So I attended this women’s circle cacao ceremony, organised and led by Elena Angel Shakti. It was the second time I attended a women’s circle and I felt excited, knowing I was in for a healing and nurturing experience. As I walked from the tube station to the venue, I realised how different I felt to the first time I attended one of Elena’s events, a Soul Mate Connections evening, almost exactly a year ago. My life then was still in a painfully chaotic state, and I remember feeling raw and frayed at the edges from the painful experiences I had gone through. This time round I felt peaceful and calm, and deeply connected with myself. I realised how much I had changed, and what a journey it has been to become who I am now. I felt a deep gratitude for the friends and counsellors I had reached out to over the years, who held a tender space for me where I could feel, explore, learn and heal. And also for the coaches and mentors I have worked with, who dragged me out of my pit of self-pity and helped me find and believe in my own self-worth. This taught me the meaning of owning and creating my own reality, leading me to the sense of freedom, love, compassion and gratitude I experience mostly every day now. A different life style, where I make time for my own spiritual practice and health, is sustaining and supporting my different sense of self. There were about 20 women attending the event, most of them younger than I. We all sat in a circle on the ground. We were given time to introduce ourselves, to explain why we were here, what we were hoping to bring, and what we were hoping to gain. I felt that there was little I needed, apart from the precious feeling of sharing a great experience. What I did ask for was support in continuing to let stuff from the past go. What I strongly felt I wanted to bring was my own experience of learning to believe that I am good enough. I hoped I could share that belief of being good enough with the other women. We then slowly enjoyed the warm rich creamy cocoa, whilst being smudged and choosing our Angel card. Aftert this, there was time for dancing, in the dark, privately, just for ourselves. Shared, but unobserved. I enjoyed this immensely, and felt the effects of the cocoa, and the energy from the other women, when my heart felt like it was expanding beyond my ribcage. At one point I felt infinite, connected, and abundant with love and compassion. It felt it was flowing out of me, from my heart, and from the palms of my hands which felt warm and tingly. The music stopped and we were allowed to rest and let the effects sink in. I felt a deep emotional release whilst the tears rolled down my cheeks. I heard the sobs and sniffles of the other women around me, and felt comforted that I was not the only one having this experience. We then were asked to share our experience with a woman next to us. I looked at my neighbour whilst she looked at me, and we both smiled at each other’s tear streaked faces. We allowed each other time to compose ourselves, and sat across from each other, holding each other’s hands. Her hands were cool, soft and small, whilst she gently stroked my hands with her thumbs. This had a very soothing effect on me, making me feel that I could let go of any resistance and just share whatever came up. Amazingly, our stories mirrored each other. We had gone through almost exactly the same storms in our lives. The recognition and connection felt very powerful. We concluded the evening by making smaller women’s circles, where we were given time to ask for what we need, and the other women could give words of support, wisdom and advice. Again a beautiful and deeply nurturing experience. I travelled home in a happy daze, with a full heart. The effects resonated with me for several days after, and the experience will never leave me. As I walked from the tube station to the venue, I realised how different I felt to the first time I attended one of Elena’s events, a Soul Mate Connections evening, almost exactly a year ago. My life then was still in a painfully chaotic state, and I remember feeling raw and frayed at the edges from the painful experiences I had gone through. This time round I felt peaceful and calm, and deeply connected with myself. I realised how much I had changed, and what a journey it has been to become who I am now. I felt a deep gratitude for the friends and counsellors I had reached out to over the years, who held a tender space for me where I could feel, explore, learn and heal. And also for the coaches and mentors I have worked with, who dragged me out of my pit of self-pity and helped me find and believe in my own self-worth. This taught me the meaning of owning and creating my own reality, leading me to the sense of freedom, love, compassion and gratitude I experience mostly every day now. A different life style, where I make time for my own spiritual practice and health, is sustaining and supporting my different sense of self. There were about 20 women attending the event, most of them younger than I. We all sat in a circle on the ground. We were given time to introduce ourselves, to explain why we were here, what we were hoping to bring, and what we were hoping to gain. I felt that there was little I needed, apart from the precious feeling of sharing a great experience. What I did ask for was support in continuing to let stuff from the past go. What I strongly felt I wanted to bring was my own experience of learning to believe that I am good enough. I hoped I could share that belief of being good enough with the other women. We then slowly enjoyed the warm rich creamy cocoa, whilst being smudged and choosing our Angel card. Then there was time for dancing, in the dark, privately, just for ourselves. Shared, but unobserved. I enjoyed this immensely, and felt the effects of the cocoa, and the energy from the other women, when my heart felt like it was expanding beyond my ribcage. At one point I felt infinite, connected, and abundant with love and compassion. It felt it was flowing out of me, from my heart, and from the palms of my hands which felt warm and tingly. The music stopped and we were allowed to rest and let the effects sink in. I felt a deep emotional release whilst the tears rolled down my cheeks. I heard the sobs and sniffles of the other women around me, and felt comforted that I was not the only one having this experience. We then were asked to share our experience with a woman next to us. I looked at my neighbour whilst she looked at me, and we both smiled at each other’s tear streaked faces. We allowed each other time to compose ourselves, and sat across from each other, holding each other’s hands. Her hands were cool, soft and small, whilst she gently stroked my hands with her thumbs. This had a very soothing effect on me, making me feel that I could let go of any resistance and just share whatever came up. Amazingly, our stories mirrored each other. We had gone through almost exactly the same storms in our lives. The recognition and connection felt very powerful. We concluded the evening by making smaller women’s circles, where we were given time to ask for what we need, and the other women could give words of support, wisdom and advice. Again a beautiful and deeply nurturing experience. I travelled home in a happy daze, with a full heart. The effects resonated with me for several days after, and the experience will never leave me.