When women come together in circle magic happens. Your magic. When in your busy life do you get a chance to pause, look at another woman, really look at her, and know she is looking at you? Not judging you, not criticising your hair or your makeup, or that you forgot to put any on today, that you have pumpkin stains on your top from the babies lunch or that you still have bed hair at 4pm – just holding you exactly as you are in this moment.
Just reading that, brings up a lot of fear in women. Womens Circles allow you the space to shift through your fear.
Your fear of being seen, being judged.
Your fear of other women.
Your fear of silence and your fear of being talked over.
Your fear of speaking up, of saying something that might not be received how you intended.
Your fear of making another person angry with your thoughts or your fear of letting your anger out.
Your fear of crying in front of another woman.
Your fear of allowing yourself to be seen.
Who you truly are.
Well, mama, you don’t need to be afraid any longer. We’ve got you. We see you and we know what you are going through. And I don’t mean just me or the other mindful mamas facilitators, I mean every woman around you in this space. We are all here for you.
YOU LISTEN
Womens Circles are a gathering of women who hold space for every woman. We use compassionate listening, which is a powerful skill! The essence is when another woman is speaking you are silent. You honour the woman that she is, in her truth. You practice observing what comes up in you when she is speaking and you hold it. You sit in your experience. You might feel compassion, sadness, anger. You might disagree. You might wholeheartedly agree. Whatever your experience is in the act of compassionate listening it is yours and yours alone.
You breathe and you remember the woman who is speaking is in her truth and her experience in this very moment. There is a profound healing that comes from compassionate listening and a deep sense of peace that follows when you allow yourself to let go of any attachment you have to what another woman is saying.
You remember that her story is not your story.
And if you are brave enough you will dive into those triggers you are experiencing and just sit with them. You breathe and you remember your truth.
And in that moment a powerful opening occurs. You shift something. Something inside of you wants to move out. Like a block, or a wave of sadness, or a mountain of anger and it wells up inside of you and you cry, or breathe, or drop the tension in your body, or you lie down and just rest.
And you experience a peace that you have long forgotten.
Just from the act of listening compassionately.
YOU ARE HEARD
Then it is your turn to speak.
You have butterflies. Your hands are trembling.
Every experience in life you have encountered with another woman – your high school friends, your work colleagues or boss, your mother and grandmothers, your daughters.. the memories stored deep deep within your body as energy are starting to make their way to the surface.
Perhaps it is too much this week and it is enough to be silent and just listen.
Or perhaps this week it is your turn to be seen and heard.
You start to talk and there is silence on the other end.
No one is talking over you, questioning your words or your ideas.
No one is interrupting you, causing you to loose track of your thoughts.
No one is judging you.
You are being listened to. You are being heard. You are being honoured for the woman you are and what message you have.
You remember the sound of your voice. And the quality of your tone.
You remember how good it feels to tell the truth
So you keep talking, and talking and talking. Until there is nothing left to say.
Your body starts to soften and your energy is vital.
You experience something foreign that you can’t quite put your finger on but you know you want more of it.
You remember you have SO MUCH to say.
You remember you have some very important things to say. That we need to hear.
You remember you love talking to other women and you love listening to what other women have to share.
You begin to remember WHO YOU ARE.
Because we do. We have so much to talk about.
Women are the essence of life of creative expression and creation.
You are so important and needed, not just by your children, husband or partners but by other women.
Together we will rise.
YOU ARE SO WELCOME HERE
We invite you, mama to sit with us in our circles. Mindful Mamas is a growing community of women. Presently we facilitate in person circles throughout Victoria and in a couple of locations in NSW and Queensland, with a growing number of facilitators in training.
We also have our very special and unique online space where you are united with a global community of mamas. The feminine knows no boundaries, we ebb and flow with the river of life that flows through us all and our online circle connects mamas from all over the world to share their stories of motherhood and womanhood.
You can find all the information on our circles on our website or join with us ONLINE here – https://www.facebook.com/events/221517008394536/
We can’t wait to meet you mama.
Written by Leila for Mindful Mamas
~ A LITTLE BIT ABOUT LEILA ~
Leila currently holds space for our global mamas in our online circle space from her tropical paradise home on Tamborine Mountain in the southern Queensland hinterland where you will be enriched with the sounds and views of lush tropical rainforest and wild birds.
She is a qualified yoga and meditation instructor, website designer, marketing and business consultant for holistic small businesses and has been sitting in circle with women for 5 years. Leila raises her beautiful thriving family with hubby Forbes navigating the ebb and flow of raising their children – Jack 13, Aurey 5 and Tia 11 months.
“Life without circle isn’t really living. It’s coping. There is no magic, no sisterhood, no unconditional acceptance, no deep river of wisdom, no anchor to the ancient waters of life that is the sacred feminine.”
You can connect with Leila on at @leilamckail (instagram and facebook) or join with her each term in our online circle.
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