Category Archives: Uncategorized

June 2013 – Newsletter excerpts

Summer reading? Here’s a list of some of my best books these days:

  • Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, Daniel Siegel, 2011
  • Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm and Connected, Susan Stiffelman, 2012
  • The Wizard of Us: Transformational Lessons From Oz, Jean Houston, 2012

Empathy as Direct Love in Action

And here’s an inspirational video clip – for you – featuring Catherine Cadden on YouTube, “Empathy as Direct Love in Action.” She quotes Dr. Marshall Luther King, “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar,” and then she proceeds to clarify from her own experience..

Peace Begins with Me – and You – NOW

I love the words of Sakyong Rinpoche: “Enlightened society is created one conversation at a time.”

I also deeply appreciate how Nonviolent (or Compassionate) Communication© inspires the shift in consciousness required to co-create enlightened interactions. And this beautiful movement of peace in our every conversation is possible for me – and for you – now!

In fact, on Tuesday, July 17th, from 7:00 to 9:00pm we will engage in building peace one conversation at a time – in a free workshop, “Peace Begins with Me.” To support this flowering within and without, we will employ the transformative 4-step process of Nonviolent Communication, or NVC, the masterwork of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg. NVC is a spiritual practice that opens the heart, employing a concrete set of skills that facilitate peaceful connection. With these principles and practices we come home to what is authentic and vital in ourselves – and in each other.

The process of NVC helps us in learning the art of deep listening and skilful speech. On Tuesday you will get a taste of specific skills that unleash the power of conscious communication in your everyday interactions. For example, the fundamental skills for daily practice are:

1) Observing the facts without interference of reactive judgments

2) Tuning in to feelings rather than thoughts about an interaction

3) Becoming aware of genuine needs rather than conditioned wants

4) Making requests to meet needs instead of demands or complaints

This 4-step approach of NVC supports the intention to connect, releasing compassion and peace. This is the very process of transforming ourselves, our relationships, and our world. The empowerment arises in the focus on self-awareness. Then we can learn how to skilfully connect with each other in conversation, creating an enlightened society.

Peace is possible for me – and for you – in every moment!

Love and gratitude,

Barbara Wiebe

Peace Begins with Me – Really?


Specifically, what does it take? What do I do to resolve conflict, to build peace, and to “create an enlightened society one conversation at a time”?

On Tuesday, July 17th, you can attend a free two-hour workshop to explore the approach of Nonviolent Communication®. Facilitated by myself and my life partner, Foster Walker, you will get a taste of the simple 4-step process that has the power to transform ourselves, our relationships, and our world. We are delighted to have this opportunity to share with you how this approach inspires and empowers peace-building.

The founder of NVC, Nonviolent Communication®, Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, now in his 70s, has spent his life helping thousands around the world to “speak peace.” Nonviolent Communication, also called Compassionate Communication, is based on historical principles of nonviolence—the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart. NVC reminds us what we already instinctively know about how good it feels to connect authentically.

The challenge is to hear our own deeper needs and those of others, rather than the isolating and habitual judgments we’ve picked up along the way. With an emphasis on deep listening—to ourselves as well as others—we discover the depth of our own compassion, our natural capacity for harmony and creative collaboration. We come to realize that all human beings are only trying to honor universal values and needs, every minute, every day.

Join us to experience this process of communication. It can be seen as both a spiritual practice that helps us see our common humanity, and a concrete set of skills that facilitate genuine connection.

Summer of Peace Calgary 2012—let’s do our part to disengage from our own “enemy images” and to open our hearts to what we yearn so deeply for: PEACE.

Peace Begins with Me


Written for www.summerofpeacecalgary.com  (Peace Academy)

So… I say I want peace. I long for peace and contentment.  I’m tired of seeing conflictual relationships. I’m upset to hear about war, senseless slaughter, and abuse of human rights. I hate to witness the blatant disregard not only of human life, but of the entire Earth community. Okay, where do I begin?

The concern about peace, or contentment – or love – has been of high priority for most of my life. As I see it now, the logical place to start is to become curious about what exactly I am longing for. Specifically, what do I want to experience in my daily living? It seems to come down to being at peace in my own person, at ease in my interactions, enjoying clarity of perspective as I engage in all aspects of my life.

That’s easy enough to say, but where do I begin to actualize this precious commodity of peace? Especially now, there is heightened awareness of the urgent need to shift our very consciousness to ensure a sustainable (read ‘peaceful’) way of life on planet Earth.

I’m inspired to hear Sakyong Rinpoche say, “Enlightened society is created one conversation at a time.” This is where I can begin. I can become aware of what I am doing in my everyday relationships. I can hold the sacred intention to connect, to build peace. I can notice the old habits that disconnect and isolate. I can listen with empathy. I can become aware of universal needs of the one human family. I can sense with my heart when I’m ‘off track’ and missing the mark of peace. I can begin again.

I hope you’ll join the two-hour workshop, “Peace Begins with Me,” on Tuesday, July 17th, for us to journey together, building peace.