Angelique Bulosan shares her story of facilitating a four week Circle to teach people about mindfulness and meditation.
Bringing Circle into Mindfulness and Meditation Practice
As part of my two-year mindfulness and meditation teacher certification, I facilitated a four-week introductory course in community. My intention was to create a space where people could pause the busyness of life, reconnect with themselves, and explore meeting life’s stresses and complexities with greater awareness.
BC Insight Meditation Society, with whom I have a longstanding relationship, generously covered the venue costs. Wild Roots Yoga also offered a community-minded discount to support the course. I’m grateful to both for helping make this offering possible.
The Circle Way provided a thoughtful framework for bringing this intention to life. Writing an intentional invitation drew in three times the number of participants I originally hoped for.
At each gathering, I welcomed participants with an opening that set the tone. And participants commented positively on the effect of my carefully designed Circle questions:
“The opening check-in was helpful for setting intention and being focused during the session.”
“I love the check ins and check outs; it helps break down ‘walls’ and create a shared space.”
I placed our community agreements around the centre of the circle and invited participants to add anything they felt was missing. This made our shared commitments visible and reinforced that we were creating the space together. A participant shared: “I liked that the community agreements were displayed in the sitting circle.”
Meaningful objects that I placed in the centre helped anchor the purpose throughout the gatherings. One was a spiral-shaped fossil marked with hundreds of lines circling inward. It reminds me that an essential part of mindfulness practice is repeatedly recognising what is happening in the present moment without judgement, and with kindness returning our attention to what is happening here and now. The fossil's ancient form also spoke to the enduring nature of this practice.
Participants were invited to contribute an object that grounded them in mindfulness, or write an intention, meaningful word, or loved one’s name on paper for the centre. In this way, the centre became a reflection of all of us together.
A participant shared that “having a routine community mindfulness practice is so heart raising.” By our second gathering, participants were commenting on how the Circle had been established and how people were able to share vulnerably about applying mindfulness to things like everyday stress, chronic body pain, and past trauma. While no facilitator can guarantee safety or assume everyone experiences a space in the same way, we can cultivate conditions that support trust, choice, dignity, and connection.
For me, this experience affirmed what I have learned through years of facilitating in The Circle Way. Thoughtful, gentle structure can nurture connection and vulnerability without prescribing what it should look like. Circle offers a roadmap for moving in a shared direction while honouring each person’s unique perspective. There is something quite powerful about that.
Through listening and dialogue, we deepen our understanding of ourselves, one another, and the world around us. Sometimes, the most meaningful thing we create together is a space where we can be present, be heard, and begin again.
Participant quotes from a feedback form are shared here with permission.
Angelique Bulosan (they/she) works at the intersection of organizational culture building, strategic planning, and social and racial justice. Drawing on experience in public-sector leadership and advancing equity, Angelique brings a relational, trauma-aware approach to community building, dialogue, and collective learning. Angelique is passionate about fostering belonging, navigating complexity with care, and supporting meaningful change.