Sirius Community

Compassionate Communication Course (Class 3 of 6)
2024-11-24 13:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Massachusetts
Over six weekly classes, we’ll learn tools to create more understanding, connection, and empathy in charged emotional situations. The course is inspired by Marshall Rosenberg’s Non-violent Communication, or “NVC”.
Compassionate communication invites us to explore the underlying needs behind the feelings that come up in charged conflicts. Using an “NVC” approach we’re called to listen with curiosity and empathy to ourselves and to each other as a basis for engaging in challenging conversations head-on. NVC has become a powerful support for our community’s conflict resolution process. It’s not perfect, or a cure-all, but it gives us a language of the heart that can foster the connection needed to work through issues. We look forward to connecting with you all and exploring these concepts and practices!
Registration
Course Details

Compassionate Communication (Class 4 of 6)
2024-12-01 13:00 - 15:30 | Massachusetts

Compassionate Communication (Class 5 of 6)
2024-12-08 13:00 - 15:30 | Massachusetts

Compassionate Communication Course (Final Class 6)
2024-12-15 13:00 - 15:30 | Massachusetts

Egg Hunt
2025-04-19 14:00 - 15:00 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States

Gaia Dance
2025-04-25 16:00 - 23:00 | Massachusetts

SEMA-Live music and Sufi whirling meditation
2025-05-24 19:30 - 22:00 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
Join us for a sacred and mystical evening of Sema on Saturday, May 24th, at the Octagon in the Sirius Community. This devotional gathering invites all into a space of presence, prayer, turning, and live music — an offering of the heart through movement and sound.
The evening will be led by Omar Aena, a spiritual guide and movement facilitator walking the Sufi path, and the founder of Dance Beyond — a movement and music collective devoted to healing, remembrance, and sacred embodiment. Dance Beyond blends ecstatic dance, ritual, world music, and spiritual practice, creating spaces where people can reconnect with their essence beyond form. The work is rooted in universal mysticism and the language of love that transcends all traditions.
Inspired by the Sufi practice of whirling meditation (Sema), this event is open to all hearts and paths — an invitation to stillness, devotion, and deep communion.
Musicians for the evening:
Althea – A gifted violinist whose playing carries both tenderness and fire, inviting listeners into a deeply felt experience.
Loudingirra Ozdemir – A traveling saz player and storyteller from Turkey, Loudingirra is on a journey through 100 countries, creating music with local artists along the way. His work bridges cultures and traditions through the ancient art of Anatolian troubadours.
Amanda Turk – Percussion

LAST DAY OF MAY DANCE
2025-05-31 16:00 - 23:00 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
On Saturday, May 31st starting at 4:00 PM Sirius is hosting an all-inclusive event complete with our wood-fired sauna, shared potluck dinner at 6:00 PM and healing movement through live music and dancing!

Welcome Summer Dance
2025-06-27 18:00 - 23:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Join Sirius Ecovillage On June 27th for a full-body activation with our wood-fired sauna, deep connection over a shared potluck dinner and healing movement through music and dance!
♨️4:00pm (and onward) – Sauna – Enjoy our famous wood-fired sauna throughout the evening (Clothing optional, please bring your own towel!)
🍨 6:00pm – Community Potluck Dinner – Bring a healthy vegetarian dish to share (or $10). Organic and local food is encouraged
8:00pm – Drum circle – We have a limited amount of drums, if you have a drum please bring it along.
9:00pm -11:00pm DJ set with DJ DOM
🛏Rustic Ecovillage rooms are available for your stay:
$71/night (Twin bed)
$99/night (Queen bed)
Email 📩 guest.services@siriuscommunity.org

Introduction to Emotional Healing Processes.
2025-06-28 18:00 - 21:00 | Massachusetts
There is a difference between feelings, which originate in the present and are for handling things, and emotions, which are unhealed wounds that originate from the past. This workshop is about learning how to be in touch with your feelings without getting stuck in emotional reactivity. There is a difference!
We will experientially go over the Four Feelings Cycle, how to get out of stuck emotional patterns, how to extract wisdom from your feelings, and how to heal emotional wounds.
More specifically, we’ll cover the distinctions between:

Feelings (origin is in the present) vs Emotions (origin is in a past, unhealed wound
Conscious and unconscious uses of feeling
What an Emotional Healing Process is, how to trace emotional reactivity to the wound it is rooted in, and how to make new decisions about that wound

We will practice:

Feeling our feelings
Distinguishing between our feelings and emotional reactivity
Holding vacuum spaces for others so they can express higher levels of feeling
How to be with and let emotional energy move in our bodies
Treating our feelings not as second-class citizens to our minds, but as valuable sources of information and energy for our lives

“Give someone a healing process and they’ll be okay for a day. Teach people how to hold emotional healing processes for each other, and they’ll be okay for a lifetime.” – someone, once.
6-9pm @ Sirius Community
$25, no one turned away for lack of funds

Bios:

Daway is an intimacy negotiator and mythic storyteller. His favorite hobby is going into “liquid state,” the groundlessness that happens when old stories about the world and who he can be, dissolve. He loves being with people committed to the hard work of ego transformation and creating ecstatic communities with those kinds of folks.
Meredith is a community researcher and former school teacher who cares deeply about helping people become more alive and have better, more connected, and more intimate relationships with each other. She is a somatic practitioner who works with stuck emotions in the body.

http://www.dawaychouren.com
http://www.meredithwitt.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/621715354214182/
Registration Link Here > https://forms.gle/gspYJ2BvcAPBz6s28

Interdependence Day
2025-07-04 12:00 - 17:00 | Massachusetts
Join us in the field this Friday to celebrate our Inter-dependence! Bring something to be put on the grill, play some volleyball, trade goods on the potlatch blanket, do some crafting, bring a song, poem, or dance, read our interdependence day decree as is Sirius tradition! Bring a picnic blanket, chair, plate/silverware, and be ready for a good time! Friday July 4th from 12-5pm on the Sirius Field

Sound Healing
2025-07-11 18:30 - 19:30 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Join us at Sirius Community for a sound healing lead by Nicole Ward (https://www.prismlighthealing.com) & Leo Ryan.

Why sound?

Have you ever witnessed live music and felt the vibrations of a bass or drum that was so low that it vibrated your body? Have you ever heard the piercing clarity of a bell that instantly brought your awareness into the moment? Have you ever been soothed into a trance through the gentle ambience of a repetitive sound?
Sometimes these sounds can be jarring and annoying, but they can also be therapeutic when used intentionally for the purpose of healing. For thousands of years, every human culture has evolved the use of sound to facilitate physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual release and cohesion. Journeying with sound is perhaps our oldest and ever-relevant method of medicine.
Introducing specific fields of resonance through healing sounds to the body creates an immediate affect. Through the process of entrainment, the body is encouraged to energetically reorganize into a more coherent pattern, which shows up in the physical as the relief of blockages and activation of sluggish cells. The vibrational conversation that occurs between the body and the instruments is a deep one that spans beyond the conscious mind. It is through this conversation that the body’s natural systems are inspired to find new and refreshed pathways of health, vitality, creativity, and conscious choice.
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Many people report experiences of spontaneous insight, increased energy, clarity of mind, sustainable focus, calm wellbeing, and attunement to extrasensory perception when working with sound in this way.

Sirius Music Festival
2025-07-26 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
Join us for a day of music, dancing & fun!
This year’s music festival will be from 12pm- 7pm in the beautiful field of Sirius Community. There will be four local bands and artists including Blind Spot, John Sprague, Loudingirra Özdemir, and Star Body!

Silent Ground, Speaking Heart: A Zen and Relational Meditation Retreat for Young Adults (18-35)
2025-08-05 17:00 - 2025-08-10 12:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Led by Sofia-Jeanne Caring and Patrick Kennyō Dunn
This retreat is an invitation into two complementary forms of spiritual inquiry: silent meditation and interactive relational practice. Each of these practices reveals different dimensions of awareness, presence, and truth. In stillness, we encounter ourselves beyond words; in dialogue, we discover ourselves in the mirror of another. Held together, these practices form a powerful combination that helps loosen our stuck patterns and open the heart of compassion.
True transformation requires the courage to meet ourselves exactly as we are— in both comfort and challenge. Both practices (meditation + circling) invite us to bravely step beyond familiar patterns, to sit with discomfort rather than turn away, and to remain present even when vulnerability arises. When we willingly walk to our own edges, our capacity for presence expands in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
Our days will weave between seated meditation and relational meditation, a practice of authentic, present-moment interaction and dialogue. In meditation, we return to the breath, the body, and the bare experience of being. In circling, we open to the immediacy of connection, curiosity, and relationship. Both practices are rooted in presence and inquiry. Rather than compartmentalizing the two, we’ll explore how they can enrich, complement and inform each other!
This retreat is for those drawn to explore reality not just on their own cushion, but also in the living field of human connection. Together we’ll create a field of sincerity, reverence, and play.

