WINTER
WISE CIRCLE
Imagine a sacred space to land each week?
What if group therapy and a soul-nourishing listening circle fell in love with a writer’s retreat… and then moved into a cozy mountain cabin full of cashmere blankets?
6 Weeks
Every Tuesday
Start: Tuesday, January 6
Finish: Tuesday, February 10
9AM PT / NOON ET / 5PM UK
WELCOME TO MY
SIGNATURE OFFERING
WISE CIRCLE
A small-group offering for humans who are ready to tend to their inner life with presence, kindness and community. Designed to nurture healing and spiritual growth within a supportive and intimate space.
CHALLENGES OR FRUSTRATIONS
You might be currently
facing on the spiritual path.
❄️ Feeling emotionally alone and long for safe, soulful connection.
❄️ I get caught in overthinking, self-criticism or creative paralysis.
❄️ I want meaningful spiritual practice but don’t have a structure or guide to follow.
❄️ I’ve been neglecting my own needs and craving consistent, gentle self-care rhythm.
Wise Circle integrates mindfulness, therapeutic practices, and spiritual exploration to to cultivate deep self-awareness and emotional resilience.
We’ll explore new beginnings, sacred circles, movement (body and emotions), music, drawing, writing and sitting meditation Through guided practices and heartfelt muses, you’ll be held in a compassionate environment where vulnerability is honored and meaningful connections emerge.
No prior experience in meditation, writing, or drawing is needed.
Here’s What You’ll Receive Over The Six Weeks (At a Glance)
6 Live Wise Circles (90 minutes each)
Intimate group sessions on Zoom with a maximum of 6 participants.
6 Weekly Practice Labs (video + audio)
Focused explorations of movement, music, drawing, writing, meditation, and the opening overture.
6 Guided Meditations
Simple, calming practices you can revisit anytime.
6 Yoga Classes (pre-recorded)
A library of 6 unique yoga classes from SoulFULL Solutions NYC to support your movement practice.
Access to my 21-Day Guided Meditation Adventure
A $199 value, included with your Wise Circle tuition.
A Small, Tender Community
Wise and deep listening. Thoughtful reflections. A place to be fully seen and heard.
Lifetime Access to all digital materials
Revisit practices, meditations, and labs at your own pace, long after the circle ends.
GUESS WHAT…
There was a season in my life when I felt like I was carrying everything alone. The grief, questions, creative longing and spiritual ache for something real. My practices scattered everywhere, nothing felt grounded or connected. I kept thinking I should be able to hold it all by myself, but the truth was I was overwhelmed, stuck in my head, and deeply hungry for a place to land.
What changed everything for me was the moment I realized I didn’t need a perfect practice, I needed a container.
A rhythm.
A small circle of people who weren’t afraid of honesty or depth.
A place where I could show up as I was, without performing, and begin again.
That was the epiphany: transformation doesn’t come from force or discipline. Shift comes from returning. From being held. From simple practices repeated inside a supportive circle.
And that’s exactly why I created Wise Circle.
So you don’t have to navigate this alone.
So you can experience what I did: clarity, presence, connection, and a gentle structure that helps your inner life bloom.
I’ve Been Where You Are
There was a time when my inner life felt scattered and heavy. I was trying to meditate, write, reflect, heal — but without support or structure, everything felt overwhelming. I thought I should be able to hold it all on my own, but instead I kept getting stuck in my head and drifting away from myself.
My turning point came when I realized this:
I didn’t need to try harder — I needed a container.
A simple rhythm.
A small, safe circle to show up in as I was.
That insight changed everything for me.
And it’s the reason I created Wise Circle — so you don’t have to find your way alone, and so you can experience the clarity and steadiness that come from returning to yourself inside a supportive, guided space.
The Practice Labs:
Your Framework for Building
Discipline, Awareness and Contentment
The six Practice Labs are the core of Wise Circle — a simple, powerful framework that helps you build a spiritual practice you can actually sustain. Each week focuses on one essential area of inner work: mindful beginnings, movement, music, drawing, writing, and meditation. These labs give you structure and guided support so you always know where to place your attention.
No guessing. No overwhelm. Just six weeks of practices that strengthen your presence, deepen your emotional resilience, and reconnect you to your creativity, intuition, and inner steadiness.
