Testimonials

Circlework is life-altering and completely outside of any experience I have ever had. It quenches our longing for a kind of connection that is really hard to find in our society. I had to experience this level of intimacy in order to fully understand what I was looking for and to trust that it’s actually available. The circle gave me that experience, and out of that, hope has come. I see Circlework playing a powerful role in the transformation of the planet. It has the potential to create bridges between people, to create unity while at the same time recognizing differences. That’s critical in our evolving world.Jalaja really embodies divine essence. We all do, but she it comes out constantly through her. She lives what she teaches. She is undoubtedly the best teacher I’ve ever had in my life.

Leanne Drumheller

After participating in Jalaja’s training in the West Bank, it has become increasingly to me how important her work is! I am still inspired by the experience. Jalaja led the circle training in such a beautful way—very experienced, authentic, really believing in what she is doing / giving / contributing… I am so grateful to her for bringing this into the world. May these practices continue to inspire us and guide us on a path of truth and love and peace and justice.

Regina Bernhardt

All my life I struggled with being a woman. I searched for a woman who was soft, yielding, strong, powerful, effective, centered. Then I met Jalaja. She is so clear and receptive, and her connection to the Divine is powerful and transforming. The circle … thanks be to the circle. I feel so transformed. It feels so wonderful to be living in my body appreciating being female and having the long lost connection with women again.

Jacqueline Doty

Five days in circle with Jalaja changed my life, rendering me permanently “authentic” to the bone.

Judy McLarty

The Circlework training process has been a blessing to my life. It has brought a new dimension of love into my life that I never knew was possible. It’s not like being “in love” with a single person. It has no feeling of urgency or desperation. It’s more a comfort, a feeling of safety, of truth. I feel confident it will always be there. Most of the women in the circle I don’t see in the flesh on a regular basis. But their presence is in my life in a very supportive way. They are in my heart. They are “good medicine.”

To be in circle is to feel a oneness with a sacred purpose. It is an experience of heartful connection with each person present, as well as with a greater presence, that which we call the spirit of the circle itself. When I leave the training, I miss being in an atmosphere/environment that has so little stress. Even the conflict and the pain there is heartfelt and endurable.

I need the power of the circle to help me stay calm, to feel complete and confident inside, even when all hell breaks loose on the outside.
I need the spirit of the circle to remind me that I am enough even when the child in me feels overwhelmed and unable to cope.
I need the strength of the circle to help me grieve my losses and feel nurtured while staying present for those who need me.
I need the love of my circle sisters to help me create the spaciousness in my life for the priestess to fully emerge.
The circle fills a need I’ve felt my whole life. It’s something I can trust to be there for me. When I’m not with the circle in person I can trust the spirit of the circle and the circle spirit within my circle sisters. I know them as human, with human weaknesses. But I think of them as also having divine qualities that are being expressed in their lives so strongly now. It’s that divinity that connects us to the circle, to ourselves, to each other. The circle is more than a path; it is my home. It is the place of safety and security for my soul. It can hold me loosely or closely depending on my need.

For many years, I have been conscious of the feeling of reluctance to surrender completely to the love of an individual person, because my need for love and to love would be far too great for any individual to bear. Now I have the circle and circle is strong enough to hold me, to love me unconditionally and to always be there for me. It’s such a comfort.

Joan Kiley

As a body-mind-soul practitioner for over 25 years, I have participated in many trainings, workshops, and seminars. Among them, I consider Jalaja’s circles to be magic made manifest. Empowering the divine feminine through ancient, soft, loving, wisewoman ways, Jalaja is a true spiritual guide and transformational artist.

Seena Russell Axel, Ph.D.

As I reflect on my path in recent years, I touch again the beauty and truth of what Jalaja does and how she allows others to open through the power of divine love. What a gift she brings to the Earth.

Mariah Baird

I am in awe. The workshop was an incredibly powerful experience for me. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience the circle and Jalaja’s clear intuitive guidance. The weekend was a transformative experience for me, and the change is real and lasting.

Nancy Dagenhart

In Jalaja’s circles, I experienced the essence of sisterhood for the first time in my life. I so appreciated her willingness to be present and ever available throughout the workshop – not just to me but to everyone. The journey was a beautiful dance into Self, into the goddess and into nature. What a priceless gift!

Sheila Cotton

I deeply appreciate Jalaja’s ability to cradle and rock, to know when to push and when to pull. I am so grateful for her healing energy and the way she holds the circle.

Susan Livingson Montana

What a beautiful and insightful retreat! I was so positive and upbeat when I arrived home that my husband commented I should go on these retreats more often.

