Learning the Importance of Empathy

The Compassionate Communication workshop at the UMC Social Hall today was a great success. Everyone that attended was introduced to Non-Violent Communication and it's founder, Marshall Rosenberg. The presenters, Eric and Jennifer Anderson of Chico, Ca. encouraged the attendees to retain two concepts from the lesson; become a Needs detective and go Outside for empathy. What they meant by a Needs detective is look beyond what someone is saying to you to the basic human need that is underneath; connection, honesty, peace, autonomy to name a few. To go Outside for empathy we were encouraged to talk to one to three people a week that would just listen and feedback our feelings and needs without giving advice or opinion. One other important concept that the group was interested in was re-regulating the nervous system when a feelings became overwhelmingly triggered. Ways to do this include taking sips of a drink, chewing ice, rocking, swinging, walking, singing, dancing, hugging, and deep breathing. For more information on NVC and NVC workshops contact www.norcalnvc.org.