Nonviolent Communication

”Nonviolence is the courage to speak truth with love...and love is the full radical acceptance of the humanity of every person.”​
-Miki Kashtan

What is Nonviolence?

Nonviolence works because it inspires, builds trust and opens doors for largenumbers of people to get involved and express themselves. It also models the worldwe want to live in by committing to causing no harm.
Beyond blame and judgement, nonviolence recognizes that all of us are part of thissystem and that we live interdependently (what happens to you affects me and viceversa) and all of our futures are at stake.

Some core elements of nonviolence are:

● Non harming
● Moving beyond blame and judgement to seek to understand the position andperspective of the other
● Truthtelling from a place of Courage, compassion and love.
● Interdependence
● Self-connection or inner peace

What is Nonviolent Communication (NVC)?

Nonviolent communication (NVC) is an expression of Nonviolence.

NVC was developed by Marshall Rosenberg who drew on the humanistic psychology of Carl Rogers and the Nonviolence of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and give you the tools to approach actions and organising in a way that includes your own needs, while considering others' and the needs of the wider environment, so that unintentional harm is more likely to be avoided.

Some Core elements of Nonviolent Communication are:

● Moving beyond blame, judgment, ‘should’, ‘have to’, and being in a place of‘no choice’
● Communicating from a place of choice
● Foregrounding the act of listening, as a precursor for speaking, and tode-escalate tense situations
● Expressing yourself by trying to communicate undisputable reality (observations, feelings and needs)
rather than emotional and unconscious interpretations

Here some practical steps for non-violet communication:

Expressing how I’ am without criticism or judgment
Receiving feedback empathetically without jumping to the defense
Expressing observations instead of evaluations
Owning how you feel in relation to your observations and the stories that are activated in your head when you experience them
Stating your own needs/values without asking something of others to make you feel better
Clearly requesting specific, concrete actions that would enrich your life, without demanding