Description
This program will be held in person at our Center in Cambridge. Please bring a vegetarian lunch or plan to go out during the lunch break.
Building on our introductory workshop (Speaking from the Heart: Cultivating Wise Speech Through Nonviolent Communication, June 14, 2025), this session delves deeper into Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as a support to Wise Speech. NVC is a consciousness and skillset based on awareness, empathy, and connection. We will expand on the basics learned in our June workshop, applying the NVC model more extensively to support Wise Speech through interactive presentations and discussions, paired and small group activities, and brief guided meditations. This workshop helps you deepen your practice by articulating feelings, needs, and requests, developing empathy, and enhancing self-connection for more wise and compassionate communication.
You will learn to:
- Articulate observations, feelings, needs, and requests with clarity and kindness
- Develop a deeper understanding of your feelings, needs, and values
- Deepen empathy and understanding of self and connection with others
- Enhance your ability to connect with others on a meaningful level
- Increase your ability to practice wise speech
Whether you’re new to NVC or looking to enhance your practice, both daylong workshops offer a rich opportunity to integrate wise speech into your life.
Bonnie Mioduchoski and Philippe Daniel are seasoned practitioners of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and Insight Meditation with two decades of experience each. Both have practiced intensively for many years at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society (IMS). They began studying NVC in 2006, seeing it as a practical tool for embodying wise speech. Having applied NVC in their 30-year marriage and other relationships, they understand firsthand its transformative power. Bonnie has facilitated NVC workshops for diverse audiences, including at CIMC, and applied NVC principles as a Harvard Mediation Program small claims mediator. Together, they’ve led NVC workshops for the general public, meditators, and organizations. As graduates of a two-year NVC program, the Spirit Rock Two-Year Dedicated Practitioner Program, and David Treleaven’s Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Program, they bring a profound depth of knowledge, sensitivity, and practice to their teaching.
Their interest is in integrating ancient wisdom and contemporary healing practices. By addressing both spiritual and psychological aspects, they help participants move beyond the cycle of perpetual self-improvement and uncover their innate freedom and compassion.
Attending an in-person workshop
- Masks may be required and are determined on a program-by-program basis. Check the program description for more information.
- Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to check in and to find a comfortable place in the meditation hall.
- All phones, pagers, beeping watches, and other electronic devices must remain completely turned off while you are at the Center.
- Parking at CIMC is limited; we suggest taking public transportation to the Center whenever possible.
- Lunch will not be provided. Participants are invited to bring a vegetarian meal to the Center or may buy lunch in the neighborhood. A list of local restaurants and food stores will be available.
- No food or beverages, including water, are allowed in the meditation halls.
- We strongly recommend that you dress in layers since the temperature in the meditation hall varies throughout the day. The hall thermostat is set to a comfortable temperature range; however, we recommend you give yourself a range of clothing options, as individual preferences for warmth or coolness differ widely and cannot be accommodated.
- Please leave your shoes on the shoe shelves on the first floor and keep your valuables with you.
- CIMC provides zafus (round cushions), zabutons (large mats), meditation benches, blankets, and chairs. At the end of the program, we request that you brush off your zabutons and plump up your zafus. All other items should be returned neatly to where they belong.
- CIMC is a refuge. Out of compassion for those with chemical sensitivities, please avoid using scented products like lotions, deodorant, after-shave, hair products, perfume, clothes laundered with scented detergent or dryer sheets—before you come to the Center.