Facilitator Cecile Tresfels, The Pond Circles, last Sunday of the month, online, 10am PST

Facilitator Kim Illig, ‍ Gathered Meeting information page TBD

Contact Martha to sign up if/when you are interested in facilitating. Martha will facilitate any uncovered meeting.

Jan 18 - Sara Quinn

Feb 15 - Liza Bernstein

March 15

April 19 - Cecile Tresfels

May 17

June 21 - Kim Illig

July 19

Aug 16

Sept 20

Oct 18

Nov 15

Dec 20

If you would like to download a free pdf of these practices you may do so here:

Note: this is not a proprietary model, any one is allowed to use or modify it for their purposes.

This outline is derived from Quaker process work, allied with community meeting structures

such as Parker Palmer’s Circle Processing, Twelve-Step Meeting sharing practices as well as

talking stick and council processing structures and other frames drawn from liberation psychology and small community group models.

The facilitator’s job is to hold a container for the group by watching group process and reminding the gathering to follow these instructions:

The purpose of Gathered Meeting processing is to deepen our presence to self and other.

We will be engaging in this contemplative practice of deepening presence through speaking, listening, and processing while letting go of desires that arise to control, fix, or judge what is spoken or heard.

Norms

·       Speak from the heart.

·       Listen from your heart.

·       Be concise and lean of expression so that the space is held for everyone who would like to speak.

·       Discomfort is to be expected as we disrupt our default ways of processing, and we are each responsible for processing our own discomfort.

·       Self-regulation is celebrated: Ignore, breathe fidget, doodle, space out, daydream, meditate, take notes, close your eyes and breathe, go to the restroom, (if online) turn off your screens or mute whenever you need or want to for any reason.

·       It is not anyone’s job in the meeting to critique or persuade any other participant.

·       We are gathering to share our subjective experiences, needs, hopes, fears, and yearnings, to hold them up alongside each other and to glimpse a larger view, and to learn more about ourselves and others as the group surveys the questions and ideas that are offered as contemplative prompts by the facilitator.

·       If you hear something that makes you uncomfortable, that you disagree with, that you want to challenge – please remember it is not your job to police other people’s processes. If you are uncomfortable you are asked to think about a time in your own life that you have done or said something incomplete or incorrect, phases in your own development when you were learning something, and what your own needs are in the spaces where you still have plenty to learn.

·       If the impulse to argue with another individual rises up, the call is to consider your own struggles, your own failures, your own growth, your own needs. If you feel pain or discomfort, please take the space to identify your own needs in the silence. Once you have considered and cared for your own discomfort, feel free to ask for support for your needs from the entire circle.

·       Cross-talk is discouraged here. Parallel sharing is emphasized.

·       This is a rest, reflection and process-centered space, not a problem solving space.

The facilitator will read the following overview so any new participants know what to expect:

(if a circle of regular attenders has practiced a number of times you may not need to read these and can just begin):

We are now going to review the elements of the gathered meeting process:

·       (If on screen) Please make your own decisions about your privacy, whether your screen is on or off,

and your screen name.

·       We will take a moment to center ourselves. This is a moment of silence and body/breath awareness.

·       The first question/query/prompt is read out loud by the facilitator for that week.

·       One by one, when you feel it is your turn, (or if a talking object is passed to you) speak in response to the question.

·       You may also “pass” or use your time to hold silence together with the group.

·       To signal the end of your response please say ‘that’s what I have to offer’ or something similar.

·       The group will offer gratitude after each response by saying “Thank You/We hear You” or making some gesture of acknowledgement.

·       We will hold stillness for about 15 seconds between responses.

·       After everyone has responded the leader offers their next question is read and the cycle repeats.

·       Optional - After we have completed our questions, we may go around the circle and those who

would like to may share a word or sensation that arises from the time together.·

·       Optional: - Afterthoughts – the group may decide to spend 15 minutes or so afterwards in

informal socialization or to share planning and announcements

Anyone is welcome to join our regular monthly meeting to learn more about this non-proprietary group model and facilitation practices

In addition to the organization and administration of their own meeting spaces, the facilitator’s primary role is to help the gathered meeting understand its established norms and practices and to adhere to them.

Facilitators will also craft queries and prompts for the gathered community to consider together.

Facilitators offer their own additional meetings in a variety of time. zones.

If you would like to explore joining our facilitation team and hosting your own meeting in our directory please let us know at the collective Third Sunday Meeting.

REMINDER: Facilitators here are not acting as mental health professionals. They are community and peer-group facilitators. 

Please be aware that all facilitators who are offering their own local or online meetings in the directory are sharing their time, administrative and emotional labor as community members negotiating the same systemic challenges we are all facing and pay-what-you-can contributions are appreciated.

Facilitators have set up their own procedures to accept contributions

The suggested contribution ranges from $25 to $5.

If you would like to donate to support Martha in the overall administration of this project and Third Sunday Meetings you can do so here:

No one will be turned away due to financial hardship.

It is hoped that those who are financially comfortable will consider contributing more to help sustain these financially inclusive gatherings

A reminder that these are community groups offering structured peer support and these are not professional therapeutic services, nor should they take the place of professional therapeutic services.

Please make your own decisions about your privacy, whether your screen is on or off, and your screen name and what you decide to share out loud.

We are doing what we can to protect these online gathering spaces, but no one is fully aware of the limits of online privacy currently.