BayNVC - Bay Area Nonviolent Communication

Time: 7:00pm
Description: I've experienced many moments of feeling jaw-droppingly impressed with how Kathy teaches NVC. ~ Psychotherapist, Kensington Opening circle at 7:15pm on Friday Retreat sign-in begins at 4:30pm First meal is dinner on Friday at 6pm Ends at 3pm Wednesday The Living Peace retreat is a perfect way to immerse yourself in both the beauty of NVC community and the beauty of nature. Set in the beautiful redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the retreat typically draws participants with considerable Nonviolent Communication experience, who want to bring their understanding and proficiency to a new level and also those who are new to NVC and want to immerse themselves in NVC skills and consciousness. The retreat is led by a team of experienced NVC trainers. Each day provides plenty of time to work in small groups and to receive one-on-one coaching around the issues that matter most to you. While the schedule will vary somewhat from day to day, depending on the needs of the participants, each day typically includes whole-group sessions for learning and connection, small group practice sessions, empathy groups, participant-led offerings of arts and movement, and time for rest and enjoying the outdoors. Topics include: living NVC within our closest relationships and out it the world; healing and reconciliation; connecting across differences; and much more. Our food is prepared by a beloved chef who has worked with BayNVC for many years, and his mostly-organic, healthy and exquisitely-flavored meals add a sense of deep nurturing to our days together. Depending on participant interest, there will be workshops each day focusing on developing more power and compassion in particular areas in our lives, including these: • Being in a couple • Parenting • Communicating with family-of-origin • Workplace issues • Social change work Participants of this retreat may apply to continue their learning in the BayNVC Immersion Program (formerly known as the Committed NVC Practitioners Program) which will meet at BayNVC one weekend per month in 2012, beginning in March. NVC provided a highly effective framework for communication with my students and their parents." ~ Elementary school teacher, Berkeley Living Peace helped me connect with myself and with others in a way I didn’t know was possible. ~ Software engineer, El Cerrito. Click here for more comments from Living Peace Retreat participants. Lead Trainer: Kathy Simon, Ph.D., has been practicing NVC for more than 16 years and teaching it for 7 years. She has led the Living Peace Retreat and the BayNVC Immersion Program since 2009 and especially appreciates the chance to work with a warm community of dedicated practitioners. Along with the Immersion Program, Kathy also leads NVC trainings for organizations and works with individuals, parents and couples to integrate NVC into their personal lives. A former high school English and drama teacher, Kathy trained student teachers at Stanford University and co-directed the Coalition of Essential Schools, a nonprofit school reform organization. Kathy is the author of Moral Questions in the Classroom and co-author of other books on education and school reform. She lives in Oakland, where she practices NVC with her partner, Inbal Kashtan, co-founder of BayNVC, and their 13 year old son. Members of the Leadership Team: Suz Strasburger, Ph.D., is a leadership coach in organizations and has a private counseling practice with individuals and couples in Emeryville; a graduate of the BayNVC Immersion Program (BIP), she assists regularly at NVC retreats and often integrates somatic practices and improvisation with NVC learning. Donna Carter is a graduate of BayNVCs immersion and leadership programs and has assisted NVC year-long retreats and couples trainings. She is completing a three-year certification in Somatic Experiencing, the work of UC Berkeley's Dr. Peter Levine. As a consultant, she leads workshops at the nexus of stress reduction, self-care, mindfulness, somatics and healthy nervous system functioning. Kangs Trevens has been deeply moved by the self-understanding, support, and community connections he has made through NVC. A graduate of BIP and the Leadership Program (LP), he’s also been an assistant trainer in the Leadership Program. He works as a mental health counselor. Gary (Honey Bear) Brain delights in learning and exploring ways to live and grow in non-violence in his personal and professional life. He participated in BIP 2009 and 2010, assisted in BIP 2011, has attended numerous NVC workshops and retreats for couples, business leadership, and mediation. He also works as a systems and technology project consultant. David Johnson is a Canadian who worked as a humanitarian aid worker in Africa and Central America for about 12 years; he is a graduate of the BayNVC Leadership Program and a year-long NVC Mediation program, and now lives in Vancouver, Canada where he writes and shares NVC. Ranjana (Ranji) Ariaratnam spent years overseas as a humanitarian aid worker in the Balkans, Africa, and Asia, is a graduate of theBayNVC Leadership Program and a year-long NVC Mediation program, and now shares NVC in northern California and in the Vancouver, British Columbia area. David Montgomery came to NVC in 2009 out of a desire for social change, and was hooked for good by the learning, connection, and community he found participating in the BayNVC Immersion Program in 2010 and 2011. He has assisted in a variety of NVC workshops, and he works as a software engineer. He loves how NVC offers practical approaches for honoring our interdependence.

