Authentically Us - A Weekend of NVC Workshops With The RMCCN Community - Spring 2024

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Authentically Us - A Weekend of NVC Workshops With The RMCCN Community - Spring 2024

Authentic Presence – There Is Nothing More Powerful

May 3, 4, 5, 2024

“And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to bloom..”
- Nin

19 Facilitators, 20 Online Events!
Facilitators Are Volunteering Their Time To Support RMCCN
Registration Free – Donations Welcome

Registration Closes May 3 At 8:00 PM MDT

  • RMCCN facilitators are coming together as a community:
  • To support our world by spreading, as widely as possible, the skills to build compassionate understanding across differences.
  • To support RMCCN in having resources to expand our reach to diverse communities, providing co-learning opportunities where we can explore engaged, compassionate living together.

Enroll for free; make a donation if you can.

Registration Closes May 4 At 8:00 PM MDT

* * * * *

Session Recordings.

RMCCN is experimenting with recording sessions.
Not every session will be recorded.
Check the individual session for recording status.

In these tumultuous times we are living in, one thing is clear - if we want to live our values of unity, freedom, trust, mutual care and respect, we need to develop the competency and capacity to do so. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a body of work created by Marshall B. Rosenberg that helps us develop self-responsibility, deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, and create meaningful dialogues. NVC provides us with concrete tools to align our language with what we really value.

Hence, this invitation to you. Come join Rocky Mountain Compassionate Communication Network (RMCCN) facilitators for a weekend of practice and inspiration via Zoom. Learn the skills needed to:
· have more clarity, compassion, and empowerment in all of your relationships;
· transform resistance and reactivity into connection;
· develop trust and collaboration.

We are excited to share with you how Nonviolent Communication is being applied in many areas of life from child rearing, to connecting across differences and resolve conflicts, to creating environments that support us in having power together. This training is open to parents, teachers, students, social activists, professionals, and anyone who wants to deepen their communication skills.

Our NVC facilitators are donating their time, skills, and heart to support this fundraising event and will donate all proceeds to RMCCN in order to support the organization in sharing Nonviolent Communication as deeply and widely in our community as possible. We are dedicated to providing people with the opportunity to realize the vision articulated by youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman:

“If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it. Because being American is more than a pride we inherit; it’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”

Come join us to bring out the best in ourselves and others to meet the challenges of our lives and to co-create a world where we all can thrive.

PROGRAM INFORMATION AND ENROLLMENT

Description:

All registrants will automatically be enrolled in this opening celebration. In our time together we will have the opportunity to get to know each other and share interests and intentions for the weekend. Individual exploration is important. So is the accompaniment brought by being a part of a community. You are invited to join us and draw the comfort, strength, and delight that arises as we celebrate our shared journey.

Description:

Based on Kristen Neff’s work, in this workshop we will explore both the loving, connected presence often associated with self compassion as well as the fierce empowered clarity from which we act to make changes in our lives. There will be ample practices that you can take away to put compassion into action in your life.

Description:

Delve into the profound connection between "Needs, Vulnerability, and Boundaries" through the lens of Non-Violent Communication (NVC). Participants will embark on a journey of self-discovery, learning practical tools to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics with empathy and vulnerability, while at the same time honoring the need for strong, healthy boundaries. Through engaging discussions, experiential exercises, and interactive role-playing, you'll cultivate a deeper understanding of your own needs, vulnerabilities, and boundaries, as well as those of others. We'll explore how these aspects of our lives are interwoven and have the ability to facilitate deeper connection.

"Whether you're seeking to enhance your communication skills in personal relationships, professional settings, or within yourself, this workshop offers a safe space to practice compassionate communication and cultivate healthier connections. We'll learn how to turn ourselves "inside out" so the vulnerability can soften our words and open people up, while at the same time staying true to ourselves and our healthy boundaries. By the end of the day, you'll have a renewed sense of self-awareness, clearer boundaries, and practical strategies for fostering more authentic and fulfilling relationships in all areas of your life."

Description:

Susan will be joined by a panel of NVC enthusiasts, CNVC certification candidates, and CNVC certified trainers. Together these panelists from various locations in the United States, Tanzania, Canada and Brazil will engage in open conversation, and share insights and experiences related to the following questions.

What is power? What do you know and what do you not know about power? What is your history in relationship to power? How has your use of power been affected by cultural messages and conditioning? Would you like to increase your awareness and sensitivity around power? Are you power agile? Do you use or misuse your power? What are the 4 types of power? What are power differentials of up power and down power? What is the power paradox? How do you use power in a leadership role? What is the relationship between power and repair? What do we know about empathy and power? How does neuroscience support our understanding of power?

Description:

In this workshop, we will explore possible ways to structure a conversation with the intention to repair trust after a rupture has happened in an important relationship. Some topics explored will be: acknowledging impact with self-compassion, expressing regret vs. guilt/shame, how to navigate who speaks and listens first and simple reflective listening skills that can support connection.

Description:

Do you find yourself fearing or avoiding conflict... or inadvertently sparking conflict, even when attempting to communicate using NVC? This workshop is designed to break this cycle, offering a new step-by-step system with advanced strategies for more effective dialogue.