If you’re looking for a meaningful, doable path back to yourself, this is it.
Week 2 — Movement of Body & Emotions: The Practice of Returning To Yourself
In Week 2, we turn toward the longest, most loyal relationship of our lives: our body — and her twin companion, our emotions.
Movement becomes medicine.
Emotion becomes energy-in-motion.
Your body becomes the prayer.
Jeff Brown writes:
“Excessive analysis perpetuates emotional paralysis.
You cannot heal and resolve your emotional material with your mind.”
Week 4 — Drawing: Seeing With New Eyes
Drawing slows us down and invites us to look more closely — at the world, at others, at ourselves.
Sometimes we begin with what we think we see. With practice, drawing reveals the richer, quieter truth beneath our assumptions.
Artist Wendy MacNaughton writes:
“The moment I stopped looking for the story I expected to see,
an entirely new and richer truth was revealed.”
Week 6 — Meditation: Returning to Silence, Returning To Yourself
Meditation gathers all the other practices.
It teaches us to pause, to listen, to soften, and to begin again.
Silence is not something we create — it is something we lean into.
Meister Eckhart writes:
“There’s nothing in the world that resembles God so much as silence does.”
John O’Donohue adds:
“When you taste the intimacy of God it usually brings you to silence…
One of the lovely ways of praying is to come into that silence and relax within it.”
Week 1 — The Overture:
A Beginning Blessed With Fire
The season opens with The Overture — an initiation, a first light at the campsite, a shared breath as we cross the threshold together.
Overture:
noun. An opening or initiating move toward a new relationship.
Week 1 is a soft landing into our time together, a reminder that this is not a course you “keep up with,” but a spiritual retreat you enter at your own pace.
Week 3 — Music: Listening as Soul Practice
Music has always been a doorway into presence — a companion that crosses borders and comforts where humans cannot.
This week, sound becomes a teacher.
Listening becomes a practice of attention.
Music becomes a way of softening into the truths beneath your daily life.
Week 5 — Writing: Pen to Page, Truth to Surface
Writing slows the mind and brings truth forward in her own timing. It is a place where you meet yourself in real time — memory, desire, fear, longing, clarity, curiosity, all arriving on the page.
This week, you’re invited to begin again, gently.
To write for fifteen minutes.
To walk at sunrise or sunset.
To put on music and let your pen follow whatever wants to emerge.
Here’s what you’ll get each week in the practice lab,
as well as the texture in spirit of the offering.
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In Week 1, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to The Overture
Blessing from John O’Donohue
Audio: The Sacred, Secret World of the Soul (John O’Donohue)
Daily Suggestions & Mantras
Walking Meditation: Daily Mantras of Spirit
Guided Meditation: Circles, Spirals & Curves
Access to the Guided Meditation Starter Kit
The Spirit of Week 1
Beginnings carry a specific soul-heat. As John O’Donohue writes, a beginning is an invitation to open toward the gifts and growth that are already stored up for us.This week invites you to commit gently, to step into the season with curiosity, tenderness, and a willingness to be changed.
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In Week 2, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to Movement
Video: Musings on Movement
Video: The Practice of Movement
Guided Meditation: Movement Within the Body
The Spirit of Week 2
This week teaches you to listen for the subtle cues — the ache, the pulse, the stirring under the ribs — and to make movement simple and nourishing. A walk. A stretch. A gentle sway.You are in spiritual retreat.
Your body is your compass.
Your emotions are the river that keeps you honest. -
In Week 3, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to Music
Audio: Musings on Music
Audio: The Practice of Music
Video: Thoughts & Questions (from the piano)
Video: Music (from the piano)
Guided Meditation: May I Become the Song of My Heart
The Spirit of Week 3
As John O’Donohue writes:“May your hearts hear again the music
in the lost echoes of your neglected wonder.”Walk with music today.
Walk without music tomorrow.
Let both shape your seeing. -
In Week 4, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to Drawing
Video: Musings on Drawing
Video: The Practice of Drawing
Video: Demonstration for Drawing
The Spirit of Week 4
Drawing, painting, coloring, and handwriting poems become ways of grounding the nervous system — simple rituals of presence.Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Make a mark.
Switch from marker to paint if you want.The goal is not “good art.”
The goal is attention and tenderness. -
In Week 5, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to Writing
Video: Musings on Writing
Video: The Practice of Writing
A curated list of writing prompts to support your exploration
The Spirit of Week 5
Natalie Goldberg reminds us:“Continue under all circumstances.
Don’t be tossed away.
Get up and brush your teeth,
and make positive effort for the good.”Writing is not about performance.
It’s about presence.
About returning to the page with openness, honesty, and a willingness to be surprised. -
In Week 6, you’ll receive:
Video: Introduction to Meditation
Video: Musings on Meditation
Video: The Practice of Meditation
The Spirit of Week 6
Meditation doesn’t have to feel profound each time you sit.
The practice itself transforms you — through your willingness to return.Begin again.
The healing is in the return.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN
Based on feedback from previous Wise Circle participants, you can expect to learn:
01
I do best with a community to share with and actively listen to.
04
How to create empathy for myself, as I would for someone else.
07
I deserve 90 minutes a week to myself.
02
Meditation comes in all shapes and sizes; every way is the right way.
05
How to move past my instinct to shape a share or writing prompt into a “clean narrative,” and instead lean into raw, immediate self expression.
08
Showing up and doing simple practice makes a profound impact on my life.
10
Practical tools for getting out of the head spiral with writing and drawing.
03
I’m not alone in suffering.
06
It’s okay to use my voice.
09
How to explore new avenues of play and creation.
Welcome to my signature offering: THE WISE CIRCLE
Wise Circle is a six-week, small-group experience designed to nurture healing and growth within a supportive and intimate space. Led by Alexander Smith, this program integrates mindfulness, therapeutic practices, and spiritual exploration—including movement, music, meditation, writing, and drawing—to cultivate deep self-awareness and emotional resilience. Through guided practices and heartfelt sharing, participants experience a compassionate environment where vulnerability is honored and meaningful connections emerge.
Structure:
Live Zoom Session: Weekly gatherings, each lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes
Pre-Circle Atmosphere: a 10-minute music session to transition into presence
Opening (First 45 minutes)
Guided Mediation (5 minutes)
Writing Practice + Optional Reading Aloud (25 minutes)
Teachings On Practice Labs (15 minutes)
Core Listening and Sharing Circle (40 Minutes):
Each participant has 7-9 minutes to share
Sharing can include reflections, personal experiences
and interactions with meFocus on wise and deep listening, fostering a sacred and supportive space to be seen and heard
Practice Labs (Optional and Supportive): Additional weekly audio and video sessions for deeper exploration (and practice).
Testimonials:
"Alexander creates a sacred and magical space where healing and personal growth are inevitable. It is more than just a circle—it's a life-changing experience."
– Lias Isais Rodriguez
"Wise Circle helped me understand myself better. The group’s warmth and Alexander’s guidance made it safe to be vulnerable, explore difficult emotions, and find peace."
– AJ Marechal
"The creative aspect helped me tap into parts of myself I didn’t know were there. It felt like a creative awakening and a spiritual reset at the same time."
– Michelle Tanner
No prior experience in meditation, writing, or art is needed. Whether you're seeking emotional healing, creative inspiration, or meaningful community, Wise Circle offers a path to transformation.
Enrollment Opening Soon!
☀︎Wise and Active Listening
☀︎ Thoughtful Reflecting
☀︎ Collaborative Sharing
☀︎ Topic Writing
☀︎ Meditation Exploration
☀︎ Wise Boundaries Technology
Movement, Music, Drawing, Sketchbook, Writing and Meditation Practice Labs
Included With $459 Tuition
Early Bird Discount Save $59
Enrollment Opening Soon!
Tuesday, January 6
Tuesday, January 13
Tuesday, January 20
Tuesday, January 27
Tuesday, February 3
Tuesday, February 10
9AM PT / NOON ET / 5PM UK
90 Minutes Every Tuesday
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Circle Format:
10 minute pre-circle music in ZOOM room.
First 50 minutes:
5 minute meditation. Writing practice with topics and optional reading aloud 25 minutes. Practice Lab Teachings 15 minutes.40 minutes:
Each of the 6 participants has 7-9 minutes to share and/or ask for input. Most people share. Don’t worry, trust me, you will find your voice with such a sacred place to be visible and heard. You’re also welcome to read part of what your wrote during practice as part of your share.We practice wise and deep listening and speaking.
