Who are these weekends suitable for?


These weekends cover the fundaments of NVC, combined with a theme.  They are suitable for those new to NVC as well as those deepening their practice. If you are new, you could read Marshall Rosenberg’s book A Language of Life or read this short Introduction to NVC.  In the course of my training in NVC, I repeatedly attended and assisted on Foundation trainings, where I revisited again and again the foundations of nonviolence. As paradigm shifts or changes in habits and patterns take a long time to take root, the repeated practice was very important to create change.
Sun 28 Jan and Sun 4 Feb 2018                Authentic relationships
Sat 26 and Sun 27 May 2018                     Choice, consent and creativity
Sat 8 and Sun 9 September 2018            Transforming conflict in relationships and groups
Sat 3 and Sun 4 November 2018             Grief, mourning and celebration
Sat 15 and Sun 16 December 2018        Authentic relationships

What happens in a workshop?


Introduction and deepening practice of Nonviolent Communication or NVC. In each module, we will practice the elements that make possible authenticity of self and authenticity in relationship with others. NVC is a process of changing where we place our attention, shifting from focussing on right/wrong, what should happen … what makes logical sense, what’s normal … onto feelings, needs and choice.

Throughout the course of the Cultivating the Strength to Love series we will explore NVC principles and how it is possible to change narratives or paradigms towards needs-based paradigms. The following are some needs-based principles in NVC.
o   Humans are connected through having the same needs
o   Feelings point to needs being met or unmet
o   All actions are attempts to meet needs
o   The world offers abundant resources for meeting needs
o   It’s possible to believe that everyone’s needs matter, to consider everyone’s needs and that win-win solutions are within our reach.

You might notice as you read them, that some are easier to embrace than others, some might feel ok in certain situations but a big no-no in others or with certain people. All of your responses to these principles are rich material for exploring the life that flows through you.

We will strengthen understanding of NVC Key Differentiations
Observation (and Evaluation)
Feelings (and thinking about how you are feeling)
Needs (and strategies)
Request (and No Request)
and use them to navigate situations and challenges, and look through the lens of one of the differentiations to move some energy where there is stuckness.


There will be 4 strands of practice:
1.       Practice at being with what is present inside us right now and in relationship with others … allowing what is present … stopping the stories about it momentarily to allow our feeling sense some space.
2.       Empathic or focussed listening (which I distinguish from everyday listening which is mixed up with speaking and where the focus of attention is constantly shifting)
3.       Allowing space for the shadow/jackal parts of you
4.       And a role-play practice of empathic listening and empathic expressing (staying connected to feelings and needs) in a situation you have an emotional involvement in, in which you are likely to be triggered into reactivity.

The first three strands help us to get clarity about what is happening, the fourth is an opportunity to experience yourself roleplaying a situation using the tools of nonviolence, and to harvest learning from that.  The fourth strand is a challenging exercise and one I like people to have an attempt at in a foundation training.