THE WAY OF COUNCIL

Council is the practice of speaking and listening from the heart. Through compassionate, heartfelt expression and empathic, non-judgmental listening, Council inspires a non-hierarchical form of deep communication that reveals a group's vision and purpose.

Council offers effective means of resolving conflicts and for discovering the deeper, often unexpressed needs of individuals and organizations. Council provides a comprehensive means for co-visioning and making decisions in a group context. Council is about our personal and collaborative story.*

The tradition of Council is ancient. Iroquois, Plains Peoples, Pueblos and Greeks, Islamics, Quakers and twelve-step recovery programs all call Council. Those who embrace cultural differences and simple teachings gleaned from nature support the Council tradition. Many forms of Council belong to all people who gather in a circle to embrace the practice of listening and speaking from the heart.

Holding Council allows for the ritual of communicating, not just with language but with sensitivities developed only when listening and speaking can occur without interruption.

"The Way of Council" encourages dialogue with spirit: our own spirit, in a group setting.

Encouraging appropriate interpersonal behaviors, "The Way of Council" is a template for hope. To question and to listen, to speak and be heard, to create an offering in a social context "for the benefit of all beings."**

*  Source: The Ojai Foundation
** Source: Excerpt from article written by Brooke West for HopeDance Magazine