San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
COMING FULL CIRCLE
Round and round: You can’t hide in a circle — and maybe that’s what’s fueling the trend of circles in meditation, reading and mindfulness
Having taken my shoes off and sipped some tea, I’m about to meditate at Anchor Meditation, a chic, compact new studio in San Francisco’s Marina neighborhood, brought to mindfulness practice through the very unspiritual act of buying a Groupon. Instead of facing the teacher, or a serene wall, we sit in a circle, holding onto fuzzy blankets and leaning on little backrests. Our eyes are closed, but we’re facing each and every other attendee.
That’s how circles work.
Lately, circles are everywhere: reading circles, meditation circles, moon circles, creativity circles, women’s circles, entrepreneurs’ circles, even potentially cringeworthy improv circles. National organizations like Circle Connections (based in Naples, Fla.) and The Millionth Circle (Ashland, Ore.) help facilitate circleshaped gatherings all over the United States.
It’s a nationwide obsession, and the Bay Area is not snapping out of it anytime soon. On any given day, multiple circle events occur here in coworking spaces, private houses and studios like Anchor. In the age of lonely Peloton workouts and endless screen time, circles seem more popular than ever.
“Circles have been around since the beginning of time,” says Dr. Akilah Cadet, founder of Change Cadet, a consulting agency in Oakland that offers executive coaching, strategic planning and diversity facilitation. Cadet frequently uses circle activities in her work. “Think about how the first humans who protected each other and kept each other warm sat around a fire.”
The circle is popular with summer camp counselors and kindergarten teachers alike. At my daughter’s day care, kids as young as 12 months old learn to find their seat on a round carpet, wait for their turn and acknowledge their surroundings. Adults these days need these core circle values, too, so it seems. “Circles allow everyone to be seen and heard,” Cadet says. “They are visual examples of inclusion.”
Meghan Turner, alongside Ruth Woodruff and Erin Rosenblatt, is the cofounder of Circle. The trio host women’s circles at the Pifany, an Oakland coworking space for mothers.
At the Circle events, women are invited to meditate, journal and share anything that comes to mind. “Many believe this is the time of the rising feminine, which is why this ancient ritual is being brought to the forefront.” Turner says. “The pendulum is swinging, and women are being called to speak their truth and remember their power to nurture.”
Claiming to harness the renewal energy the new moon brings, moon circles celebrate the female body, menstruation, intentionsetting and more. Their goals can be diverse, but their essence is female. Moon circles weren’t invented by wellness gurus, of course; organizers like to trace them back to ancient menstrual “moon lodges” and red tents.
Alex D’Amour, founder of On Our Moon, an online publication that holds newmoon circles in San Francisco and Los Angeles, believes moon circles are trending partially because of the rise of social media. “For many years we saw perfection online, and it created a false narrative that women had to be perfect in every single facet of their lives,” D’Amour says. “I think people wanted a break from that.” It’s hard to worry about perfection, or at least your phone, when numerous sets of eyes stare into your soul in these highly intimate activities.
Then there’s the wellness trope of “holding space.” That one has something to do with circles, too. “A circle is literally a place to hold space for conversation, teaching, venting and contentedness,” says Cadet. “With all that is happening with President Twitter, many people, especially women and people of color, do not feel safe. A circle is a safe place; a place for synergy to create change.”
However cliche this may sound, the sentiment ends up ringing true for me. At Anchor Meditation, after some emotionally eventful but silent 40 minutes, the instructor has us sharing an intention for the year, going around the circle, of course. Is it awkward? Sure, but something about sitting in a circle makes it impossible to hide.
Kelly Ryan, founder of the East Bay women’s space Bright Side Collective, is enthusiastically procircle. “Circles are trending now because of the current environment,” she says. “Sadly, most people are suffering from stress, anxiety and overtaxed nervous systems, which are bombarded with a constant stream of bad news, fearbased media, glorification of materialism and greed, emails, texts and 24/7 demands on our time. Sitting in circle with others is a time to slow down, unwind and reconnect.”
A few weeks later, I find myself moderating a “circular discussion” on motherhood in America at Bright Side Collective, sitting shoulder to shoulder with inspiring women. Everyone’s looking at the panelists, but they also respond to each other, sharing things that, outside of the context, might be too personal. There’s something about the circle, I begin to understand, that promises and delivers comfort.
With eyes shut or wide open, fully present or cynically hesitant, there’s no escaping the circle. Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.
“A circle is literally a place to hold space for conversation, teaching, venting and contentedness. With all that is happening with President Twitter, many people, especially women and people of color, do not feel safe. A circle is a safe place; a place for synergy to create change.”
Dr. Akilah Cadet, founder of Change Cadet