Please note that Marina is not a licensed mental health provider, and her coaching is not a substitute for assistance from a trained mental health professional or doctor.

HEARTSPACE: 8-WEEK Women's nvc Practice & Support Group

Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm
January 25th - March 15th

See below for details!

Nonviolent Communication (aka "Compassionate Communication") is a powerful practice that can be used for both personal healing and interpersonal communication, based on the deceptively simple notion that everything we say, do, and speak is an attempt to meet a human need. The more we can connect with our needs - rather than our judgments of ourselves and others - the more compassion flows naturally within and between us - and the more likely we are to actually get our needs met.

For more information, visit www.cnvc.org.

heartspace: a women's nvc PRACTICE & SUPPORT GROUP

This series is based on the work on Marshall Rosenberg, PhD, and Nonviolent Communication, in this group, we will:

• Create a safe and supportive space to hold one another for emotional support, and the unraveling of shame’s grip on our everyday lived experience

• Cultivate our capacity for empathy – with ourselves first and foremost — and with others in our lives with whom we find it difficult (or even impossible) to connect — lovers, partners, family, friends, co-workers, the whole shabang

• Practice compassionate truth-telling: expressing ourselves with full honesty, and yet with full heart, even in the relationships that form our achilles heels

Ultimately, this practice offers a deepening sense of self-love, and an invitation to step into greater authenticity and intimacy in all your relationships, including within the group. It’s not about being “nice,” fake, or walking on eggshells; rather, it’s about learning to show up fully, in your truth, and with compassion.

MEDICINE FOR BODY, HEART, AND SOUL

Many of us are limited in life by a sense of shame, isolation, and a belief that “our needs don’t matter” in relationship. 

Without a felt sense of mattering, our relationships suffer.  We face the false choice between speaking up and losing connection with others, or staying small and betraying ourselves, thus degrading the quality of our relationships with lovers, spouses, family members, co-workers, and friends alike.

HeartSpace is about healing the places where we have shamed our voices into the closet, re-wiring ourselves for deeper self-love and self-acceptance, and becoming empowered communicators, with the power of both vulnerability and courageous clarity under our wings. 

It's about claiming the healing power of our relationships with other women, finding allies to support us in deepening an unabashed sense of self-love, and cultivating our capacity for both authenticity and compassion in all our relationships.

It's also about fostering our collective liberation, and bringing awareness to the social divisions and conditioning around sexual orientation, race, class, etc. that appear in our group, so that we can bring our full selves to the circle, know and support one another more deeply, and bring compassionate awareness to the conditioned places that limit our capacity for connection and expression of our full humanity.

THE BENEFITS

FINDING THE PLACE FROM WHICH OUR NATURAL WISDOM ARISES

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a tool for accessing our deeper truths and longings, but it Is not itself that deep reservoir of inner knowing and wisdom that resides in each of us, just waiting for us to listen.

A part of what this course is about is slowing down enough to listen, tuning in enough to hear our deepest voice and highest wisdom beckoning at our heart’s door.

HEALING AND RE-WIRING

HeartSpace is about healing the places where we have shamed ourselves into the closet, and re-wiring ourselves for an innate knowing of our lovability and beauty. 

So many of us were taught that our needs are something to be shameful about, something to be hidden and covered over with either the overconfidence of “I didn’t need you anyways,” or the under-confidence of “How can I please you, as you’re the one who matters?”  

HeartSpace is about moving beyond this old dichotomy, radically reclaiming not only the existence of but the fundamental beauty of our needs, letting them motivate and inspire our daily words and actions, and letting ourselves learn to ask -- more and more often – for that which nourishes our bodies, minds, and spirits.   

BECOMING EMPOWERED COMMUNICATORS, CAPABLE OF SPEAKING WITH BOTH HONESTY AND COMPASSION

HeartSpace invites us to become empowered communicators, with the power of both vulnerability and courageous clarity under our wings.

Using tools and practices from Nonviolent Communication (NVC), we will practice and become proficient at “compassionate truth-telling,” the art of expressing ourselves with full honesty, and yet with full heart, even in the relationships that form our Achilles heels.

We will cultivate our capacity for empathy – with ourselves first and foremost — and with others in our life with whom we find it difficult (or even impossible) to connect — lovers, partners, family, friends, co-workers, the whole gamut of human relationships…

The result will be stepping into greater authenticity and capacity for connectedness in all our relationships, including within the group, accessing a sense of choice in responding to life’s many triggering moments, and moving from a deep knowing of our inner “yes” and our inner “no,” with the words to convey both with clarity and grace.  

This group will likewise bolster our capacity to listen beneath the surface to what others are truly saying, and to forge connection and togetherness where our habitual walls tend to rise.

WHAT'S THE PROGRAM LOOK LIKE?

We meet weekly for 2 hours.

open practice

This round will be dedicated to open practice.  Participants on any given evening can request group empathy, guided self-empathy, role play coaching, or guidance in working with difficult emotions, as well as in navigating important life decisions. Bring the stuff of your life, and we will have plenty to practice with. :)

TESTIMONIALS

"This group is jazzercise for your empathy muscle and both a playground and safe refuge for your spirit.  Listening to Marina get her NVC on is like watching your favorite, relaxed musician on stage: that shit looks so natural one forgets that years of dedicated practice and study are at play. As for NVC itself, it's nothing short of life-changing; offering a practical roadmap of choice for how to perceive and react to both internal feelings and the world around us. NVC is seeing in color after a lifetime of black and white." - Christy, Participant

"It’s because of this program that I’m alive and have hope. Through working with Marina in a group setting, I am learning to love myself, know myself, be more authentic, own my emotions, and find ways to fill my needs." – Cyndi

“I can’t say enough how this program has changed my life and those around me." – Michelle, Social Worker

“Marina has helped me give voice to the wounded and shamed pieces of me through empathy and play, allowing me to be so aware of my own destructive self-talk. This woman has absolutely empowered me and inspires me to be the most open-hearted, uninhibited, and loving version of me.  I hold so much gratitude for the gifts and tools she has brought into my life.” – Melanie

“What I most valued was the sense of safety and acceptance, the ability to show up exactly where I am and be accepted and not judged.” – Cynthia

“As a result of this program, I have learned to catch self-judgment more easily and get out of its trap.” – Kadambini

“This course gave me more confidence in my ability to know my needs and make requests, as well as the capacity for clearer, more effective communication in my relationships.” – Kaitlin, MFT Intern

“As a result of this program, I am welcoming back more aspects of myself, and seeing the beauty and love that permeate life, even in its challenging moments.” – Tania, Nanny

“Marina is the genuine article: authentic, vulnerable, compassionate and wise.  She holds a solid space for others to move boldly forward and open their hearts to themselves. I adore her dedication to the simple idea that we are each precious beyond measure.  Her work has opened my heart and allowed several miracles to happen in my life.” - Colleen, Writer & Multi-Media Artist

Dates & Location

Cost

Prerequisites

Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm
January 25th - March 15th

Private residence in Gainesville.  Address shared only with confirmed participants.

$300-$400 Sliding Scale

Payment plans available.

None, but you are encouraged to read Marshall Rosenberg's book, "Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life."

...Ready to join us?  Super. This world is ready to receive your heart.

Register below.

You can also call me at 1-855-EMPATHY, or write me at marina@shamelessheart.com.