Maribeth D’Amato

Jalaja is the reflection of beauty and goodness. She has given me so much strength. I am becoming a woman, and am deeply grateful to Jalaja.

Penina Ava Taesali

There is no way for me to thank you enough for saving me a spot in the circle. The experience continues to be so present to me that sometimes I feel Jalaja is walking beside me.

Pamela Park

The workshop was so powerful for me. It was amazing to watch Jalaja work with each woman and to feel so safe working with her myself.

Jeanne Elium

Jalaja’s work as she leads women in spiritual discovery, is very, very important now and very necessary to our healing and that of the planet.

Susan McElwee

What a wonderful retreat! It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. … I feel moved to tears of gratitude and happiness when I think of it. It was such a peak experience for me.

Maureen Finnegan

Jalaja gave me the courage to truly care about the desires of my soul. Her vast experience and skills are informed by her deep, wise, and radiant love.

Anne Hudes

I haven’t worked with another workshop leader able to create a sense of group, of intimacy and safety, so quickly. Jalaja’s way of honoring each individual in the workshop, and of sharing her knowledge and her personal experience with the Divine was exceptional. There was a gentle, gentle weaving of the ordinary lives of women and a profound experience of the sacred—I’ve never experienced anything like it.

Lynn Kliman

Circlework heals the healers. For me as a physician, it heals the wounds of modern medicine, its sterility and inhumanity. When I walk in the hospital amongst all the suffering that is there, it is the circle that calls me to remember the ancient ways of healing. Circlework gives me hope. Hope for transformation, hope for forgiveness, hope that we can ease more than just physical pain.

Ana Maria Mihalcea, M.D., Ph.D.

The discipline of Circlework offers a possibility of healing that I do not find anywhere else. It informs my work as a pastor, as a healer, as a grief counselor, for it says a profound “YES” to the reality that diversity can be celebrated and embraced with joy, that conflict can indeed be creative, that community can be lived authentically. Circlework creates a place of freedom where we join our strength to create a place where people can claim their power and be loved and free. I believe that this is the most important contribution we can make to the world’s healing.

Jacquie Lewis

Through Circlework, I found my voice and my wings. More and more, I am bringing the teachings and spirit of the circle to my world, which is the world of corporations and businesses.

Bobbie Goheen

Circlework has opened up room in my life for what I want; for my priorities. I am realizing who I really am and what I need to do. Each time I return to the circle, I come out more myself, and less swayed by the roller coaster of daily life. Contact with the circle is contact with my source, and it feeds me.

Kelly Rees

Circlework allows me to grow, discover, expand and vision myself beyond the boundaries I have erected throughout my life. I expand into a bigger definition of Self. My edges move outward. I fall in love over and over again. As I reclaim more of my essence, I am able to support others on their path so they too can glimpse their depth and beauty. And after being in circle and returning to my life, I continue to expand. Where I previously would have stopped, due to fear, uncertainty, pain, etc., I now move forward. I show up in my life differently, without as much struggle. This is the power of Circlework – its impact is felt not just in the circle, but above all in daily life.

Barbara Osterman

As I reflect today, the greatest gift of Circlework is love. There is a fire of love among us that is our real teacher. It has become our growth medium, constantly expanding and palpable as we work together, grieving, crying, laughing, dancing, singing, sitting in silence. It is a constant presence, an iridescence in our shared journey. How this flame of love has grown among us is a deep mystery that has to do with the yearning of our human hearts and Jalaja’s exquisite timing. I am grateful to be a part of it.

Anne Hudes

I came to Circlework with a lifetime of distrust of groups, with fear of being rejected, different, too strong, too weak, too much or not enough to be accepted, to belong. My experience was really like a homecoming. There was a sense of welcome and deepening familiarity and deep love. I am grateful past words to have found my way here.

Virginia Logan

Community, Communion, Compassion, Communication….four interconnected values. Circlework evolves out of the raw material of real lives, real women, real pain, joy, dreams, visions, hopes, fears. Circlework transforms the glimmer of possibility into realized changes in attitude, breath and breadth of wisdom. Circlework heals me, others, our world.

Anne Waasdorp

Circlework grounds us in that which is greater than ourselves — a bigger energy, a neural web, a vibration of the sacred beyond what we are doing in any given moment.

Marianne Burtle

Circlework has called me to wholeness: to see the places in me and the parts of my life that are in need of healing and longing for wholeness.

Andrea Smith

Jalaja is the most gifted facilitator I have ever worked with. Out of her intention and the willingness of those gathered, she weaves a web of loving connection.

Pam Clark

Circlework is powerful medicine! This experience has changed me in ways I never could have predicted. I’m stepping forward into a new life.

Susan Spangler

Circlework with Jalaja continues to invite me to step into my full womanhood on this planet. I know of no other path that achieves this with such gentleness and strength.

