ODE TO MORNING CIRCLES

“Tomorrow 9:30 morning circle?” was the goodbye formula that announced the end of each volunteering day. Our morning circles spread their magic in all different locations: at Boodaville finca in the dome area or in the tiled area on the toolshed terrace; with the chickens within their fence or in the new house; at the bridge spot between the farm and Caseres, or at the river Algars, up until the top floor of Casa Palla.

While talking to a friend, I found myself praising about the morning circles I used to do in Boodaville. I found myself preaching that they should be the staple of all teams’ routines, whether be them of a vertically organised company or of an intentional ecological community. The red thread of morning circles is their organizational goal, daily équipe meetings, as my friend put it while trying to understand me. This is true as they helped us to divide tasks and get ready for a productive day, however, it would be reductionist and unrealistic to enclose them in such tight definition. In fact, our morning circles captured the three ethical statements of permaculture. In a team, we would connect with the Earth, stretching in silence while listening to the wind brushing the trees and feeling insects tickling our noses. We would enact People Care by asking how we were feeling that day through the means of a metaphor and by asking to share any important personal information in the announcements. Moreover, to connect with each other, we would play a funny silly game at the end of each morning circle. Finally, we would Fairly Share the daily tasks and duties, through the co-creation of the plan of the day.

All morning circles were special to me. They were moments of coordination and empathy, synchronization of moods, dance of energies and of co-creation of ideas. They laid the foundation for the creation of a space where team members could feel free to express their artistic talents:  I sweetly remember when Gaius majestically rapped a song for us about his journey at Boodaville, and when Tabea showcased her yoga expertise as she mastered a yoga session guiding Klif and me through balance-oriented poses.

I was lucky enough to witness a great evolution of morning circles throughout my year of stay at Boodaville. They were first led by Jessica who introduced us to Mindfulness activities. When Anna stayed over at the farm, she would lead the morning circles, teaching me the secrets behind the making of silly games. I experimented a lot with the structure and the meaning of our círculos de la mañana, to the point where I even proposed to try evening circles instead of morning ones: “huh, weird”. Now, looking back, I can picture the spectrum of the multifaceted nature of the morning circles: it ranges from spiritual to full of silliness. The peak of spirituality was reached when I incorporated the sound of the Tibetan bell, as suggested by our emotional mentor, Roser. Cherry on top was cleansing our feet in water before accessing the circle – though I recommended this because it was 40 °C in those days.

The best recipe was achieved when we became a team of five: morning circles evolved into a key step of our daily community life. Every morning circle started with the coordinated stretching (unless we decided to do it in reverse, making it start from the end) followed by the question “How would you feel if you were a…?”. Then came the step of the announcements, which was enriched by the “Offering & Joining” method brought in by Klif after his trip to Sunseed. This method made us take initiative in offering to lead activities while others could join. Afterwards came the most practical step, i.e., the plan of the day. All was finalised with a healthy laughter during the silly game. Oh, and I forgot to mention the amazing jingle that was co-created to be chanted at the beginning of each morning circle! As I said before: how magical!

Slow and caring wishes,

Sara