SANCTUARY REPLAY: Self-Alchemy Coworking Circle for Sensitive Self-Healers with Marina
Connect with the parts of you longing for healing and transformation.
Monday, in Sanctuary Circle…
A small circle of us gathered inside The Nourished Sensitive Collective sanctuary for the first Self-Alchemy Coworking Circle for Sensitive Self-Healers with Marina.
If you missed the recent 🌸 Blooming with Conversation where we went over the four-self healing skills we’ll practice in circle, you can watch it here.
Winter in Sanctuary Circle.
The energy in circle this week was unmistakably “soft-sleepy-slumber-party” in the best way possible.
Lynn joined circle from home, wrapped in a fuzzy green sweater with fresh snow piled up outside. Marina called in from New Hampshire, where the early darkness had her body wanting sleep. And I joined from my bedroom, curled up with my “boyfriend” body pillow after a long workday, yawning before we even began. 🥱
We started with a brief, hand-over-the-heart, grounding breath.
It felt like the perfect way to honor the purpose of this Self-Alchemy Coworking Circle:
a space to meet the parts of ourselves that are ready to transform not by fixing, but by listening and loving.
Try it yourself. Put a hand on your heart now, and take a long inhale with an extended exhale. Did you feel yourself ground?
As you sit with this moment — with winter, with yourself, with whatever surfaced inside you — I’d love to hear:
what’s one small way you’re holding yourself this season?
A Moment of Grounding
We began with our usual check-ins:
Lynn admitted she could’ve stayed in the opening hand-on-heart grounding “for at least five more minutes,” because it felt deeply restorative for her.
Marina named her own scattered, sleepy energy and set an intention “to hold compassionate space for us to explore our inner world.”
and I shared how I’ve been working all day on content for TNS, and mostly just wanted this circle to help more people discover the healing that Marina is holding here.
From there, we shifted into the heart of the night: a guided journey into our imaginative sacred forest space to meet the parts of us most ready for transformation.
Our anchor inquiry for the evening was simple, but potent:
What part of me is ready to be alchemized right now?
Opening Meditation: Sacred Forest Visualization for Self-Alchemy and Personal Healing
After check in, Marina led us through a deeply grounding, sensory-visual meditation designed to help us arrive in our bodies and step into an inner landscape where we could meet ourselves.
In this visualization practice, we:
settled into cozy positions with our blankets and pillows, and placed a hand over the heart, tracing small circles to gently arrive.
imagined a grounding cord flowing from the base of the spine down through snow, soil,and bedrock into the earth’s center, releasing anything no longer needed and receiving steady nourishment in return.
We then invited a column of iridescent white light down through the crown, filling the body from toes to head and expanding into our aura (the space around the body).
From there, we wandered into a visualization of a sacred forest where Marina guided us to meet parts of ourselves.
Not trying to fix, just simply noticing:
Who or what is this part?
How does it appear or feel?
What does it want me to know?
Compassion and curiosity did the work. Awareness did the alchemy.
Here’s a short preview of Marina’s Self-Alchemy Meditation.
You’ll also receive instant access to our library of replays, meditations, and journal prompts from previous circles.
Inside the Conversation
After the meditation, we returned to our anchor question:
What part of me is ready to be alchemized, and what does it need me to know?
A few powerful threads emerged from sharing:
💚 Attachment, loyalty & letting go
Leah shared the pain of past friendships fading or breaking, and we named the difference between seasonal connections and reciprocal, enduring ones. We explored how clinging to what’s ending can block what’s meant to arrive, and began connecting with a wiser, more discerning guardian of reciprocity.
💚 Receiving without earning
Lynn’s imagery of gemstones in her meditation sparked a conversation about how hard it can be to simply receive without trying to earn it. We reflected on allowing goodness to land without repayment.
💚 Business grief & spiritual perspective
Marina met a bruised, exhausted, weary part of her entrepreneurial self. We honored how real and layered business grief can be, and how personal growth and healing often requires time, compassion, and spiritual spaciousness.
💚 Boundaries & love
We explored the difference between loving someone and giving them ongoing access to us. Reflecting that healthy boundaries don’t diminish love; they protect self-respect and spiritual integrity.
Underneath every thread was the reminder that:
Self-alchemy isn’t about fixing ourselves—it’s about softening old stories so something truer can emerge.
Member Intentions:
At the end of circle, we always share our intentions:
Marina: “Give this exhausted, bruised business-part more time and compassion. Let my intuition guide the shape of Self-Alchemy Circle as I move through this transformative season.”
Lynn: “Practice receiving—gifts, support, spiritual messages—without insisting I must earn them. Let myself be energized by the sun and by small acts of kindness.”
Leah: “Alchemize the part of me that clings to every relationship into a discerning, self-honoring guardian who can bless people as they go and trust that new, aligned connections will find me.”
We’ll revisit these intentions in future Self-Alchemy circles and see how they’ve unfolded.
What’s one intention you’d like to carry forward into this next stretch of your season— for your heart, your relationships, or your inner world?
A Sanctuary to Ground, Connect, and Grow
If this kind of guided inner journey felt good to you to read, imagine having a place to return to twice a month.
A room of sensitive souls lying under blankets, eyes closed, relaxing into healing. A place where you can bring your questions, your tiredness, your shadow parts, and be met with belonging.
If that sounds like something you’ve been quietly longing for, you’re warmly invited to access the full archive of Sanctuary Circles and join us live for every gathering in sanctuary by upgrading your membership tier.
You don’t have to attend every gathering to get the full benefit of this space. All recordings are provided within 48 hours of gathering.
Paying members of The Collective receive:
🗝️ TNSC Members-Only Section
Watch the Full Circle Replay
For those who’d like to revisit the circle or join us in spirit, here is the full recording of our time together along with the full circle meditation, journal prompts, an energy clearing Marina led us through, and a closing blessing: