratic process as microcosm of outer world
• Talking in circle ‘until the obvious arises’ leads to real solutions
• Facilitator balances aim of meeting with making people comfortable to take part
• Appreciative enquiry to use imagination through crafts or drawing so that...

In this episode with Liz of Becoming Mums, we covered:
• The importance of having co-facilitators to support with the skills to read the room and create a permissive atmosphere
• How being clear about what your demographic needs is more important than what you want to do (and will help you get funding)
• Talking to existing organisations or projects that work with your demographic to see how they work and what gaps in provision there are so you’re not reinventing the wheel but creating allies
• The importance of paying artists a proper fee for their time in...