Yarning Circles are the cornerstone for how Yeddung Mura delivers their services and programs. They are also used to manage the organisation.
Yarning Circles
Why Yarning Circles?
Yarning Circles are deeply rooted in Indigenous Australian culture, serving as a traditional practice for storytelling, knowledge sharing, and community connection. Participants sit in a circle, symbolising equality and promoting open, honest, and respectful communication. This format encourages active listening, mutual respect, and shared understanding. Facilitators ensure clear intentions, maintain equality, promote active listening, and allow uninterrupted speaking opportunities. Yarning Circles strengthen community bonds by offering a safe space to share experiences, build support networks, and reinforce cultural identity. They also serve as therapeutic spaces, enabling individuals to express personal stories, traumas, or emotions in a non-judgemental setting, fostering emotional healing and well-being. For conflict resolution, these circles provide a structured yet informal environment to encourage dialogue and mutual understanding. By upholding this tradition, Indigenous knowledge, stories, customs, and language are preserved and passed down, supporting cultural resilience. In health and community services, Yarning Circles facilitate discussions on health issues, building trust and enhancing engagement with Indigenous communities
Your Journey to Holistic Wellness - Grow Today, Thrive Tomorrow
Yeddung Mura’s Wellness Wheel Workbook, is used in Empowerment and Support Yarning Circles. They are your guide to a holistic life where balance brings harmony to your spirit, family, body, and community. Holistic wellness means nurturing every part of you—your faith, relationships, joy, health, work, and freedom—to thrive as a whole. Write a letter to your future self, two years from now, envisioning a balanced life rooted in purpose and connection. In our yarning circles, share stories, listen deeply, and commit to small, meaningful steps to grow in each area. Use the wellness wheels to track your journey and celebrate progress. Let’s walk this path together, growing today to thrive tomorrow.
Empowerment Yarning Circles
Yeddung Mura’s Empowerment Yarning Circles (EYC), part of the Your Journey, Our Support program, support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice clients in reintegration through a culturally safe, trauma-informed framework. Delivered with ACT Corrective Services and the Justice and Community Safety (JACS) Directorate, EYC blend traditional Indigenous Yarning Circles with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and narrative therapy to reduce recidivism and promote holistic wellness. Facilitated by trained Aboriginal Elders and professionals in 60-75 minute weekly sessions (10-week terms) at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) and Yeddung Mura Community Centre (YMCC) at Fadden, these circles foster a non-judgemental space for 8-12 participants to share experiences, traumas, and emotions, supporting emotional healing and cultural pride.
Structured sessions include a Welcome, Week’s Reflection, thematic Yarn, Truth Discussion, Testimony, Sharing, and Workbook/Wellness Wheel activities. Tiered programs—Foundation (Step Up & Take Charge), Managing Trauma, Managing Addictions, and Managing Anger—address the main issues of accountability, emotional regulation, and addiction recovery. Each program offers two types of yarns: one tailored to the prison community and one to the Yeddung Mura community, with a corresponding support group Yarning Circle available when EYC sessions are not running. EYC respect diverse experiences, kinship, and trans-generational trauma, fostering continuous learning and community safety. Outcomes include improved wellbeing, life skills, and stronger family connections, aligning with the ACT Government’s goal to reduce recidivism.
Support Yarning Circles
This foundation program cultivates a strong sense of ownership over the change process. It also covers how communication and relationships are meant to occur. This forms the basis for the level 2 Empowerment Yarning Circles.