NVC Introduction Weekend - NonViolent Communication

To book/ register your interest:
Please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/JP7hGCncET4sX1gv6
And email intraconnecting@gmail.com to confirm your place.
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Info:
Relationships are one of the most, if not the most, important aspect of our lives. At the same time, they’re one of the most difficult parts. NonViolent Communication (NVC) provides tools and skills to navigate some of the challenges involved in making and maintaining meaningful connections. It can transform our relationships with friends, family, colleagues, everyone, and even our relationships with ourselves, as we come to further understand and reorient our communication towards what matters most to us.

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve tried to express what’s important to us, and somehow it didn’t go the way we hoped… or just fell apart all together! Or when we’ve kept quiet and not said anything at all, but wished that we knew how to speak up for what matters to us. We’ve all had times where we struggle to understand other people’s motivations. Or we wish they understood us better!

NVC enables us to see our shared humanity, and gives tools that support us to communicate across differences. It contrasts with conventional communication styles where, particularly in times of conflict or tension, there can be little awareness, or care, of how well our communication is likely to be received.

Through the practice of NVC, we can create internal space to slow down before we react, take responsibility for ourselves and our own emotions, and stop blaming and judging others whenever we feel out of sorts. We also learn to express ourselves in ways that are more likely to ‘land’ well with others, and to keep us in connection.

Dates to save:
Sat 8th & Sun 9th June, Weekend Introduction to NVC in Cloughjordan, Tipperary. 12th & 13th October, Intermediate NVC Weekend, Cloughjordan. Please bring lunch and any food/ drinks you'd like to share. For overnight options see Djangos Hostel, BnBs, or email us if you're stuck!

Financial contribution:
We’re choosing a sliding scale approach to respond to vastly differing financial situations. Anywhere from €80 to €160+ (if you can afford it), with an average of €120 would sufficiently support the costs of running the weekend. AND we don’t want anyone to opt out of coming for financial reasons, so let’s find an arrangement that supports all of us – please get in touch to discuss bursary, concessions, or other gift economy offerings.

More about:
Mel White and Aaron Bailey are holding a series of weekend trainings to delve deep into our lives, exploring connection (the moments we find meaning in) and disconnection (the moments that collapse our nervous systems) – all part of this messy human experience! For Mel and Aaron, NVC helps bring clarity, authenticity, and empathy to this shared human experience. They would like to share this with anyone else willing to explore their communication and listening patterns, and inner worlds full of feelings, needs, and desires for more fulfilling lives.

Aaron came across NVC when he was 18 years old and remembers how visceral it was; “to my younger, and fairly open, mind it felt right, like I had found one of the puzzle pieces to my life – something that would take time to explore and integrate, but something that was making more sense of the other things”. It is still now as entwined in his life, and was a foundational aspect of Mel and Aaron’s relationship. Having grown up in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, interested in people-dynamics, system-change, and conflict (being part of the beating heart of community living!) he sought out mediation, Restorative Circle, and NVC training in Ireland and abroad. Aaron is now a Registered Candidate on the path towards certification with the Centre for NonViolent Communication, and working with an assessor in the Netherlands. Aaron also practises nonviolence through martial arts, and has been active in the environmental movement in Ireland through peaceful civil disobedience. He can often be found on the dancefloor, or trying to fill the dancefloor from the DJ decks!

Mel first encountered NVC around 20 years ago, when she stumbled upon Marshall Rosenberg’s book in a charity shop. Reading it had a huge impact on her, and changed the way she perceived relationships. She later began training in NVC, and hasn’t looked back since! Mel is also an award-winning spoken word poet and a visual artist, and a resident of Cloughjordan EcoVillage, where she’s involved with the Community Farm and the Process group (which is responsible for the collaborative decision making processes in the EcoVillage). She is also a trained facilitator of Restorative Circles. Mel is constantly trying to find a balance between the things that are important to her, including connection and authenticity, autonomy and collaboration, creativity, lifelong learning, and creating a culture that aspires to meet the needs of all within planetary boundaries.

With the escalating levels of conflict, violence, and disharmony in the world they feel called to offer spaces where compassionate states of consciousness can nurture each other and thrive, so they’re holding these events through the year.