Who is this group for?
This series is for you if you identify as a man and want to learn, and practice, how to offer and receive empathy.
You also know yourself to be dedicated to living an authentic life, cultivating compassion for yourself and others, and building the practical skills to create better relationships.
If you are totally new to Nonviolent Communication and Mindful Compassionate Dialogue, we request that you engage with at least one of the resources listed below to help us all start with a greater sense of orientation and connection.
To honor the need for clarity, particularly for those in the trans community: the men leading this practice group are cisgendered and, while supportive of all, do not have specific training or lived experience with other gender experiences. All are wholly welcome, but the support the organizers are able to offer is not specific to the needs of the trans community.
What to expect:
In this eight-week practice group you will focus mostly on the relationship competency of empathy.
You will engage in skills practice, experiential learning, group discussion, and some conceptual learning. Practice exercises are the main focus of the group and will be done individually, in pairs, and in small groups. You can work with examples from your own life to practice with in the exercises. In each class you will explore at least two empathy practices.
What’s it all about?
Empathy is a heart-based response to a heart-based expression or experience. Offering empathy to others means giving your compassionate curiosity to their experience without an agenda. With empathy you can offer compassionate support for another without taking on their struggles as your own or seeking solutions. It requires the ability to be comfortable with uncomfortable emotions and witness the suffering of others while trusting in their path. It can also support expressions of genuine celebration and appreciation.
Empathy is not about rescuing someone from a difficult experience or trying to soothe their challenging feelings. When you offer empathy you are not taking responsibility for the other person’s feelings and needs. Truly offering empathy requires you to stay centered and self-connected. Empathy requires healthy boundaries. It is important to be able to set a boundary when you don’t have capacity or just don’t want to offer empathy.
Self-empathy is a skillful means for taking empowered responsibility for your own experiences from a place of compassion and awareness for yourself. It includes anchoring, accepting experiences with compassion and understanding the nature of those experiences including observations, thoughts, feelings, needs and requests.
Suggested Resources:
about empathy, demonstration, & Practice:
Connection Gem:
Podcast:
How to Offer Empathy Without Getting Exhausted
About Mindful Compassionate Dialogue
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD) naturally supports you in creating the relationships you want by integrating the wisdom and skills of three powerful modalities: Hakomi, Nonviolent Communication (NV
C), and mindfulness.
Each modality contributes something unique to the process. Hakomi offers clarity about reactivity and healing. NVC provides a method for achieving self-responsibility, skillful communication, and agency. And mindfulness adds the stable attention and clear focus needed to continuously refine your understanding and skills.
MCD is a system meant to provide access to agency, compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom. Personal transformation is achieved through practice with the12 Relationship Competencies and Nine Foundations, which arise from a central, life-serving intention.
Details:
Registration Requests
Registration is limited to 12 participants. To support the practice and experience of the group, registering for the class means:
Arriving on time to the workshop.
Attending and participating for at least 6 of the 8 sessions
Receiving detailed handouts that you can download and keep for later reference
The opportunity to be assigned a study buddy
Details
When: Thursday Evenings April 6 – May 25, 2023; 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Where: Friends Meeting House 4312 SE Stark, Portland, OR 97215
Contribution: The group is being offered as part of a donation economy model. The costs to provide the program, including space rental fees, promotion and preparation efforts, and compensation for the time and talent of those involved is roughly $75 per registrant, presuming full registration. There is no required minimum payment to register and attend; and donations of all amounts are welcome.
Facilitators: This series is facilitated by Wise Heart senior students: Dave Monro, David Snyder, & Ethan Benatan
Dave Monro has taken classes with LaShelle over the years and has been involved in Buddhist practice all of his adult life. The power of language, mindful connection and healthy communication are life serving endeavors for him.
David Snyder has been studying MCD with LaShelle for several years. He is retired and has a daily meditation practice.
Ethan Benatan has been a student of Nonviolent Communication and Mindful Compassionate Dialogue for long enough that he can’t remember when he started. He is excited to help others experience the benefits of these practices.