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Trainers are invited to write lessons, tips, and experiences with NVC.
Trainers are invited to write lessons, tips, and experiences with NVC.
I was delighted to be the recipient of a Zoom-subsidizing grant from ORNCC for my pandemic-time online practice group. Thank you, ORNCC Board!
We have met on Friday afternoons, 2:00 to 3:30, since the start of May. We’ve grown to 11 of us, and average four to six at each meeting. Thanks to the magic of tech, we beam in from Toronto to Santa Barbara, Michigan to Portland, as well as Corvallis and Salem. We start with a Quieting and a reading, and then a brief, lightly guided check-in. Anyone wanting some time for an empathy circle can then ask for it. I coach us along the way, and...
more...PuddleDancer Press (PDP) published the first edition of Marshall Rosenberg’s book, Nonviolent Communication, in 1999 and since then has published many more books dealing with Nonviolent Communication. PDP has also donated many NVC books for use in prisons and for people who could not otherwise afford them. PDP is, in my view, one of the most effective agents for spreading NVC and I am deeply grateful for what it offers.
PDP publishes a free monthly e-newsletter. Material from the current newsletter seems to me to be especially relevant at this time. It includes an essay addressing...
more...Dear Friends of NVC,
From its inception the Oregon Network for Compassionate Communication (ORNCC) has strived to work in tandem with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), the international organization Marshall Rosenberg founded in 1984. Having both an international as well as local organizations such as ORNCC has helped draw people to the process we have found so valuable. For many years CNVC has been largely dependent for financial viability on income from International Intensive Trainings (IITs), along with contributions by CNVC Certified Trainers and others in the...
more...For many, staying at home during this time can be disorienting. It can be more difficult to find a sense of purpose without feedback from coworkers and customers. Knowing how and where to direct your energy can be hard too. Without a consistent schedule, every moment means making a choice. Given that we are greatly supported and regulated by routine and community, finding your own rhythm can be challenging. You still have responsibilities, but how you go about them is completely by your design.
As we face these strange times of a global pandemic, it is more important than ever to cultivate calm. Those who become sick or lose loved ones need our support even if it is just holding a calm and caring energy in your heart.
The word collusion in the context of personal work is often used to refer to agreement and joining in with negative judgments of others. It is often used as a strategy to offer support. But collusion is a costly strategy for showing support. When you are colluding, you are feeding reactivity in yourself and the other person. Reactivity effectively blocks creative problem solving and helpful communication.
Contributing to emotional safety does not have to be in conflict with honest expression and authenticity. These are separate things. Imagining that you have to take care of someone’s tender heart by becoming small or giving up your needs is called enmeshment. This is a tragic strategy for relating. Enmeshment is encouraged in systems of oppression in which the person with less power is pressured to not rock the boat, in return sacrificing their authenticity, so that those with more power can stay comfortable.
May you fall madly in love this year .. in love with someone who unhinges your tired trajectory, in love with a spouse of several years who might be aching for lightning, in love with demanding children and crazy relatives .. in love with the particular pedigree of genius insanity that has perhaps claimed you in spite of your reluctance .. and certainly in love with an animal, a cloud, a redwood, the wild .. these at least once a day.
Spending time with family members over the holidays—the season of “good will to all”—often can be challenging.
Family gatherings may reveal a widening canyon of personal, political, and cultural differences; table conversations can halt in tense silence or devolve into explosive argument. Instead of gritting your teeth to get through the meal, here are six tips for more mindful conversations during the holiday season.
Once the swirl of an argument starts, it’s difficult to find your way back to connection. You might feel angry and scared and want to protect needs for understanding, respect, and consideration. Habit energy can be like a runaway semi truck going downhill. The brakes burn out, and you find yourself sliding into defending, shutting down, attacking, or blaming.
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I recently felt compelled to print a couple of thousand business-size cards featuring a quote...