Online classes with Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. in conjunction with the Rowe Center
April 18, 2020 - June 20, 2020
Saturdays 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST
Recordings are available individually or you can take the class entirely online.
While we are surrounded by massive uncertainty within an unfolding pandemic and an economic free-fall, we may also feel afraid of what is happening between us. Are we fraying the very bonds on which we depend for problem-solving, decision-making, and social and spiritual support?
In this course of ten one-hour classes, we will learn to increase trust in our relationships by becoming more skillful in how we speak and listen, and learn to lower emotional threat levels. We will also investigate why it is so difficult for human beings to “get” each other, especially when we feel defensive. In any important conversation or negotiation, there is no progress without BOTH sides of a conflict being seen/heard/felt. Both sides and both points of view are needed to find lasting solutions.
Too often we resort to premature closure (giving up and walking away) or to premature compromise (saying we agree when we don't). This course will teach you the three components of Real Dialogue: (1) Speaking for Yourself; (2) Listening Mindfully; (3) Remaining Curious. You will come away with an enhanced understanding of what it means to be a “mindful witness” and why your own subjective experience accounts for most of what you see/hear/feel.
Although the course is for you as a personal communicator with your friends and family, it can also help you professionally if you are a life coach, a therapist, an executive coach, a leader, a teacher or in another kind of business or helping profession.
Class Recordings
Session 1: Introduction
FREE RECORDING OF SESSION 1: Do you feel trapped in power struggles with your family members or co-workers? Are you afraid to talk about your real feelings about the virus or how it is being handled because those topics seem dangerous emotionally? Are you co-parenting in a way that stresses you? Are you concerned that your own reactions to your partner or your children are “over the top” with intensity? These are just some of the interpersonal concerns we face during this time of lock-down. This class introduces an overview of how and why it is hard to see/hear/feel others accurately in times of stress and how Real Dialogue offers a unique way to apply Mindfulness skills in the midst of conflict.
Meditations
Guided meditation with Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D.
30 minutes
A meditation on the six domains, seeing in, seeing out, hearing in, hearing out, and feeling in and feeling out. This meditation corresponds to the snow globe of subjectivity and helps in the practice of the skill of Real Dialogue.