to Gathering, Connection & Community
Maybe you’ve heard someone mention a women’s circle and thought… Okay, but what exactly happens at a women’s circle?
Do we sit in a circle? Yes.
Are there candles? Sometimes.
Do you have to be spiritual, meditate regularly, own a collection of crystals, or be comfortable sharing your deepest secrets with strangers?
Absolutely not.
At its simplest, a women’s circle is an intentional gathering of women who come together to connect, share, listen, learn, and support one another.
And while women gathering together is certainly nothing new, women’s circles offer something that can feel increasingly rare in modern life: a place to slow down and actually be with other women.
Not networking. Not small talk. Not trying to impress anyone.
Just connection.
What Is a Women’s Circle?
A women’s circle is a gathering where women come together around a shared intention, experience, topic, or simply the desire for connection with other women. Look women need women – that’s our tagline for a reason.
Some circles focus on personal growth. Others gather around motherhood, friendship, books, creativity, business, spirituality, grief, life transitions, or simply being women navigating life together.
Some meet once. Others meet every week or month for years.
Some include rituals, guided visualizations, journaling or meditation. Others feel more like a really meaningful conversation around someone’s kitchen table.
There isn’t one “right” way to create a women’s circle.
What makes it a circle isn’t necessarily what you do.
It’s how you gather.
A good circle creates space for women to speak honestly, listen without immediately trying to fix one another, and experience the wonderful realization: Oh. I’m not the only one.
That alone can be so powerful.
What Happens at a Women’s Circle?
Every circle is different, but most have some kind of structure that helps women move beyond ordinary conversation.
A typical women’s circle might include:
- A welcome or opening
- Agreements about confidentiality and how the group will interact
- A check-in question
- A theme or topic for the gathering
- Time for reflection, journaling, or an exercise
- A sharing round
- A simple ritual, visualization, or practice
- A closing question or check-out
For example, imagine the topic of the circle is self-trust.
You might arrive, settle in, and begin with a simple question:
Where in your life are you having a hard time trusting yourself right now?
There might be a short conversation about why we lose trust in ourselves, followed by some journaling or a guided visualization. Then women have an opportunity to share.
The facilitator isn’t there to tell everyone what they should do.
The other women aren’t there to diagnose the problem or immediately offer advice.
Instead, the circle makes room for each woman to hear herself more clearly—and to discover what becomes possible when other women truly listen.
How Is a Women’s Circle Different From a Regular Group of Friends?
I love a good girls’ night. Sometimes what we need is pizza, wine, laughter, and somebody telling the story we’ve all heard twelve times.
But a women’s circle offers something a little different.
Most everyday conversations aren’t designed for depth. We catch up. We talk about work, kids, partners, vacations, the ridiculous thing someone said at the grocery store, or what we’re watching on Netflix.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But we can spend hours with people we love without ever talking about what’s really happening inside us.
Circle intentionally creates room for that conversation.
Instead of: “How are you?” or “Good. Busy. You?”
You might be asked: What’s taking up the most space in your life right now?
And then you’re actually given time to answer.
That small shift can completely change the quality of a conversation.
Do You Have to Share in a Women’s Circle?
No.
At least, I don’t ever require anyone to share and I encourage our facilitators to always make it an option.
One of the most important principles in the circles I lead is invitation rather than obligation.
You’re invited to participate. You’re invited to share. You’re also allowed to pass.
Sometimes we learn just as much by listening to another woman put words to something we’ve been experiencing ourselves.
A well-facilitated circle should never require you to reveal something you aren’t ready to share.
You get to decide what participation looks like for you.
Are Women’s Circles Spiritual?
Some are. Some aren’t.
You’ll find women’s circles built around particular spiritual traditions, moon cycles, meditation, goddess traditions, or other spiritual practices.
You’ll also find completely secular circles centered around friendship, books, personal growth, leadership, creativity, business, parenting, or community.
Neither is more “authentic” than the other.
The important question is whether the circle feels aligned with you.
I personally love meaningful ritual because humans have been using ritual to mark moments and create connection forever.
But ritual doesn’t have to mean anything complicated.
Lighting a candle together can be a ritual. Taking one collective breath can be a ritual. Writing something you want to release on a piece of paper can be a ritual. Ending by saying one thing you’re grateful for can be a ritual.
