Wisdom Keepers: Dimensions of Anne Yeomans
Sara Vatore
In this installment of the Wisdom Keepers series, I am joined by Anne Yeomans for a conversation that traces the quiet, guiding red thread that shapes a life of deep service and spiritual inquiry. Anne invites us beyond linear ways of understanding and into a more expansive relationship with the cosmos, sharing how an early moment of grace became an orienting force in her life and work.
Together, we explore the alchemical interplay of grace, will, and desire and the profound, often countercultural act of turning inward in a world that prizes constant outward engagement. Anne speaks to the creation of sacred, sometimes unconventional spaces for women, and her years facilitating women’s circles in both the United States and Russia. We also touch into her unexpected relationship with poetry—how it began arriving rather than being pursued, and what it has meant to receive language in this way. Her life reflects a deep attunement to the intelligent, guiding force that emerges when we learn to listen. This conversation points us back to a place of inner balance, where we can reconnect with our own inherent wisdom.
Anne Yeomans has been a psychotherapist for over 50 years. She has facilitated dialogue groups and sacred women’s circles for decades in both the US and Russia. She is the co-founder of The Women's Well, an organization devoted to the healing and empowerment of women and girls and the reclaiming of the sacred feminine. The Women’s Well offered programs in the Boston area from 1994 to 2012, centered around essential questions in women’s spirituality: What do women experience as sacred? How do they know it and honor it? How do they bring it forth?
Anne is a poet and the author of the poetry collection We Used to Call Her Mother. She is also the editor of Willing to Love, in which she authored a chapter. A lifelong social activist, she is also a mother of two and a grandmother of five.
Inside this episode, we explore:
Anne’s journey from a lonely childhood to a realization of the vastness and mystery of the universe
The interplay between Grace (the unexpected gifts), Will (the choice to engage), and Desire (the longing to grow) in our personal evolution
The guiding “red thread” of our lives and how we can learn to follow it change and uncertainty
Creating sacred spaces for women to share authentic, resonant experiences which were often outside traditional structures
Her work facilitating women’s circles across cultures, including in Russia
Cultivating a relationship with the dream world and the unconscious as a vital dimension of human experience
Applying the Psychosynthesis framework of body, feelings, mind, and spirit to ground our multidimensional nature
The radical act of turning inward to hear the wise, intelligent voice within
Honoring the vulnerabilities of aging while reclaiming joy and peace in later seasons of life
Her relationship with poetry—how it emerged unexpectedly and what it means to receive rather than “create”
A closing poem from her new collection, read by Anne, that beautifully captures the spirit of our conversation
I hope you enjoyed this installment of the Wisdom Keepers series.
To learn more about Anne’s poetry and her work with women's circles, you can find all the relevant links below.
If something in this conversation stirred remembrance, sparked an insight, or opened a new doorway for you, I’d love to hear from you at sara@saravatore.com.
More Wisdom Keepers to come.
Links:
Get a copy of We Used To Call Her Mother
Get a copy of Willing to Love: Stories of the Couple's Journey as a Path of Transformation
Reach out to Anne at AnneYeomans@gmail.com
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