Community

The Returning Circle is a quiet gathering space for reflection, conversation, and shared inquiry.

Together we explore how we meet experience directly — how we remain attentive, grounded, and present in the midst of ordinary life.

These gatherings are simple and informal. There is no program or curriculum. Instead, the circle supports the kind of attention and conversation that help a human life remain steady, responsive, and connected.
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Participation is open to those who feel drawn to this kind of inquiry.

How Our Gatherings Unfold

Our time together usually follows a simple rhythm.

We begin by settling attention, sit together in silence, and then open a circle of conversation.
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Over time, these simple movements create a shared field of attention that supports reflection, creativity, and coherent living.

Returning Circle Practice

Our gatherings often begin with a short embodied meditation called the Returning Circle Coherence Practice.

Lean
Center
Love
Focus
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The practice is gentle and open-ended. It is simply a way of returning to presence together.

The Returning Circle Coherence Practice — a simple orientation to embodiment, awareness, relationship, creativity, and participation.

The Circle

After the meditation, we sit together in open conversation.

Participants speak from their lives — creative work, questions, changes, and the ordinary challenges of being human. Listening is as central as speaking, and much of the value of the circle lies in the quality of shared attention.
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Over time, the circle becomes a small community of people interested in living with greater clarity, care, and coherence.

The Returning Circle Journal

A Coherence Practice

The journal accompanies the Returning Circle practice.

Short prompts and open pages invite reflection and writing as the rhythm of the practice unfolds over time.
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Download the journal →

A Simple Rhythm

We meet weekly on Zoom on Tuesdays at 6 pm for 90 minutes.

Once each month, we hold a longer three-hour gathering that includes meditation, embodiment, and shared exploration.
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You may join with or without video. Listening quietly is welcome.

Weekly Meetings & Quarterly Workshops​

An Invitation

If you are looking for a steady place to practice presence with others, you are welcome.
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No experience is required. Only a willingness to show up.

Spring Workshop

To Be Is Enough: The Descent into Wholeness
Saturday, April 4 · 10:00 AM–2:30 PM
Quaker Meeting House

A free in-person workshop introducing the Returning Circle Coherence Ritual — a simple, body-first practice grounded in silence and everyday life.

For registration or questions:
Gail Sandlin — [email protected] · 360-551-1625
Karen Wamstad — [email protected]
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Single Stone Studios