Barbara Thorngren emphasizes the importance of circles in her work. She utilizes “the circle process” in group settings to guide participants to explore topics and collaboratively find solutions.
“Nobody can hide, and then every face is seen, and every voice is heard,” Thorngren said of the circle method.
Now, she’s adding a circular structure to her property – a yurt.
Thorngren has a variety of sheds and structures on her property in Temple to do her work, which is to act as what she described as a spiritual field guide for people who are seeking healing in a spiritual or natural way. At AVALON Healing Arts Barn Studio, she offers services such as The Circle Way, spiritual coaching, expressive arts, and Reiki, a Japanese stress reduction and relaxing technique. She utilizes the studio for this, as well as the seven acres of property around it, and intends to use the new yurt in this work as well.
The 22-foot yurt, which was constructed in less than a day on Thorngren’s property, was bought from and delivered by Groovy Yurts, a Canadian company that supplies yurts all the way from Mongolia, where yurts originate.
Yves Ballenegger, the Swiss founder of Groovy Yurts, was on site to direct the construction of the yurt, leading Thorngren’s partner and friends through the process of putting it together.
“It’s possibly one of the most efficient dwellings ever devised,” Ballenegger said, explaining that the extreme climate of Mongolia has helped slowly fine-tune the design over thousands of years.
Every piece of the yurt is symbolic, according to Ballenegger, including the way you enter – right foot first. The structure represents the universe, he said, with the entrance facing south and glass doors facing north, the most sacred direction, and the dome, called the toono, letting sunlight in throughout the day.
The supports are painted bright orange, to represent the sun, with colorful traditional artwork that was painted by Mongolian women who sang as they worked, Ballenegger said. The entirety of the yurt is made of natural material – wood lattice walls, felt from sheep’s wool to cover the structure, and horse-hair ropes to attach the pieces together.
“You can’t go much more natural than this,” Ballenegger said.
“That structure is not even anchored to the ground so not to harm the Earth,” Ballenegger added, which was an important point for Thorngren – and always has been, even before her current career path.
She has been on the same property for 30 years, and the land has been a working farm for most of that time. At the time, she was a teacher, and her husband also worked full time. When he died of cancer and Thorngren’s own health dipped with Lyme disease and hip replacements, she re-evaluated what she wanted to do with the land and her life.
“That was the part that brought me to my knees – literally,” she said. She has since graduated from seminary school, and decided that she wants to provide education and healing to people who need it.
“When I graduated from seminary, people said, ‘Oh, so you’re going to be a minister, where?’ And I was like, ‘Out there,’ ” she said, gesturing at the trees.
Now, she said, the work that she does helps people de-stress, re-attune themselves with nature, and heal in whatever way they need.
“Nature is really my hub,” she said, but with New Hampshire winters, she wanted a place that provides natural energy while still protecting from the elements. “My response to that is being lightly on the Earth, which is a yurt.”
The yurt will provide a place for many of Thorngren’s services: she plans to hold Reiki classes there, as well as weddings and baby blessings, and whatever else the space might hold.
For more information on Thorngren’s upcoming class offerings and schedule, visit her Facebook page or reach out to infopeaceworksnh@gmail.com.