Heart Club

For about 20 years, Wednesday evening is “Heart Club”. This is a community wide practice that invites each of us into our deep heart spaces, and is potentially one of the most powerful community building spiritual practices. The form has varied over the years, but these days there is a standard form called “Sacred Council”.

Sacred Council
Sacred Council is where the group sits in a circle, and will pass a talking stick from one person to the next. If you do not have the talking stick, you actively listen. Period. There are important ground rules agreed to before the start of Sacred Council. Firstly, make eye contact while listening, but do not offer any feedback at all. The point is to simply be a witness for the others. There is no gossip or discussion outside of Sacred Council of what anyone shared. If you feel that you absolutely must have a conversation with someone about something they shared in Sacred Council, then you must wait 24 hours, and then request to speak with them. They do not have to speak about anything they shared in Sacred Council if they do not want to. Finally, there may be a time limit placed on how long each person can speak if there are many people present. Each participant agreeing to uphold these boundaries around Sacred Council are vital to its success.

The ground-rules intend to create a place of safety where one can go into their deepest, darkest places and give voice to those parts of themselves. Interestingly, when one person is able to really express something painful or difficult, then others can also feel safe to do the same. Saying something in front of witnesses is quite different than saying it inside one’s head, and many people have found that “sticky” problems have moved through after giving voice to them during Sacred Council. Also, people get a chance to see the vulnerable side of others, behind their social masks, and this can invoke feelings of compassion and acceptance, softening places of tension. As people engage in weekly Sacred Council over an extended period of time, trust between people in the community develops, and the whole community grows closer.

Other Forms of Heart Club
The “Watch” (who is watching the emotional pulse of the community) sets the form for each Heart Club. They may decide to do Sacred Council, or that the community needs something more gentle, like tribal healing, metta meditation, a 5 Rhythms dance, a drumming circle, or other group activity or group practice that brings people into their hearts.