Choice-point: Guilt or Accountability

Kristin Masters and Barbra Esher, both Certified NVC trainers, love each other and the ways of NVC, Noviolent Communication!

Many  of us have been well trained into guilt and shame when we make  mistakes, when others are impacted by our words and actions. In large  part, we may have been shown how to “feel bad” in order to show that we  know we “caused harm”. We’ll spend a few hours reaching for a very  different frame by applying the principles and skills of Nonviolent  Communication. Expect to be engaged in inquiry and learning around the  examples you and others bring. You can choose to dyad or journal, be in  or witness role plays, to find your way toward accountability and real  repair.

This isn’t an intro NVC class, so please bring as much of your giraffe ways with you as you can summon.

This event occurs monthly on the third Sunday to support Nonviolent communication (NVC) understanding and practice.

We  welcome new participants at any level. It’s fun when a ‘newbie’ comes  and we, ‘newbies’ not so long ago, suddenly see that we’ve learned  something important we can pass on, at the same time deepening our  understanding of new contexts. If you're already skilled in NVC, we  would enjoy sharing support and companionship.

$$ info:  The  requested fee is $20-$40 per person. Please don't let the cost keep you  from coming. Email us and tell us what needs you are meeting and what  you are able to pay. Sustainability is important to us but contribution  even more so, which we can't do unless you show up! For more information  call Barbra at 410 499 1986 or email (deleting spaces): Qi of NVC  @gmail.com

Kristin Masters brings attunement, resonance, insight and compassion to her work toward personal and social change.

Kristin  began learning the principles and skills of nonviolent communication in  1994, when she worked with Jean Morrison in San Quentin Prison doing  Alternatives to Violence programs. She realized the power of NVC when it  saved her marriage one day in 2001, and decided she was all in.

Kristin  became a Certified trainer in 2010, after in-depth study with Robert  Gonzales’ inner work of compassion and self responsibility. She has been  deeply influenced by Miki Kashtan’s approaches and applications of the  core commitments. Kristin has worked closely with Sarah Peyton since  2014, and s a science geek and a healing enthusiast, Kristin uses  Sarah’s framework of Interpersonal and Relational Neurobiology, using  resonant language, sacred vows, unconscious contracts, time travel  empathy, and family constellations work.

Kristin also draws on her  background from beloved teacher/mentors and teams including:  Lillian  Roybal Rose, her mentor in diversity work and cross cultural  communication; and Joanna Macy’s “The Work that Reconnects” to transform  the despair we feel about the state of the world into an empowered  sense of action on behalf of future generations.

Her long term  association with the NLSJ team to envision, commit and create “Living  Critical Social Change with Nonviolent Communication” has been a  collaborative learning and healing space that is at the center of  Kristin’s life.

Also at the center is Kristin’s work with and  focus on grief and dealing with loss. She believes that “we only grieve  that which we love”  and that we are meant to grieve in community..  Kristin works with individuals to hold our broken heartedness as sacred,  to explore the love living beneath the grief around personal and  collective losses.

While she teaches locally in Santa Cruz,  California where she sits on the Board of Directors of NVC Santa Cruz.,  she also teaches nationally and internationally (including Australia,  Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Canada). Please check  https://nvcsantacruz.org/ for upcoming workshops and retreats. Kristin  offers individual coaching, workshops, retreats and organizational  consulting.

Contact Kristin Masters at kristin@nvcsantacruz.org   831-246-0730

Barbra Esher, CNVC certified trainer

It’s easy to be present when life is pleasant and can be tough when times are challenging.

I  dream of a world in which we all have the capacity to stay connected  with ourselves and each other in the challenging times. I specialize in  untangling knots of pain, discovering the beauty locked inside of each  of us, and facilitating a free flow of life energy and interconnection.  Racism, addiction, and death have been my greatest teachers and favorite  topics for seminars.

Early in my son’s 10-year journey with  addiction, we were introduced to Nonviolent Communication (NVC). This  supported transforming our relationship from shame and blame to love and  acceptance. My capacity for saying “yes!” to life, exactly as it is,  has been deeply cultivated by a Nonviolent Communication and life-long  mindfulness practice.

My relationship with Zen master Thich Nhat  Hanh has animated my work in promoting peace, reconciliation, and social  justice. I have pursued my aspirations with zeal, accumulating more  than 1,000 hours of training all over the world in multiple modalities,  including 25 years’ experience in the healing arts of acupuncture,  shiatsu, and East Asian medicine.

I look forward to connecting with you.

Email me: QiofNVC@gmail.com or +1(410)360-3534 (land line)