The Living Energy of Empathy Circles — Naming What's Already Happening
Speaker: Daniel Hirtz  (15 min)

The Living Energy of Empathy Circles

Sources & Further Exploration

Companion to the talk · Empathy Summit · June 2026 · Daniel Hirtz

These are offered not as authorities I lean on, but as evidence of how widely this is surfacing right now — across medicine, science, and contemplative life. The talk stayed with the body on purpose; here are the threads, so you can follow the ones that call you.

·         Heart coherence and its spread between people — The HeartMath Institute (Rollin McCraty and colleagues) on heart-rhythm coherence and how one person's coherence can register in those nearby. heartmath.org

·         The healer–patient bond, in the lab — Phenomena, a documentary podcast series (hosted by Ivy Ross, produced by Sounds True), following biofield research at Harvard, MD Anderson (Dr. Lorenzo Cohen), and Columbia. phenomenahealing.com

·         The flow between things — "warm data" — Nora Bateson and the International Bateson Institute: attention to the relationships and flows between things, rather than the things themselves. batesoninstitute.org

·         The body as an electrical field — Eileen Day McKusick, Electric Body, Electric Health (2021), and her Biofield Tuning work.

·         Connection as protective; disconnection as risk — research on loneliness and isolation as common threads in violence (including work emerging within our own empathy community).

·         A direct (and debated) test of the hypothesis — John Hagelin et al., "Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC," Social Indicators Research 47 (1999). A widely discussed — and widely contested — experiment proposing that a large group practicing coherence-creating meditation reduced violent crime in DC in the summer of 1993 (a maximum decrease of roughly 23%). Included as a provocative attempt to study collective coherence directly, not as settled science.

·         Coherence shifting a whole system — attributed to Ilya Prigogine, Nobel-laureate chemist: "When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order."

·         The empathy circle itself — Edwin Rutsch and the Center for Building a Culture of Empathy. empathycircle.com

With gratitude for the field we made together. Daniel Hirtz · danielhirtz.com

Overview

Daniel Hirtz , a breathwork educator and empathy circle co-host, discussed the transformative power of empathy circles. He highlighted the amplified impact of group practices, noting that individual practices are significantly enhanced when done collectively.  Hirtz emphasized the concept of "warm data" and the flow of energy between people, referencing ongoing research at Harvard and MD Anderson on biofield energy healing. He described how empathy circles create a tangible sense of wholeness and oneness, reducing societal tension and fostering human connection.  Hirtz concluded by referencing Ilya Prigogine's theory on small islands of coherence shifting systems to a higher order.

Action Items

• [ ] Send a document containing all the research links referenced in the talk to the meeting participants after the session.

Outline

Living Energy of Empathy Circles

• Speaker 1 introduces Daniel  Hirtz , highlighting his roles as a breathwork educator, drum circle facilitator, and empathy circle co-host.

• Speaker 2 discusses the use of the rattle in shamanic practices to move consciousness away from thinking into a sense of wholeness and inclusiveness.

• The concept of empathy circles is introduced, emphasizing the unique energy and acceptance felt within these groups.

• Speaker 2 shares personal experiences of amplified impact when practicing breathwork in groups compared to individual practices.

Observations on Group Energy

• Speaker 2 reflects on the tangible experience of group wholeness and completeness, likening it to a mystical realm.

• The idea that this energy transcends geography and connects people globally is discussed.

• Speaker 2 describes a sensation of wholeness and peace experienced during group activities, such as drum classes with seniors.

• The importance of this energy in culture and its impact on personal energy systems is highlighted.

Cultural Impact on Personal Energy

• Speaker 2 discusses the continuous tension in human culture and its effect on personal energy systems.

• The tendency to retreat from normal life for relaxation is mentioned, but it also increases tensions.

• Empathy circles are presented as a way to bring out subtle qualities usually only experienced in meditation or nature.

• The concept of empathy circles as a door opener into a new space of human connection is emphasized.

Guided Breathing Exercise

• Speaker 2 guides participants through a deep breathing exercise, focusing on the center of the earth and the gentle pull of gravity.

• The exercise aims to help participants feel the embrace of Mother Earth and the wholeness it represents.

• Participants are encouraged to breathe in through the center of the earth and release it downward.

