Yesterday I got out of Circle with a feeling I have come to know very well.
Somehow there is more space inside my body, my heart is buoyant, and a sense of deep peace takes over. In the afterglow of Circle I remember my love for this world. I am filled with wonder, overflowing with gratitude. I’ve been plugged back in to what is real and true.
I have just spent the last two hours sitting in nature’s favorite shape with other women who have carved out time to engage in this soulful, yet playful practice. Phones off, journals out, we show up. This is our time which we have carved out to listen inward and to listen to one another.
It feels like magic, and it very well may be, but it is also simply doing things which are known to be beneficial to well-being:
~ An antidote for the loneliness and disconnection that plagues the modern world, in Circle there is space made for everyone to be seen and heard – without judgement, without commentary, and with true compassion. We laugh a lot, and there are often tears; there is space for it all.
~ The guided breath-awareness & meditation is medicine for the overstimulated & distracted mind.
~ For women, who are often caregivers to others in their families and communities, there is much needed time for inner care-giving: candlelit introspection, journaling, & getting in touch with internal guidance (and if you’re in my Circle, dark chocolate).
~ In the digital age where the art of communication is diminishing, there is the (always optional) sharing portion where everyone is given the opportunity to speak on a particular prompt – a majorly impactful practice for both the speaker and the listeners.
~ Together we feed the spiritual hunger alive in so many of us who seek dogma-free, guru-free community spaces to connect to the living world, to our own internal compass, and to our own sense of the sacred. Simply being with like-hearted women from a variety of backgrounds & beliefs feeds that ancient need for the pack, for the village.
After Circle yesterday I was reminded of why Women’s Circles have become essential to my life and why have dedicated most of my adulthood to helping women create these kinds of spaces in their communities.
In Circle we reconnect with some much needed basics of humanity that are getting chipped away at by the conditions of modern life.
In Circle we gift ourselves and one another so many treasures. Treasures which fortify us so we can re-enter our lives with clarity, patience & kindness.
In Circle we rekindle our wild spirits in the flame of heart-centered community and bring that light wherever we go. It’s the afterglow. May we keep showing up and making it ~ together.
♥️ + Howls,
Chris
On the Horizon
"The Circle Leader Training Program at The Wild Woman Project was one of the most transformative and healing experiences of my life. I have received many tools, resources, support, and connections that I will carry on with me forever." ~ Hannah Devin, Graduate
Wild Woman Fest returns…
Join us for the 10th Annual Wild Woman Fest, August 19-23rd, 2026.
On a beautiful & sacred land in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville North Carolina.
Get ready: FEST FRIDAY, when tickets go on sale, is May 8th
Wild Woman Fest 2025 sold out in minutes. Sign up for Wild Woman Fest '26 Updates.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 27 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Calling wild-hearted women, in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville ~ let’s stir up some sisterhood magic in 2026.
Monthly on Sunday afternoons, 3-5pm, near the Full Moon at The Well in West Asheville.
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on April 17th.
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.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
