Council
In Council, people sit together in circle to share in a genuine, heart-centred way, their feelings, experiences and stories. Council can be used to explore ideas, deal with conflict and make decisions. It enables people to understand themselves, one another and their world more deeply.
This heart-centred listening practice originates within indigenous cultures from all around the world and is rooted in Nature.
Council is practised in families, couples, communities, schools, residential children's homes, support groups, prisons, businesses and voluntary organisations, and in one-to-one therapy. In council, everyone has an equal right and an equal opportunity to be heard.
The guidelines for Council are:
Speak from the heart
Listen with the heart
Be spontaneous
Be 'lean of words'
Trust that each person is being the best that they can be in this moment (including oneself)
What is said in council stays in council
Sessions for groups, couples and individuals to support your relationships with yourself, your loved ones, your colleagues and your community.
Participants' experiences of Council:
'Gilly is a skilled and experienced facilitator of Council, leading the group with the utmost care and sensitivity. Under Gilly's guidance, I found the practice of council felt natural, easy and accessible. A deep and fulfilling experience containing much healing, both on a personal, societal and planetary level. Council is a non-hierarchical practice, but nevertheless requires facilitation and instruction. Gilly's blend of gentle wisdom, supportive presence and clear boundaries is spot on.' RB
'I completed the ‘Introduction to Council’ course in June 2020 and would really recommend it. This practice involves speaking and deeply listening from your heart. Although it is not therapy, it is therapeutic and it provides a safe platform where you can talk and listen without judgement or comment. I really felt heard and supported by the group. This practice was new to me, but it is something I can apply to my everyday life and business. I’m not good in groups, but found this to be comfortable, at a steady pace and the teachings are so enlightening. Gilly is a great tutor and I feel that I have learnt so much from her. Because of my experience of this course, I enrolled on the facilitator training, which I am finding fascinating. This way of being has become a way of life to me - it has certainly made me look at my connections with others in a different way and I feel calmer and look at each aspect of my life with gratitude.' GT
'Gilly has, for me, a magic combination of skills in leading Council circles. She is at one and the same time, enormously profound in her self-giving and in the gentle challenging questions she invites us to consider, whilst also being incredibly clear and strong in the method and means of holding the circle. This means that as a member of her Council I felt safe from the start about sharing from my deep place with people I did not previously know. Gilly has a quiet loving wisdom that obviously emerges from her practice of silence which opens her heart and enables us to do the same.' TW
'I couldn’t have asked for more from this course. It’s difficult to put into words the freedom I feel from opening all my senses to what Nature has to give. Thank you, Gilly, for offering this wonderful path.' SD
'The Medicine of Council has created a much needed haven for learning to listen more fully to others, to nature and to myself. All learning to date has been over zoom and thanks to the expert facilitation and planning, I have easily connected with the course content and other course participants. During a year of isolation and challenge, this course has been a gift of connection, exploration, creativity and love.' LF
'Having completed the Introduction to Council course I decided to train as a facilitator through the Medicine of Council. This course has been everything and more than I could have wished for. It has deepened my practice of heart-centred listening and speaking which has opened pathways for significant personal development. The gentle, supportive, honest approach offered for developing my skills as a facilitator have been invaluable. Every session has challenged my thinking. I feel completely open to hearing others without the need to judge either them or myself. The creative aspects of the course have been wonderful, allowing every part of who I am to come more fully into being. These insights have, for me, increasingly built a solid foundation of trust in my own intuition. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is motivated by a fulfilling life which can touch others and make for a better world. Thank you Gilly, Simone and Nikki for sharing your love and wisdom. What you offer has enhanced my life.' SD