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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

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Circling Organizations

(Get a list of current events in the global Authentic Relating community on our latest monthly newsletter)

(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.
  • 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
  • AUSTIN CIRCLING STUDIO (Austin TX and online through CircleAnywhere), www.circleanywhere.com/austin-circling-studio. Led by Jordan Myska Allen and team.

Other Circling and A/R Training Organizations

  • ART INTERNATIONAL Led by Ryel Kestano, offering online courses in Authentic Relating, on-the-ground weekend courses in 4 continents, and programs in prisons.
  • THE CONNECTION MOVEMENT (New York City and online).  Led by Amy Silverman and team.
  • THE CONNECTION INSTITUTE (Boston and USA via Zoom).  Peter Benjamin, Mark Boughton and team.
  • THE AWKWARD LEADERSHIP SCHOOL (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 the Austin Circling Studio and operating since 2015. CircleAnywhere is the largest online circling community, with 30+ sessions every week, skilled facilitation and relatively small group size.
  • Authentic Relating Go. www.ar-go.live/
  • 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, courses and podcasts about Circling

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

  • Relational Power: Win Friends, Influence Others, and End Loneliness Through the Practice of Authentic Relating. This is a sequel to the Circling and Authentic Relating Practice Guide (the most popular book on Circling in the A/R tradition), currently in crowd-sourcing and scheduled to be published in the summer of 2023.
  • Authentic Relating Games Manual: Social Games for Deeper Connection, by Sara Ness & team. This is the classic manual for Authentic Relating Games, available by donation or on Amazon.
  • Conflict = Energy: The Transformative Practice of Authentic Relating, by Jason Digges.
  • Authentic Relating: A Guide to Rich, Meaningful, Nourishing Relationships, by Ryel Kestano
  • The free Online Circling Orientation course at CircleAnywhere.
  • 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.

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  • February 2023 Newsletter & Events
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Upcoming Events

Upcoming events below and on our Google Calendar

Circling Reflections

  • How to be authentic and loving in an emotionally illiterate culture
  • Circling Evangelist hits the streets in Guatemala: successes and humblings

Clickable Communities map

authentic-revolution-communities-map

Authentic Relating Organizations

  • Circling Institute (San Francisco and Global)
  • Circle Anywhere (Global)
  • Circling Europe (Europe and North America)
  • ART International (Global)
  • Authentic Relating Go (Global)
  • Connection Institute (Boston & Global)
  • The Connection Movement (New York City)
  • Austin Circling Studio (Austin, TX)
  • Evolutionary Relating (Australia)
  • Circling Cornwall (UK)
  • Let’s Be Authentic (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Realness Project (Prison work)
  • The Awkward Leadership School (Toronto)
  • Integral Centered Leadership (Boulder, CO)

Local communities can be found on Meetup.com and on the Authentic Revolution communities map

Free Circling Video Course

Signup to the new free Circling course at CircleAnywhere!

Recommended Books

Quotes

  • “There is no place to get to but more here” — Decker Cunov, co-founder of Circling
  • “You will always outlive my concept of you. And I will always have a concept for you to outlive” — Guy Sengstock, founder of Circling
  • “Pain is not a punishment, pleasure is not a reward… good and bad, happy and sad, all thoughts vanish into emptiness” — Pema Chodron
  • “If we were all to sit in a circle and confess our sins, we would laugh at each other for lack of originality” — Kahlil Gibran
  • “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care” — Theodore Roosevelt
  • “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. They listen with the intent to reply” — Stephen Covey
  • “Trust that people move towards wholeness, and we just have to follow” — Alexis Shepperd, co-founder of the Authentic Woman Experience
  • “Depression is the reward we get for being ‘good’ ” — Marshall Rosenberg
  • When we are angry, killing people is too superficial — Marshall Rosenberg
  • “You don’t need to get what you want if you can express what you want” — Strephon Kaplan-Williams

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Marco’s Books and Blogs


Relational Power: Win Friends, Influence Others, and End Loneliness Through the Practice of Authentic Relating

RSS Marc "Marco" Beneteau's Author Blog

  • Relational Power: Call for engagement
  • Quick check-in from “the land of enchanment”
  • Moving to New Mexico; two new books!
  • Investigation of Dakota Kaiser and Starseeds Exchange – possible crypto fraud / scam in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

RSS Manifesting Community Blog

  • Moved to Albuquerque, NM. New book!
  • Winter has arrived at Solidarity Collective! Plus exciting plans
  • New digs, new book, new life
  • New groups forming now; and other news
  • Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (Rutledge, Missouri) — Visitor Program Review
  • On the road, in search of utopia

 


Broke, Single, Crazy and Old: The Redemption of a Sex and Love Addict

RSS Healthy Bipolar

  • Happy all the time with a low-grade CFS — is it possible?
  • Moving to New Mexico! New book!
  • Final days at Hridaya Yoga, Mazunte, Mexico
  • My Social Security disability hearing; a visit to the doctor and the dentist; and life in the communist commune in Wyoming

 


As Lovers Do: a Manual for Men

RSS The Man/Woman Game Archives – Authentic Singles

  • Online Dating and the Man/Woman Game: My Story
  • What Women Want: Towards a New Psychology of Love, Sex and Gender Relations
  • I have a Dream: the social-political context of love and sex

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