Krista Weih

Working with Jalaja has been invaluable in developing both my own work with adolescent girls. By her example, practice, and teachings, she empowers others to create the type of circle best suited to them.

Julie Nolan

Circlework is a magical, deeply sacred experience. Jalaja creates a space of exquisite gentleness and compassion that nurtures the spirit of each participant.

Paula Alban

With generous love and clear devotion, Jalaja creates sacred ground in which each woman can plant her seed of knowing. In the circle we find a deeper understanding of what is holy in each of us.

Tina Simson

Jalaja’s loving kindness created a safe space for exploration and healing. Together, we experienced the power of healthy group energy.

Margaret Fisher

Imagine yourself lifted on the breath of life, soaring past limitations to be held in the comforting arms of Spirit. That is what Circlework with Jalaja is like.

Pam Lilly

Thanks to the Circlework Training, my work with teams and executives has shifted dramatically. Jalaja has a unique blend of compassion, humor, depth, and self-awareness—she’s one of the wisest women I have ever met. She empowered us individually and as a group to be our best.

Joy M. Collins

Circlework is profound and affects participants forever. Jalaja creates an instant atmosphere of sacredness and safety. She awakens us to the fact that the power of the circle lies within us, and shows us how we can carry it out into the world.

Nancy Cavanaugh

Jalaja Bonheim is a true priestess who leads circles for women with consummate skill and mastery. In my work with her I have experienced deep gentleness, love and safety. Her work is a powerful and much needed tool for planetary transformation and women’s wellness.

Madeleine Jolinksky

I’ve been attending Jalaja Bonheim’s Circlework retreats for three years and revel in the energy, love, and laughter that arise in these circles of women. We can heal ourselves and the world!

Sue Perlgut

In a short two days I came to feel a sisterhood with women who I had never met. I am leaving this retreat with a wide open heart, and will carry this feeling into my life.

Alice Saltonstall

This work is deeply transformative. Jalaja is such a gifted, gentle and compassionate facilitator.

Elizabeth Sutherland

For so long I have longed to connect deeply with other women. After working with Jalaja and the circle, I feel so deeply connected, loved and seen by all the women that were a part of creating sacred space together. My body feels so full of love and my Spirit so alive!

Cara Stone

I loved everything about the circle, especially how it connected us with the guidance of the heart and brought us together. Jalaja didn’t miss a moment. She was there when I needed her, and met me where I was.

Janet Haiak

This work is deeply transformative. Jalaja is such a gifted, gentle and compassionate facilitator.

Elizabeth Sutherland

I am absolutely amazed. I experienced three days filled with light and magic/ enchantment, significant learning, and connection to others. What a gift!

Shulamit Shachaf

The circles and the way Jalaja facilitated them were amazing. She taught us how to set boundaries clearly and confidently. I learned so much from her. Everything we went through together helped us grow and connect.

Ilana Ehrman

I returned back home filled with positive energy. When my husband saw how brightly my light was shining, he said he wanted to do Circlework, too.

Hanna Atali

Circlework brings women together in very authentic and genuine ways. They learn how to deeply respect and hear each other with open hearts. The space that gets created is nurturing, sacred, and respectful. Through Circlework, I come home to myself and to my center.

Helena Cooper

The training was profound and connected us to Spirit and each other. Through this work, we can bring peace to our communities.

Lourdes Roa

Circlework is heart-based and nourishing. It helps me remember who I am, and I highly recommend it to any woman.

Shoshanna Blickstein

I watch Jalaja carefully to see how she is going to handle a situation. She intuits exactly what is called for. She has mastered that Ikebana art of removing what is inessential. She allows that silence, that reverberation time, that spaciousness.

Jinny Miller

Jalaja possesses remarkable skill in leading participants to speak from the heart and to reclaim their souls. Circlework reconnected me with my authentic self.

Dorothy Ferguson

Circlework offers the invitation to sit and meet yourself with non-judgment and eyes of love. To see yourself, and see your reflection in the other participants eyes. To step into your wholeness, your being. It is a holding and allowing of ‘presence’ to be exactly where you are in the moment. It extends an offering to heal and move old wounds and resultant behaviors and habits that no longer serve us. With the ability to see ourselves and express ourselves more fully, we can more fully inhabit who we are in our wholeness. We can embrace others with softer eyes, deeper compassion and a more open heart. In this space of openness, we experience the fullness of the Circle coming through us into motion and emotion, like the waves of the ocean, coming from such a rich source of infinite healing and expansion.
I am more fully living in this ocean of wisdom and love.
I am so appreciative.
I am so grateful.

Gaila Newburg