Intro to CL w/ Yael Petretti

Facilitated by Yael Petretti

Saturdays, May 8-June 12, 2021 (May 8, 15, 22, 29 & June 5, & 12)

9am - 11:30am Pacific / 12pm - 2:30pm Eastern

Compassion is not a luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability; it is essential for human survival.

~ Dalai Lama

Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching us to listen with a different "ear" to those around us. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relationships, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a roadmap to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

The skills of Compassionate Listening will empower you to become a stronger peacemaker. As we harness the wisdom of our hearts, we can shift challenging communication and relationships into compassionate interaction.

This experiential workshop focuses on the core practices developed by The Compassionate Listening Project:

• Cultivating and Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
• Developing the Fair Witness, without Judgment or Blame
• Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict, with Respect for Self and Others
• Listening with the Heart
• Speaking from the Heart, with Language that Reflects a Healing Intention

Cost

The cost for this workshop series is $225. A limited number of $150 tickets are available for those who require financial assistance in order to attend. $300 tickets are also available for those who would like to support others' attendance.

We are committed to accessibility and sincerely desire for all who wish to attend our workshops to be able to do so, regardless of financial means. Please submit a scholarship request if finances are a barrier to your participation.

Your generous donations make our scholarship program possible. If you have the means, please consider donating to our scholarship fund to enable others to attend who otherwise would not be able to do so.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made 7 days or more in advance of the event date will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made after Tuesday, May 1st will receive a tuition credit which may be used towards any future Compassionate Listening course or workshop.

Please note that due to the container of trust which participants begin to build with one another early in the course, as well as the cumulative nature of the curriculum, we request that participants make every effort to attend the first session. Should unforeseen circumstances prevent this, your registration will be cancelled and your funds may be applied as credit toward a future course. Please contact us before the course begins in order to be eligible for a credit.

Event Details

This online course will be held on Zoom. Rather than a webinar where you can tune in at your convenience and listen casually, our workshop is highly experiential and requires your full presence, participation, and commitment. In order to make the most of your experience and support others' learning and engagement, please:

• Plan to arrive in a quiet distraction-free environment, fully present and available to experience the workshop.
• Do not join the workshop while in transit (walking, driving, on the bus, etc.), or while multitasking (cooking, working, watching television, etc.).
• Connect to the event using a device that has full video and audio capability, and plan to have your video turned on for the majority of the workshop once it begins. (It's okay to turn your video off temporarily if a background visual distraction occurs.) Breakout rooms will be used to guide participants through our introductory curriculum in small groups.
• Note that all participants are required to attend the first session in order to honor and support the container of trust which will set the tone for the following three sessions. We respectfully request that you attend all sessions possible.

If you require any accommodations to attend, including physical limitations around viewing screens or having your video on, please contact us before the first session so that we can plan accordingly.

After registration and payment, you will receive a registration confirmation and welcome email. Please add us (staff@compassionatelistening.org) to your safe senders list to ensure that you receive all course access information.

If you have any questions, please contact us at staff@compassionatelistening.org.

Looking forward to meeting you in the circle!

Facilitator

Yael Petretti, Western Massachusetts

Before earning a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations at the U.C. Berkeley, Yael was already passionately involved the struggle for civil rights during the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington, helping build Resurrection City and tutoring children of color whose schools were being desegregated in southern Virginia. Certified as a CL facilitator in 2004, she led and co-led a number of CL delegations to Israel-Palestine where she lived for 29 years. Yael co-authored “Making Peace with Faith: The Challenges of Religion and Peacebuilding (Peace and Security in the 21st Century,”), 2018. She lives in New England where she facilitates CL trainings and volunteers as an Alternatives to Violence facilitator in a men's high security prison. Witnessing the “new Jim Crow” there has brought her around full-circle to rejoin the struggle for racial/social justice here in the U.S. In January 2020, she initiated and co-led the first domestic Compassionate Listening delegation, “Listening in the Heart of Alabama.”  She looks forward to many more such trips to explore the perfect “marriage” of Compassionate Listening and antiracism (and all other “isms”) work in the world.