• The exercise is designed to enhance awareness of the energetic flow between participants.

Experiencing Wholeness in Practice

• Speaker 2 shares a personal experience of feeling blissful wholeness during an in-person training in Santa Barbara.

• The practice of open-eyed engagement while talking and being aware of the energetic flow is highlighted.

• The continuous field of participation and its impact on the whole field is discussed.

• Research indicating that meditators can reduce tension in cities and prevent crime in real-time is mentioned.

Conclusion and Call to Action

• Speaker 2 ends with a quote from Ilya Prigogine about small islands of coherence shifting a system to a higher order.

• The importance of building a field of empathy and understanding this concept in future gatherings is emphasized.

• Speaker 1 thanks Daniel and invites participants to practice embodying and integrating the experiences discussed.

• Speaker 2 offers to send a document with links to related research for further exploration.

Transcripts

Speaker 1  0:00  

Daniel  Hirtz  is a breathwork educator, drum circle facilitator, and empathy circle co-host, whose 40 years of group practice have taught him to recognize the living energy that moves through people when they truly listen to each other. Today's topic is the living energy of empathy circles, naming what's already happening, I

Speaker 2  0:48  

All over the world, shamans and healers use the rattle to move the consciousness away from thinking into this this sense, you know what I mean. So, I want to invite you to feel into that, into the wholeness, the inclusiveness of all experience at this moment, and particularly the whole group. If you could do my talk, if you want to switch to gallery view and look at the whole group, it's not about me, it's about the energy that flows between us, and while I cannot know what you feel, while that is exclusively your private space, I I can, through my ability to feel into that space, sense to some degree that that you also entering into the same space. I came to this topic because it keeps coming up in our empathy circles. On Wednesday, it sort of seeps through again and again, again the energy conversation, and people have shared that day, even before they arrive, coming from another Zoom meeting, they come to ours, and they feel this feeling, this different sense, the arrival in the field that is totally accepting, and I think that's that's one of the qualities of the empathy circle that makes it completely different from most other human experiences, and I've done breath-related rhythm and breath-related groups for decades in all kinds of settings, short over weekends, and all because I noticed that I could do an individual practice by myself, and once I would do it with with a group of people, the impact of it would be so tremendously amplified, and when I started with that, I had no idea about this. I, this was a pure observation. Now, of course, we all know this thing, that the, you know, the sum is more than, or the whole is more than the sum of the parts. We heard about it, but what does it really mean? What is this really as a tangible experience, and what does it point to? And so an Ingrid, who's also here today, she was with me in several of them when we are connecting in a group of people, and we become in a way, one and, and that sensation of wholeness and of of completeness and of being held in a peaceful space grows so strong that it turns into into some sort of meaning, it informs us about life and and so if you can feel this right now, I certainly can. Then that points to the fact that something is going on that is has nothing to do with geography or with where we are in the world, but that there is a wholeness that cannot be broken, that when it's pointed to from us here together, then we all can feel it, and so this energy, this mystical realm, the sensations, the feelings that if you put your hands like this, and you feel into the space between your hands, you have a tingling. I do this with my seniors when I do drum classes, and they enjoy it, so we all know that that's there, but How much is it in our culture? And so, while I was preparing for this talk. Was very, very thankful we had a couple of our Amplify empathy meetings around this topic, and then even on Thursday, I think we talked about it, and so I got some input from the people here, but then also, which is like it's kind of always like that, right? Maybe I just haven't looked before, but it seems to me that right now there is all over the place this conversation about what flows between, no longer so much focused on the node, on the person, on the object, but on what flows between there, the warm data, the that's how Nora Baderson is calling it, the flow between things, and even right now, Harvard and the Cancer Research Center at MD Anderson, they started an extensive project where they explicitly say we need to understand what this biofield energy healing is all about. We can no longer exclude it from our medical research and started this phenomena project, which is an amazing project with all kinds of people from all kinds of disciplines looking at the topic of living energy, so I was very touched. I want to intersect this here by David's talk, because it's my experience as well, and the profoundness of the simplicity of the empathy circles is just.

