As fruits are encased
till ripe, light comes
full term in the dark
and truth ripens in the heart 
                    – Mark Nepo

During this weekend course, we will explore the importance of working with the "shadow." We have to allow ourselves to be disturbed, to be moved, to get out of our "comfort zone." Then the circle becomes alive. Sometimes powerful energies are released and the challenge for the facilitator is how to serve the circle so that it remains safe and the energies contained. When this occurs, magic happens.

We will also explore the specific forms of Council for varied situations and the challenges of bringing Council into the different parts of our lives. We will share stories, light and dark, of the subtleties in the roles of Witness and Facilitator. Leadership and challenging situations are also on the menu. And, by the way, we will also have some fun together by using exercises, games and other practices that contribute to council!

This course is designed for those who have experience in facilitating Council circles or other forms of circle work or those who have completed The Way of Council – Level I. 

Facilitators: Lori Austein is an educator, lawyer and mediator, as well as a trainer and facilitator of the Council process. After spending five years working with the Council program at Palms Middle School in Los Angeles, the last two as co-coordinator, Lori is very experienced in the uses of council in education. She has led student rites of passage retreats at the Ojai Foundation and has cofacilitated both Council and Council for Educators trainings. Lori is a member of the Leadership Circle of the Ojai Foundation’s Center for Council Training. She is currently introducing Council to Vancouver Island, her new home. Devoted to increasing the use of Council, she eagerly strives to live in The Way of Council.

Hilary Leighton’s early deep and vivid resonance of living processes and universal patterns in wild nature rooted in her a belief that all teaching is an act of love and remembering – this infuses her writing, teaching and learning She is a natural educator, a perennial learner, a tireless advocate for well-being and a wild poet at heart! Hilary holds a MEd, Curriculum and Instruction from SFU, has studied Ecopsychology (EP) at Naropa University, and is completing a three year program in Integrated Body Psychotherapy Practitioner Training, and not least of all embarking on a doctoral program in EP. She is a certified Laughter Yoga Leader, a certified Myers-Briggs facilitator, and although she spends most of her days imagining and designing ways to bring pedagogical spaces of possibility as the Director of Continuing Studies at Royal Roads University, Hilary derives the most satisfaction from the generosity of teaching and encouraging others out on the land.