Today in our “What makes a community builder?” series we are honoured to have Emily, the host of Circles and Cycles, share her story. We love to hear from all our Creators on what community building means to them.
Based in the Lake District, Emily has been hosting this membership for 4 years on another platform and chose to move to The Portal for reasons that will become clear.
Circles and Cycles is a membership for all women who want to reconnect to themselves as cyclical beings.
Each member receives:
- a journaling book guide to the new season every new moon, and at the start of each calendar month.
- For the wheel of the year, one of our members shares a herbal, tarot and energy guide.
We meet at the new and full moon, online, in circle.
The circles take the form of an introduction, 10 minutes or so of guided relaxation or visualisation, and space for each member to share.
The circle is live all the time, we currently use a Whatsapp group. The circle is a space of honouring and respect for all aspects of our cyclical selves.
There is the option for 121 womb health coaching work with me, and 121 astrology readings with our member Freyja.
This past 6 months, we've held space for celebration, integration and lots of grief. Circle members have experienced infertility struggles, relationship breakdowns, difficulties with parenthood and with work, heavy, painful periods, navigating health changes at the onset of perimenopause... and all have been held and nourished by being in circle.
All women - from those who are cycling, those who want to reconnect with the cycles of the sun and the moon, those who miss their cycle currently, and those who are coming to the close of their menstrual cycles.
Women who wish to become pregnant, women who wish to use cycle tracking as contraception, women who have womb, autoimmune, or other health issues that the allopathic model can't support.
I want to be in a place where love, respect and freedom are more important values than shareholder payouts, and I believe I've found it here.
The Portal gives me the online space to offer this membership with all of its different pieces (audio, video, live calls, pdfs and a circle sharing space) all in one place.
I've been running my business for 10 years, pre-Covid, I ran classes and circles exclusively in person, and that still makes up an important part of what I do.
Since 2021, I've run this online membership, and a twice-yearly meditation programme for mums totally online, which is something I'm also hoping to host on The Portal.
Community means remembering our humanity. Being in the loving and the sticky, rubbing along together even when we aren't sure we want to agree.
Community means showing up when someone else is struggling, and receiving support when I need it too.
Community is survival, and it is the way to thriving too.
I've been building community through my work for the past 10 years, and it has always been an essential part of what I do. In fact, some of the other things I offer end up simply being the way in for people - it is being in loving, whole hearted community which can really shift things for most of us.
Building community is the best response I can find to a collapsing planet. That and making compost.
Building community in a place where I am surrounded by others who are showing up with their own best efforts towards making this world a more liveable place for everyone.
Being in a space where creating and receiving are equally encouraged, and competition feels like being in a wildflower bed - it is present, but only because we all share the same resources. Our roots are entangled and supportive, there are no beneath- the- soil clippers attacking from behind.
Via classes and courses run close to where I live. This is really fulfilling, but can be unpredictable too, especially post-covid.
I hope to build a sense of community everywhere I go.
I hope The Portal is a place where I can do this AND share my work successfully too.
I really enjoyed sharing here, thank you! I can't wait to get started building on The Portal 2.0.
I currently have the two offers I've mentioned here ready to begin building as soon as I can, and I feel like being a part of The Portal is inspiring me to be more present and share from my heart, so who knows where that will take us next.
Emily's page on the Portal is coming soon so make sure you connect with her on her other channels to find out more!
