Women's Meditation Circle in SW Florida - 20 Years Strong | Starsoundings-A Community of Spiritual Seekers

Begun in 2006

Women's Meditation Circle SW FL

Rising Tide Spiritual Center
5102 Swift Road (Between Ashton & Proctor)
Sarasota FL
3rd Friday Monthly Unless Posted in RED in Calendar Below
Doors Open at 6:30 pm - Close at 7 pm - Meditation Ends at 8 pm
Meditations are IN PERSON - By donation to Rising Tide
Calendar Schedule Below

"If every child in the world was taught to meditate, we would eliminate violence in one generation" The Dalai Lama

Our History ...

Begun with 8 women in January 2006 the Women's Meditation Circle has grown to over 500. It has served southwest Florida's spiritual community in gatherings of friendship, respect, and devotion. We meet on the third Friday of the month - (see schedule below.) The Circle is a place where women come together, hold intentions of healing, of planetary peace, and focus on the raising of human consciousness. 2026 is our 20th year leading the group. It's now time to move in new directions that will include holding meditations and spiritual classes in smaller groups. In 2026 Christy Perry takes the baton and leads it into it's next decade. She invites experienced guest meditation leaders to bring their practices to the group. Each leader comes from a different spiritual background, training or discipline and is capable of holding space and leading large groups. Meditations are varied and include guided visualization, mindfulness, movement, sound and chanting as well as silence.

All of our meditations can be found on our YouTube Channel. It includes shortened versions of your favorites, like Green Tara, Ho'Oponopono, The Medicine Buddha and dozens more. We hope you'll find them useful and inspiring. If you do, please subscribe to the channel.

Altars over the years

How to meditate ...

We're often asked, how do you meditate? Many feel meditation is a mystical secret known only to the spiritually advanced or to yogi masters. When you heard how simple it was, you assumed it was not a “real” meditation. Actually, meditation is very simple, but the impact on the life of someone who regularly meditates can be significant. Meditation is a practice that brings inner calm and resets the "outer noise" we're exposed to every day. Here are a few easy steps from our book, Meditation - The Art & Practice.

* Schedule it at the same time - early morning is best.
* Set aside a private place in your home and make it your meditation area
* Sit comfortably and upright. If you're more comfortable in a chair, use one
* Schedule about 10-15 minutes for beginners. More experienced can go longer
* Begin with a prayer or whatever you feel inclined to set a reverent approach
* Focus your attention on an ideal, or your breath, or a mantra like OM. Use whatever works for you
* When thoughts wander, (and they will) gently bring yourself back to the breath and re-center
* After meditation, rest in a few moments of silence before starting normal daily activities

Videos to find meditations that might work for you, Go to the Downloads Page Tab. Or you can also sample a brief selection by clicking > Sample of our Meditations

2026 Meditation Calendar / Schedule

Guided Meditations Led by Experienced Practitioners

Jan 16: Patricia Cockerill - Heart Consciousness
Feb 20: Maureen McSweeney, Partnering with Earth
Mar 20: Spring Equinox - Caroline Crawford @ Unity of Sarasota. MEN INVITED
Apr 17: Bev Templeton - Al Badawi Earth Day Tree
May 15: Ali Nieves - Closing a Cycle with Irene Hayden on Crystal Bowls
Jun 19: Summer Solstice - Jewell Cochara @ Unity of Sarasota. MEN INVITED
Jul 17: Diana Wyatt - Earth Grounding with Pam Jones on Tibetan Bowls
Aug 21: Jennifer Sault
Sep 18: Fall Equinox - Pam Cooper @ Unity of Sarasota. MEN INVITED
Oct 16: Manuela Bass - Sound Nidra
Nov 13: Jo Mooy - Tonglen Meditation - Brownie B-day Bash - with Faerie Elaine & Annie Williams
Dec 18: Winter Solstice - Christine Abbey @Unity of Sarasota. MEN INVITED

Awards - Honors - Anniversaries - Ceremonies

The Women's Meditation Circle and the Spiritual Community achieved many awards and honors over the past 20 years. The Circle was honored by the Charities it supported which included Hurricane Relief, Feeding the Hungry, and The Wheel of Conscious Creation. In addition it was chosen as Favorite Meditation Leaders by Natural Awakenings Magazine six times in a row until the category was retired. We conducted many ceremonies including the signature ceremony of The Prism of Light which established Sarasota as one of 22 Cities of Light. We gratefully served the community in many endeavors and will continue to do so. The photos below are but a small sampling of the honorariums and awards. Included below are links to The Blue Light Meditations, The Prism of Light story and the 20th Anniversary film.

Of note - Patricia Cockerill's meditation THE THREE PORTALS was chosen by Insight Time as a "BEST FEATURED MEDITATION". The editors wrote to say, "The Editorial Board of Insight Timer has chosen The Three Portals as a 'Featured Meditation.' We encourage our 15 million meditators to use it." Within hours of its appearance accolades attesting to its depth, serenity and spaciousness poured in from around the world. We chose this meditation to be the Hallmark of the Blue Light Meditations which occur on the 2nd Saturday each month at 9 a.m. on ZOOM.