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The last few years have had an interesting effect—beside all the more obvious ones: they seem to have expanded my awareness of time, of the space of perception. I feel—and hear from others—the inevitability of bearing witness of enormous paradoxes. The seemingly inevitable bursting of life and the seemingly unstoppable spread of extinction. The increase in our sensitivity for love, the energies of compassion and our human hearts, and the explosion of wars, torture, oppression, domination. The immediacy of our blending in nature, and the layers and layers of separation that keep us from even feeling part of it… I feel stretched along those axes, carrying the blessing and curse of living in this paradoxical culture and time.

Something beautifully powerful—and powerfully beautiful—comes from that being stretched, a certain spaciousness. In my experience, much of that power and beauty have been nurtured by the practice of council, of engaging in a way of balancing on the edges of paradoxes through bearing witness. That balancing, which feels simultaneously precarious and easy, seems to be a source of that spaciousness. I invite you to explore it with me.

circles grow all a-round

I am offering a five- or four-week journeys with the Way of Council, where we will travel as a small group, deepening our intimacy with this practice.  We will meet once a week for a two-hour session, where we get to try different variations and settings, and go through iterations of the way we speak, the way we listen.  There are invitations for practice in between the live sessions, and time to let the forms really sink into and percolate through our body and mind.

You also have the opportunity to learn more about the history and practices of the Way of Council, as I will offer some (brief) story-telling about that in every session.

These are some of the aspects we will explore

  • Some of the roots, the weaving of cultures, the universality of the circle
  • The importance of the setting, the intentions, the preparation
  • How Council can become a life-practice, a way to become intimate with our abilities to bear witness
  • Ways of touching our authentic sharing, and witnessing the power of that in others

This can be an opportunity to unravel a particular transition in your life, or to deepen your relationship with yourself and your surroundings, or to discover and embody this practice of witnessing and being witnessed.  Or to simply get to know in more detail the stories that make us and others so fully human. 

“The rare gift of global connection that offers so much in how to expand our hearts – to listen and learn with sensitivity and compassion. The unexpected discoveries are always welcome for the insights and reflections they bring. A glimpse of how the world could be!” — PW, 2022 participant

Dates and registration:
Four live sessions over five weeks, with a week of solo practice.

Booking form: https://forms.gle/714ivUWW7SPsxfX98

Gift Economy
This space is offered in the spirit of the Gift Economy.  Your participation is already a gift, and there’s no need for you to contribute financially.  But if you feel able and want to, that is also possible.  If you do, please pay what feels right for you!  If you need an idea, I suggest a scale of £27 – £81 for the full journey.

Other similar offerings can be found in the Council Ways page.

About my own Journey with Council… I’m Dita. I fell in love with the Way of Council some six years ago, when I attended my first one at High Heathercombe, up in the dramatic moors of Dartmoor. My dear friend Mel Lamb held it with her characteristic and amazing energy—I learned much from her in the coming years, we held circles together until her passing in 2020. Since that first one, I have attended many councils, in different contexts, and have experienced a wide diversity of flavours and intentions. I’ve had the honour and privilege to learn from the expert and caring hands of many, especially Klaudia van Gool, Jeremy Thres, and Sophy Banks. But most of my learning comes from a beloved teacher and my council guide, Pip Bondy. It is from her that my council tradition comes from. She was taught by Gigi Coyle in the tradition of the Ojai Foundation, where the Way of Council as we practice it today was co-creatively brought into life.