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Weekly practice lab. Combination of audio and video teachings. 30 minutes max.
Week 1 The Overture (the roots and structure of our “spiritual retreat”). The Overture opens upon your enrollment
Week 2 Movement (of body and emotion)
Week 3 Music
Week 4 Drawing (paint, sketch, color, doodle)
Week 5 Writing
Week 6 Meditation
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Weekly guided meditations.
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During our movement practice week you’ll get access to 12 unique yoga classes presented by Kenny, Sheri & Ali from SoulFULL Solutions NYC.
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Access to my 21-Day Guided Meditation Challenge ($149 Value).
Here’s what you can expect to LEARN, based off reviews from previous wise circle participants.
I do best with a community to share with and actively listen to.
Meditation comes in all shapes and sizes; every way is the right way.
I’m not alone in suffering.
How to create empathy for myself, as I would for someone else.
I learned how to move past my instinct to shape a share, or shape a writing prompt into something that felt like a clean narrative... and lean into just raw, immediate self-expression.
It’s okay to use my voice.
I deserve 90 minutes a week to myself.
Showing up and doing simple practices makes a profound impact on my life.
Explore different avenues of play and creation.
I came away with great tools for getting out of the head spiral with writing and drawing.
Here’s what other soul siblings LOVE about wise circle.
The flow of weekly practice labs was wonderful.
The whole experience was magic.
I loved the writing and drawing prompts.
We were only required to show up as we were.
The intimacy of the small group.
Alexander’s gentle and wise presence and leadership.
Loved the weekly musings and meditations.
I love that I felt safe to share and be vulnerable.
I loved listening and caring fully to hear another’s experience and feelings.
I LOVE that it just felt like such a safe and soft place to show up and be completely vulnerable. In the 5 weeks we sat with each other I really did feel like I connected with my soul siblings.
I really loved the format, the amount of time each session, and seeing everyone each week. I liked how you had a subject each week for drawing and writing.
What did you LOVE about the ten minute share each week in wise circle?
“I loved watching someone's share unfold. It's one thing to share for three minutes... or five minutes... But a ten minute share is a journey, and a vulnerable one. It asks you to remain open and take up that space. And it asks us fellow Wise Circle members to remain in that state of deep listening. Some Circle members (myself included) would go on an entire emotional journey in those ten minutes, from a quippy entry into a deep revelation at the end. I felt so grateful to bear witness. There was so much humanity in that. I also was so grateful to have people bear witness to me. I tried my best in Wise Circle to not filter my experience for others, which was scary and hard. But it's something I needed to practice in order to accept myself more after recent relationship events and heal. Wise Circle gave me the environment to practice that.”
AJ Marechal
“Being a part of the Wise Circle reminded me how important it is to have a small community of people to share things with. The writing and drawing prompts gave direction making it easier for me to get started. Alexander is a terrific mentor, facilitator, and friend. I will be begging to sign up for another session.”
— Pam McGinnis
Testimonials
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I loved everything about it. I loved all the resources you gave, I loved the small group. I love that their were 7 of us, it was intimate and we got to know each other.
Molly Ranker
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It was simply magical and I wouldn't have changed anything because it brought so much wisdom and clarity to me during a dark period.
Lias Isais Rodriguez
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I learned that I’m not alone in suffering and how to create the same empathy for myself as I would for someone else. I also came away with some great tools for getting out of the head spiral with writing and drawing.
Bailey S.
“Alexander facilitated a informative, deeply caring and inspiring circle that I will carry in my heart. Practicing poetry, music, art, movement & mindfulness with fellow soul seekers has inspired me to burst with creativity and love my life again. To be alive is the point. Simple and profound and it was lovely to be guided by such a gifted, gentle and wise teacher.”
— Lisa Isais Rodriguez
“Meeting weekly for a month in circle setting was a gift! I got so much out of our time together but also gained much from the musings, prompts, meditations, and assignments that Alexander gave us every week. He is a delight to work with.. highly recommend!”
