9-day in-person retreat in Nonviolent Communication: Co-creating a Wonderful Life
Join us for this residential retreat in Los Angeles, California 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 who are candidates to become Certified Trainers. 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 co-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 and United Kindgom)
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 Dunavin...
Trainer: Amalasiri Murcia (United States)
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 discoered 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.
| 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"
View a welcome video from one of the trainers, Maya Díaz Díaz from Spain:
2. Room and Board (USD): convert to your currency
- $$1,570 Single Room (private room)
- $1,165 Double Room (you will have one roommate)
- $375 Commute daily
Notes:
The price of accommodation also includes a rapid antigen Covid testing on-site. Prices include your room and all meals throughout the retreat.
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 (either someone you already know or via a roommate connection page you be invited to once you register), or we can assign a roommate for you based upon any preferences that you have.
Camping or Commute Daily: Prices including two meals per day, lunch and dinner; (breakfast is not included), and two coffee breaks during the day including coffee and tea. There is a nice and affordable camping place close by (approx. 5 km). Prices of the staying and other services are not included in the accommodation fee. Exact prices for the season 2022 will be known at the end of 2021 and they will probably start at 15-20 € per person/night (breakfast not included). Camping site link: www.camp-spik.si
| 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 main airport in Slovenia is airport (letalisce in slo) Ljubljana Joze Pucnik (also called Brnik) which is about 1 hour car driving distance from the venue.
There is also a small international airport near Kranjska Gora, the airport of Klagenfurt (Kärnten Airport, Flughafen Klagenfurt) offering some budget airlines. More options with budget airlines are also airports in Italy, Trieste (Ronchi) or Venice (Treviso and Marco Polo). However note that you need to get to Ljubljana first, to be able to find a bus to Kranjska Gora. We will be providing some shuttles in case more of you get to the same airport.
Car driving distance from those airports to the venue are:
- Airport Ljubljana (LJU) about 50 minutes
- Klagenfurt (KLU) about 1h
- Venice Marco Polo (VCE) or Treviso (TSF) about 3h
- Trieste airport (TRS) about 2h
However if you travel by public transport, you have to first get to Ljubljana (capital). See Public transport below.
By Car:
We invite you to use google maps or other navigation systems. Here is the location in Google Maps.
By Public Transport:
If you arrive to one of the airports and you are looking for public transport to the venue, you first have to get to Ljubljana and then take a bus to Kranjska Gora. We will organize an spreadsheet, where you can find people arriving to the same airport and share a taxi to the venue (especially for those arriving to Ljubljana’s airport or Klagenfurt). If there will be more of you we can also organize a van directly to the venue (price upon request). From Italy to Ljubljana we recommend shuttle GoOpti (www.goopti.com) or FlixBus (www.flixbus.de). Again, if there will be more of you we can also organize a van.
From Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia):
It is possible to take a bus from Ljubljana’s main bus station (same as main train station) to Kranjska Gora. You can find the schedule here https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/
From the station in KG to the venue is an 8min walk.
Again, we recommend to check the excel sheet and see if any of the Slovenians will be arriving from Ljubljana and can give you a ride.
Participants are asked to wait until their registration in the IIT has been confirmed before booking non-refundable travel reservations.
| 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 22-January-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
Please check COVID-19 Measures and Recommendations from the Government of Slovenia for the terms under which you can enter the country. We invite you to take care of your health, using your daily practices and routine to keep your immune system in excellent condition. Please limit risky travel or socializing at least 10 days prior to the event. Please take into consideration your personal comfort level as you select accommodation between single (no roommate) and double (you will share the room with a roommate).
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. You can get more information by emailing us.
3. On arrival
We will organize rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing for all participants two times: 1) upon arrival; and 2) on Day 4 of the IIT. This testing will be mandatory for all participants, trainers and organizers, regardless of your vaccination status, previous testing, or antibodies (from recovering from previous infection). The cost of this testing has been included in the Room and Board fees.
