Phases of the Moon, the newsletter of the Maine NVC Network
Volume Four, Issue Two: NVC Family Camp

Our newsletter appears once a month around the time of the new moon. Our purpose is to contribute to the NVC learning of people who have taken at least an NVC Level 1 workshop, and help us stay connected as we endeavor to deepen a culture of peace within ourselves, our families and the world. We believe a Level 1 offers so many new ways of thinking that additional support for learning and integration could be helpful.

We endeavor to make each edition informative, connecting, inspiring and fun. Please let us know how the newsletter might contribute to your NVC well-being.

This month’s theme is NVC Family Camp. Family camp is a new and growing opportunity in the NVC world, helping to strengthen families through compassion and authentic connection.

Contents

Living our Values in an NVC Family Camp

by Gina Cenciose, CNVC certified NVC trainer

Nonviolent Communication talks to us about switching paradigms. The way I see this, and the work that NVC trainers offer, is to help us to bridge from the way we were trained to think, act, and live in the world, into a more enriching, life-giving way of acting, thinking, and being in the world. One of the most wonderful places to experience this growth is within families and within our intimate relationships. That is why, along with other NVC trainings, the offerings of NVC family camps make so much sense. To be with your intimates, living and learning together, is such a huge benefit in helping us embody the shift from conditioned living to conscious living.

The paradigm we’re currently living in is based on assumptions, which most of us consciously and unconsciously live from. Some of these are beliefs

These largely unconscious assumptions inform every aspect of our lives, including how we interact with ourselves, our families & friends, and the larger systems that we are embedded in.

In order to live in the flow of authentic self-connection and deep connection with others, NVC shows us how to share power in relationship. To me, self-responsibility is the key to movement forward in any situation. I am responsible for my intentions, my actions, my ability to stay connected to myself and others, and for the choices I make. Many still equate self-responsibility with blame or fault-finding.

I aim to live the taking of self-responsibility with curiosity and wonderment. With NVC consciousness, we aim to learn and grow from all of our triggers. We experience that wisdom comes with self-awareness, even if it is sometimes painful. It is in the most intimate relationships that our buttons get the most pushed, and our wounds surface more regularly.

In the loving embrace of an NVC family camp, we can truly be supported to notice where we are interacting from. This support helps us make choices to shift and heal our way of living with those we cherish the most. Therefore, it is a wonderful setting for growing toward full self-responsibility. We are supported while noticing that others are mirrors of where we are stuck, and practicing the basic and wonderful skills of self-empathy, inquiry, listening to others from empathic presence leading to conscious dialogue.

At NVC family camp we learn to honor and respect everyone’s needs even when we disagree about what should happen. We learn to share power in a way that nurtures and respects everyone. Part of the day the adults are together learning and practicing NVC while the children are having their own age-appropriate experiences. Other parts of the day children and parents play and explore together. NVC trainers are always there to support using new connecting skills when conflict arises.

To be able to live our highest values with our loved ones, we need support in being more fully authentic and empathetic when we are triggered. NVC family camps can foster the favorable conditions for us to open up and learn to fully embody who we are in these relationships.

Gina Cenciose is a CNVC certified trainer who has been sharing NVC full time for over 10 years. She is also a Focusing trainer and Circle facilitator with many years experience in both. She is the mother of two adult children. She spent 2 years to co-create and lead a program for young mothers and their children, based in NVC. Her background has been filled with music as well and she leads peace dances and sacred singing circles in her programs. Gina is one of a team of five who will be leading NVC family camp in Canada in July 2013. FMI

Playing, Learning and Growing Together at NVC Family Camp

  • Imagine going to summer camp with your family.
  • Imagine playing in Nature and learning NVC at the same time.
  • Imagine having skilled NVC trainers right there in your midst enhancing connection and intimacy within your family.

Family camp is a new and growing opportunity in the NVC world. Each camp has its own unique flavor. Each one strives to strengthen families through compassion and authentic connection. In the summer of 2013 there are family camps in


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Upcoming Trainings

Trainings listed here are in the Maine region. If you wish to list an event, please follow our guidelines for submission. Please note that both certified and non–certified trainers, (who are willing to follow certain requirements of the Center for Nonviolent Communication), may be leading the posted trainings. Listing here does not imply endorsement by the Maine NVC Network of the trainer or the event.

February 15-17, 2013, Nobleboro, ME
Bringing Mindful Speech To Life

Second annual weekend of mindfulness with Peggy Smith and Theodate Lawlor,
Members of Thich Nhat Hanh's Tiep Hien Order
pdf icon details and registration

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Monday, March 4, Bar Harbor, ME
From Conflict to Connection: The Skills of Nonviolent Communication

One day introduction to NVC for Social Workers, Counselors, School Counselors,
and healthcare Professionals of all types
Taught by Peggy Smith / pdf icon details and registration

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March 23-24, 2013, Belfast, ME
Building Bridges of Communication: the basics of NVC

This Level 1 workshop is a fundraiser for WERU Community radio
Taught by Peggy Smith / pdf icon details and registration

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April 6-7, 2013, Falmouth, ME
Level 2

Taught by Peggy Smith / pdf icon details and registration

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April 20, Peaks Island, ME
Open Communication: a day to explore how NVC builds stronger relationships

Taught by Peggy Smith / FMI

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June 8-9, Concord, NH
Level 1: Speak Peace In A World of Conflict

Taught by Peggy Smith / pdf icon details and registration

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July 29 - August 2, Belfast, ME
Sustainable Communication: Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Communication

This 3 credit university course can be taken at the undergraduate or graduate level.
Learn NVC while earning university credit. Great for re-certification too.
Taught by Peggy Smith / FMI

 

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Invitation to
Empathy Circles

WEEKLY: Mondays 10-11:30 am, Belfast
FMI contact Marshall or Carolyn:
Phone 338-0842

MONTHLY: First Friday of each month, 10am-1pm
at The Start Center, 37 Start Rd, Camden
You are welcome to come when you can. If this is your first time coming, please contact Linda beforehand:
Phone 322-2122 / email

 

 

Do you want to receive emails about upcoming NVC trainings and other NVC events in and near Maine?

Join the Maine NVC Network
Yahoo Group

The group is moderated and is only used for announcements of regional workshops and other Maine NVC Network events. Inclusion in list serve announcements does not imply endorsement by the Network.

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If You Knew
by Ellen Bass

What if you knew you'd be the last
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.

When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.

A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.

How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?

- from The Human Line; used with permission. FMI

 

Call for Volunteers

The health of the Network depends on the joyful efforts of all who yearn to bring nonviolent consciousness to our region.
To learn more, email our volunteer coordinator.

 


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