In the workshop's first hour, we explore why the standard Observation, Feeling, Need, and Request (OFNR) model may fall short in heated moments. Then, you will engage in hands-on exercises to transform criticisms and OFNR complaints into a language of opportunity that encourages dialogue, making it easier for those you're in conflict with to enthusiastically engage in resolving the conflict.

The second hour is dedicated to mastering empathic reflection. Moving beyond the basic "are you feeling... because you're needing..." framework, we'll focus on practicing practical techniques to convey a profound understanding of another person's perspective - a crucial step to resolving misunderstandings.

Join us to transform your approach to conflict, turning challenging conversations into fun opportunities for connection and understanding.

Description:

Brené Brown described working with a bunch of marines. She told them you cannot have courage without vulnerability. At first they were skeptical so she challenged them to come up with an example of someone who acted courageously who was not in some way vulnerable at the time. They could not do it.

Vulnerability is an expression of deep connection to self. It bespeaks a confidence that whatever happens I can handle it and I do not have to orchestrate circumstance to get my needs met. Vulnerability is an act of trust in the "natural giving" that Marshall Rosenberg spoke of, that who I am is enough and as I contribute to your well-being, so too will you contribute to mine.

The relationship between vulnerability and courage leads to fulfillment and meaning. Come explore how we can nourish and cultivate that relationship.

Description:

The Pandemic of 2020 impacted all of us! Four years later some of us still find ourselves in a state of bewilderment, confusion and sadness. Are you grieving the changes brought about by the Pandemic and the Pre-COVID world we cannot return to? How do we live in this new world? What kind of world are we creating in the wake of a global Pandemic?

During our session we will explore both how to get back in to the world, fully, the way we want to be. and some of the impacts of the pandemic, whether they were positive or negative, and see where we might want to make it most life serving.

Lynn McLaughlin and Shauna Burrow (CNVC Certification Candidates) extend a tender open hearted welcome for those bereaved, bereft, inert, saddened, heartbroken and grappling with how it is to be human and be alive in these times. It is a time to be with others in honoring life and for grief to be more than ‘just mine’ and personal to ‘me’ – a time to be accompanied. And, perhaps a time for us to co-create the world we want to live in going forward…

Please join us.

Description:

Join Holly and Chris for a workshop on fostering heartfelt discussions with your kids and teens about electronic media, aimed at honoring the whole child while respecting what’s important to you. In this interactive session, gain clarity and self-awareness about your beliefs, judgments, and needs. Leave equipped with the tools to engage in conversations with the youth you care for, approaching them with openness, curiosity, and empathy.

Description:

Have you ever found yourself reacting in a way that you later regretted? Would you like to find new options, to move toward responding in ways that align with your values?

Join us as we explore processes to support creating new ways of responding to challenges and stimuli through Nonviolent Communication and a sprinkling of somatic/embodied practices.

Description:

“Everybody has a lonely place, “within the solitary profound.” We are similar in all having experienced that lonely place – where you crawl into, after deeply wounded on the emotional or spiritual levels, a place to just let your wounds be alone.” Rabbi Zalman

Whew – hasn’t the world been so intense these past years?! This lonely place feels safer, despite the cost of separateness. Personally, I know part of me has not come back fully into the world yet. Some have named this a mental health crisis of loneliness. I am curious if this crisis is just needing more space and time to process what just happened? In being with others, I’ve heard that I am not alone in this experience.

Reflecting on the pandemic, push back on racial justice work, global wars and violence, climate disruption, sense of chaos and unpredictability, and how everyone wants to be heard but no one is listening….this feeling of separateness has grown proportionately to the level of chaos in our world.

Working with the wisdom of Rabbi Zalman, Robert Gonzales, and a Jewish tale, The Prince who Became a Rooster, we’ll explore the themes of how you came to crawl into that lonely place and what is your particular experience of being in that void. It is said that every soul has a song, so that when you know another’s song, you are no longer lost in that separateness - how might we, collectively, crawl back out by singing each other’s soul song?

Threads include NVC practices that help us care for both experiences of protective structures, invulnerability, separateness as a way to survive these wounds along with the power of being seen for who you are, stepping back into being vulnerable and authentic in order to re-enter the world.

Description:

Join us for "Living Intention," a workshop designed to expand your understanding and practice of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). This session begins by grounding participants in the traditional principles of NVC — such as universal needs, self-empathy, empathic listening and authentic self-expression — setting a robust foundation for both personal and interpersonal awareness. As the workshop progresses, we shift our focus towards a more proactive, intention-based approach. This evolution in perspective encourages participants to not just understand but actively create their emotional and relational experiences by setting and living their intentions. Through interactive dyads and multiple experiential processes, you'll explore how to transform the living energy of needs — along with other core NVC concepts — into daily practices that foster a life rich in purpose and fulfillment. "Living Intention" offers a dynamic blend of theory and interactive practice, providing you with tools to not only respond to life's challenges but also to actively shape your life’s experiences. Engage in a series of dyadic exercises designed to deepen your connection to self and others, and discover how intentional living can transform your approach to everyday interactions and cultivate your values, ideals and dreams.

Description:

Some experts, including at the American Psychological Association, are saying COVID-19 spurred collective trauma. How can a Nonviolent Communication practice support us in these overwhelming times?

This workshop will focus on developing a deeper understanding of and practices related to self-empathy and self-compassion, given research about trauma. Join us to learn more about how wounding experiences may impact our ability to resonate with ourselves and with others.

All people are welcome, regardless of how they do or do not identify with experiences of trauma. While the presenter is not a licensed professional, they have extensive relevant training and expertise in trauma-informed practice.

Description:

Marshall Rosenberg said, "Never give someone the power to make submit or rebel." Robert Gonzales said, "Some people expend a tremendous amount of energy arguing with reality." When we welcome what is, a tremendous amount of energy is freed up, we experience a sense of relief and stability at the core of our being, and we become much more resourceful and innovative as we interact with life.

How do we develop the wherewithal to interact and co-create with life rather than react and be controlled. How do we learn to act with deliberation and choice rather than habit and compulsion.

NVC holds valuable insights that put us in the driver's seat and aspires to liberation of the spirit. Come explore.

Description:

Anger very often is seen in our culture as something wrong, scary and something we need to get rid of. Science however, shows us that the Rage circuit is an important source of vital life energy that regulates our nervous system and permits us to be protective and to advocate for what is needed. Many experiences connected to anger throughout our life shape our views on it and often block our access to healthy expression of anger. We might have made unconscious contracts with ourselves never to be angry so we do not cause harm or that we will always be angry to not get hurt by others. Those contracts, that helped us survive when we were small and powerless, can deny us the power to set boundaries, say no or to protect ourselves. In this session we will look specifically at contracts related to anger and how they might be entangled with different circuits of emotions and motivations that don't allow access to Anger’s Life Giving Force. Join us for this experiential session and be ready to dive into the source of anger’s blocks that we will acknowledge, thank them and let them go to find new blessings related to anger that serves life.

Description:

“Our goal is to create a quality of empathetic connection that allows everyone’s needs to be met.” - Marshall B. Rosenberg

William James called curiosity “the impulse towards better cognition.”

How can we become curious enough to nurture connection within ourselves and with others? How do we shift from reaction to curiosity? What happens in our body and mind when we do? What happens in the other person?

Being presented with a stimulus can bring up basic feelings like joy or fear. Whether a job opportunity or an unpleasant family matter, our approach will have very different out comes depending on our intention and perspective. Are we curious, interested and concerned? Or are we fearful, disinterested, apathetic and detached?

Curiosity opens possibilities for us. To look at ourselves with curiosity and to look at others the same way opens the way to connection. In response to a stimulus we may react with old habits or we can chose to shift and become curious. We can employ NVC practices to nurture curiosity, hold judgment in abeyance, and evoke a playful spirit.

In this session we will explore and practice how curiosity can open the way to empathy and connection.

Curious? Join us in evoking a playful, curious spirit.

Description:

What if the common NVC practice to narrow down to one need actually limits us?

Do you feel you live between worlds, feeling confused with different needs that seem to be in conflict?

Expand your Power With practice to learn about a new model of needs within yourself and others. Aligning understanding of the complexity of needs and our lived experiences has opened my curiosity! Come play with this new model of needs. I’d love your feedback!

This model supports inclusion & trust for those of us who live between worlds and needs all the time. Five levels:

1) Self. 2) Relational To My Communities. 3) Relational To Another Person. 4) Organizational + Systemic. 5) Global/Planetary Health.

Using your examples, we’ll listen to Five Need Levels. Integrity and choice arises by embracing all needs. From awareness we can hold our needs with care. Then strategies arise that for alignment possibilities.

Description:

You win some, you learn some: An exploration and discussion of the difficulties, rewards, and struggles of learning compassionate communication.

Join us to dive into the journey of learning and sharing compassionate communication. Bring your stories of success and struggle. I will share about my personal journey and give some examples of my own highs and lows... each along with insights I gained along the way. If there is something you are stuck on right now in your journey, let's talk about that too and see if we can come up with some ideas of how to move forward. We'll talk about Practice groups, Street Giraffe, Spiritual Growth, and NVC Techniques that can help along the way.

Gather with us in community. No matter if you’re a seasoned NVC'er or just starting out, your experiences are invaluable to our collective exploration. So, if you’ve got something to say about your adventures in compassionate communication, or if you just want to join others in theot shares, we can’t wait to hear from you. See ya there!

Description:

All registrants will automatically be enrolled in this closing celebration and learning harvest. We will have opportunity to share our takeaways and inspirations and to acknowledge what matters to us.

Description:

It is said that the seen is supported by the unseen. Without the diligent support of Mark, Laura and their exceptional, multi-cultural, and globe-spanning support team this weekend would be much more difficult and bumpy. We are grateful to Mark and the volunteers he assembled to bring behind-the-scenes ease so that facilitators can focus on facilitation.

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