Riley: Nonviolent Communication

Tune in to episode 6 of our podcast to learn about Nonviolent Communication from Riley Corrigan.

Riley first larned about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) from a family member's recommendation, and was drawn to the way it promotes connection. He has been trained in NVC and has led nonviolent political action workshops and other events to give people concrete tools for navigating difficult situations. At the heart of NVC, "the main purpose is to help you notice where your thinking and where your words might move you away from instead of towards connection with the other person."

One of the powerful aspects of NVC is the way it opens creative solutions. Riley explains, "when we live from compromise, lots of times we think about giving up on something that's important to us, which is really painful to lots of people. No matter what their belief is or what their opinion is about something, it's painful to imagine giving up on something and it's often more inspiring to imagine like standing up for something. And for me, NVC gives me the power to bring what's really important to me and what's really important to the other person, and from there find a path forward that doesn't feel like compromise."

"When we move to, okay, what what's really important to me about the situation? What's the essential stuff that I really care about? And when I stretch towards the other person, when we get into connection, creative options open up that we didn't even see before. It stops being this either or. It stops being one or the other, and it starts being, well what if this or what if this? I saw that happen at work. And I believe it can happen everywhere. It's just a matter of of having that intention for connection."

To learn more about NVC, check out the podcast and see the links in the shownotes.