By Cecilia Fernandez-Hall
CMSC Circles of Practice Coordinator
At its deepest level, I think teaching is about bringing people into communion with each other, with yourself as the teacher, and with the subject you are teaching.
– Parker J. Palmer
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As MSC teachers, I imagine you are familiar with the questions from class participants, “What’s next?” “How do I keep my practice going?” as you are coming close to the end of the MSC course. You may even ask yourselves these questions about managing your own practice. Thankfully, CMSC has the Circles of Practice, an online meditation community that supports the practice of MSC graduates and teachers.
A little history: Back in 2015, the Circles of Practice began as an inspiration for connection by Bal de Buitlear and became a labor of love for her and Carolin Grampp, who developed this supportive resource for MSC graduates to continue to practice in community. By 2017, the Circles of Practice had grown and was in need of a community of teachers to help keep this important resource available. Steve Hickman sent out the call for experienced MSC teachers to join a team of MSC community builders. We started with 3 separate weekly sessions lead by a team of MSC teachers.
Where we are now: The Circles of Practice now offers 6 separate weekly sessions! Our most recent offering was added in May 2019 to reach our MSC friends in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Circles of Practice also needs you! We have an incredibly dedicated team of experienced teachers who give generously of their time and talent. We also continue to grow. As the word is getting out more and more about the Circles of Practice, we get more applications from MSC graduates looking for community and support. We want to share the enriching experience of facilitating with other experienced MSC teachers. The Circles of Practice, for the facilitators, is a valuable way to increase their skills in teaching meditation and to contribute to the effort in building a global community of MSC practitioners who come together to grow in compassion.
If you have not joined a Circle before, please join us by first completing an application here. This will enable you to become familiar with the process and experience this wonderful resource for yourself! If you are interested in learning more about becoming a facilitator for the Circles of Practice, please reach out to me at Cecilia@CenterforMSC.org. We are looking for teachers with experience, having taught 4-5 full MSC courses (8-week or intensives).
Below is the current schedule, whether you’d like to join as a participant or as a facilitator:
Mondays
1500 UTC/GMT • 8 am Pacific • 11 am Eastern
Tuesdays (2 options)
1400 UTC/GMT • 7 am Pacific • 10 am Eastern
1500 UTC/GMT • 8 am Pacific • 11 am Eastern
Thursdays
7:30am UTC / 12:30am PST / 7:30am GMT
Fridays (2 options)
1000 UTC/GMT • 3 am Pacific • 6 am Eastern
1500 UTC/GMT • 8 am Pacific • 11 am Eastern
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Deep gratitude, hands on heart.
Cecilia
