Circling Guide

Learn the group conversation practice that will transform all of your relationships and bring you the love, friendship and community that you want

Circling Organizations

(Extract from the Circling Guide.  See also the Favorites page and History page for other historical resources and commentary)

Below you will find links and resources relating to Circling and the Authentic Relating movement. This section should also give you some ideas about where to start, and ideas for starting your own groups, in person or online.

For finding a group in your area, your best bet is to look at the communities map at https://www.authrev.com/worldwide-connection/.  You can also look for compatible groups on Meetup.com, such as NVC.

Training Organizations

In addition to local communities, all of which offer either Circling intros or Authentic Relating Games nights, the organizations below offer advanced training in Circling, at different locations and/or online.

Lineage Circling schools

The three “primary lineage” schools of Circling are as follows (in order of creation):

  • CIRCLING INSTITUTE (San Francisco CA, Asheville NC, Washington DC and other places), www.CirclingInstitue.com. Led by Guy Sengstock and team.
  • INTEGRAL CENTER (Boulder, Colorado), http://integralcenter.org/. Pioneered by Decker Cunov and Robert MacNaughton, the Boulder Integral Center shut-down in early 2018. The T3 program is continuing in 2019.
  • CIRCLING EUROPE (Amsterdam & Western Europe/Norway, New York City, Austin TX, and other places), www.CirclingEurope.com. Led by John Thompson, Sean Wilkinson and Jordan Myska Allen

Other Circling and A/R Training Organizations

  • AUTHENTIC REVOLUTION (Austin TX, and other places).  Led by Sara Ness and team.  This is the most active “non-lineage” school running training in A/R Games facilitation, circling, and community gatherings in the Austin area.
  • THE CONNECTION MOVEMENT (New York City and online).  Led by Amy Silverman and team.
  • ART INTERNATIONAL Led by Jason Digges and Ryel Kestano, and offering A/R leadership facilitation in New York City, North Africa, and other places.
  • THE CONNECTION INSTITUTE (Boston and USA via Zoom).  Peter Benjamin, Mark Boughton and team.
  • THE SCHOOL OF CIRCLING WIZARDRY (Toronto, Ontario, and online),Led by Josh Stein.

Online Circling

You join online circling with a computer equipped with a webcam, or even on your phone.  Online Circling and A/R games are surprisingly effective and highly recommended. 

  • Circle Anywhere (circleanywhere.com). A product of Circling Europe and operating since 2015. CircleAnywhere is the largest online circling community, with 20+ sessions every week, skilled facilitation and relatively small group size (limit is 18 participants per circle, which translates into two breakouts of 9 people). And at $50/mth for unlimited circling, the price is a steal (compare to the cost of therapy, which may not even be as effective!)
  • Authentic World Connect (authenticworld.com) is currently the hub of online circling, online A/R games, and cutting-edge circling theory for the Austin & Boulder Integral crowd. It’s not as active as CircleAnywhere, but the price of $25/mth is also a steal.
  • The Connection Institute (theconnectioninstitute.net). This is a relatively new (as of Fall/2019) offer by Peter Benjamin & team.  About a dozen events per month, focused on Circling leadership training.

Books, articles and podcasts about Circling

There are a few books on Circling, listed below, and a lot of podcasts that cover similar material.

  • The Art of Circling: 37 Practices for Deepening Your Relating Skills, by Bryan Bayer. Published September 2014 on Lulu.  105 Pages, $24 USD.
  • The Art of Getting Someone’s World + Guide to Soul-Bending, by Sara Ness. Self-published at https://www.authrev.com/circling-resources/.  33 Pages, Price by donation.  The website has other great resources and interviews as well.
  • Cohering the Integral We Space: Engaging Collective Emergence, Wisdom and Healing in Groups. This is a collection, of which Chapter 15: We-Space Practice, the Future, Circling and All There Is is an article by Sean Wilkinson and John Thompson, founders of Circle Europe.  Available on Amazon and Kindle from $10 USD.
  • Millennials, Here’s Why You’re Dissatisfied At Work. Article in Forbes with Sean Wilkinson, John Thompson, and Jordan Myska Allen.  See also the Unconventional Life podcast (unconventionallifeshow.com) interview with Sean, John and Jordan.