In this ongoing monthly series, Arnina and Heather invite parents on a courageous, transformational, and fulfilling parenting adventure to transcend socialized parenting paradigms and limiting beliefs instilled from their own childhood experiences. Rather than teach “parenting techniques” or “behavior management”, their hope is to reconnect parents with their own innate wisdom so they can engage with their children more compassionately and responsively rather than parenting on auto-pilot – fueled by repetitive patterns – and often (over)reacting in regrettable ways.
Packed with wisdom from their own journeys, challenges, and discoveries, Arnina and Heather will teach and encourage self-care, self-kindness, and self-compassion, because experience (and science!) has taught them that doing so gives parents more of each to offer their children. Additionally, when children experience settled nervous systems modeled in the home by their parents, they are much less likely to interpret stress as their fault and less likely to carry burdens that are not theirs to carry. In this sense, self-care is an act of mutual care because the parents learn to honor their own capacity while protecting their children’s sense of mattering.
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.
When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Arnina and Heather will also share practices and principles for cultivating more presence, awareness, compassion and resilience so parents can show up in ways that are more deeply aligned with their values and dreams. And because children learn more from what parents do than what they say, parents will be instilling these same life-serving qualities in their children as they cultivate them in themselves. No parent (or person) is perfect, and modeling imperfection and being explicit about cultivating new habits to care for yourself and others provides a compassionate template of authenticity for children as well.
This series will include a wide range of content and space for deep engagement as well, in the hope you will receive these benefits and more:
- Compassion for yourself through understanding why your capacity may lag so far behind your commitment and what you can do to bridge the gap;
- Compassion for your children as you understand better what life is like from within their own experience rather than from the outside looking in;
- Compassion for and from other parents: so many parents, especially those shifting into to more liberating paradigms, feel alone and lack support; here you will find others whose struggles are similar;
- A glimpse of life beyond right/wrong thinking as you release yourself from both the old concepts of what is right, such as “an obedient child” and the new concepts of what is right, such as “a parent who never loses it;”
- Practices for cultivating more mindful and heartful presence for yourself and with your children;
- A growing capacity to remain empathic with your children even in challenging moments and increased transparency about your own needs as natural limits;
- More choicefulness about your “yes” and your “no;”
- More capacity to remain calm when your children become dysregulated and more skills to help their nervous systems settle; and
- More togetherness (and ease!) in your relationship with them as well.
The next workshop in this series will be on Saturday, December 3rd; 8:30 – 10 a.m. PT (Check your local time here.)
Tuition & Registration
To allow us the spaciousness to plan for those who will attend, we ask that you please try to register at your earliest convenience before November 5th, 2022.
***IMPORTANT: In addition to making your payment below, please finalize your registration by completing our REGISTRATION FORM.***
If making a payment within the sliding scale presents a barrier to your participation, please email Heather Austin, BayNVC Event Coordinator, Compass Program Coordinator, and NGL Liaison.
A glimpse of The Compass Online Course (January-July 2023)
The Compass experience is so unique, it’s challenging to put into words, especially on a screen. You might get a felt sense of it by watching:
Click here for details about The Compass: An Integrative Roadmap Toward Personal, Familial, and Collective Liberation (January 8 – July 30, 2023)
“I offer you a deep, radical process of Truth, Compassion, and Courage, to uncover the essence of your Being and Presence while transforming your personal, familial, and professional relationships in unprecedented ways.” ~ Arnina Kashtan
Samples of Compass Materials
Co-Facilitators
Arnina Kashtan, certified NVC trainer (1992), is the creator of “The Compass”, the process for personal, familial & collective liberation, and author of “Falling in Love with Myself Again” (2016). Founder of Meitarim, the Center for The Compass & NVC Studies in Israel (2000), she delivers workshops and trainings, online & offline, to the general public, as well as trainings for coaches, mediators & trainers (in Hebrew, English & Spanish).
Arnina’s passion and special gifts are in enhancing breakthroughs in awareness, thus bringing forth deep transformations on all levels. Her unique approach combines a profound, laser-like exploration into our innermost core supported by a rare sense of humor and embedded in deep, embracing empathy. The emerging almost magical space she creates has enabled her students all over the world to open up into new understandings and embark on a fresh, compassionate, and expanding free path.
Heather Austin was introduced to, and fell in love with, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) through Inbal Kashtan’s book, “Parenting From Your Heart” and she is deeply grateful to have been working closely with and learning from Inbal’s sisters, Arnina and Miki, for the past four years as a founding member of the Nonviolent Global Liberation (NGL) Community, the Event Coordinator at Bay Area Nonviolent Communication (BayNVC), and The Compass Program Director.
Heather‘s passion is to support parents and children in cultivating their capacity for non-judgemental present moment awareness; deepening their connection with one another; and co-creating compassionate, purpose-aligned, collaborative family systems, in the hope that these family systems will serve as seeds for creating a world that works for all. She has been doing this with the consciousness and practical tools that are part of her learnings from NVC, NGL, The Compass, Mindfulness, interpersonal neurobiology, and more.
In addition to her work with the Kashtan sisters, Heather facilitates parenting classes, groups, and mediation; mindfulness classes for all ages; and individual coaching sessions. She brings wisdom from her decades-long journey of teaching children of all ages, in and out of school settings, both in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as her own journey parenting and homeschooling her now 17-year-old child. Heather can be reached at heather@baynvc.org.
Testimonials
“You [Arnina] accompanied me very lovingly to ‘see my son’ and I saw him! Wonderful. …and you helped me see my daughter in all her beauty, without wanting to change her. Thank you so much for sharing your vital wisdom and for bringing light and clarity where it was tangled and dark. My gratitude cannot be expressed in words.” ~ Marta Delgado
“My sister Arnina puts together so much — systemic perspective, compassion for trauma, deep understanding about how humans function, and more — into a comprehensive, deep, and fully accessible framework that supports dramatic shifts in the experience of being alive. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a passion for freedom.” ~ Miki Kashtan
“Arnina supported a shift toward including myself fully in caring for the whole, that resonates in all areas of my being.” ~ Vesta Kroese
“Heather is able to widen any circle of awareness, bringing in what is not easily seen in our parent-children relationships. Heather is connected to her innate care for others, and with her, I feel seen, heard, and understood in my challenges as a mother. She has inspired me with her commitment to walk the path of compassion.” ~ Fernanda Cecin
“I enjoy Arnina’s authenticity, strength, and own flavor bringing NVC into the world. I feel more free, more alive, more motivated and empowered.” ~ Claudia Sánchez
“I am deeply touched and inspired by the way in which Arnina has evolved and woven multiple consciousness modalities into such a clear roadmap. Arnina’s depth, skills, sense of humor, and ability to articulate so many nuances so clearly are a gift for anyone seeking greater inner peace, freedom, and a kinder relationship with oneself and others.” ~ Kristi Dee Doden
“Heather has given me clarity around dynamics that contribute to strengthening a heartfelt connection with my children. She has offered me practical strategies to transform patterns of reactivity into behaviors that are more aligned with my values.” ~ Grace Deckers
“I am newly aware of choices there are in how I speak…and even though it is a momentous challenge to change, I am hopeful in going forward.” ~ Marge Margulies
“The compass course is vital to anyone serious about transcending trauma and/or becoming certified as a trainer of nonviolent communication (NVC).” ~ Monica Espinoza
“Heather is a person who gives herself without limits, without judgment, she is a being full of compassion, love, empathy, and resilience. She has the ability to give her unconditional presence to…accompany parents on their parenting journey.” ~ Carolina Zamorano
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.
