CENTRE FOR HOLDING SPACE values
the liberation and sovereignty of all people through
the ever evolving, open-hearted, open-handed,
unconditionally supportive art and
practice of Holding Space.
Mission Statement
The Centre for Holding Space exists to grow the work of Holding Space in the world. We are dedicated to expanding our own learning around this important work and to teaching others how to hold space — both for themselves and for others. We are committed to developing a living body of resources for this work, along with an inclusive, diverse, brave community of support.
Vision Statement
The work of Holding Space is ultimately for the liberation and sovereignty of ALL people. The Centre seeks to foster a community of learners and culture-builders who open their hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of the illusion of control.
inclusion Statement
The Centre for Holding Space honours the sovereignty and dignity of each person and we will work for the liberation of us all. We hold an anti-oppression framework at our core and we commit to honouring the intersectional voices of those who are most frequently marginalized in the dominant culture. We will work to create an environment where all can be seen, heard and, if necessary, amplified. In the learning events and community gatherings we host, we ask each person (including ourselves) to take responsibility for their own biases, unearned privilege, etc., and we will all do our best to accept the challenges that others offer when our unconscious biases are disruptive or hurtful.
Land Acknowledgement
The Centre and all those who represent it, acknowledge that, here in Winnipeg where our co-founders are based, we are Treaty One people, living and working on the original land of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation. Our drinking water additionally makes us Treaty Three people, nourishing us from the original land of the Ojibway/Chippewa Peoples.
The Centre for Holding Space takes our responsibility as Treaty People seriously, acknowledging the harms and mistakes those whose images we bear have made in the past, continue to make in the present and will likely make in the future. We dedicate ourselves, as much as it is in our power to do so, to move forward in partnership with our local Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
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TRANSFORMATIVE
We are culture-builders, working to transform the way we gather in community, the way we treat each other in relationships, and the way we respond to disruption, conflict, grief, and complexity. We invite our community members and course participants to be culture-builders with us.
Brave
We gather people in “brave spaces” where we invite collective commitment to moving beyond our comfort zones into unfamiliar, generative spaces. We recognize that this brave edge is where learning, growth, and transformation happen. We offer patience and grace in the midst of this stretching, and we recognize that sometimes we need to step out of bravery to replenish ourselves.
Equitable
We honour each person’s autonomy and dignity and will work together to make our community spaces equitable and consent-based, where each voice is equally heard. We commit to stretching ourselves and this work to make it accessible to all who come. When necessary, we will centre the voices of those who have been marginalized in the dominant culture.
Diverse
This work grows more and more beautiful when people bring their unique perspectives, identities, and worldviews, and so we commit to co-creating spaces where differences are considered assets, where power is shared, and where nobody is marginalized. As culture-builders, our spaces will function differently than what is modeled by the dominant culture.
Wise
Together, we lean into collective wisdom, trusting that what can emerge when we gather in brave and generative spaces will be greater than what any of us can create alone. While we may look to our teachers, elders, and guides when necessary, we believe that each person brings some wisdom into the room and we welcome that wisdom in service to the common good.
Welcoming
We work to create community-based spaces (both online and in- person) where people are free to show up as their whole, authentic, and liberated selves. It is our hope that nobody feels invisible or undervalued when they come into our spaces. In our spaces, we invite people to “ask for what they need and offer what they can.”