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Practice Methodology — How We Learn Through Experience

Purpose

Scientific research describes mechanisms. Personal practice reveals patterns, especially when we have accounts of many different people. This document outlines how Circle practitioners contribute to collective understanding through honest observation of their own experience.

We are building a body of knowledge from the ground up — not through mystical claims or premature theory, but through systematic documentation of what actually happens when people practice consistently.


Principles of Experiential Research

To make erecording and finding pattern easier we created a first minimal viable product (MVP) of an app to log or practice, maybe even add some sensor functionality. The goal is to constantly improve it and add better more secure storage.

What to log

  • Every Session with observations not interpretations (see chapter XXX)
  • Context daily. We try to find the right balance between relevant information to find patterns and keeping anonymity.

  • Context and Personal History. Therfore we log (voluntarily)

    • Town
    • Country
    • Place of Birth
    • Birth Month
    • Birth Year
    • Known Health issues
    • Additional health checks (as this documents are sensitive, please anonymise them before upload. we store it linked too your account but will only share this data with researches anonymised.)
  • Periodic Questionaiers

1. Observation Over Interpretation

Record what you directly sense — physical sensations, breath changes, emotional shifts — not what you think they mean.

Good:
- "Tension in shoulders decreased after 15 minutes" - "Restlessness peaked around minute 8, then subsided" - "Heart rate felt slower; breathing became deeper without effort"

Avoid:
- "Energy was flowing through my meridians" - "I aligned with the cosmic force" - "My chakras opened"

If you don't have precise physiological language, describe it simply: "warmth," "tightness," "lightness," "pressure."

2. Context Matters

Your body doesn't practice in a vacuum. Note relevant conditions:

  • Sleep quality the night before
  • Stress level (work, relationships, health)
  • Time of day
  • Recent meals, caffeine, or alcohol
  • Physical activity before practice
  • Weather (if outdoors)

Patterns emerge when you can see what influences your practice.

3. Track Changes Over Time

A single session reveals little. Consistent logging over weeks and months shows:

  • What improves gradually vs. what fluctuates daily
  • When progress plateaus (normal and necessary)
  • When pain or tension signals overtraining vs. temporary adjustment
  • How external stressors affect practice quality

4. Honesty Over Performance

This is not about proving practice "works" or documenting only positive changes.
Stagnation, frustration, and regression are equally valuable data.

If practice feels pointless for two weeks — that's worth noting.
If old tensions return unexpectedly — that's information, not failure.

5. No Mystification

We do not claim to understand mechanisms we cannot observe.
If something feels profound or unusual, describe it precisely — but resist turning sensation into cosmology.

The practice trains attention. The body responds. We observe both.


What to Log

Extended Reflection (Weekly or Monthly)

Look back over your daily logs and note:

  • Patterns across sessions (recurring sensations, improvements, struggles)
  • Changes in life outside practice (mood, sleep, reactions to stress)
  • Questions or curiosities that arose
  • Adjustments you made and their effects

Milestone Summaries (Every 3-6 Months)

What changed since you started or since your last summary?

  • Physical: posture, flexibility, pain levels, balance
  • Physiological: sleep, digestion, energy, stress response
  • Mental: focus, impulse control, emotional regulation
  • Relational: communication, conflict handling, presence with others

Be specific. Vague claims like "I feel more centered" are less useful than "I notice a pause before reacting in arguments."


Sharing Your Experience

Personal Accounts in Documentation

As seen in STANDING_0_INTRO.md, honest accounts help others understand what practice looks like across different bodies and life circumstances.

If you wish to contribute a personal account: - Focus on observable changes over time - Include challenges and non-linear progress - Avoid mystical language or prescriptive advice - You may share anonymously or with attribution

Aggregated Insights

Over time, as more practitioners log their experience, patterns will emerge: - Common timelines (when does stability typically appear?) - Frequent challenges (what do most people struggle with?) - Individual variation (how do age, fitness, or health affect progression?)

These patterns inform how we teach and refine the stages.

Research Collaboration

If you're willing to share logs for collective analysis (anonymously): - Remove identifying details - Keep raw observations intact - Note any unusual personal context (injury recovery, chronic condition, etc.) - Submit through Circle channels or pull request

This is entirely voluntary. Your practice is yours first.


Standards for Collective Learning

Testing Changes

When someone proposes a modification to practice (posture adjustment, new stage, timing change):

  1. Test it yourself first — minimum 2-4 weeks of consistent practice
  2. Document observations — what changed, what stayed the same
  3. Share findings — data and reflection, not just opinion
  4. Others test independently — does the pattern hold across different bodies?
  5. Evaluate collectively — if consistent benefit appears, integrate; if not, discard or refine

One change at a time. If you alter posture, duration, and breathing simultaneously, you can't know what worked.

Peer Review of Claims

If someone makes a strong claim ("this posture always fixes back pain"), others may ask: - How many sessions did you observe this? - Did other variables change (e.g., you also started stretching)? - Has anyone else tested this?

This is not skepticism for its own sake — it's collective honesty.
We refine understanding together by questioning gently and testing rigorously.


Ethical Considerations

Privacy

  • Never share others' practice logs without explicit consent
  • Anonymize experiences when sharing publicly
  • Circle reflections remain within the circle unless agreed otherwise

No Medical Claims

We observe changes in our own bodies. We do not diagnose, prescribe, or claim to treat illness.
If practice improves your digestion, sleep, or mood — that's your experience, not medical advice.

Practitioners with health conditions should consult professionals. Circles do not replace healthcare.

Intellectual Humility

We don't know everything this practice can do. We don't know its limits.
We are building understanding step by step, grounded in what we can observe and repeat.

Some experiences will be difficult to explain. That's fine — mystery doesn't require mystification.


Contributing to Collective Knowledge

The Circle framework evolves through practice, not theory.
Your honest logs — successes, struggles, questions — are the raw material of that evolution.

To contribute: - Keep consistent logs - Share reflections when comfortable - Question claims (including your own) - Test proposed changes before endorsing them - Document process, not just results

The goal is not to prove standing practice is universal or perfect.
The goal is to understand what it does, for whom, under what conditions — honestly and rigorously.



We learn by doing. We understand by observing. We improve through honesty.