Meeting Start – Welcome

[Up to 5 min]

• Welcoming everyone (free use of tea, get comfortable in your seat, mute your phone…)
  • And while preparing to kick-off the session, ask everyone to submit their weekly checkin on: https://mindfulcircles.org/checking-page/

[1 ring of the bell]

• About MindfulCircles

We are a community-led mindfulness group. At the core of our mission lies the belief that career success and inner peace are not mutually exclusive, but rather, deeply interconnected. We meet here every week to dedicate an hour of our busy calendars for Meditation, authentic connections and personal growth. Feel free to join us anytime you find yourself free on a Tuesday evening. Also your co-founders, best friends or favourite colleagues 😉 are welcome but please ask them to signup online before joining their first meeting.

• Meeting format (90 minutes total consisting of: Intro-round, book  summary read and reflection, weekly check-in sharing and finishing with zazen silent meditation meditation)

Quick Intro Round

[Up to 5 min]
We start each meeting with a short introduction round.

Please share with us your name and if you like to what is the mission of the company you are working at? If you are working on a new idea or considering a career change, you can share that too.

Anti-Discrimination and Confidentiality commitment

[Up to 5 min]

• Ask someone to read. Link here.

Book of the Week Summary Read

[Up to 20 min]

• Ask someone to start (or the group) to read the pre-prepared summary.
• Go click-wise... reading is optional, anyone can simply say "Pass" when done reading or if they don't want to read.

Book of the Week Reflections

[2 min per participant]

• At the end of each book summary there is a reflection question.

Anyone could start and then we go clockwise. Please keep your share to maximum one minute, I will keep track of the time and notify you if you ran out of time, by ringing the bell.

Weekly Self-Check-In – Reflection Round 1

[Up to 15 min]

Before we begin, a few gentle agreements to help us hold space well:

Please keep your shares grounded in your own personal experience — using “I” statements.

We ask you to avoid cross-commenting — meaning, please don’t refer to or discuss what others have shared during your turn.

If you feel moved to connect with someone about what they shared, we encourage you to do so after the meeting, if that person is open to it.

And finally, please be mindful of the time. When I ring the bell gently, that’s your cue to wrap up your share.

Now we’ll begin our first reflection round.

Each attendee shares how they answered the Body, Mind, and Heart scores in the weekly check-in form, along with a short explanation of why they chose each score.

Instructions:

• 2 minutes per person

• Share only what feels right for you

• You’re always welcome to pass by saying “I’m just listening today.”

• I’ll ring the bell softly when time is up — please take a few seconds to wrap up

Weekly Intention Setting – Reflection Round 2

[Up to 15 min]

In this round, each of us will share our intentions for the upcoming week, based on the four areas from the weekly check-in form:

• Connections & Relationships

• Achievements & To-Dos

• Finances & Resources

• Self-Care & Spirituality

Please take up to 2 minutes total to briefly share what you intend to focus on in the week ahead.

We’ll continue in clockwise order.

When you hear the gentle bell, that’s the signal to wrap up your share so we stay on time.

As always, you’re welcome to pass if you prefer to listen.

Optional – Reflection Buddies, Questions, or Recommendations

[Up to 5 min – time permitting]

If there is time,open the space for a few optional shares. You can ask all of them together and wait in silence: 

• Would anyone like to ask for a reflection buddy — someone to connect with during the week about a challenge you’re facing or a new experience you’re exploring?

• Does anyone have a question for the circle — something you’d like input on or feel curious about?

• Or, would you like to share a recommendation — such as an upcoming event, book, podcast, or tool that’s inspired or helped you lately?

Zazen Silent Meditation

[Up to 20 min]

• Silent meditation (how long depending on how much time left)
• Short Meditation preamble about silence meditation

I will time [NUMBER AVAILABLE OF] minutes, and I would kindly ask you to sit still and observe what feelings and thoughts might arise in you.

Meditation might bring powerful emotions. Please be gentle to yourself, it is always ok to take care of yourself during the meditation. If you feel uncomfortable at any moment, you can try taking a deep breath, you can put your hand on your heart, you can shift or change your position or you can quietly leave the room and join us back after the meditation.

I will start the meditation with three rings of the bell and end it with three rings of the bell.

Meeting Closing

• Thanking everyone
• Dana (payments)

Dana in Sanskrit means generosity. If you have benefited from our meeting today we kindly ask you to pay what you can today in the following jar. Or online via paypal to metta at mindfulcircles.org. The fund is used for donations as well as for administrative costs and beverage costs. MindfulCircles is a community-led, non-profit organisation and you all are welcome to be an active part of our community. If you are not part of our group chats, talk to our team members to be added after the meeting ends.

• • cleaning the room

Also please let's keep the room they we find it. Cups in the kitchen, cushions and blankets are returned to where they were. And let's continue any remaining conversation outside the temple.

• Meeting dedication

We dedicate the time of our meeting to a better world filled with compassion, loving kindness, equanimity and appreciative joy. Inwards and outwards.

Have a nice evening everyone!

[bell rings]