Speaker 2  6:38  

it's just very impressive. It's a huge thing, and I think it is because it opens the door. It's like a door opener into a new space that we otherwise have entered to through other means, but in general we have entered that space by sort of taking a pass from our social engagement, because in general, when people are together in business, in their day-to-day lives, and so on, the way we move with each other in our world here in traffic, and everything is causing, in general, a tenseness, a tightness of everybody that's pretty continuous in our culture. So the human culture we live in has an impact on our personal energy system, and unless we stand up to that, the impact on us causes certain behaviors that ends up making us, you know, competing with each other, fighting with each other, trying to make our point the whole, the whole nine yards, and to root is actually sort of in the foundational body posture of this culture, if you know what I mean, so what normally happens is that, and I do that too. We want to retract from normal life, we want to take a vacation, we go to a retreat, we take personal time, we decompress, right? That's what we say, and yet, so that would mean in reverse that when we come together it increases tensions and that's where the empathy circle just really comes in as the crown jewel of human connection because here those qualities those more subtle qualities that are normally only sort of arising when we meditate, when we have quiet spaces, when we are nature, and like that, those qualities come become tangible while we're speaking to each other, and while the process itself is profound. What becomes into our awareness is like that's what I call this doorway, so I want to guide you for a moment into an awareness point. So let's do three deep sighs, an active inhale, and then just relax your exhale like this. Ah. and keep extending your exhale, relax into that exhale, as you sort of descend into that exhale, become aware of the center of the earth, and that this exhale, the gravity that pulls downward is actually going. Toward the center of the earth, and for a moment feel that gentle pull that is there all the time, this little embrace of Mother Earth, this permanent embrace on all ourselves and our whole being, this this holding what we call gravity, and the place it pulls us toward is the wholeness and the oneness that we can feel, if you allow that, so let's do another deep inhale from that depth, you breathe in through the center of the earth all the way up through your whole system, then release it all the way down again. Okay, here we go. to be in that space in this awareness of that energetic flow between us with each other in the space in our in-person training in Santa Barbara, I particularly experienced that with such strength, like the same exact blissful wholeness that I experience when I'm in meditation, and that's exceptional. I want to capture that for a moment, that we actually are in a practice with each other, open-eyed, while we're speaking, while we're engaging topics, while we're talking about what's important to us, while we are simple human beings, we love to talk to each other, and while we're doing this, an awareness arises that normally is exclusively there when we, you know, not when we're not in the talking space, and oftentimes when we're not together, so for me this opens the door, it opens the door for an awareness that there is a field that we're participating in, and that's continuous, and it's never not there, and when we connect in this way, in some way it has an impact, it must be immediately into the whole field. That's what our intuition says, and that's what a lot of research is starting to point to, that meditators can actually reduce the tension in cities and prevent crime and things of that nature, and that is actually real time. It is not delayed. It is in the process.

Speaker 2  13:07  

Every time we engage in this way, we sort of like, if you imagine that underneath the whole tension, we reduce the whole tension of the world a little bit, and some person that wanted to raise their hand maybe doesn't, I want to end with this Ilya pre-gene quote, which I'm not sure if it's 100% correct, but still it made its rounds when a complex system is far from equilibrium, and we are far from equilibrium in our society right now, small islands of coherence in the sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order, so maybe we can have that as an attitude and understanding in the background every time we get together and build this tremendous field of empathy. Thank you, everybody.

Speaker 1  14:12  

Oh, thank you, Daniel. Did anybody else have, like, an entire body reaction to all of that, starting with the rattle and going through the breath work. I cannot think of a more perfect person to have at the.. we've been here for an hour, y'all. At the end of this first hour, we just got to practice embodying and integrating everything that we've already just heard. Oh, thank you.

Speaker 2  14:43  

And let me say this. I'll send a document along with all the links to the research. I didn't want to fill this up with, like, all kinds of names and stuff. I just.. I will serve all of you with the links, so you can check it out. What I talked about.

Speaker 1  15:00  

Oh, I'm so excited, because I am a science nerd, and I was absolutely like, yep, that's an epigenetic thing, yep, that's the Maharishi effect, right? 1% of the community, it's amazing, y'all. Absolutely, go dive into that research to validate the experience that you just had, you don't need, no,

Speaker 2  15:22  

no, that's why I didn't do slides, I wanted to stay with, you know, with the body.

Unknown Speaker  15:29  

Thank you, everybody.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai