Practice Circle 1: September 18, 2025
total class time: 90 minutes
Large Group (20 minutes)
Welcome:
Cohering Meditation
Reminder of Teaching: Generation Stage, Creativity and the Theater of Life
Practice Circles: The Theater of My Life
(60 minutes, 3 people)
You will work in groups of three. Each person will rotate through the roles:
Storyteller – shares a role, script, or events from their life as a short story.
Facilitator – gently guides the process, keeps time, and offers supportive prompts when needed.
Space-holder – listens deeply, enters into the story and metaphors, and reflects back what touched them.
Each turn takes about 18 minutes. Then you will close together.
Opening Invocation (read by the first Facilitator)
We are invited to hold this time as more than a conversation.
This is a small ritual — a chance for us to pause, to look closely, and to see our lives with fresh eyes.
For us, each role carries meaning:
As Storyteller, we offer a role, a script, or events from our life not just for ourselves, but as a mirror of something universal.
As Facilitator, we guide gently, tending the time and offering prompts as gifts of support.
As Space-holder, we listen deeply, step into the story, and reflect what shines through.
Together we are creating a field of seeing,
a practice of contemplation and belonging.
At the end, we will speak not only in “I,” but in “we,”
to affirm that these stories belong to all of us,
and that we are joined in the greater play of life.
We enter now with simplicity, reverence, and openness.
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The Process:
1. Set the Stage (1 min)
Decide who will begin as Storyteller, who will be Facilitator, and who will be Space-holder. Rotate roles each round until everyone has been Storyteller once.
2. Begin with Centering (1 min each)
Before beginning, the Storyteller pauses, takes a breath, and, if they wish, names an intention.
Examples:
“I want to see this story more clearly.”
“I want to find freedom in this pattern.”
“I want to explore with curiosity.”
3. The Old Story (3 min each)
The Storyteller shares a role, script, or events from their life as a short story.
Examples:
“In the story, I keep walking onto the wrong stage and forgetting my lines.”
“In the story, I try to help everyone else, but no one notices me.”
“In the story, I am the responsible one who always has to keep everything together.”
Supportive questions (Facilitator may ask if needed):
What is the scene? Where are you?
Who are the main characters in this story?
What tends to happen again and again?
What emotions show up here?
If this story had a title, what would it be?
4. Metaphor Swap (7 min each)
Old Metaphor (3 min): The Storyteller describes the story as a metaphor.
Examples: “It feels like carrying a heavy mask.” / “It’s like running on a treadmill that never stops.”
New Metaphor (4 min): The Storyteller offers a new metaphor that transforms it.
Examples: “Instead of a heavy mask, it’s like painting my own face.” / “Instead of a treadmill, it’s like dancing in an open field.”
Pause together for a moment of silence.
Supportive questions (Facilitator may ask if needed):
If your story were an image, object, or landscape, what would it be?
How does that image feel in your body?
What new image could hold more freedom, possibility, or relief?
If this story were weather, what would it be? What weather would you prefer?
What metaphor makes you smile, breathe easier, or feel lighter?
5. The Lucid Story (4 min each)
The Storyteller retells the story again, this time as if they wake up inside it and choose freely how it unfolds. Try to ground your experience in the sense of how the sensations, feelings, and new responses live in you.
Examples:
“In the lucid story, I realize there are many stages, and I choose the one I love.”
“In the lucid story, I take my seat in the circle and find my place is already waiting.”
“In the lucid story, I let go of control and discover I am supported.”
Supportive questions (Facilitator may ask if needed):
If you could change one thing in the story, what would shift?
What choice do you now see that the old story didn’t allow?
How do you act, speak, or move differently in the lucid version?
What new ending could this story have?
If you were both the actor and the playwright, what would you write here?
6. Reflections (4 min each)
The Space-holder shares what touched them in the Storyteller’s process. The Facilitator may also share briefly if there’s time.
Examples:
“The greenhouse image stayed with me.”
“When you chose your own stage, I felt relief in my body.”
“I saw the courage in how you shifted your role.”
Supportive prompts for Space-holders:
Name an image or phrase that struck you.
Share how the new story or metaphor felt in your body.
Reflect what felt freeing, beautiful, or surprising.
What moment made you pause or pay attention?
What quality of the person did you see shining through?
The Storyteller just listens and receives.
7. Rotate (54 min total)
Repeat Steps 2–6 until all three people have been Storyteller once, with roles rotating each round.
8. Closing Harvest (6 min total)
Each person speaks one new line for their life’s script.
Examples:
“One new line in my life’s script is: I allow myself to walk onto the stage I love.”
“One new line in my life’s script is: My voice belongs here.”
Close by bowing or placing a hand on your heart together.
Large Group Share & Closure (10 minutes)