Woman Soul
2025-08-15 17:00 - 2025-08-19 12:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Woman Soul is a healing retreat for women. It is a community where the mystical is honored, evoked, and celebrated in new ways and with a down-to-earth style for over 35 years.
This is a private event. Registration is closed.

YMAA North America Camp
2025-08-21 07:00 - 2025-08-24 17:30 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
3rd YMAA camp in North America!

Join us once again for the highly anticipated YMAA North America Camp — now at an exciting new location! This year, we’re gathering in the peaceful woodlands of western Massachusetts, offering an inspiring natural setting to focus and reconnect.
Whether you’re a returning student or new to the experience, come train alongside fellow martial arts enthusiasts from around the world. As always, all international participants are warmly welcome!

Spirit of the Heart (Private Event)
2025-08-29 15:00 - 2025-08-31 15:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Join us for an Intensive Weekend of Silat and Fun. This retreat offers an in-depth study of Indonesian Silat in the beautiful setting of Sirius Community , in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Sirius Community is a non-profit educational center and spiritual community that aims to live by principles of spiritual attunement, community, and sustainable living. We host educational retreats and events in alignment with these values. We share comfortable rooms and delicious meals. We have time to dive deeper into our training and often invite instructors from other styles so we can all try new things. It is a wonderful way to end the summer. We hope you can join us!

SEMA Massachusetts: Sufi Whirling & Live Music
2025-09-13 16:00 - 23:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
“I once had a thousand desires, but in my one desire to know You, all else melted away.” – Rumi

We invite you to join us as we turn inward in reflection and devotion for a special Sema Ceremony, an evening of prayer, music, whirling, and remembrance.

Sema is a tradition rooted in Sufism that combines devotional chanting, live music, and whirling meditation. It was founded by the 13th-century mystic Rumi, whose poetry speaks of love, longing, and union with the Divine. Through the spinning movement and the power of sound, the ego dissolves, and the tangible world fades away, revealing the deep peace that has always been within.

Whether you come to whirl, chant, or simply sit in stillness and listen, you are welcome. No prior experience is needed, just an open heart.

Music by:

Lou on the saz
Charlotte on the violin
Albany on percussion

Schedule:
– 4PM: Sauna
– 7PM: Potluck
– 8PM: Sema Begins

Join us in this sacred night of sound, movement, and remembrance.

Address:
Sirius Community
72 Baker Rd, Shutesbury, MA 01072

The gathering at Sirius
2025-10-04 17:00 - 23:00 | Massachusetts
Join us to celebrate 47 years of Sirius!
On October 4th we will gather to eat, connect, and dance. Bring a vegetarian dish to share, dinner will start at 6.
At 8pm our dear resident Ko will host an authentic relating circle.
Then, at 9 an Ecstatic Dance with Dom will begin!
The sauna will be lit by 5 and will go until 11.
The suggested donation is $20, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Address is 72 Baker Rd, Shutesbury.

5 Elements Immersion: Where Wilderness Survival & Ancient Medicine Meet
2025-10-10 10:00 - 2025-10-12 16:00 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
Learn Ayurvedic & Chinese 5 Elements Medicine systems through living them, hands-on and in nature. Gain essential skills for self-reliance and wilderness survival. Join Jonathan Glass ND with wilderness guides Joshua Glass and Melina Feuvrier-Etevenard.

About the Event

Reconnect to nature’s power.

Come get grounded, reconnect with the Earth, and awaken your ancient instincts. Over 3 powerful days, you’ll dive into earth-based living, explore the Five Elements through Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and learn hands-on wilderness skills that nourish the body, mind, and spirit

Let’s pause the scrolling, put down the tech, and tune back in—to nature, community, and your deeper self.

Who is This For?

✨ Nature-lovers, Adventurers and Seekers looking for a fresh relationship with nature and to gain real skills

✨ Healers, Educators, and Parents ready to embody Five Element medicine at a deeper level

✨ Humans needing to unplug, reset, and return to what’s real

What You’ll Learn

🔥 Fire Making & Shelter Building – Make fire with stone and wood, build primitive shelter to keep you warm and dry

🌱 Foraging Wild Food & Medicine – Identify and prepare edible and medicinal plants

🧭 Natural Navigation – Find your way using natural signs, not screens or maps

🍲 Ayurvedic Cooking – Balance your dosha with ancient dietary wisdom. Learn primitive cooking techniques

🌀 System of 5 Element Medicine – Know the elements through a well-designed balance of theory and experience

We’ll weave in Five Element wisdom from both Ayurveda and TCM, helping you make real-world connections between nature and your own inner ecosystem.

