Circling and Embodiment Weekend:
Practices that Support Vital Community
Abbi Jaffe (left) and Amanda Franz
Michelle Huber
Patrice Shelburne
Ryan McArdle
Brooks Yardley
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Aug 2, 6pm - Aug 4, 15, 3pm 2019
with Amanda Franz and Abbi Jaffe including guest circling facilitators: Michelle Huber, Patrice Shelburne, Ryan McArdle, and Brooks Yardley We want to support vitality within community as the ground for transformation and revolution within ourselves and within society. Join skilled embodiment and circling facilitators for a weekend of exploration within a community of practice. The circling and embodiment practices provide opportunities to listen to your body’s senses and cultivate your wisdom in responding. Both practices build the skill of being present to what is alive inside of you and in relationship to others and your environment, which then allows for new possibilities to emerge. Combined together, these practices provide a space for exploration, connection and integration. Embodiment is the act of listening to the body’s senses and responding to the body’s cues for movement, as well as cultivating an awareness of and connection to one’s self, others, and the environment. There will be guided opportunities to develop your somatic intelligence. Somatic intelligence is the capacity to hear our internal workings and respond in supportive ways. We will build our relationship to our own body’s time, connect with nature, explore movement in the studio and outside in nature, release tension and stress, and learn about our shared nervous system. Circling is a practice of being present and discovering and communicating what is most alive within one’s self and between each other. In circling we will practice:
Together we will discover what unfolds when we hold space for each other to be exactly how we are. Retreat Hours: Friday: Arrival and Registration: 5pm. Programming 6pm-9:30/10:30pm Saturday: Studio opens at 7am, Programming 9:30am-9:30pm Sunday: Studio opens at 7am, Programming 9:30am-3pm Cost: Early Bird: Pay by July 12th: Sliding scale $210-$450. Pay after July 12th: Sliding scale $260-$450.
Click here to register. A $50 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your spot. Click here to send in your deposit. *To support a potent and responsive learning environment, space is limited. Register soon.* Abbi Jaffe and Amanda Franz are dedicated embodiment educators, committed to unleashing the body’s intelligence to co-create a more resilient world. They are known for their depthful embodied curriculum and they offer in-depth training opportunities (Being Trauma Informed and Re-embodiment Training) and retreats. Their studio, The Everything Space, in Montpelier VT, is dedicated to the education of diverse somatic practices as an integral part of social and environmental justice work. Find out more and join them at theeverythingspace.com
Circling Facilitators: Michelle Huber Michelle started Circling three years ago and was instantly hooked on the honest, slowed down social exploration. She completed a facilitator training with the Connection Institute in Boston in March of 2018 and she is currently assisting them with their present facilitation training. She leads Circling events in Western Massachusetts regularly. Michelle lives in a household with seven other people who are committed to Circling together each week. In addition to facilitating Circling, Michelle also teaches Spanish, movement, Feldenkrais and peer-counseling. “What I love about circling is the energy I feel when I'm on the edge of joyously discovering unconscious patterns and behaviors. I love the feeling of my heart opening to someone being vulnerable and real about their experience. I love slowing down and practicing attuning to myself and others. The practice seems endlessly full of gifts and wisdom for me. I also love the way it has deepened intimacy in many of the relationships in my life.” “What I love about embodiment is that it helps me feel more fully alive. Through embodiment I learn truths beyond what I experience with my verbal self. I experience deep, creative, playful, expressive parts of myself." “Circling and Embodiment are extremely mutually supportive. Through Circling, embodiment practices can reach a new level of honest connection to oneself and others. The practice helps uncover blind spots, hidden desires and boundaries. Embodiment practices support Circling by increasing sensitivity to what is alive inside of us. Attuning to physical sensations as well as moving the body before Circling enriches the experience exponentially.” Patrice Shelburne Workshop Leader, Circling Facilitator and Coach Patrice Shelburne (cis-gendered; she pronouns) is a Gifted Teacher and Healer who is passionate to Support People to HEAL and to THRIVE! She is the Queen of Passion, Presence, Wisdom and Joy. Patrice has led workshops and seminars at regional conferences and national conventions. She also Coaches Couples and Individuals to attain Professional Success and Personal Fulfillment in all of their Important Relationships. “Embodiment is essential for connection (internally, with other beings and with the greater whole.) What I love about Circling is how it is accessible and encourages intra- and interpersonal connections supported by our collective field of presence. Getting to play and learn in the intersections of Embodiment and Circling nourishes my whole being.” Ryan McArdle Ryan is a hospice caregiver and bodyworker. He is passionate about many forms of awareness practice including meditation, circling, dance, and music making. He has been immersed in the exploration of these awareness practices for many years and is excited to consciously explore the relationship between circling and embodiment practices. “What I love about circling is: It's consistent ability to lead me into greater intimacy with others and with myself by offering the opportunity to reveal unconscious relational patterns.” “What I love about embodiment is: the never ending potential to expand the awareness of my body, by increasing my sense of wholeness and inhabiting more of myself.” “Why I see circling and embodiment practices complimenting each other is: I experience there being a direct connection between embodied self-awareness and the ability to connect and relate with others. In other words, the more I am aware of my own body's response while in relationship to another, the more that awareness can enhance the quality of that connection.” Brooks Yardley Brooks Yardley has been a member of Authentic Montreal (AM) for 3 years, helping to facilitate authentic relating games and circling events. He learned to circle under the leadership and mentorship of Jason Zwolak, as well as through an ongoing process of peer-learning with other members of AM. He is currently participating in a Circling Facilitator Training program through the Connection Institute. Brooks has also been a contact improvisation dancer for more than 10 years and has practiced various forms of meditation. He has a master's degree in Occupational Therapy from McGill University and a bachelor's in Psychology from Concordia University. “What I love about circling is the experience of dropped-in presence with others. It's like meditation, but with a whole new palette of surprising, vibrant colors — the richness of experience that can be found in being fully present in the relational space. I love being seen, opening up vulnerably and being held in a container of curiosity and awareness. And I love seeing others deeply, a practice that reminds me over and over again how each person is an entire universe.” “What I love about embodiment is the honoring of the intelligence that goes beyond what my mind can understand. I love the experience of flow that can come when the body knows what it's doing, and "I" don't have to think about it anymore. The body is my interface with reality, so embodiment practices, to me, are a foundational part of living life fully.” “To me, circling and embodiment go together because they are both practices of compassionate truth-seeking, approaching "truth" from different angles, complementing each other. It's like binocular vision. Close one eye and you will see one image. Switch eyes and you will see a slightly different image. Open both eyes and you will see depth in three dimensions, something neither eye can see on its own.” |
