Radical Rest Circles

Radical Rest Circles are a collaborative project, co-created by Dr Chantell Douglas (founder of Mindful Yoga Psychology) and Dr Jo Murray, with the intention of bringing vital breathing space to those working in over-stretched, under-resourced, frazzled environments.

Working as Clinical Psychologists, Yoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists, we noticed how often we are asked to ‘fix’ people, to ‘patch them up’ and make them feel better before sending them back into environments that were burning them out! We noticed how these systemic and environmental stressors can leave us feeling disconnected from our bodies and working in ways that can be challenging for us.

This noticing guided our realisation that the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem! It’s not that people are not resilient or strong enough, it’s that we’re often being asked to work in under-resourced, over-stretched environments whilst also juggling a whole heap of other life demands. Simply naming where the problem lies (not within us!) can give us space to explore alternative ways to respond to the difficult contexts that we live and work within. Doing so in the collective of others can be a vital source of connection and support, to honour and witness to our experiences, to share ideas, knowledge and wisdom, and in turn open up new possibilities.

Radical Recharge Circles bring together our specialist psychology and yoga trainings, informed by social justice and liberation practices. We weave together evidence-based mind-body science with ancient yogic wisdom. We collectively practise ways to invite our nervous system out of the need to constantly be ‘on’, to cultivate ways to listen and respond to our body and our needs, and to give ourself space for deep and active rest. We practise gentleness, slower pace, restorative practices and anti-perfectionism.