Council Practice

When we sit in a council circle, held by light ritual and conscious intentions, we practice listening to the heartfelt stories of those sitting with us.  We slow down and attune to our inner experience, the collective mood, and the living world around us.  The insights and feelings that emerge from sitting in a council are often potent and valuable for our personal lives and our work in the world.  Sharing a council experience with colleagues, neighbors, family members, a learning community, or other groups can deepen relationships and lead to collective decisions that feel resonant to all.  In this time of increased anxiety and hostility in our society, council practice offers the gift of understanding the experience of another and recognizing our common humanity.  The voices of other life forms also enter our awareness as we take the time to settle and open our senses, inviting gratitude and wonder at a time when much of what we love is threatened by climate change.  The “Way of Council,” developed collectively over the course of four decades at the Ojai Foundation, is one form among hundreds.  It is the form we use at the New England Council Collective, acknowledging that sitting in a circle and listening to every voice with kindness and respect has been practiced by cultures around the world for millennia. 

        Listening deeply is a lifelong practice that we nurture in council.