Circling with the transformative power of intersubjectivity
Through inviting a deep sense of presence in relationship, Individuals begin to show up more fully in their essence.
Circling is a practice where the attention of a small group is skillfully focused on an individual. This person gets to feel the impact of being supportively seen by others while also experiencing their honest in-the-moment feelings. The process revolves around connection, understanding and a deep authenticity between people. It involves bringing a greater awareness and appreciation into our connections with others and can be considered a type of relational meditation because of this. It is a paradigm shifting practice that is supported by wide ranging research in how adults learn and develop.
Circling is a fresh way to develop presence in yourself and richer connections with those around you.
It can provide fundamental and often unseen insights that once seen create new and exciting opportunities. It provides a doorway into flow experiences and breathes life into sometimes vague spiritual concepts and ideas. 
Through Circling individuals can start to develop trust in a deeper intelligence in themselves and others. Part of what makes it special is that although it is based on complex ideas, taking part in it is simple and empowering. We believe it to be one of the richest tools for human development in the world today because it works on so many levels.
The workshop in Personal Leadership presented at IEC2016 contains three 2nd Tier practices with varying degrees of emotional intensity, spiritual depth & transformative potential:
- Circling
- All There Is – new evolution of the Circling practice
- Avalon
We will create an evolutionary ‘we’ space—a place where each member brings their unique brilliance, takes their unique risks, faces their unique shadows and plays all out in a rich co-creation and co- destruction, relying heavily on the practice and principles of Circling.
The group becomes a collective intelligence that creates a space where presence and connection become deeply witnessed and, thus, enhanced. This experience of intersubjective awareness practice will emphasize
self leadership
in the discovering of presence and connection. This includes the ‘leaders’ of the Circle—who fully surrender to the process, automatically compelling everyone to feel their part in the whole and in what way they are leading themselves and the group. In this form of Leadership Circling we consistently experience deeper themes coming up, greater challenges with people taking their own responsibility for their experience and a more profound sense of mutuality when the uncertainty is accepted and felt.
“From an integral point of view, we consider the common conception of “being seen in a group” to reinforce a limited and often false sense of autonomy—both from a developmental standpoint (in contrast to a more post-autonomous (a la Cook-Greuter) / 5th order (Kegan) capacity) and from a state standpoint (of seeing the locus of self-identity inclusive of and beyond the dualistic, ego-centric perspective of a separate self).
As such, the practice we’ll be sharing will include the possibility that participants will go away feeling seen, and having reinforced aspects of healthy ego development, particularly for those parts of ourselves that need to differentiate away from conventional structures. But even in such “meetings” we’ll always be opening the possibility for participants and ourselves to go beyond that as well—to challenge our self-identities, our own understanding of reality, and be re-invented as a result of the meeting.” (Jordan Allen)
Jordan Allen – With CirclingEurope I lead practice groups, retreats, and 6-9 month transformational, integrally informed leadership programs. Most exciting—I’ve just created a new video breakout technology to Circle (integral relational meditation) online, with 2 facilitated sessions everyday and members and facilitators from around the world. I’ve just published “A Beautiful Apocalypse”—an integral novel (endorsed by Ken Wilber) to guide readers through an experiential feel of developmental altitudes.
Alanja Forsberg has since she was a child had an extraordinary vivid curiosity, subtle sensitivity and complex understanding on human relationships and the emotional patterns that connect us to the social field. Her life-long study on the human mind from different areas, such as psychology, psychodrama, social work, theatre, integral theory, spirituality, and motherhood, has led to a cutting- edge approach to personal and relational development. Her passion is to break through the mental and emotional obstructions that holding us back from our essential freedom, our loving-wisdom and creative life-forces. She is now an internationally recognized expert and teacher in authentic meeting and intersubjective psychotherapy, and co-leads a world-wide practice-community (Circling Europe) committed to authentic and conscious self-expression. From her home-base in Gran Canaria, she frequently runs experiential workshops (“All There Is”) and week-long “Avalon”-retreats on the healing and transformative potentials of the human intelligence in Nature.
