A Women’s Circle at The Painted Barn in Barnham Broom runs for 75 minutes on a Friday evening. It includes a settling meditation, a space for shared conversation with no obligation to speak, a guided heart meditation, and light snacks to close. It costs £10 and numbers are kept small. The rest of this post covers who comes, what the format looks like in practice, and how to book.
“What happens in a Women’s Circle?” is, without fail, the most common question I get asked. The honest answer is: very little, and also everything that matters.
Let me be specific, because vagueness around this is part of why people don’t come.
The physical shape of the evening
We gather once a month at The Painted Barn, Barnham Broom, on a Friday evening. The barn is warm, softly lit, and arranged with cushions and candles before anyone arrives. Bring a travel mug with your favourite tea and arrive around ten to fifteen minutes before seven.
The circle runs from 7pm to 8:15pm. The structure is always roughly the same:
- A settling meditation to help you arrive fully, leaving the day at the door.
- Sharing, in a safe and non-judgmental space. There is no pressure to speak. You are always welcome to simply listen and receive.
- A guided heart meditation, helping you soften, open, and reconnect with your inner quiet. There may also be additional practices or reflections depending on the energy of the group.
- Light snacks to close the evening gently.
What a Women’s Circle is not
It is not group therapy. It is not a workshop. It is not a book club with incense. It is not a place where anyone will ask you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, and it is not a place where you will be expected to share anything you don’t want to share.
It is, simply, a room that is held. Seventy-five minutes where no one is asking anything of you, and no one is selling you anything.
Who comes
Every kind of woman. Mothers of small children who haven’t sat in a circle of adults without interruption for years. Women navigating menopause. Women recently bereaved. Women who are fine, thank you, just a bit worn. Women in their twenties, women in their seventies, and everyone in between.
We keep the numbers small so that the space genuinely feels safe and everyone who wants to speak can be heard.
Practical things
- When: Monthly, on a Friday evening, 7pm to 8:15pm.
- Where: The Painted Barn, Barnham Broom, NR9 4DB.
- Cost: £10 per circle.
- What to wear: Anything comfortable. Bring a warm layer.
- What to bring: Yourself, and a travel mug with your favourite tea.
Coming to your first one
The first one is always the hardest. Almost everyone says the drive over is more uncertain than anything that happens in the room. Book your place for the next circle directly online.