366
inspirational daily
meditations to ground
you in the power of
compassionate, conscious
living.
In this gathering of wisdom,
Mary Mackenzie empowers you
to change the course of your
life for the better. With
each of the daily
meditations, you'll learn
new ways
of viewing familiar,
everyday situations and
discover tools to transform
those situations into
opportunities for connection
and personal growth.
Peaceful Living
goes beyond daily
affirmations, providing the
skills and NVC consciousness
you need to transform
relationships, heal pain,
and discover the life behind
the most
trying situations. Begin
each day centered and
connected to yourself and
your values.
In each
meditation,
learn
practical
skills
to:
- Create
an
empowered,
purposeful
life
free of
fear,
shame or
guilt
- Deepen
your
emotional
connections
with
your
partner,
colleagues,
family
and
friends
- Live
authentically
by
honestly
expressing
your
feelings
and
needs
- Ground
yourself
daily in
the
values
of
compassion
- Free
yourself
from
destructive
emotional
patterns
- Be your
best
spiritual
teacher
Mary
Mackenzie
is a
certified
NVC trainer
with the Center
for
Nonviolent
Communication
(CNVC),
is the
creator of
the online
NVC
Learning
Academy,
and the
executive
director of
the
Flagstaff
Center for
Compassionate
Communication,
a nonprofit
peacemaking
organization.
She teaches
transformational
thinking,
speaking,
and
listening
skills to
individuals,
couples,
families,
and children
to empower
them in
their
relationships.
Sample
Meditation
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Due to inclement weather
Peaceful Living (the print
version) is not available at our
fulfillment center in time for
holiday shopping. It is
available from Amazon at
their pricing. Our regrets that
we are unable to offer this
beautiful book at our special
PDP holiday pricing. We can,
however, offer it to you at
$3.95 as an ebook
List Price: $19.95
eBook 3.95
from Peaceful
Living by
Mary
Mackenzie
My goal is
to change
the world
one heart at
a time. -
Mary
Mackenzie
Inspiring Social
Change
People ask me
all the time how
they can change
a situation.
Activists who
work for peace
and
social change
want the answer.
Many of us are
looking for the
big over-arching
answers. We want
the quick fix.
If you want
social change,
act in harmony
with the values
toward which you
are working. "Be
the change you
seek," as Gandhi
put it. If you
want peace, work
toward peace;
don't rally
against war.
Don't spend your
days working for
peace while
harboring enemy
images of people
who support
different causes
than yours;
don't go home
and spank your
child or yell at
your partner. Be
peace.
Living from your
values does not
mean that you
are perfect.
When you act in
ways that aren't
in harmony with
your values, own
up to it and try
to do it
differently next
time. Set a
course that is
in alignment
with your values
and do your very
best to stay
headed in that
direction. This
is social
change. For
today, make a
conscious effort
to be that
which you want
in your world.
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“What are the
characteristics of a healthy
relationship?
1.
Accurate empathy, 2.
genuineness, 3. unconditional
positive regard
~ Marshall B. Rosenberg
|
Five Tips for Enjoying Your Family Gatherings by Beth Banning and Neill Gibson
Are you wondering
how your next family
gathering will turn
out?
|
Is it
tough to
relate
to some
of your
family
members?
Do you
sometimes
leave
feeling
drained
and
wondering
why you
went at
all?
It
can be
different
this
year.
Imagine
walking
into
your
next
family
get-together
feeling
excited
about
being
there
and
knowing
that you
will
leave
feeling
happy
about
the
whole
experience.
This is
all
possible
if you
know
what to
focus
on.
|
Learn
Five Tips to
Make This Year's
Family Gathering
The Best
Ever
|
|
Beth and (Neill) are committed to helping create a world that works for everyone. Their vision is a global
culture that embraces the values of abundance, prosperity, and inter-reliance--one that promotes "the evolution of everyone. Their goal is to make a significant contribution to this shift by offering concrete, practical skills that help people exchange ideas and resources in harmony with their most deeply held values, and by living the principles and practices they offer through
their work. If you'd like to find out more, please visit them at: www.focusedattention.com
“When
I am critical or judgmental—what
is the need being expressed?”
~ Marshall B.
Rosenberg
Most
of us walk through life with
thinking and language that
stands as a concrete block
between what we want and
what we actually get. We
stand alienated from
ourselves, unaware of what
we're feeling, what we want
and how to get it. We
function on autopilot,
putting our personal and
intimate relationships dead
last behind work, family and
other life responsibilities.
And
we react to loved ones,
family and coworkers in ways
that further alienate us,
keeping us from experiencing
the quality of relationships
that we all deserve.
Being Genuine
brings Thomas d'Ansembourg's
blockbuster French title to
the English market. His work
offers you a fresh new
perspective on the proven
skills offered in the
best-selling book,
Nonviolent
Communication: A
Language of Life.
Drawing on his
own real-life
examples and
stories,
d'Ansembourg
provides
practical skills
and concrete
steps that allow
us to safely
remove the masks
we wear, which
prevent the
intimacy and
satisfaction we
desire with our
intimate
partners,
children,
parents,
friends, family,
and colleagues.
With
this fresh, new
perspective on
communication
learn
to:
- Safely
remove the
masks we
hide behind
- Overcome
past
prejudices
and
conditioned
beliefs
- Purge
your
thinking and
language of
anything
that
generates
conflict
- Accept
responsibility
for your
feelings and
actions
- Transform
the fears
that block
us from
connecting
with others
- Create the
space you
need to
connect with
loved ones
or
colleagues
- Practice
unconditional
love each
day
|
Based in Belgium, Thomas
d'Ansembourg is
a former lawyer and legal
advisor, and has worked for
over a decade managing
support to at-risk youth.
First published in French in
2001, Being Genuine
is now a European bestseller
with more than 200,000
copies in print. Being
Genuine has also
received the 2003 Festival
of Authors of Psychology of
Nimes Award.
List Price: $17.95
Book 4.95
Eating is a basic human
need. But for those caught
in cycles of
over-consumption, emotional
eating, and yo-yo dieting,
it can often be a misguided
stand-in for other unmet
needs, like emotional
fulfillment.
When we’ve reconnected
to our actual nutritional
needs, however, consumption
habits turn into choices,
leading
to greater personal
freedom.
Combining expert dietary
wisdom with the
consciousness of Nonviolent
Communication (NVC), this
handbook
teaches you how to Eat
by Choice, Not by Habit
by changing the way you see
food and your food choices.
Rather than a prescriptive
fad diet, readers learn to
dig deeper to the emotional
consciousness that underlies
our eating patterns.
"Face
Your Stuff,
or Stuff
Your
Face" -
AnonymousFind
practical
strategies
to break out
of unhealthy
eating
cycles by
becoming
aware of
your real
needs in the
moment.
Learn to
enjoy the
tastes,
smells and
sensations
of healthful
eating once
again.
|
Sylvia
Haskvitz is a
registered dietitian and
certified trainer with the
Center for Nonviolent
Communication. She has
offered seminars to numerous
organizations including Head
Start, Child and Family
Resources, Health Net and
St. Mary’s Hospital.
Her monthly column, “Finding
the ‘Right’
Words,” is
published by Tucson West
Publishing. Her essay,
“Enemy Images”
was recently published in
the book, Healing Our
Planet, Healing
Ourselves. She has
also directed and produced a
weekly radio program and
hosted a television show.
She lives in Tucson,
Arizona.
List Price: $10.95
Book 3.95
“Don’t
hate the circumstance; you may
miss the blessing.”
~ Marshall B Rosenberg
Many of us crave a richer
and more meaningful
connection to
the Divine, and at the same
time find it hard to apply
the dictates of our faith,
like turning our other
cheek, avoiding judgments or
loving our enemy.
According to Marshall
Rosenberg, Ph.D., our most
basic spiritual need is to
contribute to the well being
of others and ourselves.
His brief, unscripted
reflections on the spiritual
basis of Nonviolent
Communication (NVC) will
inspire you not only to
connect with the Divine in
yourself and others, but to
begin to create a world of
empathy and compassion,
where the language we use is
the key to enriching
life.
Discover an intensely
satisfying and joyful
spiritual experience that
begins with you.
In these rich pages, learn
how NVC can help you achieve
a more practical,
applied
spirituality.
Practical
Spirituality
will
help you:
- Strengthen the
connection between your
actions and your
spiritual
values
- Let go of enemy images
and moralistic
judgments, to connect to
our common humanity
- Overcome cultural
conditioning that blocks
empathy and promotes
violence
- Care for your own
needs-a crucial first
step toward willingly
giving to others
- Connect with others from
a place of compassionate
energy
List Price: $8.95
Book 2.95
“NVC clearly distinguishes
three components in the
expression of
appreciation:
1) The actions that have
contributed to our well-being;
2) The particular needs of ours
that have been fulfilled;
3) The pleasurable feelings
engendered by the fulfillment of
our need
~ Marshall Rosenberg
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Cooking Up Peace this Holiday Season By Jan Henrikson
The rumors persist, but Julia Child never actually dropped a turkey on the floor and put it
back in the pan on national television. Her unabashed jubilation over food and all kinds of cooking adventures makes it feel entirely possible, though.