Time: 4:30pm - 6:30pm
Description: Skips March 9 “For once a seminar leader didn’t try to cram in too much stuff, but instead really committed to her material and ‘let it breathe.’ Very effective!” ~ Floyd Smith FIRST CLASS FREE! Contact the office to register for the free first class of this series. 510-433-0700 or register@baynvc.org COURSE DESCRIPTION Would you like to learn how to become a resource in your neighborhood, community, or workplace? After offering a one-time course on this topic for three years, we are responding to the increasing need in our communities by offering you a more in-depth opportunity to gain mastery and practice in being available to others around you. The primary focus for this series is extensive practice in the art of empathic listening and conflict de-escalation. The first week focuses on the foundations of empathic listening. From then on, each week you will expand your ability to maintain presence and focus with people you find progressively more challenging, in response to content you find increasingly harder to hear, and in more and more types of situations. This series is highly interactive and includes exercises using situations volunteered by class participants as material for learning. "Miki Kashtan's class reintroduced me to the value of silence as part of deep listening. The most profound moment came when my partner and I looked into each other's faces without saying a word. It was both uncomfortable and transformative, and the experience is still with me. I believe this is a vital skill to take into any kind of community building setting, where many people are more focused on giving their opinions than deeply listening to other participants." ~ Judy Pope Miki Kashtan, certified NVC trainer, is a founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication and the North America Leadership Program. She is inspired by the role of visionary leadership in shaping a livable future, and works toward that vision by sharing the principles and practices of Nonviolent Communication through mediation, meeting facilitation, coaching, consulting, and training for organizations and for committed individuals. Miki hosts the Conflict Hotline TV show, and blogs at the Fearless Heart and on Psychology Today. Her articles have appeared in Tikkun magazine and elsewhere. You may enjoy watching: 10-minute video interview of Miki Kashtan discussing empathy. 12 Continuing Education Units are available for registered nurses and therapists. Click here for more information.

Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Description: Join us for this KICK-OFF Event of our year-long series of workshops for educators: Tools for the 21st Century Educator: Bringing Nonviolent Communication to Schools Creating Thriving, Compassionate Classrooms & Schools is a 2-day Experiential Workshop with Sura Hart, CNVC trainer, author, pioneer in bringing NVC to teachers and school; and Jared Finkelstein, BayNVC Collaborative Trainer and Certification Candidate with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Creating safe, compassionate classrooms & school communities provides the foundation for learning vital social emotional skills as well as academic subjects. This workshop shares best practices for creating the classrooms and schools we dream of— where students’ love of learning is nourished, and where they also develop the essential relational and leadership skills necessary for success in a dynamic, interdependent 21st century. In this workshop, participants will: * Learn to shift from trying to manage students’ behavior, to inspiring and nurturing genuinely caring, cooperative classrooms. * Learn to co-create with students effective group agreements that work for everyone. * Practice communication that prioritizes connection, inspires self-reflection, and nurtures personal responsibility. * Explore The No-Fault Zone® Game, a playful and powerful tool that both students and teachers can use to express themselves, empathize with others, solve problems together, and resolve conflicts. * Get support for your specific challenges involving classroom management and relationships with students, teachers, administrators and parents. Sura Hart has been working in the field of education for thirty years, as classroom teacher in public and private schools, and director of family programs. She currently consults with schools, coaches parents, and shares Nonviolent Communication as a certified trainer with the global Center for Nonviolent Communication. She especially enjoys partnering with school communities to create No-Fault Zone (TM) classrooms and homes where young people and adults learn to communicate clearly & compassionately and to resolve conflicts peacefully. Sura has co-authored three books: The Compassionate Classroom: Relationship Based Teaching and Learning; Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids: 7 Keys to Turn Family Conflict into Co-operation; The No-Fault Classroom: Tools to Resolve Conflict & Foster Relationship Intelligence. She has also co-created The No-Fault Zone (TM) Game, a visual, hands-on tool helping people understand one another, solve problems together and resolve conflicts. For Sura's website click here. Jared Finkelstein is a consultant and trainer who specializes in communication that transforms conflict into connection. Jared has over 20 years experience in alternative education. A former filmmaker and media educator, Jared taught Media Literacy to youth in Poughkeepsie, NY through the Children's Media Project, as well as through the Summer Institute for the Gifted, The Randolph School, and the Poughkeepsie Day School. In his years as an educator he has worked closely with children as young as 3 and as old as 21, facilitating hands on experiential learning projects, coupled with character education and community building. Jared is a graduate of the 2009 BayNVC Leadership Program and has been a teaching assistant for both the 2010 Immersion Program and the 2010 and 2011 Leadership Programs. As a Collaborative Trainer with BayNVC, Jared offers professional development training in NVC to Bay Area school teachers and administrators, as well as workshops for parent groups and student classrooms. Jared is also a certification candidate with the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

