Needs-based Connection (NbC) is a practical, easy to understand process which changes the way we talk and think about ourselves, each other and our relationships. By refusing to blame or criticise, we create a space in which our own feelings and needs can guide us in communicating from the heart. The results are life-changing and include more harmonious relationships, deeper friendships, a constructive way of experiencing anger and conflict and more fulfilment in general.
NbC taster sessions in Antwerp will consist mainly of guided practical exercises in small groups, based on real situations taken from our own lives. We will learn to see our challenges from the point of view of universal human needs, aside from any opinions about right and wrong, good and bad, and will practise simple tools for transformation.
The sessions will be led in English by Graham Timmins, assisted by Els Peeters, but you can also use Dutch and we will translate if necessary.
The workshops complement each other and can also be taken individually.
Radical honesty – Weds 25th May
The communication skills I value most highly are (1) listening empathically to others, and (2) speaking honestly our own truth. Listening with presence and without judgment is a precious skill which brings deep healing and is very rare in my everyday experience. And expressing what is really going on inside us, connecting with and revealing our feelings and needs without reference to our opinions and beliefs about others, is perhaps even rarer. It is the key to change, both for the speaker who empowers herself and for her audience, who can be inspired as well as challenged.
This evening we will get a taste of what it feels like to speak our truth and what it is that stops us from standing in that place of power.
From feelings to action – how to bring our lives into harmony with our deeper selves (date not set – please enquire!)
It’s not enough to become aware of our feelings and to connect them with the inner motivation which inspires us, though this is an essential first step. To bring our spiritual energy into this physical reality, we also need to take action. Most of us have dreams which we put on one side ‘for later’, a later that perhaps never comes. What is it that ties us to familiar routines and stops us from achieving our fullest potential, and what can we do about it?
This session uncovers the patterns of fear and avoidance which are holding us back and points the way to creating the life that we desire.
Giving only from the heart – (date not set – please enquire!)
Many of us have been taught that good moral behaviour involves thinking first about others rather than ourselves, and putting their needs before our own. Especially with family and loved ones there may be an expectation that we have to sacrifice ourselves for others – and that they should in turn makes sacrifices for us when we need it. Even if they do this as expected, there is often pain and resentment in exchanges based on a sense of duty or expectation. And yet, we don’t want to be ‘selfish’ either, do we?! What’s more, we live in a society which strongly rewards individualism and competition … So how do we know when to give and when to stop?
This session is concerned with how to reconcile the drive towards self-fulfilment with the pressure of others’ expectations of us, including enabling ourselves to contribute joyfully to other people’s needs.
Facilitators
Graham Timmins is a UK-based former teacher and translator who has led workshops for over 15 years. Studying and practising Marshall Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication since 2006, he developed NbC to combine the insights of MR with those of Byron Katie and other teachers. Naturally extrovert and verbal, his speciality has been in finding ‘the right words’ for communication, but his interest now is on moving beyond language to pure connection.
Els Peeters is a singer, actress and performance artist from Antwerp who has added needs-based connection to her repertoire during the last 4 years. An empathic listener and introvert by instinct, she also uses drama, role play and puppets to embody feelings and needs in a non-verbal form.
Els and Graham are exploring ways of combining gesture, bodywork, sounds and words to make the NbC model accessible to all the human centres of perception, whether intellectual, emotional or physical.
See feedback from previous workshops
Dates and Times
Wednesday 18th May, Wednesday 25th May from 19:00 to 21:30. More dates to follow!
Workshops start on time, please arrive early to say ‘hello’ and settle in the space!
Venue
Oost West Centrum, Van Schoonbekestraat 148, 2018 Antwerpen
Cost
€20 per session, €35 for two. Please don’t hesitate to ask for a discount if you want to come but cannot afford the amount suggested!
Booking and enquiries
Contact Graham here