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• Discover how to be radically honest without pushing “the other” away
• Learn to ask firmly and gracefully for what you want, hear ‘NO,’ and stay alive
• Explore how the power of empathy dissolves anger, pain, and fear
• Discern the essence of what others say, no matter how it is expressed

Do you ever give up on disagreements, temporarily or permanently? Do you ever disengage from conflict because you’re certain the situation can't be resolved? Sometimes this applies. And consider how you may be giving up too soon, which decreases the possibility for resolution. This speaks to your level of commitment. How committed are you to valuing another’s needs and to finding resolution?

There are many polarizing issues we can resist and fight over. The word "resistance" can mean fighting against what we don’t agree with in counterproductive ways. It can also be the illusion and futility of mentally fighting against reality of 'what is'. But acceptance, non-resistance, of what is doesn’t mean powerless resignation. Another way to resist is to accept and love whole-heartedly, with empathy and care for the people doing the things we are resisting.

• Focus on living from the inside out
• Bring a field of inner kindness to your inner distress
• Attend to your inner experience with compassion
• Cultivate an inner spaciousness of freedom

Trainer Tip: List specific things that would signify love to you. Based on who the other person is and who you are, how could your need for love be met? Being specific is important. General statements, such as “I just want you to love me” or “I would like you to be more attentive and listen to me more” won’t work. (S)he may already think (s)he is attentive. What would being attentive look like to you? And how will he know if (s)he’s been attentive enough?

Trainer Tip: Take a moment to consider feelings, our conditioning about expressing or even feeling emotion, and the value of re-evaluating our relationship to feelings.

Trainer Tip: Mary reflects on the nature of happiness and its relationship to presence.

Trainer Tip: Mary explains the NVC principle known as the "protective use of force."

Inbal Kashtan highlights how self-empathy fosters caring, supportive relationships with children.

Listen to this audio to learn the value of focusing on needs in an NVC model, either for the first time or as a refresher course. Living from a needs-consciousness creates abundance, clarity and choice. Using three examples from participants, Mary guides the group towards identifying and then connecting with the needs of both parties involved in each situation. It becomes clear very quickly that people choose different ways to support their needs; and many times they have the same needs in a given situation. When we understand this, we are able to create peace in our relationships and negotiations.

“Everything someone does or says is an attempt to meet a need,” says CNVC Certified Trainer Mary Mackenzie. This simple statement is a foundational understanding in Nonviolent Communication; once you gain skills at living in a “needs-consciousness” you will literally change your life and your perception of the world, and improve all of your relationships.

Trainer Tip: In Nonviolent Communication, we see expressing honesty as a gift of our authenticity, and a chance for others to support us in getting our needs met -- this can flourish and deepen our relationships. We can notice and act on opportunities to be honest with the components of OFNR (Observations, Feelings, Needs, and Requests).

Trainer Tip: When we "protect" ourselves by not asking for what we want, we block ourselves from getting our needs met. From here, disappointment and resentment can build -- especially if this is a pattern. Instead, notice when you're tempted to do this, and be honest and upfront about what you want to improve the quality of your relationships.

• Wish you knew how to align your organization with its purpose and values?
• Want to increase your capacity to live in integrity with your values, too?
• Concerned about the level of engagement within your organization?
• Yearn to connect to a sense of meaning in your life during this time of global crises?
• Long to discover what is yours to do – and wish you knew how to leverage the resources you have in response to what is needed?

We can ask for what we want but if we repeatedly don’t get it from one source, it's our responsibility to find a new way to get it. We don’t honor our relationships when we insist that people who are unavailable or unwilling to support us meet our needs. Read on for related a parable about a woman persistently asking to get milk from a hardware store.

• Move beyond anger, blame and judgment… 
• Make sense of the baffling or offensive people in your life… 
• Deepen your compassion for yourself and others… and
• Transform your old thought and speaking patterns into new ones that inspire harmony and fun!

• Cultivate thriving interpersonal relationships
• Discover paths to move beyond anger, blame, and judgment
• Connect with the Divine essence in other people
• Experience greater ease and joy in all your interactions

The energy of the most private events of our lives (such as sex) can ripple out and affect everything we do, like the ripples of a rock thrown in a pond. Instead of segregating -or sometimes denying- parts of ourselves, we can bring our blind spots and our shadows in self and relationships into the light. Having growth in a private life can transfer onto other areas of life.

• Look at your old patterns with warmth – while also opening yourself up to change.
• Increase your self-compassion – and gain a solid ground to stand on.
• Become intimate with your own survival strategies – and those of the people you love.
• Support healing and connecting in your long-term relationships – even when it seems there is no resolution in sight!

At the end of the calendar year, many of us feel an old pressure to come up with New Year's resolutions

This may be followed by internal demands along with our inevitable and life-alienating reactions to those demands.

Sound familiar? Are you looking for something different?

If your answer is yes, then join Kristin Masters for a delightful 3-session journey into intention setting, accompanied by warm companionship from yourself and one another.