Time: 10:00am - 6:00pm
Description: We are pleased to announce the formation of a new NVC program with Miki Kashtan! Leveraging Your Influence Using NVC will consist of one Sunday a month for 11 consecutive months. 2012 Dates: Feb 19, Mar 25, Apr 29, May 20, Jun 24, Jul 15, Aug 12, Sep 23, Oct 28, Nov 18, and Dec 9 The workshops will take place at the BayNVC office unless we have more than 25 people in the program. Informational Calls: We are scheduling informational calls for prospective participants. Click here to download a recording of our first call, or register for one of the upcoming ones: Sat, Feb 11, 1:30pm Pacific/4:30pm Eastern, click here to register Thu, Mar 1, 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern, click here to register Fri, Mar 23, Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern, click here to register In addition, you can contact the BayNVC office at register@baynvc.org if you have specific questions you want answered. The vision of the program is to delve deeply into the practice of living the consciousness and principles of NVC using a natural language approach and leveraging our influence by using NVC as the “organizing principle” for our work in the world. Rather than focus on specific skills to teach NVC formally, we intend to focus on all the real-life situations in which using NVC can move us and our environment closer to the dream of a needs-based world. We start with where we are, by inspiring others, by transforming conflict to mutual understanding, and by forging connections and alliances through our shared human needs. For example - “If I'm a teacher, how can I more fully live NVC with my students? If I'm a doctor.... a lawyer.... a minister .... a spouse.... a professional athlete... a midwife – how can I live NVC so fully that all the people I meet each day are affected by its profound gifts? How do I infuse my work and play so that NVC consciousness becomes the common denominator in all my relationships?” We are excited to imagine a world like this! A world in which each of us could act in the sacred role of the midwife and help bring greater NVC presence to all the areas of life our personal worlds touch. Because of the nature of this program, we envision a community made up of a range of NVC experience. We envision having some very experienced NVC practitioners and trainers who are eager to naturalize their use of NVC and become free, again, to meet and engage with people who are not necessarily NVC people. We also imagine having some people who have a deep appreciation of the NVC frame of reference, and some familiarity with the tools without a whole lot of formal experience. The mix worked wonderfully at the retreat last August when this program was “conceived.” This program is designed to be co-created from its inception by Miki and all the participants. This means aiming for a radical level of vulnerability and trust, particularly around issues of tuition, money and sustainability, gift economy, inclusion, learning goals, and honesty regarding feedback and commitment to holding all needs with deep care. While we want to co-create this program, Miki will still be holding her role as leader. She will be modeling her vision of collaborative leadership, engaging with the group to understand needs of participants as they emerge and harnessing the energy and interest that presents itself. In this way, everyone’s input counts and we have the opportunity to utilize Miki’s expertise in creating a truly enriching learning experience, tailored to the needs and contributions of the participants. We are excited to discover the extent to which we can create a community that would manifest such a dream together while supporting all of us to become a resource to those around us and the world! We hold no limit on what we can create together. We might just become that small group of individuals that Margaret Mead refers to in her famous quote. Miki Kashtan, certified NVC trainer, is a founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication and the North America Leadership Program. She is inspired by the role of visionary leadership in shaping a livable future, and works toward that vision by sharing the principles and practices of Nonviolent Communication through mediation, meeting facilitation, coaching, consulting, and training for organizations and for committed individuals. Miki hosts the Conflict Hotline TV show, and blogs at the Fearless Heart and on Psychology Today. Her articles have appeared in Tikkun magazine and elsewhere. You may enjoy watching: 10-minute video interview of Miki Kashtan discussing empathy. 66 Continuing Education Units are available for registered nurses and therapists. Click here for more information.