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  1. Losing Our Judgments

    Losing Our Judgments

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 4/14/2020

    Trainer tip: Various life circumstances that can seem to be something that we don't want, and we may think of them as bad. And then later the situation may reveal that it's a circumstance that we do want, and we may think of it as good. Instead, of evaluating our day as good or bad we can acknowledge the feelings and needs that are present. Read on for a few anecdotes that illustrate this.

  2. Enemy Images

    Enemy Images

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 4/23/2020

    Trainer tip: Judging others can affect our ability to communicate effectively with that person, or enjoy the relationship. Translating the static judgments (enemy images) we have of others into our own and others' feelings and needs can help us move into greater understanding, healing, and relief -- which can foster compassion and connection. Read on for more.

  3. Empathy vs. Sympathy

    Empathy vs. Sympathy

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 3/28/2021

    Trainer Tip: When we sympathize, we relate an aspect of someone’s story to ourselves. When we empathize, we reflect the feelings and needs of the other. Empathy helps people connect more deeply to their own and another’s pain, and helps resolve issues with clarity and ease. Notice when you're giving someone sympathy rather than empathy.

  4. When We Need Empathy the Most

    When We Need Empathy the Most

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 8/10/2021

    Trainer Tip: On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your emotional bank account? If it’s lower than you like, consider what you can do right now to bring it closer to balance. Everyone in your life, and most especially you, will benefit from this. Even 15 mins of empathy may nourish you with accompaniment and perspective, even when the issues or circumstances in your life are the same.

  5. Living Our Values

    Living Our Values

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 4/10/2022

    Trainer Tip: Sometimes I wish others would make it easy for me to live my values. If other people would just do their part, I wouldn’t have to work so hard at doing mine. Can you relate? However, if I support peace in the world, this means I act peacefully because it’s important to me, not because it’s important to others. Identify your most important value today. Then live it. Notice how healing this can feel even just after one day.

  6. Making A Connection In A Difficult Situation

    Making A Connection In A Difficult Situation

    Mary Mackenzie

    Trainer Tips · 1 - 2 minutes · 7/17/2022

    Trainer Tip: Whether there is the potential of physical or emotional violence, listening deeply to the underlying needs of the people in conflict can be swift, direct, and healing. Look for opportunities to defuse conflicts by reflecting the feelings and needs of the other person.

  7. Living Compassion in an Ever-Changing World

    Living Compassion in an Ever-Changing World

    (10 Session Course)

    Robert Gonzales

    Multi-session Course · 15 - 16 hours · 09/11/2023

    Living Compassion in an Ever-Changing World is the last course that Robert Gonzales offered before his passing in November of 2021. It is an intermediate course whose purpose is to deepen our conscious connection to our own vital life force, to develop skills that support inner healing, and to grow and strengthen daily practices that allow us to truly live life to the fullest.

  8. What to do When Racial Oppression and Privilege Collide

    What to do When Racial Oppression and Privilege Collide

    Roxy Manning

    Trainer Tips · 4 - 5 minutes · 02/11/2024

    When a person of color (A.K.A. a person from the Global Majority, or GM) tells a marginalization story that triggers a defensive response from a white participant in a group, to foster awareness and healing, leaders can address the white person's distress with empathy, highlighting the common dynamic of prioritizing white pain. From there, leaders can offer GM participants opportunity to share their experience and make requests of the group.

  9. Happy Beloved New Year to YOU!

    Happy Beloved New Year to YOU!

    Mary Mackenzie

    Peaceful Living Blog · ·

    It is the first day of 2024 and I am filled with gratitude and awe. Yesterday, I celebrated my 9th year of hosting my annual New Year’s Peace Meditation. We had over 800 people register from many, many different countries and the meditation was interpreted into 4 different languages. It was incredibly moving, connecting, and hopeful for me!

