IN THIS ISSUE:

• LOVE NOTE FROM CHRIS
• MOON WATCH
• 5 WAYS TO CREATE SACRED SPACE FOR HEALING ARTISTS & TEACHERS
• ANNOUNCEMENTS: Fall Circle Leader Training + Work 1-on-1 with Chris
• WILD WOMAN CELEBRATION
• QUOTE OF THE WEEK

NOTE FROM CHRIS

Dear Soul,

A question for your heart: Are you savoring your Monday?

(find the answer before you continue)

I hope you will savor in the words here and all they open up in you.

I’ll keep my love note short today as I wrote a full piece on Creating Sacred Space (below) I thought would be helpful to you. So many of you are healing artists, teachers and generally helpful humans. May it help you help. Let me know how you like it:)

Circle leader training is filling up! We have only 12 more seats open. Is one of them yours? Be sure to apply. We begin September 22nd. Can’t wait!

with great love,
Chris

P.S~If you feel moved by this issue of WILD Woman Weeklyish, please share it with your wild ones.

MOON WATCH

The Moon is Waxing

Keywords for this phase: Rising, Growing, Building, Doing, Sprouting

5 WAYS TO CREATE SACRED SPACE FOR HEALING ARTISTS & TEACHERS

photo by d. sharon pruitt

There is great advice out there to help you create sacred space with environmental shifts: Feng Shui considerations, sage, crystals, lighting, energy clearing, etc. (some of which we cover in Circle Leader Training).

This is not about that aspect of creating sacred space.

Because
Sometimes you won’t have sage on hand.
Sometimes instead of candles there will be florescent lighting.
Instead of prayerful hearts there will be mad resistance.
Because
Sacred spaces can be created no matter what the external circumstances.
It starts with you and the tools you have inside.

You feel called to serve, to teach, to hold space, to facilitate. You have your degree, certificate, training, innate wisdom.

And now, it’s time to begin.

Your potency as a healing artist & teacher will rise with the quality of the container you are able to create with your group. I will call this container sacred space.

Here are 5 things you can do internally to create a sacred space for your group:

#1 Align with YOUR definition of sacred space.

This one is really about authenticity.

American mythologist, writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell, described it well, “sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.”

For the Circles & Trainings I lead, my definition is: a place where we can let our guard down, lovingly explore our inner depths and find our clarity, inner wisdom & courage.

What does a sacred space mean to you? Your idea of sacred space is informed by who you are and what you have to offer. Dancing with this question, “what does sacred space mean to me,” will help you to create the perfect container for you and your group.

#2~Be Radically Accepting of what is.

Can you soften into the wisdom that this is all quite perfect?

There’s a leak in the ceiling? Perfect. Two people showed for your class? Perfect. You forgot your notes? PERFECT. Einstein wrote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Choosing option B will help you dive into the heart of every moment you have with your students.

When you drop your illusions of control, suddenly the space that you are creating is full of possibility and mystery. Invite it in. Assume everything is perfect and it will be.

#3 Remember: Sacred Space is, like everything else, Co-Created.  

On a very practical level, when working with 2 or more people, the verbal acknowledgement of each individual’s contribution to the collective space works wonders.

If I show up to a class or a meeting and the leader tells me: You are here for a reason, your presence is changing this space we are in together, how you are showing up matters. Then suddenly, I am empowered and responsible to show up fully.

The collective understanding of Co-Creating makes for some potent space and work because everyone is asked to be present and awake in every way.

#4 Leave your judgment at the door.

There is nothing more poisonous to a space than judgment.

When I was 19, my teacher, Fay Simpson, introduced me to the idea of Sacred Space. In her work in the theater, “Non-Judgmental Mind” is essential to creating. I remember in class, when someone was presenting, she made sure those of us in the audience had uncrossed our arms and that we were all open, and actively seeking a connection to what was being performed. This was a very different experience than what many of us had been doing: sitting back, arms crossed, waiting to be impressed.

You can use this idea on non-judgment as a personal intention.

Watch your own judgments carefully. You are a human being; judgments will arise, see them and soften. Others can feel this inner shift, consciously or unconsciously.

Keep coming back to your heart.

Which leads me to the final tip…

#5 Come from the heart.

Near the beginning of every WILD Woman Circle, each circle leader says something like this:

Allow the mind, the part of self, which perceives and makes sense of things, to drop into the heart center. Feel that the mind is infused with the energy of the heart. In this way, we can see, listen, speak and understand from a place of compassion and love.

If you take 2-5 breaths before your offering or class to center your own mind in the heart, the space around you will change dramatically.

It’s like dropping a love bomb into the space. A room full of compassion is the most sacred space.

~~

I hope this helps you help your people, dear soul.

There is much more advice where that came from in Wild Woman Circle Leader Training. If you are feeling the Call, you can Apply here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Fall Circle Leader Training + Coaching

photo by d. sharon pruitt

• Registration is now open for the Fall 2014 Session of Wild Woman Circle Leader Training! Take a close look at the training & Apply now.
• I have expanded my 1-on-1 offerings. If you want to go very deep with this WILD Woman Work, this is a juicy, life changing way to do it. Choose Your Own Adventure Here.

WILD WOMAN CELEBRATION

photo by d. sharon pruitt

After WILD WOMAN CIRCLE LEADER TRAINING:

“I knew that I wanted to do the circle leader training after my Wild Woman Workshop experience with Chris. She holds space so beautifully and I wanted to learn HOW to guide a group that way.

The training was so interactive, and also independent. I told Chris how awesome it was to watch the videos on my own time, separate from the group, while still feeling like she was talking directly to me and that I was a part of something special.

Since starting my own circle in Houston I have realized how valuable this training/offering circles is to my teaching and experience of my community. I have created a space for myself and others to gather for inquiry, sharing, vulnerability and expression that is wholly unique. I also have a much deeper sense of ritual in my regular yoga classes.

I am grateful to Chris, and would recommend this training to anyone.”
~Stacey Ramsower

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Pondering on large ideas or standing in front of things which remind us of a vast scale can free us…If we sit with an increasing stillness of the body, and attune our mind to the sky or to the ocean or to the myriad stars at night, or any other indicators of vastness, the mind gradually stills and the heart is filled with quiet joy.

Ravi Ravindra

Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on December 30th!

Online, from anywhere.

Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.

Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.

Claim Your Seat!

We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.

Find a Circle Near You.