Co-creating a Wonderful Life: 9-day Retreat in Nonviolent Communication
Join us for this residential retreat in Los Angeles, California (June 10-19, 2022) that will help you bring nonviolence and peace into all areas of your life. In this event, you can discover skills that will help you improve the quality of your relationships, deepen your inner peace, and increase your contribution to the world.
View a welcome video from one of the trainers, Amalasiri Nuria Murcia Pinto from Spain:
This 9-day immersion experience into Nonviolent Communication (NVC) will offer learning sessions, home groups, coaching and feedback from skilled trainers, and a community environment where you can learn and practice they key skills of NVC.
Our team of Certified Trainers will share both the core curriculum of NVC as developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, as well as their own unique applications. We expect a group of approximately 50 to 60 people from different countries, cultural backgrounds, professions and walks of life.
People around the world are using Nonviolent Communication skills to transform conflict, create resiliency in their relationships, and build a world where everyone's needs matter and are met collaboratively.
We will create a dynamic learning laboratory that will show you how to create a more compassionate and peaceful culture in your life at home, at work, and in your community by learning how to:
- Speak from the heart
- Practice deep, non-judgmental listening
- Build self-empowerment from the inside out
| Basic Details |
Format: In-person, 9-day residential retreat
Language: English
Begins: Friday, 10 June 2022 (5:00 pm)
Ends: Sunday, 19 June 2022 (1:00 pm)
Location: Mary and Joseph Retreat Center (Los Angeles, California)
Sponsor: Center for Nonviolent Communication
Organizer: Rodger Sorrow, Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication
| Goals of this Training |
The purpose of this training is to give you the opportunity to live the process of Nonviolent Communication in community over an extended period of time, in order to develop the mindsets and practical tools to help you in three areas:
1. Personal and Professional Relationships
- Increase connection and closeness with the people you love.
- Speak in a way that inspires compassion and understanding.
- Initiate difficult conversations with more ease and confidence.
- Remain centered and peaceful when receiving difficult messages.
- Express and receive anger fully, safely and respectfully... yet powerfully.
- Resolve long-standing conflicts and heal painful relationships.
- Parent children from the heart and move beyond power struggles into cooperation.
- Translate criticism, judgments and blame into life-serving messages.
2. Inner Transformation
- Shift patterns of thinking that lead to depression, guilt and shame and that perpetuate pain.
- Transform anger into self-understanding, thereby increasing inner peace.
- Enliven yourself by expressing and receiving gratitude.
- Learn to embody unconditional love.
3. Contribution to others and Social Change
- Share NVC in ways that transmit and model its power to transform and inspire others.
- Create educational systems where students love learning and teachers love teaching.
- Learn to engage in effective, lasting nonviolent social change in the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Facilitate meetings and support group decision making in a power-sharing, collaborative, and consensus-based ways.
- Support holistic and human-based workplaces
- Engage with others at work and in the community to foster openness, trust and authenticity.
- Foster restoration and harmony by mediating conflicts and helping to resolve differences among others.
While we will prioritize these three areas in the curriculum, there is also room for co-creation. There will be opportunities for you to request specific topics and applications to support you in living and sharing NVC at work, home, and in the community as well as internally in how you relate to yourself.
| The Training Team |
Each member of the team is a Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication.
Trainer: Jim Manske (United States)
Jim Manske has been a Certified Trainer with CNVC since 2003 and also serves as an Assessor for Certification Candidates. He offers training, mediation, facilitation, organizational development, consulting, and mentoring. Along with his spouse, Jori, he has worked with a variety of businesses, community groups, government, NGO's, private groups and individuals since 1971.
Jim has a degree in Communication and certifications in Mediation and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). He is the author of The Matrix: Pathways to Liberation, that has been translated into many languages and is part of the NVC certification assessment process.
He is a co-founder and serves on the Board of the Network for NVC, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, with projects including NVC for the Next Generation (NVC NextGen), working with youth and those who support youth, to support our youth in becoming compassionate leaders.
Trainer: Magiarí Díaz Díaz (Venezuela/United Kingdom)
Hello! I’m Magiarí (pronounced Mya-REE; you can also call me Maya), and I’m really excited about “Co-creating a wonderful life” at this IIT with you!
I have been a Certified Trainer with CNVC since 2008, have an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies and an M.Sc. in Psychology. I’m also a translator and interpreter (English, Spanish, French).
In living and sharing NVC, I love to be creative and feel alive in my body, to connect with nature, play, music and rituals. My passion for nonviolence and peace activism grew out of experiencing political and military conflict, and humanitarian crisis in my native Venezuela.
For many years, I have enjoyed sharing NVC with peace workers in areas of conflict and with people that struggle with their mental health, and seek practices for resilience, wellbeing, happiness and self-care. Originally from Venezuela, I currently live in England.
Trainer: Jori Manske (United States)
Jori Manske has been a Certified Trainer with CNVC since 2003 and offers training, mediation, facilitation, organizational development, consulting, and mentoring. Along with her spouse, Jim, she has worked with a variety of businesses, community groups, government, NGO's, private groups and individuals since 1971.
Jori has a degree in Social Work and certifications in Mediation and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). She is co-author of, "The Matrix: Pathways to Liberation," that has been translated into many languages and is part of the NVC certification assessment process.
She is a co-founder and serves on the Board of the Network for NVC, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, with projects including NVC for the Next Generation (NVC NextGen), working with youth and those who support youth, to support our youth in becoming compassionate leaders.
Trainer: River Dunavin (United States)
River is vice-president for the Network for Nonviolent Communication, a trainer for Heart to Heart, a mediator and circle-keeper with CORA Good Shepherd Mediation, and a support group facilitator for the Alzheimer’s Association.
River uses NVC to illuminate our connection with one another and add resiliency to the natural collaboration which emerges through human connection. His aim is to inspire trust that anyone can live a life filled with grace and gratefulness, and that we can all thrive and do no harm.
River has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of New Mexico and is a Certified Long-term Care Ombudsman. He has been a Certified Trainer with CNVC since 2015 and coaches individuals, couples, and business teams.
Trainer: Amalasiri Murcia (Spain)
Amalasiri Murcia is co-founder and co-facilitator of Programas Anuales de CNV (Annual NVC Programs) since 2013 where many of the people who are now CNVC certified trainers in Spain have been nurtured and inspired. She is currently an Assessor-in-Training.
Amalasiri discovered NVC through her interest in meditation and Buddhism and shares it with the support of mindfulness and metta (loving-kindness) practices. She is passionate about creating conditions to develop consciousness individually, collectively and beyond.
“Co-creating a wonderful life” will be her first IIT as a member of the training team. She feels grateful for the opportunity and is keen to share her experience in this new adventure.
Organizer: Rodger Sorrow (United States)
Rodger Sorrow has been sharing and living NVC as a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication since 2001. He created the TV show 'Nonviolent Communication' and several international intensive trainings with Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of NVC.
Rodger facilitates the transformational living of this process with individuals, couples, families, businesses, churches, schools, and nonprofits.
Rodger has participated in 15 International Intensive Trainings as various roles including participant, trainer, and organizer. He has taught Nonviolent Communication courses at the Santa Barbara City College for 13 years and co-organized several trainings there with Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of NVC.
| Cost |
The cost of this training includes two components: 1) Tuition; and 2) Room and Board.
1. Tuition (USD): convert to your currency
- $1,989 Early Bird (make your payment between 11-Mar through 21-Mar-2022)
- $2,340 Standard (22-Mar-2022 and after)
Discounts:
- 15% discount for Certification Candidates
- 10% discount for people who have participated in a previous IIT or VIT
- Early Bird discount + one other discount is possible
Financial assistance:
If you would want to attend this event but money is an obstacle, fill out the registration form and answer "yes" to the question, "Do you need financial assistance in order to attend this training." The deadline for requesting financial assistance is 20-Apr-2022.
View a welcome video from one of the trainers, Magiarí (Maya) Díaz Díaz from Spain:
2. Room and Board (USD): convert to your currency
- $1,645 Single Room (private room)
- $1,195 Double Room (you will have one roommate)
- $695 Commute daily
Notes:
Room and Board prices include your room and all meals throughout the event beginning with dinner the first day and ending with lunch the final day.
Rooms and types of rooms are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis; we encourage you to book your housing as soon as you complete registration and payment for the IIT starting 11-Apr-2022.
If you choose a double room, you can choose your own roommate or we can assign one to you based upon any preferences you tell us on the registration form.
Commute Daily: We enthusiastically encourage you to stay on-site because our experience is that you will be able to participate more fully and get more value from the experience. However, if you choose to commute, the commuter fee includes lunch and dinner (breakfast is not included) and the daytime use of the facility.
| Location |
Venue:
Mary and Joseph Retreat Center
Address: 5300 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275 United States (Los Angeles area)
- Map (Google Maps)
- Directions (from the venue)
The Mary and Joseph Retreat Center is a year-round, non-profit, interfaith retreat and conference center. At our center you will experience eight acres of scenic beauty located on a hilltop in Palos Verdes
A retreat at the Center offers an opportunity to step away from the busy world and refresh/renew body, mind, and spirit.
If you have sheltered too long at home or have faced a dizzying array of life transitions, you may benefit from a stay of one or a few nights to read, reflect, write, meditate in the garden, or experience the labyrinth walking prayer path.
Commute daily
We strongly invite you to stay on-site at the Mary and Joseph Center for this training, as evenings and mornings can be a place and time for some extra activities, offered content, music, light talks, peaceful walk or cosy rest. However, if you cannot stay on-site and/or live nearby, you can commute daily.
Please note that we ask commuters to participate fully in the program between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm each day.
In the package for the Commuters, we have included two meals per day (lunch and dinner), and two coffee breaks during the day including coffee and tea.
| Travel |
By Air:
The airport that we recommend is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is 16 miles (35 km) from the venue. This is likely to have the most options; be the most cost-effective; and is the shortest trip to the venue. However, you can also check out other airports in the greater Los Angeles area.
By Car:
Here is the location in Google Maps.
If you do not have your own car and cannot carpool with anyone, there are ridesharing services in this area including Uber and Lyft.
Local Bus Service:
You can get to the Mary and Joseph Center using the local bus system from:
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Amtrak Train Station (downtown Los Angeles)
We recommend waiting until we confirm the training on 11-Mar-2022 before booking non-refundable travel. We will not reimburse you for travel expenses if this training does not occur.
| Covid-19 Considerations |
We are living in an era in which we need to take into consideration the current situation with Covid-19. We care for your health and safety, still valuing choice and freedom. So we are doing our best to form a strong, clear, and inclusive Covid policy and measures, doing anything in our power to organize this safe and legal, live, in-person event. Since this event is in-person, the conditions could impact international travel and gathering in large groups.
For this reason, we will be waiting to confirm this training until 11-Mar-2022 (3 months before the start date) and monitoring the situation closely both before and after this date. A summary of the Covid safety measures are:
1. Before arrival
If you cancel before arrival due to a positive Covid test, you have two options:
- Transfer 100% of tuition to a future IIT
- Receive 100% refund of tuition
For accommodation, you can receive a full refund. You can get more info also by emailing us. Please contact the IIT organizers directly to cancel your reservation and request a refund.
3. On arrival
Upon arrival, we will ask each person to show us a negative result on a Covid test taken within 48 hours (if you travel internationally to get to the IIT, you might already have this). We will have test kits available.
4. During your stay
In addition to a negative test upon arrival, we plan to require each person to take a second test on Day 3 or 4 of the training. This testing will be mandatory for all participants, trainers, and organizers, regardless of your vaccination status, previous testing, or natural immunity as a result of recovering from prior infection.
We will minimize contact with people outside of our group as much as possible, so we provided separated seminar rooms, some separation at lunch, and spacious private rooms as well some activities may be arranged outdoors. We invite you to limit physical interaction with all non-participants and to keep safe distances or use protective elements as masks, during the event. We will do our best to assure safety for the whole group.
| Registration Process |
STEP 1 (now): Fill out the registration form to reserve your space
STEP 2 (starting 11-Mar-2022): Make your payment for tuition and Room and Board to the Center for Nonviolent Communication once we have opened payments
Details:
Given ongoing uncertainties regarding travel due to COVID, we have organized the registration process for this training as described below. We want to take into account safety, flexibility, financial security, and predictability for you as a participant as well as for us, the venue, and the training team. Please read the following application process carefully.
On 11-Mar-2022, we plan to announce our decision to move ahead with this training, assuming that Covid factors and travel restrictions are accommodating enough. (if, in our assessment, Covid conditions would limit travel, safety, or access, we will announce the IIT is not being held and/or is being rescheduled). Assuming we are moving ahead you have 2 options:
- Pay the “Early Bird” price of USD $1,989, which will be available for 10 days (11-Mar-2022 through 20-Mar-2022). After that, we will process applications from people at the standard registration rate. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans.
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If you are unable to pay our full tuition fee, you can apply for financial assistance. We will review the first batch of applications 10 days after payment begins (21-Mar-2022). Limited spots are available for financial assistance. We may not be able to grant full or partial requests. We will review financial assistance applications regularly so that you can receive timely notice.
Note: Once we open payments 11-Mar-2022, we encourage you to register at your earliest ability for both your tuition (to secure your space in the training) and room and board (to give you choice about your room type).
Travel Visa
If you are traveling to the United States from another country, you might need to obtain a visa. Please consult the United States Embassy in your country for details. If you need an invitation letter from us in order to apply for your Visa, email us.
Please wait to purchase your travel until we confirm the training. We will make a final decision and announcement about whether this training is occurring on 11-Mar-2022.