What You’ll Experience

🔹 One-on-One Elemental Consultation with Jonathan Glass, ND, MAc

🔹 Wildcrafted Organic Meals – prepared with local, garden fresh, and foraged ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner

🔹 Cozy Rooms or Forest Camping – your choice: private or shared rooms, or tenting in the autumn woods

🔹 Evenings in Circle – storytelling, reflection, song and real connection

🔹 Hands-On Skills – create directly from the Earth with nothing but your hands

🔹 Living in Community – share daily life with like-minded people

Circle Dance
2025-10-15 19:00 - 21:00 | 72 Baker Road Shutesbury, MA 01072, MA, United States
Wednesday October 15, 2025
from 7 – 9 pm
Dear friends, Pablo Scornik and Sergio Malqui, amazing Circle Dance teachers from Argentina are leading at Sirius Ecovillage!
We love the diversity and combination of styles and
states of consciousness that Circle Dance brings!
All dances are taught and beginners are welcome.
To get Peace and Healing over the earth, we need to open ourselves to our own Peace and Healing … and dancing is such a great way to do it.
When: Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 7 – 9 pm
Where: Sirius Ecovillage
72 Baker Road, Shutesbury, MA 01072
https://siriuscommunity.org
Cost: Voluntary Donation 10 – 25 dollars. (Sirius members and apprentices come for free. Scholarships are available for others who may need it.)
To dance on the gorgeous Octagon floor,
please bring clean indoor dancing shoes or bare feet.
Pablo was born in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina in 1965. He got his medical professional degree from the National University of La Plata in 1990.
Looking for a path between medicine and traditional dance spirit, he found Circle Dance in 1992 and has since danced and taught all over the world, bringing his beauty and expertise to a wide variety of places.
Sergio is from Santa Fe, Argentina, and has a background in folk dance. For him, finding Circle Dance was the beginning of an odyssey of becoming aware of himself and his mission. He continues to bring his beauty and spirit to many, expanding this wonderful practice as a tool to find the way back home.
This special event is an introductory session to these wonderful teachers who are also leading a special workshop at Neskaya in Franconia, New Hampshire.
(There may be some spaces still available in the weekend event if it calls you)
Neskaya
See you soon! Please share this invitation with your friends.
Autumn Blessings, Love, Gwyn Peterdi
More about Pablo
More about Sergio
More Information:
worldcircledance@gmail.com
World Circle Dance
+1 413 427 9841

Insight Dialogue Teacher Training Retreat
2025-11-12 12:00 - 2025-11-16 12:00 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher Training Retreat
With Gregory Kramer

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This four day retreat offers an opportunity for the Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher Group to meet in-person and to receive guidance and training from the Insight Dialogue founding teacher, Gregory Kramer.

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What Is Insight Dialogue?

Insight Dialogue is an interpersonal meditation practice based in the wisdom teachings of the Buddha. It has the same purposes and traditional roots as silent meditation: developing mindfulness, compassion and liberating insight while investigating present moment experience.
The foundation of Insight Dialogue is a whole-life vision of the spiritual path: every moment of our lives is part of our path, so our meditation should include both interpersonal and individual practices. The roots of suffering run deep; to dissolve them we fully meet all things—including other people—with alertness and care.

The-Gathering-Salsa Dance
2025-11-22 18:30 - 23:00 | Massachusetts
This month, we are having a salsa party! There will be a potluck from 6:30 pm-8 pm. We will begin the salsa rueda class at 8 pm. Salsa rueda is a Cuban-style salsa dance also known as “casino”. Celadry will be teaching until 9pm, when the open dance will begin, which will be Latin music all night. The sauna will be open and hot from 5pm-midnight. See you then!

Sema
2025-11-29 15:00 - 23:00 | Massachusetts
We invite you to join us as we turn inward in reflection and devotion for a special Sema Ceremony, an evening of prayer, music, whirling, and remembrance.
Sema is a tradition rooted in Sufism that combines devotional chanting, live music, and whirling meditation. It was founded by the 13th-century mystic Rumi, whose poetry speaks of love, longing, and union with the Divine. Through the spinning movement and the power of sound, the ego dissolves, and the tangible world fades away, revealing the deep peace that has always been within.
Whether you come to whirl, chant, or simply sit in stillness and listen, you are welcome. No prior experience is needed — just an open heart.