4. During your stay
We will enable and do our best for you to be able to stay in, as a closed IIT participants 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 do our best to assure safety for the whole group. You will receive further instructions on arrival and during the event. If you have a positive Covid test upon arrival or any time during the IIT:
- No tuition refund is available
- You can participate from your room by video to the fullest extent possible. If you have a roommate, we will reassign the roommate to other accommodations.
- You will be required to self-quarantine in your hotel room for 10 days, ar as per the regulations of the Government of Slovenia.
If tourists or their contacts who show up positive with SARS-CoV-2 and are accommodated in the hotel, they can be accommodated in a separate part of the hotel (for example the hotel top floor, one wing of the hotel, special dependencies, etc.) where they will remain in isolation/quarantine under measures of health and sanitary supervision until leaving Slovenia or returning home.
| Registration Process |
STEP 1 (now): Fill out the registration form to reserve your space
STEP 2 (22-Jan-2022): Pay your tuition to the Center for Nonviolent Communication once we have opened payments
STEP 3 (after 22-Jan-2022): Once you have paid your tuition, you will receive confirmation from the IIT organizers and then we suggest you book your accommodations.
Important! Before booking your room at the hotel, wait for instructions from us. You will need a discount code to receive our group rate and also to be included in the meal plan.
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.
STEP 1: (through 22-January-2022)
Pre-register as a participant. We consider your filling out this form as stating your clear intention to attend; the only factor that would get in your way of attending is Covid-related travel restrictions or being infected with Covid. Once we confirm the training, we want you to be ready to complete your registration by making payment for tuition.
We suggest that you save the dates on your calendar, arrange for any time off work needed and any family or home duties that you need covered, and make any other arrangements in order to be able to attend this training.
Note: In planning your travel, keep in mind that check-in at the Best Western Hotel Kranjska Gora begins at 2:00 pm and that we ask that you arrive by 5:00 pm. This is to support you in having time to check in and get settled/orientated with some spaciousness before we have dinner together and our first IIT session at 7:00 p.m. that evening. In terms of booking return travel, the IIT will conclude with lunch on the last day; please allow ample travel time from the hotel (suggested departure from the hotel no earlier than 1:00 pm) so that you can be part of our group closing. We also recommend holding at least one day open after the IIT before going back to your usual work schedule and other commitments so that you can benefit from some rest and integration after the retreat.)
STEP 2: (3 months prior to the event)
On 22 January 2022, we plan to announce our decision on moving 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 at the 3-month mark, you will have 3 options:
- Pay the “Early Bird” pricing of $1989, which will be available for 10 days, from 22 January through 1 February 2022. We ask you to pay the early-bird registration fee in full by 01 February. After that, we will process applications from people at the regular registration rate. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. (Please note that housing is limited at the Lucan Spa Hotel so booking as soon as possible is highly recommended; if your plans change for any reason, room registrations can be cancelled with no charge if made at least 7 days in advance of your check-in date.)
- Option 2: You can apply for financial assistance. We will review the first batch of applications 10 days after payment begins, on 01 February. 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. Upon a decision being made regarding any financial assistance we can offer and CNVC receiving payment that you are making, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. (See note above regarding booking your room as soon as possible.)
- Option 3: Pay the regular-rate tuition of $2,340 which will be available from 22 January 2022 until shortly before the Slovenia IIT begins or until we are a capacity (whichever comes first). Receiving regular-rate tuition helps ensure the financial resources to hold the IIT. By paying tuition at the regular-rate, you are also supporting others to attend who request financial support, including candidates for CNVC certification. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. Again, please note that making your room reservation as soon as possible is highly recommended.
Note: We encourage you to register, once we open payments 22 January, 2022, 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 attending an IIT in a country other than your home country, you may need a visa. Please consult the Slovenian Embassy in your country for the updated Slovenia Visa requirements!
To reiterate: Please wait to purchase plane tickets, book other travel and/or with the hotel at this time. We will make a final decision and announcement about whether this training is occurring (based on COVID condition) on 22 January, 2022. At that time, you can pay your tuition and book travel. Please look for an email from CNVC on January 22. Thank you for your patience until then.