In the
movie,
“Julie
&
Julia,”
Child is
in
ecstasy
eating
food,
preparing
it,
sharing
it. Her
husband
oohs and
ahhhs
over
each
taste
she
offers
him.
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The same is true for
Julie Powell. Powell is
the writer who embarks
on a quest to create one
of Child's recipes a day
for one whole year. Her
husband and friends seem
to melt the moment her
duck or chocolate
soufflé rolls onto
their tongues.
Appreciation,
connection, joy. Isn't
that a common wish,
especially for the
holidays? Sumptuous
food, a
smiling, satisfied
family. The sense that
we're each contributing
something and are
appreciated for our
creations: whether it's
pumpkin pie or
graciousness.
But our most common
holiday settings: the
kitchen, the dining room
table, can easily become
mine fields. You are
happily talking and
stirring your special
Thanksgiving stew, when
Aunt Esther unexpectedly
salts it. “Everything
tastes better with more
salt.”
You smile, but you'd
actually like Aunt
Esther to turn into
salt. You offer to help
your sister, the
hostess, clean up. She
thanks you and then
criticizes your every
move.
According to Sylvia
Haskvitz, author of Eat
by Choice, Not by
Habit,
becoming aware of family
patterns around cooking
and eating may shift
your culinary
experiences from
frustration, irritation,
or anger to real
celebration.
Instead of eating your words, Haskvitz suggests saying something to Aunt
Esther like: “I
feel discouraged when I
see you salting the stew
without checking in with
me first. Some of those
eating with us are not
using salt and I was
hoping everyone at the
dinner would be able to
enjoy the stew. How are
you taking that in?”
As for Sister, how
about: “When you
say I left soap on the
glass and I'm using the
wrong towel to dry the
dishes and there is
still some dirt on the
counter, I feel
frustrated. I really
want to support you so
you're not up until
midnight and I want some
reassurance
that my help is
appreciated. Can you
tell me how this all
lands with
you?”
Now leave the Aunt and
Sister alone and take a
moment to recall
some of your own
childhood experiences.
Was your brother
considered the cooking
maven, you the
klutz?
Did your mother work and
expect you to cook for
your siblings? Or did
she shoo you out of the
kitchen? One woman's dad
rushed into the kitchen
every time she picked up
a knife for fear she'd
chop off a pinky. He
hovered over her,
seeing disaster at every
stir of the pot. Today
she's anxious when
anyone else tries to
help her cook.
Healing from such
experiences often takes
self-empathy. Take the
woman with the hovering
father.
“I'm guessing the
woman would have liked
to have been trusted to
take care of herself,
says Haskvitz. “Likely
Dad was wanting safety
and well-being for those
he cares
about.”
In her quest to strengthen our healthiest
relationships with our
body and food, Haskvitz
teaches classes in
cooking and
compassionate
communication.
Ten or so people gather
to prepare a meal
together and talk about
“people's
emotional needs around
food. We acknowledge
their fears, what keeps
them from wanting to be
in the kitchen.
There is a lot of pain
from past messages about
food and eating.
Cooking,
eating together, sharing
our food and eating
history and receiving
empathy helps us heal
and makes being in the
kitchen fun again.”
Class member Chris
Amoroso grew up in a
home above the
neighborhood grocery
store his family ran.
“Our meals were
with one ear on the
store bell while we were
eating so it was nothing
to wolf down our
meals in minutes. Even
when I was older. I
learned to eat really
fast.”
Once while home late, he
sat down to eat with one
of his five kids.
“I was wolfing
down my food, talking,
when my daughter said,
‘Dad, time's up.'
That caught my
attention. I'd been
eating for two minutes
and I was almost done.”
For him, cooking a meal
with others was
revolutionary. “For
me to have the meal be
more than feeding the
body, more of a soul
experience and coming
together in a group --it
was like a symphony. We
had this combined wisdom
in the room. Everybody
was learning as we were
moving along,” he
said.
To create your own
holiday symphony,
“Stop the beat-up
from your past memories
and connect with your
longings, your hopes and
needs right now,”
says Haskvitz. “Pause
when you get triggered.
Go inside to get clear
on which need is stirred
up in the moment. Once
you have that awareness,
you have an abundance of
choices on what to do
next. This is true
freedom and
joy!”
Explore this topic more with Eat by Choice, Not by Habit by Sylvia
Haskvitz, or contact Sylvia at 520-572-9295 to learn more about one-on-one coaching to transform your relationship with your body and food.
Jan Henrikson is the editor of Eat by Choice, Not by Habit written by Sylvia Haskvitz. In between writing, editing, and coaching other writers, Jan eats as joyfully and mindfully as
possible.
© Sven Hartenstein.(used with permission)
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