Listen Here: 3-Day Men's Retreat

Dates: January 17th - January 19th, 2025
Day of week and time: Friday @ noon until Sunday @5pm
Circle Keeper: Eric Shanks and Jesse Danger
Register Here

Circles

Upcoming Circles

Circle Training/Men’s Retreat

Where:

Vandrar Hem, is the wander home, a place for wanders to share space in the love of movement and nature and community. A place to remember the feeling of home. (Pound Ridge, NY - 55 miles north of NYC)

Description:

Join us for a weekend of sacred ceremony, embodied practice, and deep inner work held within the healing power of nature. In this weekend long foundational Wisdom Circle Training you will have the opportunity to learn and practice the fundamental skills needed to facilitate the Circle Process.

What is a Wisdom Circle:

A wisdom circle is a space for individuals to come together to build community, experience connection and find the strength of humility that exists within our shared vulnerabilities. The purpose of wisdom circle is for each man, through the collective to find a deeper understanding in the source of his own wisdom.

Who can be a Circle Keeper:

A Wisdom Circle Keeper can be any man with desire to deepen his dedication to his own personal growth and to the growth of others.

In addition to Circle Training:

We will have a structured schedule of healing movement, guided breathwork and meditation, sauna and cold plunge, and embodiment exercises.

Join Us:

ALL men will be welcomed to join this weekend, regardless of background or differences.

Accommodations and things to know:

- Arrival Fri 1/17 before 12 p.m.; event concludes Sunday 1/19, 5 p.m.

- All meals and sleeping arrangements are included

- We have 10 guest beds as well as ample tatami, sleeping bags, air mattresses, hammocks, and tents.

- Sleeping arrangement are comfortable though communal: think deer camp.

- Vandrar Hem is a private modern home nestled in the surrounding woods on just over 7 acres

- As a part of the event, we will work together to take care of the land and each other, we will collaborate on cooking and preparing for the elements of the event.

- Carpooling may be available (let us know if you have a ride to offer or are looking for one)

Investment: Sliding Scale $550-$950

What is a Circle?

Circle is a highly relational indigenous practice found throughout the world and used to bring a community together. Circles can be used for anything from celebration to addressing conflict and harm. Using circle to respond to conflict and heal from harm is a powerful way to create balance and equity of voice in a system that has broken down. A Circle Keeper is the convener of the space, and uses the structure to offer prompts to the group so that insight and collective wisdom can be brought out into the open. In this way, Circle builds connections, teaches, supports healing, resolves conflict, and ultimately creates new bonds in relationship.

Elizabeth as a Circle Keeper

Elizabeth has convened hundreds of circles in the last decade. She specializes in healing from harm and conflict circles, and is the founder of Hidden Water, a restorative justice response to child sexual abuse. Hidden Water is built on the practice of circle and uses this ancient technique to both heal and resolve conflict in family systems. Elizabeth also uses circle to address sexual harassment in the workplace, racial and other types of harm in schools and organizations, uses circle to address issues of co- dependency and teaches circle practice to a wide variety of practitioners. 

What to expect?

Elizabeth runs various circles on several topics — co dependency, shamanic healing and learning, healing from abuse, and even teaches mediation in circle.  When you come to a circle, it will include other people who are interested in the same topic. 

The structure of circle is always the same:

  1. you speak only when you have the talking piece

  2. the talking piece moves in one direction

  3. you have a right to pass

  4. you speak only from your own lived experience.

Circle is a very powerful way to both heal and learn from the group’s collective wisdom. Elizabeth’s circles are normally 12 weeks, meeting once a week for 1 hour and 15 to 30 minutes. Each circle is complimented by a curriculum to address the topic or theme of the circle.