Starting my nonviolent communication (NVC) journey in 2008 training with Marshall Rosenberg, I have been dedicated to the practice, facilitation, and ongoing education of NVC since. Forever grateful to the beloved community at Check Your Privilege (CYP), I am particularly interested in how NVC can better serve me and fellow co-conspirators on our journey and in the movement bringing authentic collaboration, connection and empathy. It is a great honor and gift to me to share this passion leading weekly NVC practice in the CYP Co-Conspirators Lounge.
Socially, I am a liberation activist committed to dismantling the interlocking systems of oppression, and I dedicate my volunteer time to action groups led by equity-seeking individuals of the global majority that are working towards this initiative.
Additionally, I am passionate about music and the arts community! I can be seen participating in Art Battle competitions as a live painter, found teaching and playing didgeridoo for various events, festivals, and concerts (plus providing sound therapy and instruction in private and public sessions), and giving juggling lessons to eager folk who recognize a need for simple joy and expression.
Ultimately, I am eternally grateful for a creative outlet through my painting and musical collaborations, practicing the martial art capoeira (and encouraging women’s leadership in the study of it), supporting local musicians and their live/virtual performances, leading adventures as a Storyteller thorough tabletop board and role-playing games*, traveling the world and devouring every ounce of beauty it has to offer…life is dazzling, and each one of us has a right to enrich it!
*will talk ad nauseum about Dungeons & Dragons 5e (you have been warned)
To learn more about how we can work together >>
Why all the giraffes?
“In Nonviolent Communication (NVC), giraffes are used as symbols for “the language of the heart” because giraffes have the largest hearts of any land animal. They need those large hearts to pump blood up their long necks to their brains. (Sometimes I think that this is an apt metaphor for the disconnection between our human hearts and brains, and that by learning NVC we are metaphorically enlarging our hearts so we can pump more blood into the region of our heads responsible for making decisions.)”
~Inbal Kashtan
co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication
