The Art of Honest Dialogue: Non Violent Communication 2-day Training

The Art of Honest Dialogue is a twofold act of receiving authenticity through listening, and giving in authentic self expression.  It begins with our relationship with ourself and expands outwards into our relationships with others. 

Honest Dialogue grows our capacity to experience meaning in relationships and to taste the beauty & pleasure of genuine intimacy. It is essential in navigating decision making and effective collaborations with others, thus drawing upon the wisdom of the collective that is available to all who know how to access it. 

It is a skill that includes being able to move past mental clutter and conditioning to hear what is most important to each person in any situation.  When we are able to hear and express what matters most there is a natural shift towards connection and collaboration without effort on our part. 

Of course, in our current climate of meta crisis, we are conditioned out of our natural tendency to connect and give to each other and instead, we have been misguided onto a path of defense and misperception.  Often leading to unnecessary total breakdown of relationships, creative projects collapsing, general unhappiness and at a systemic level violence, war and persecution. 

This is where Non Violent Communication comes in.  Non Violent Communication or NVC for short, is a system of communication that fosters understanding and supports people to hear beyond judgements and differences. NVC is the process of re-organising the mind to see and express underlying essence, revealing our loving and generous shared true nature instead of remaining fixed on the learned and tragic patterns of relating that cloud our shared humanity. 

It has a supremely simple in structure at its core that takes fifteen minutes to learn and a lifetime to practice, embody and refine. Honest dialogue the NVC way requires us to grapple with structures of power and imbalance within our own and others' thinking. It requires that we face the most vulnerable aspects and uncomfortable emotions of being a human. And it requires a willingness to relinquish the desire to "be right'. Through the principles and processes of NVC we learn to navigate with greater ease things like guilt, shame, anger, criticism, saying no, recognising and asking for what we want, being compassionate when torn between seemingly conflicting parts, beneficial regret, non coercive collaboration, mourning and more.

Mastering these is an adventure with great rewards. 

The world becomes an increasingly happy place filled with moments of connection in unexpected places. Fears of speaking out truthfully are replaced with trust and joy as we gain evidence that we can hold ourselves and others through all the experiences of life. And even when rupture happens, we find we have the skills to repair and reconnect. Life just gets easier and better for us. And as we use our skills to connect to and uplift the whole, the world becomes kinder for everyone and ever-closer to the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

We hope you’ll join us as we embark on the path of creating more Honest Dialogue for ourselves and for our community.

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Workshop Details:

LOTUS HALL - HOUT BAY (address printed on ticket)

5 & 6 April

10am-4pm

All materials included.

Vegetarian Lunch, Tea, Snacks included

PLEASE BRING:

• Cushions/favourite sheepi to sit on and be comfy

•Colouring pencil crayons (there will be some communal ones)- no ink khaki or paint to respect the carpets.

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Terms - non refundable one week before workshop ( or amount of our choice to cover venue and food costs ) 

Self Responsibility and Complaints Clause :

Agreement / Contract

1. You understand that learning NVC is ultimately a path of self discovery, and as such you might experience uncomfortable feelings and extreme vulnerability along the way. Though I will take deep care to be present to support you with these feelings, ultimately these feelings are your responsibility to experience, learn from and care for.  ( this is a big component of the empowering journey of NVC )

2. If something in the way I conduct our sessions feels ‘off’ to you and you would like to complain, the procedure to follow is to request to make a “complaint” via email at ispeakcompassion@gmail.com. I will then schedule a phone conversation with you for up to half an hour to establish what is not working for you and find a solution that feels right for both of us. At the end of the half hour, if we have not found connection and resolution, we will then schedule a face to face meet up. If this does not solve our disconnection then we will use the services of a mediator we both be comfortable with. I have an NVC trained mediator I trust and can recommend. In this unlikely event, the costs of the mediation will be shared by both parties, unless an alternative plan is agreed to.