Reporting from the UN CSW/Post #2: Meditation Yesterday & Panel this morning with Jean Bolen (listen to 8 min. audio) & Nina Simons

Monday, March 4

Duane and I participated in two amazing and powerful circles yesterday. We meditated with a large circle, 33 in all, in the Nigerian Mission focusing on sending love and opening to the delegates and ambassadors at the UN. The energy was so high I felt at times like a would levitate. We meditated in silence for 1 hour and 15 minutes. We had a table in the center of the circle with 3 candles lit, and concentric rings of chairs around the table. Jean Bolen (The Millionth Circle), Ann Smith (We Are Enough), Anele Heiges (International Public Policy Institute) and other absolutely amazing women were there! And the true gift was that we were joined by circles all over the globe - literally a thousand Dominican nuns were praying with us! At the end we called out all those we knew who needed prayers for healing and support. These prayer/meditation circles are so beautiful, simple and powerful. I believe we should have them everywhere, interfaith and inclusive.

Later that evening we met at Quest Bookstore for a showing of the documentary THE HEART TO LEAD: Women as Allies for the Greater Good. After watching this film there was a circle discussion. We passed a talking piece and almost every woman there shared something that had moved her. The film is designed to inspire and provoke conversation and there is a guidebook on the website to empower these sacred discussion circles.

Our circle was very deep and went into topics such as women who are abused by women, moving out of duality, indigenous perspectives and gender healing circles.

I spoke about the 13 Moon Women's Initiation and described the healing ritual with the masculine that we did in January. After I spoke Duane chimed in and described his experience being one of the men who apologized to the women in the ritual. Many women came up to me afterward and desired to know more and felt this was such important work! YES! And everyone there was involved in some way with changing consciousness on the planet in such profound and beautiful ways.

Women's leadership is about creativity, inclusivity,
collaboration, respect and equality!

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Cheryl Gould, producer of The Heart to Lead: Women as Allies for the Greater Good

Tuesday, March 5

This morning's panel at the UN Plaza, one of many, Degradation of the Environment and Violence Against Women and Girls. What incredible women! Jean Bolen, author of Moving Toward the Millionth Circle, a young activist Girl Scout leader from Malawi, Nina Simons from Bioneers, the CEO of Excel school for girls in Washington DC, the first all girls public charter school!, and Donna Goodman, founder of Earth Child Institute.


The key points of this panel were:

• If you educate girls you educate a family and then a community and then the world.
  
• Men and women need to work together. Women in leadership desire this.
  
• If every child (about 2.2 million on the planet) planted 7 trees we would end Climate Change in a year.
• If we change the story we change the world. We must change the stories we, as women, have been telling ourselves. It's time to author our lives and be the authority on Who We Are.
• Artemis in everywoman - "This is not fair", witnessing abuse and growing up to change things. Sourcing strength from the archetypes and reclaiming the powerful female archetypes in our psyches!
• It's time for boys to be raised as whole-brain citizens of Earth. Right now they're raised as Left-brain dominant. Women have a more balanced brain with more strands connecting the hemispheres, so we can multi-task and take care of everything we need to take care of (home, family, food, work, elders, Earth). Our boys are being gypped out of a full experience of life. We need to teach compassion and empathy as strengths and necessary for success.

There will be a follow-up panel on Thursday evening at 6:15 on the same topic to go deeper into it. I will be there for sure!

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Audio track of Jean Bolen's first sharing on the topic of the panel.  8 min.

Jean Shinoda-Bolen and a young activist from Malawi who is a leader in her community's Girl Scouts, talking about the importance of educating young girls and  planting trees as a way to change the world.

Nina Simons, President of the Board of Bioneers, speaks about Indigenous Cultures holding the keys to healing our relationships with nature.