Leading a Women’s Circle Part 2: Envisioning Parameters

This is the second in a series of 7 articles I will be sharing on starting a women’s circle.  In a previous newsletter, I wrote about Step 1: Setting Your Sacred Intention.  I shared reasons to start a circle and gave journaling questions for you to consider as you explore your greatest desires and motivations for starting a circle.

In this article, we will cover Step 2: Envisioning Parameters. Future issues will cover resources you will need, planning your circle, marketing and filling it, leading the first circle, and more.

Once you’ve set your sacred purpose and are allowing the Goddess to hold it with you, the next step is to get clear on the kind of circle you’d like to lead, and specify parameters that will build your circle’s integrity.

I always recommend starting with who you’d most like to invite, because often this will lead into other details such as times, cost, and the level of commitment you’re going to want from the circle.

Who You’d Most Like to Invite:  You can probably think of several of your current students and other contacts who you know would LOVE to be in a women’s yoga circle (and whom you would love to include). Write down their names, and envision them saying “Yes!” to you when you invite them later. (We’re not quite at that step yet!)

While you are likely to invite many more than this small group, having an initial core in mind helps with every step of the planning process.

Size of Circle: What is the ideal number of women you would like to include in your circle? The ancient temples in India depict 64 yoginis, and certainly it is possible to lead circles of this size and create powerful transformational experiences. At the same time, most new circle leaders will be happier starting with a group size under 20, or even under 13.

Sharing our voices is a key element of the circle, so when the group is over 12 or so, it becomes necessary to vary activities to include both whole group and small group time.

With a smaller group it’s more possible to stay in one circle the entire time, which is a little easier on a new leader. Groups under 6 may not have the energy and diversity of group experiences to create a viable energy to sustain the circle.

Location: It’s so important to have an inspiring and sacred location. Privacy is important, as is having enough space for the number of women you’d like to invite. You’ll need enough room for yoga poses, circle dance, and free movement. Make sure the bathrooms are clean and convenient, and check with the owner about any food restrictions if you’d like to include food. Make sure the lights can be dimmed. For me an ideal space has a womb-like feeling.

Meeting Frequency and Timing: Many women’s circles meet monthly, and this comes from the ancient tradition of gathering on the Full Moon. Even today in India, many festival days are timed to coincide with the Full Moon. Timing a circle on the Full Moon is difficult in our culture, where studio and personal schedules are oriented around days of the week. Thus I find that once a month on a chosen day of the week can work well.

Meeting less frequently makes it hard to maintain the intimacy the group needs, and more frequently may lead to more absences, which can create a lack of continuity.

The monthly circles I used to lead were held on Sunday evenings. I find that evening is an excellent time for the circle, as the Sun has set, and the stars and Moon become dominant, making this an ideal time for stories of the Goddess, sacred dance, and communing with intuition and the powers of dreaming.

Two hours has proven to be a good length of time to allow for opening meditation and greetings, sacred dance, yoga asanas, savasana, guided meditation, journaling, sharing, and a closing ritual.  Some women I know lead longer circles, and as I’ve said I use circles as the basis of everything I do (including weekend retreats), but 2 hours is a good starting point for a monthly meeting.

Content: What do you want to teach in your circle? Do you love art and is this something you’d like to include? Are you a storyteller who would love to weave in stories of the Goddess? Or are journaling and writing your favorite part, and you know you want to emphasize these?

I found in the circles I lead that participants always want yoga asana, so yoga movement accompanied by meditation, visualization, poetry, and chanting formed the mainstay of these circles. I added in sacred dance, journaling, and sharing, all of which helped these circles to go deeper than the usual yoga class, giving participants that extra boost of soul nourishment they so long for. You may have different things you’d like to emphasize.

Pricing and Commitment: This is a sticky issue for many teachers. Some I know would rather lead their circles by donation. I did this for several years, and what I found was that women told me how much they loved the circle, but they weren’t committed! (And this showed in their attendance.)

Later when I started a different circle, I required a 6-month commitment and charged based on this commitment, and the level of engagement and connection in the circle changed massively.  Once women knew that participation required a commitment, they took getting to know each other more seriously, and really began to form bonds of support.

My willingness to charge for the circle and require a commitment vastly improved the quality of the circle. My recommendation now is to have a drop-in price, but after one visit, to require women to commit for a minimum of 6 sessions. Whatever you choose, be clear in communicating your requirements to your participants.

Clarifying Your Vision

The parameters and structure you choose allow your circle to be strong and stable. Take a few moments to journal about your vision for your circle.