At a recent retreat, one participant reflected on how emotional she had found the chanting.

What made her comment particularly meaningful was that she had previously told me that chanting wasn’t really her thing.

Yet here she was, speaking about how moved she had felt by the experience.

As I listened, I found myself thinking that perhaps it wasn’t really about the chanting at all.

Or at least, not only about the chanting.

Because while movement, breathwork, meditation, chanting and relaxation are all valuable practices in their own right, what often feels most powerful at retreats and gatherings is something much harder to describe.

It’s what happens when people come together.

 

When People Come Together

People arrive carrying the weight of everyday life:

• Responsibilities,
• Worries,
• Plans,
• Decisions,
• Expectations and endless mental lists.

Then, gradually, something begins to soften.

Not because anyone is trying to fix themselves.

Not because anyone has discovered the perfect practice.

But because they have been given space to slow down.

And because they are doing so alongside other people.

This is one of the reasons I am drawn to working in circles.

 

Working in Circles

Across cultures and throughout history, people have gathered in circles to share stories, food, music, celebration, grief and ritual. There is something deeply human about gathering in this way.

A circle has no front and no back.

No hierarchy.

No one hidden at the edge of the room.

Everyone can see one another.

Everyone belongs equally within the space.

When we gather in circle, something shifts.

We stop being an audience.

We become participants.

We begin to create the experience together.

The movement is shared.

The stillness is shared.

The sound is shared.

Even the silence is shared.

And every circle is different.

 

 

Every Gathering is Different

Each group brings its own energy, experiences, personalities and stories. What unfolds can never quite be repeated because it emerges from the people who are present and the space they create together.

We each bring something of ourselves into the circle, and in doing so we influence what everyone else experiences too.

Chanting is a beautiful example of this. We may sing the same chant many times, but it is never really the same. Different voices come together, the sound changes, the feeling changes, and something is created that could only have happened with those particular people, in that particular moment.

And this is true of the whole gathering.

We aren’t simply individuals having our own experiences alongside one another. We are part of the experience itself.

We create it together.

 

Gatherings Provide Support

For me, one of the most beautiful aspects of gathering in this way is the sense of support that develops.

Without needing to say very much, people begin to hold space for one another.

There is a feeling of being welcomed.

• Of being witnessed.
• Of not having to carry everything alone.

In a world that often encourages independence, productivity and self-sufficiency, there is something deeply nourishing about being part of a group where we can soften, rest and simply be.

I suspect this is connected to what we now understand about co-regulation.

As humans, our nervous systems are constantly responding to the people around us. When we feel safe, accepted and supported, our bodies often begin to settle too.

Perhaps this is one reason why practices such as movement, meditation, chanting and deep rest can feel so powerful when experienced in community.

Not only because of the practices themselves.

But because of the environment in which they are shared.

 

About My Gatherings

When I think about my retreats and gatherings, this is what I hope to create.

Not simply a collection of yoga practices.

But a space where people feel safe enough to soften.

A space where connection can emerge naturally.

A space where people can support and be supported.

A space where we can remember something that modern life often encourages us to forget:

That we were never meant to do everything alone.

~~~

You can find links to my Monthly Evening Gatherings here, and my Retreats here!