“Kindfulness,” a term coined by Ajahn Brahm that combines mindfulness and kindness. Kindful communication is the language of connection. It’s a learnable, practical way to bring empathy, honesty, strength and compassion into our personal and professional relationships. Over the course of two weekends, we will learn to become aware of various aspects of communication, develop skills to listen to others from the heart, and discover how to express ourselves kindfully.

Using the experiential pedagogy and tools of Universal Education, and drawing on both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience and psychology, we will explore communication from the inside out. We will start with our mind: our preconceptions, assumptions, and our feelings and motivations in exchanges with others. We will then explore how we are in action, and how understanding interdependence and change can affect the way we communicate. We will explore several aspects of communication, such as verbal and nonverbal (body language), and listening. We will also consider our habitual reactions to others, and how by changing those patterns we can change the way we communicate, which in turn affects others.

Sat Jun 6 & Sun Jun 7, 10AM-1PM EDT (UTC-4)

In this first workshop, we will focus on:

• Mindset
• Becoming aware of mechanisms that cause communication to break down
• Emotional intelligence
• Mindfulness
• Listening from the heart
• Recognizing our part in the conversation
• Body language and voice
• Inner voice
• Developing your wisdom and the skills to create a happier more effective life.

Sat Aug 15 & Sun Aug 16, 10AM-1PM EDT (UTC-4)

In the second workshop, we will look at:

• How we relate using schemas of communication
• Mindfulness
• Emotional intelligence: How we are aware of what’s going on and how we express it
• Assertiveness
• Asking questions
• Qualities that support communication and how to develop them
• Recognizing and living from your values
• Developing your wisdom and the skills to create a happier more effective life.

Mindfulness practice is an essential element in this exploration, and these workshops promise to give those already practicing it ways of deepening their practice by applying it to everyday situations.

While the workshops can be taken individually, together they make up the complete Kindful Communication online course offered by FDCW which these workshops are based on. Additional details can be found here.