  10. Hi friends, My name is Itzel and I’m happy for this opportunity to share a bit about myself and how I came to teach NVC. I was an activist before I knew what the word meant. When I was a child, I often argued with the adults around me about what I thought was “right.” If I had a nickel for every time a grown-up said to me, “You should be a lawyer,” I probably would’ve collected enough money to pay for the law school education that I eventually got. I left my traditional legal career path after more than a decade to become a...
  11. A Journey from the Heart:

    A Journey from the Heart:

    Mary Mackenzie

    Live Zoom Course · ·

    • Dive deep into the book, Peaceful Living: Daily Meditations for Living with Love, Healing and Compassion with the author
    • Deepen your ability to live NVC on a day-to-day basis
    • Experience the combination of Mary’s wisdom, daily meditations, journaling, and community
    • Enjoy accompaniment throughout 2025 with like-minded individuals
  12. Dear friends,

    My book, Peaceful Living: Daily Meditations for Living with Love, Healing and Compassion has been on my mind a lot lately. It turns 20 years old next year, which I feel joyful about. Along the way, I came across this meditation that I wanted to share with you:

    November 26
    Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale

    Developing Tolerance

    I used to think that Chihuahuas were dumb dogs and bulldogs were ugly. Then one of my friends bought a longhaired Chihuahua named Tilly and another bought an English bulldog named Emma. Once I got to know these dogs and could see how truly sweet they are, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with both of them.

    • Gain a new perspective on the value of living and embodying peace
    • Take a moment to reflect on 2024 and welcome 2025
    • Join like-minds to send compassionate energy around the world
    • Give yourself some much-needed space for inner renewal
  13. Restorative Peace Building:

    Restorative Peace Building:

    Aya Caspi

    Live Zoom Course · ·

     beginnerspathway stamp blue
    • Learn NVC basics and the fundamental NVC approach to conflict
    • Gain skills to restore trust and reclaim togetherness amid separation and polarization
    • Move beyond 'right-wrong' thinking so you can access everyone's humanity
    • Become a bridge for peace in the midst of conflict and separation!
  14. Repairing Relationships with Empathy

    Repairing Relationships with Empathy

    Sarah Peyton

    Video · 4 minutes · 04/20/2025

    NVC trainer Sarah Peyton explores the process of repairing relationships through the lens of Nonviolent Communication. She emphasizes the importance of self-connection and empathy—both for ourselves and others—when addressing moments of hurt or disconnection.
  15. Two Self-Empathy Exercises

    Two Self-Empathy Exercises

    Mary Mackenzie

    Video · 44 minutes · 11/18/2018

    This session is from the NVC Academy's 2017 Telethon. Listen in as Mary offers two experiential self-empathy exercises: I Love It When, and What Do I Want / Why Do I Want It. Deepen your ability to connect with self — novel and effective ways to engage the process of Self-Empathy!

  16. Calling Out / Calling In

    Calling Out / Calling In

    Roxy Manning

    Articles · 12 - 18 minutes · 8/31/2019

    When someone's in immense pain and uses words that are hard to hear, see if you can bring in as much attention and compassion as you would to someone who was cut with a sword. Focusing on what's important to them, and not so much on how it was said. This may support greater understanding and healing. Otherwise, we risk prioritizing needs, norms, and inequities of the dominant culture, over caring for people who bear the invisible brunt of such norms.

    • Discover how to bring resonance into your conversations with others
    • Learn how resonant language and NVC empathy come together
    • Practice consent and saying “no”, even when it is difficult
    • Feel the movement into more intimacy in your relationships!
  17. The Basics of Life-Serving Boundaries

    The Basics of Life-Serving Boundaries

    Elia Lowe-Chardé

    Practice Exercises · 4 - 6 minutes · 11/26/2022

    Setting boundaries takes being firmly grounded in self-respect and clear about what works for you. This means making conscious choices about how you relate to another or behave in a situation. Such clarity allows you to put your attention and energy where you want it to go. Thus we can have care and compassion without taking responsibility for others, nor feeling guilty when we say “no”. This takes awareness, skills, practice, healing and compassion.

  18. Because we affect one another it can be hard to know where to take responsibility and where to leave it with the other person. This means we need self empathy, and presence for another's struggles without compulsion to "make them happy" or bring them healthy change. You can then attend to the needs and to your choice about if and how you want to contribute with compassion. Respect them as autonomously in charge of their unique process of change. With this, you honor your life and theirs. And where, what, and how you will invest your precious life energy.

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