“Before directing the lightning in the sky, we must first harness the storms in our own hearts.” Roberto Brenes Mesén
The Connection Practice is a wonderful and simple process to establish and maintain healthy interpersonal awareness and compassionate communication. It is inspired by science and integrates the process developed by the institute of HeartMath for shifting emotional energy with the communication process developed by the Center for Nonviolent Communication.
The Connection Practice integrates “feeling peace” and “speaking peace”. It combines the practice of “Quick Coherence”, developed at the Institute of HeartMath, with the process of Compassionate Communication (aka NVC), developed by the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Together they provide a path to align head and heart, and for the exploration and expression of feelings and needs. The integrated practice helps to increase personal awareness, emotional and social intelligence, heart based relational connection, and empowered collaboration.
The Connection Practice will help move you from stress to peace, from reaction to response, and from defense to empathy.
The Story
The Connection Practice was developed by Rita Marie Johnson, a U.S. citizen who went to Costa Rica in 1993 to help strengthen its national model of peace. She founded the Rasur Foundation, inspired by the epic poem Rasur or Week of Splendor by Roberto Brenes Mesén. This prophetic poem tells the story of a master teacher, Rasur, who teaches the Costa Rican children how to be peacemakers. The children pass this knowledge on to their parents and soon their village is transformed into a culture of peace.
In 2002, Rita discovered a powerful synergy between the coherence for “feeling peace” and the connection to universal needs through empathy and honesty for “speaking peace.” Inspired by this combination, she initially developed the practice as “BePeace”. She founded the Academy for Peace of Costa Rica as a project of the Rasur Foundation, with the vision of developing Rasurs, master peace teachers to provide BePeace training in every community.
For More Information
The following resource are available by Rita Marie Johnson, the founder of the Connection Practice
Start with a short introduction
Interested? Here is a more thorough introduction
Like reading? Pick up the book Completely Connected
Getting serious? Enroll in the online self study course or inquire about personal support for training and practice.
Support
Whether a first step or part of a comprehensive plan to nurture a heart culture, The Connection Practice provides a foundational tool for relational connection. Please contact me for more information, to explore private individual or group coaching, or to join a Connection Circle to cultivate coherence and empower connection for any relational environment.