Conrad Gair

Teaching, Learning and Exploration

Category: Collaboration

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Men’s Circle Reflection #3

November 5, 2019 / / 0 Comments

We finally had another circle yesterday, after weeks of not doing so. It was our smallest group yet, and I found that we were all able to be more involved because there was more space and time for each of us. It was myself, and 4 other participants; all of whom had attended every circle thus far.

The circle was a success because we mutually conceived questions and then shared, hearing from each person based on their thoughts, feelings and experiences. The structure was more relaxed than ever before which, I felt, additionally increased ownership and engagement.

After our meditation and individual check-in, I opened the circle to any themes people would like to explore. One participant suggested we discuss loneliness. All agreed, and we proceeded around the circle, sharing our individual challenges, strategies and general wisdom on the topic. This was a rich process; leading to other themes such as identity, attachment and social needs.

I was very proud to feel the circle was effective in satisfying participants’ needs, feeling heard, exploring and connecting. I received very positive feedback from participants and am generally happy with my ability to facilitate a meaningful circle.

 

 

Elements Of Circle: Meditation

October 25, 2019 / / 0 Comments

“We are the universe experiencing itself.” – Unknown

Since I’ve been a part of men’s groups, we’ve always taken 5 or 10 minutes at the beginning of the meeting to slow down and sink into our present moment. This has been done largely as a meditation.

 

A couple weeks ago, I noticed a poster about meditation in the UVIC library. It told of a workshop in meditation happening on Monday and Tuesday, October 21 & 22. I thought, since we always did meditation in our group, that this might be a worthy direction for our group to collectively grow. I proposed we all join the workshop and people said they were interested. Long story short, they didn’t really show up. But I did.

The instructor Ahirvad is very experienced in meditation, and had been the pupil of a very accomplished zen master who had moved to New York City and, among other things, created a spiritual community there. He held events  that drew thousands of people from distant placed to experience group meditation and other spiritual work.  Ashirvad had a calming and passionate nature. He reminded me of other people I have known that have been inspiring to me.

At the workshop, we learned strategies to meditate more effectively, and a pretty modest amount about the philosophies behind meditation and eastern spirituality. Part of the reason that this course was two nights in a row was so that we could practice meditation at home, directly before and directly after sleeping, and return to report our experiences.

Personally, I felt the benefits of the meditation in my day on Tuesday. Not only did it enliven my sleep the Monday night, but it allowed a calmness to drone with me throughout me day.  I was sold. I went to the Tuesday night workshop enthused and ready to learn more about meditation. I left with a book, and a new life strategy.

 

I am looking forward to bringing additional aspects of spirituality and meditation wisdom into our next circles. We have not met in a number of weeks due to logistics and other occurences, but I’m confident that the group will begin to gain more traction in the proceeding months and into the new year.

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