NVC Dance Floors

From NVCWiki

Full information about The NVC Dance Floors is on http://www.NvcDanceFloors.com

NVC Dance Floor materials are available in English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish from http://www.life-resources-shop.com

Also, there are local distributors in Australia, Denmark and North America.

North America: Jeff Brown, Email:jeff(at)heartfeltcommunication.com

Australia: Franklin Bruinstroop, Email:franklin1(at)iprimus.com.au

Denmark: Gitte Brandenburg Carlsen, Email:gc(at)giraf4connexion.dk

WHAT ARE THE NVC DANCE FLOORS?

The Dance Floors are spatial maps made up of large, color-coded cards laid on the floor in various layouts called ‘dances’. People learning NVC stand up and ˜danceâ through the steps of a given process, often with coaching from a trainer or support from another participant. Each dance is designed to help people develop awareness and skills in a particular area of NVC.

The Dance Floors and related support materials were co-created by Bridget Belgrave and Gina Lawrie from England, http://www.GnB.org.uk, both certified trainers with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. They have developed 7 dances; three are designed to practice dialogue, and are done in role play dialogue with another person, and four are inner dances, designed for transformative internal processes.

WHY USE THE DANCE FLOORS?

The purpose of the Dance Floors is to offer people a clear and practical method of learning and practicing NVC. In particular, they help to:

• Respect a variety of learning styles, integrating auditory, kinesthetic and visual ways of learning. Visual intelligence is nourished by seeing the text and color of the cards. Body/movement intelligence is nourished by standing and walking through the dance steps. Spatial intelligence is nourished through the layout of the cards. Auditory intelligence is nourished by hearing the dancer’s, the role player’s and the trainer’s words.

• Address people's needs for active and reflective learning. The impulse for action and movement is satisfied by moving around the dance and experimenting with different options. The need for reflection is nourished by watching other participants doing the dance, as well as through group discussion following the dance.

• Create a context in which people are likely to learn the key elements of NVC, including how much of the NVC process is inner work, how all the ingredients of the process fit together, and how our inner judging and blaming is an integral part of NVC, rather than something to be dismissed or suppressed.

• Witness both inner and outer processes. Through hearing people's inner process, we gain access to fun, sharing, learning and empathy and are often touched by recognizing how other people's feelings, needs or judgmental thinking are similar to our own.

• Create visual clarity when not using puppets. The Dance Floors offer another way to engage people's interest, and be lively and conscious when showing the NVC process in role plays.

WHAT ARE THE DANCES?

The seven dances are: 1. Inner-Outer Dance, Stage 1: The 13 Steps

• develop awareness of which mode you are in: ˜expressing myself, ˜receiving others™ or ˜connecting with myself™;
• practice the 4 basic ingredients of NVC, "observations, feelings, needs and requests“ in each of the three modes;
• learn how to transform inner judgments with self-empathy.

2. Inner-Outer Dance, Stage 2: Integration & Connection

• continue to practice awareness of which mode you are in;
• internalize the ‘observations, feelings and needs’ part of NVC;
• practice when and how to express ‘connection requests’ before going on to express an ‘action request’.

3. Inner-Outer Dance, Stage 3: Fluency

• get more courageous about asking for what you really want;
• hone skills for staying in heart connection;
• learn how to receive another person's ˜connection requests";
• weave all this into a fluent NVC dialogue.

4. Self-Empathy Dance

• take self-empathy deeper than on the inner-outer dances;
• discover the beauty of fully experiencing what is alive within you;
• open your creativity to the full range of ways to meet your needs.

5. Anger Dance

• practice the inner process of transforming anger into life-connected information;
• integrate this inner process into a dialogue;
• practice receiving others empathically after expressing unmet needs;
• use this dance also to transform guilt, shame and depression.

6. Educator/Chooser Dance

• practice an inner process that helps you mourn, learn and grow when you are not satisfied with your actions;
• do some in-depth preparation for forgiveness and reconciliation work.

7. Yes/No Dance

• practice resolving inner conflict;
• see the beauty in both options in a decision, and stay open to a solution that meets the needs behind both options;
• experience the difference between a forced ‘either/or’ decision, and an integrated, emergent ‘both/and’ choice.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT NVC DANCE FLOORS?

The Dance Floors have been greeted with great enthusiasm by many NVC trainers and facilitators around the world.

"Participants express deep wonder and gratitude about how much depth and clarity the work on the NVC Dance Floor gives to them." -- Gitte Brandenburg Carlsen, Denmark

"Dancing on the dance floors is the exercise that I enjoy the most. While doing this dance I find it very easy to connect with my inner feelings and needs. As I move up and down the Dance Floor I can see the inner transformation taking place at every step. This tool helps me, not only to practice NVC but to 'LIVE' NVC. I must say that it has transformed my life. I am grateful to Bridget and Gina for coming out with such a beautiful technique....Keep dancing!" -- Aniruddha Gadankush, India

"I am realizing how different my understanding of NVC is and my way of sharing it with others since attending an NVC Dance Floor workshop over a year ago. It has been a huge gift for me. I continue to be amazed at the ease in which people move to great depth (really getting in touch with self) while using this process. And it gets you up and out of your seat! I use this in most all my trainings and am so thankful to have a more physical way to offer NVC. " -- Cathy Artukovich, Hawaii, USA