You can create meaning without making things overly ceremonial.
Why Are Women Drawn to Circles?
Because a lot of us are hungry for something we’re not getting enough of.
Real connection.
Adult friendship can be surprisingly difficult.
We move. We change jobs. We work remotely. Children and caregiving take over our schedules. Friendships shift during different seasons of life.
And even though we’re more digitally connected than ever, that doesn’t necessarily mean we feel deeply connected.
Many women aren’t looking for hundreds of new friends.
They’re looking for a few places where they can show up and be known.
Circle creates the conditions for those relationships to grow. Not instantly. Not magically. But intentionally.
And that matters because community usually doesn’t appear simply because we wish we had more of it.
Someone has to create the gathering. Someone has to send the invitation. Someone has to say: Come sit with us.
What Kinds of Women’s Circles Are There?
Almost anything that brings women together around a shared intention can become a circle.
I’ve collected more than 100 different ideas over the years, but here are just a few possibilities:
Personal growth circles
Explore topics such as boundaries, confidence, relationships, self-trust, identity, or life transitions.
Friendship and community circles
Gather primarily to create deeper connections between women.
Book circles
Use a book as the starting point for deeper discussion rather than simply reviewing what everyone read.
Support circles
Gather women experiencing a shared season or challenge.
Creative circles
Write, paint, craft, make art, or explore creativity together.
Professional or networking circles
Create connection and mutual support without the awkward “here’s my business card” energy of traditional networking.
Life-stage circles
Gather around motherhood, empty nesting, divorce, retirement, caregiving, midlife, or other transitions.
Skills circles
Explore and practice something together—communication, boundaries, self-trust, conflict repair, or another area of growth.
Your circle doesn’t have to fit neatly into a category.
Sometimes the best circle begins with one simple question: What kind of gathering do I wish existed for women like me?
Need some ideas for a gathering of your own?
We have 100 Ideas for Circles for you to download right here.
Who Leads a Women’s Circle?
This is where I see women get unnecessarily intimidated.
They assume the facilitator needs to be the most confident, charismatic, enlightened, emotionally evolved woman in the room.
Nope.
Circle leadership isn’t a performance. It’s a practice.
A facilitator’s job isn’t to have all the answers.
- She’s there to create and protect the container.
- She establishes agreements.
- She guides the structure.
- She asks thoughtful questions.
- She watches the time.
- She helps make sure one person doesn’t dominate the conversation.
- She redirects advice-giving when necessary.
- She helps the group navigate difficult moments.
And then she trusts the women in the circle.
You don’t have to create every transformation.
You create the conditions where connection and transformation can happen.
That’s a very different kind of leadership.
Can I Start My Own Women’s Circle?
Absolutely.
In fact, if you’ve been wishing someone would create more community where you live, you might be the someone you’ve been waiting for.
You don’t need 30 women. You don’t need a fancy venue. You don’t need to be a therapist or coach. Your first circle might be four women in your living room.
What matters more is being intentional about why you’re gathering, who the circle is for, how you’ll create safety, and what kind of experience you want women to have.
Start small. Learn. Gather again.
Community grows through repetition.
What Should I Expect at My First Women’s Circle?
Mostly, expect to be a little unsure. That’s normal.
Walking into any new group can feel vulnerable.
You may wonder:
- Will I fit in?
- Will everyone already know each other?
- What if I don’t know what to say?
- Are they going to make me share something personal?
A good facilitator knows this.
You should be welcomed, told what to expect, and given choices about how much you participate.
And you don’t need to arrive as your wisest, most confident, most interesting self.
You can just arrive as you are.
That’s rather the point.
Maybe What You’re Looking for Isn’t More Friends. It’s More Places to Belong.
We hear a lot about loneliness and the difficulty of making friends as adults.
But I think sometimes we focus so much on finding friends that we overlook something important.
Friendship needs somewhere to grow.
Women need places where they see one another repeatedly. Places where conversation can move past the surface. Places where it’s normal to talk about what matters.
Places where we’re expected—not because we have to be there, but because our presence actually matters.
A women’s circle can become one of those places.
And whether you decide to join a circle or eventually lead one yourself, it begins with the same simple act women have practiced for generations:
We gather.
We listen.
We tell the truth about our lives.
And slowly, we become less alone.