— Shawn Woltz
“Alexander’s Wise Circle was a beautiful space to connect and learn. It was beneficial for me to dive deeper into spiritual intention and learn various ways to do this. The connection we got as a small group was amazing. We shared our experiences on the topics Alexander provided and it gave an authentic way to see similarities and differences within the circle. I’ve loved Alexander’s wisdom and insight and this gave me the opportunity to connect with him regularly and on a deeper and more personal level.”
— Molly Ranker
Rate, Review & Subscribe. Viral Mindfulness the Podcast
Rate, Review & Subscribe. Viral Mindfulness the Podcast
FEATURED EPISODE:
From Meth & Marijuana to Mindfulness: A Decade Sober! The AI-Generated Interview
Over ten years ago, in a bathroom of a swanky stranger's apartment in downtown Los Angeles, strung out and afraid, I looked up and whispered: “God, I need help.” That moment became the turning point. On June 23, 2015, I put down meth, in August, cannabis, and September 23, alcohol and every other substance. I haven’t picked them up since.
A decade later, I’m celebrating ten continuous years of sobriety. In this episode, I take you through the journey: the years of relapse and secrecy, the love and loss of my first partner, the shadow of HIV stigma and IV drug use, and the long climb into recovery. Inspired by the interview styles of Terry Gross (Fresh Air) and Sam Fragoso (Talk Easy), I answer six deeply personal questions (AI-Generated) about addiction, queerness, creativity, grief, and what remains unfinished ten years in.
This isn’t just a story about staying sober. It’s about what sobriety has carved into me — a canyon of stillness, a river of resilience, a practice of presence. And it’s an offering to anyone listening who is struggling with their own relationship to substances, whether it’s meth or wine, cannabis or cocaine. You don’t do this alone. There is a path forward. There is peace.
“What a soothing, gentle introduction to making sit happen. Your love resonates with every soft word, encouragement, and the thoughtful soundscape. Thank you Alexander for sharing the gifts you’ve developed and the powerful peace you have cultivated. My anxiety has evaporated and restful slumber awaits.”
— B
“Being part of the Wise Circle Spring 2023 was nothing short of transformative. Alexander is gifted in creating a safe and beautiful space where authenticity, heartfelt feelings, and growth flourish.”
— Pamela Dunn
“Alexander's Wise Circle gave me a space where I could be witnessed as my realest self — messy emotions, processes and all. To be witnessed, and in turn witness others in their journeys, was very healing. We all deserve to have a space where we can show up exactly where we are at, and as exactly who we are. Spring Wise Circle gave me that. I can't wait to join again in another season!"
— AJ Marechal
“The Wise Circle provided a safe, playful, and loving space for me to practice using my (long-silenced) voice. It helped me navigate a very difficult life event with more courage and grace.”
— Julie Cornett
“I loved everything about the wise circle. Alexander is such a gentle, wise, and caring field guide. He really listens and provides such meaningful feedback. I loved how the wise circle was so well organized. The combination of meditation, writing and sharing was phenomenal. Each week, I looked forward to the wise circle because Alexander is truly inspirational and a guiding light. His enthusiasm, kindness, and wisdom made the experience amazing.
I can't wait to do another wise circle. Alexander is a shining star of bright light in a world that can be overwhelming and difficult.
If I could do Alexanders wise circle every week for the rest of my life, I would 💜.”
— Jamie Gorbatov
“I enrolled in the wise circle during a really challenging time in my life. It was very therapeutic for me to have my experiences witnessed in a safe, loving, judgement-free space. I could bring whatever was on my heart and mind each session and left feeling lighter and more connected to my own true self.”
— Bethany
“I joined wise circles to allow for support while undergoing EMDR. The light, love and happiness that I received from participating has definitely changed me. I listen to classical piano in my car, I am going to try painting and I think I have a story in me that prior I was too afraid to tell. Alexander you made me feel accepted and not so scared of the things that I already survived. Hopefully one day I get that in real life with you. Until then, well thank goodness for zoom!”
— Christine Kelley
“ I learned to sit and sit through some hard revelations. I could put some of what I was working on into art, music and writing immediately. This process could have been too overwhelming if ALEXANDER didn’t help to prompt and facilitate the tools, learning and healing. I loved the space that was held for each person and their experiences and seeking. I love that we are seekers that found one another through Alexander. The example and support personified by Alexander set the culture and the content of how we shared space. Truly a gift.”
— Marcy Schell
