At this time of year, when the glorious-consumerism messages begin to rule the airwaves, I make the effort to step back, and observe the mass culture as it surrounds life in North America. The underlying themes being broadcast are not difficult to isolate.
     Do not be present in your life: Stay busy and active in pursuit of the goals that Culture has named. No thought is required or invited.
     Do not be real: put on the face that will get you through the day. Move through life without connecting to your own deep desires.
     Do not find stillness: when you are still and connected to yourself, you cannot be controlled. We will keep your thinking stimulated and confused by our many demands.
     Do not get clear about your purpose: The advertizing corporations will decide what you need. Commercial culture will tell you what to do, what to want, and what to expect. No agreement is necessary.
     Do not follow your desires: Purchase an education that serves Mass Culture. Follow the path to what we have set out for you. 
     During the last few weeks I have been enjoying an orgy of training, online and off. I have discovered wise souls who have expanded my thinking, and I have reconnected with some of the trainers who have been in my life for years. There are some ideas I have been neglecting which are profoundly suited to the person I am today.
     In the face of modern culture, my teacher Tej Steiner has designed a system to subvert the messages that do not serve us. He provides a setting which promotes connection to ourselves and our communities as thinking, growing, self-determining individuals.
     He calls it the Heart Circle, and it is designed for small groups of people to gather and amplify energy in an effort to support each other.
     In a group of up to eight, people connect in truthful ways, and remember that we are creatures of community. In essence a Heart Circle allows people to come together and create a new energetic field, thereby overcoming the belief in separate-ness. It is not a therapeutic model, and it is never about fixing or advising. It moves us towards connexion at a meaningful level, and when we have learnt how the mechanism works in a small group, we can take it into other areas of our lives.
     The first activity in a Heart Circle is to agree to make agreements, requiring that we behave in consensus rather than obedience. A new, unfamiliar culture is created, without the imposition of rules and regulations.
      The structure of a Heart Circle can vary according to the needs of the members, and the agreements they have made. The over-arching goals are focussed on getting present in life; being real; reaching stillness; growing clear about your purpose and following your desires. A Heart Circle shifts experience away from imposed culture, and connects with the truth that resides in the heart of the individual.
     When we join together and agree to be clear and present and connected and heart directed, we change our lives, and we change how we experience the world. When we are connected to ourselves, we cannot be manipulated by others.
   
       For information about being part of a Heart Circle, please email me here

     Jo Leath has been supporting clients through change and growth since the 1980s.
     For a consultation, in person or by Skype click here
     For a free printable labyrinth click here