My journey with Nonviolent Communication (NVC) began with a deep longing for connection, even though I did not yet have the language for it. When I first encountered NVC, something in the way the trainer spoke and listened touched me deeply. I sensed there was a place he was speaking from - rooted in awareness of needs and our interdependence - and I remember thinking, that’s where I want to be.
Over time, NVC gave me a framework to understand many experiences that had long been confusing or painful. Learning to take my feelings seriously again and to connect with the needs underneath them changed the way I relate to myself and others. It gradually became not only a communication tool, but a way of living.
I work in an international school environment with people from many cultural backgrounds, which continually reminds me how deeply interconnected we are and how tricky it can be to find mutual understanding. NVC gives me a lens to see our shared humanity and a path to move from habits of domination toward relationships grounded in care, mutual respect, and shared human needs.
To me, NVC is also a spiritual practice. Without being tied to any particular religion, I experience it as a practical path toward connection with life - within myself, between people, in nature, and in the systems we shape together. In this work, I see my role as someone who helps create the conditions for natural growth and connection.
I enjoy holding spaces where people can recognize their own needs and values, discover their agency, and experience the possibility of meeting one another with honesty and care, nurturing the seeds that make social change possible. Social change, to me, begins in the microcosm of everyday life: lasting transformation grows from the quality of these interactions, like tending soil so that empathy, care, and peace can take root and eventually influence larger systems. Through sharing NVC, I hope to contribute to spaces where people can slow down, reconnect with what matters most to them, and recognize the gifts and intentions present in themselves and others.
I am grateful to be part of a community that keeps learning and practicing together, and where this shared exploration can continue.