Sound Meditation
2025-12-06 16:30 - 17:45 | Sirius Community Center, 18 Community Center Drive, Shutesbury, MA, 01072
Experience gongs, crystal bowls and other resonant instruments as you rest in the awareness sound

A sacred community celebration
2026-01-03 05:00 - 23:30 | Massachusetts
First Saturday – A sacred community celebrationSirius Ecovillage (72 Baker Rd, Shutesbury, MA)Saturday, January 3rd | 5:00pm – 11:30pm (drop in anytime!)Join us at Sirius Ecovillage for full-body activation with our wood-fired sauna, deep connection over a shared potluck dinner and ceremonial Cacao, and healing movement through Live music and Soul Dance!What We’ll Be Exploring Together:5:00pm (and onward) – Sauna – Enjoy our famous wood-fired sauna throughout the evening (Clothing optional, please bring your own towel!) 6:00pm – Community Potluck Dinner – Bring a healthy vegetarian dish to share (or contribute an extra $10 for a nourishing meal). Organic and local food is encouraged8:00pm – Cacao and Music Ceremony with Jason Cohen & Imani Elijah. Circle Up, Find our Presence, Open our Hearts, and Sing & Dance Together with our delicious ethically-sourced ceremonial cacao, brewed by Anton10:00pm – Soul flow and sound healing by DJ Dom$20-30 for the whole event. (Pay what you can – no one turned away for lack of funds). Clothing Swap – Bring clean, gently used clothes to share, and take home something you love!Venmo @Anton-Pavlov-1https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2083715169648640006…Creating a Safe & Supportive SpaceWe are committed to creating a safe, welcoming space for dance and connection. Respect, clear communication, and mutual care are at the heart of our community.We’ll open our spaces with guidelines for requests, responses, and honoring boundaries. Our Emotional Support Team is here if you need anything.Let’s co-create a space where everyone feels honored, respected, and free to express themselves. We value your feedback and are always open to ideas and suggestions!We look forward to sharing this beautiful evening with you!—Join us the next day for:Hatha Yoga with Valico at 8:00amWaffle Brunch and Coffee at 9:30amCommunity tour at 11:00amRustic Ecovillage rooms are available for your stay:$71/night (Twin bed)$99/night (Queen bed)guest.services@siriuscommunity.org
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The Gathering at Sirius Community - January
2026-01-31 18:00 - 23:00 | Massachusetts
The Gathering at Sirius Community

Upcoming event at an ecovillage near you! Come to Sirius Community on January 31st for an ecstatic dance.
Our evening together will begin at 6:30pm with a potluck in the community center.
Once our bellies are full and the potluck is complete, we will be guided by Eric, a resident of Sirius, on a circle singing journey. We will learn some beloved circle songs and how circling while singing works. You can incorporate this practice within songs you love.
After spending time singing, we will open up the dance floor with music curated by another Sirius resident, DJ Dom.
Throughout the night, folks are welcome to use the wood-fired sauna next to the community center.
Accommodations are available if you choose to stay the night here in the forest of Shutesbury. The next morning, after the full moon, we can begin February together with a yoga flow, followed by a waffle brunch.
You won’t want to miss the first Gathering of the year, and we are so excited to see you!

The Gathering
2026-03-07 18:30 - 23:00 | Massachusetts
Saturday March 7
Join the Sirius Community for our monthly dance in the Octagon!
Enjoy the spacious wood-fired sauna, a
cozy potluck dinner, heart-centered
Authentic Relating led by Nathan Kessel,
and a World Psych Funk Vinyl set by
our very own DJ Djbril
Overnight accommodations available!
Reach out for pricing
guest.services@siriuscommunity.org
Sunday Morning:
Yoga at 8 am with Valico
Waffle Brunch served afterwards!

Authentic relating
2026-03-08 11:00 - 14:00 | Massachusetts
Join Nathan and Aisha in creating a space of presence and connection through meditation and relational activities. This is a donation-based event. Develop aliveness, awareness, and presence in your interactions with others. Practicing authentic relating is a wonderful tool for fostering meaningful connections. We hope to see you there.

Circle Singing
2026-03-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Massachusetts
Join us on Wednesday, March 11th, from 7:30-9:00 pm to experience and learn circle singing, hosted and led by Eric Giordano.

Circle singing is an improvisational vocal technique to create music together from scratch, or from some tunes you know and love. You will leave this event knowing how circle singing works, which we hope can empower everyone to share and create music with others.

If you’ve been looking for a musical event to inspire your creativity while connecting with others, then this is for you. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Please contact Eric.giordano@siriuscommunity.org if you have any questions about the event.
