PAST PROJECTS
Professional BusinessWomen of California
In May, the Founders of RockRose Institute presented a conflict resolution workshop at the 20th Anniversary of the Professional BusinessWomen of California conference in San Francisco. The program, “From Conflict to Connection,” interactively engaged 300 attendees in four communication practices - listening, emotion identification, truth-telling and remaining open - designed to stretch their comfort level and strengthen their skills in working with conflict. To obtain a copy of the associated article "From Conflict to Connection, 6 Principles for Success at Work," published in the PBWC Connections Magazine, please contact RockRose Institute at office@rockroseinstitute.org.
STEADFAST 2009: Communication Practice with Horses
STEADFAST ’09: ANOTHER SUCCESS! Eye-opening, truly awesome, exciting, refreshing, powerful, the purest form of communication I have ever experienced, from my heart! These are a few of the comments from enthusiastic participants following the Steadfast three-day workshop held earlier this month in Nicasio. For the second year, demand exceeded space. Fourteen participants worked with seven horses to experience how to use the conflict in their lives to create greater connection to themselves, to others and to their communities. Stay tuned for comments by enthusiastic participants and to learn more about Steadfast's future plans.
STEADFAST: Communication Practice with Horses - Held May 2-4, 2008
STEADFAST SUCCESS: STEADFAST: a communication practice with horses, held May 2-4 resulted in considerable personal insight, commitment to action and big fun for all.
The workshop proved to be a highly creative platform, in keeping with RockRose's mission to advance nonviolent conflict resolution through education and improved communication. Seven teams of 2 people and a horse were assigned a variety of exercises building in complexity over the course of the workshop. Clear intention and communication with horses and humans was critical in order to complete the exercises. Each participant was asked and made a commitment to bring forward an action, based on their learning, back into the world.
"Maja and I were committed to this workshop as a way for people to track themselves and their responses to fear and conflict in their lives", said Patty Duetting a co-facilitator with Maja Ramsey, RockRose founder. " Maja knew that horses could provide the perfect mirror to monitor our responses and clarity of communication. I have worked with business simulations where people’s behavior is pretty much the way they respond in ‘the real world’. Through Steadfast we created an experience in a few days resulting in learning that might take participants months or years using other techniques.
The success of the workshop was due to many factors: careful planning design planning, making sure the horses were prepared, the assistance of behind the scenes and on site helpers, a diversity of experience and people who were willing and open, a beautiful setting and exquisite facilities. To quote one participant, "there seemed to be a feeling of magic and love in the circle of participants, and I think that it had to do mostly with the noble, proud spirits of the horses- they were like drummers opening our hearts".
Based on the positive participant responses coupled with a wait list, there will be another workshop next spring. We will continue to keep you updated on this special learning opportunity.
The following are a few quotes from participants, 2 weeks post-workshop, that speak to their experience:
What were the strengths of the workshop?:
"I loved the diversity of the group: in ages, backgrounds, interests, occupations....It added a richness of perspectives and experiences that broadened my reflections of my own life. As a non horse-person I found the challenges of asking and guiding Striker to do the tasks you presented to us as a real challenge indeed. I liked that it was a real challenge and not "pabulum to make me feel successful." The real tasks required real focus and resulted in real insights." --Cameron McKinley
"Whether a partner had previous experience with handling horses was not the essential element, but a calm and explicit direction based on trust was achieved. The strength of the workshop was this bonus of realizing that through trust and being open to building understanding, we have taken the first step in how to resolve conflict." --Virginia Mardesich
Have you begun to bring your intention or action (resulting from the workshop) forward?
"I definitely have brought my intention forward, which was to slow down, be a better listener, and try to stay more fully in the present moment. The piece that I have worked the hardest at is trying to listen more, and judge less. --Sherri Simon
"Yes, I have already had a golden opportunity to incorporate the important lesson of remaining "open" in our thoughts and to resist being judgmental. This approach opens your thinking to alternate possibilities that is a major first step in resolving conflict. An example: At present I am dealing with a board of directors where there are strong differences and this change in my own thinking has paved the way to alternate solutions that will work and leads away from divisive altercation." --Anonymous
"I have copies of Difficult Conversations on hand and intend to begin working with this book with my staff within the next few weeks. I also am working to schedule time for more pre and post planning to set and carry through key intentions. -- Charles Gibbs
Youth Dialogue Project
The RockRose Institute Youth Dialogue Project (YDP) is dedicated to creating stewards of dialogue. The YDP aims to create an enhanced sense of common humanity and global interdependency, by supporting emerging leaders in developing skills to transform conflict into opportunities for dialogue and connection.
The YDP Meets The NCDD in Austin, Texas October 3rd to 5th. All who attended RockRose's World Forum last February experienced first-hand the potent and powerful voices of the Youth Dialogue Project (YDP) and the wisdom those shining young people contributed to that gathering.
This October, the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) will convene its fourth bi-annual conference. This year's theme is: Creating Cultures of Collaboration. Every other year the NCDD (http://www.thataway.org) hosts several hundred people from across the spectrum of the dialogue and deliberation practitioner community who join in three days of explorations into how to more effectively listen to, and include, a greater diversity of perspectives in our collective thinking, i.e., dialogue. And, how to make better decisions as a result of a deeper and wider listening, i.e., deliberation. The emphasis is on the experiential and practical rather than the abstract and theoretical, and this year there is a particular focus on creating a lasting positive influence on the host City of Austin.
To help NCDD achieve their goals, RockRose Institute’s YDP Director Deborah Goldblatt has teamed up with Ken Homer, founder of Leading Sustainable Conversations, to support a team of youth leaders in bringing the learning and wisdom of the YDP to the NCDD conference. Our proposal for three separate dialogue sessions – two of them designed and hosted by youth - has been approved and heartily endorsed by NCDD's review committee. The YDP proposal aims to strengthen young people’s ability to participate more effectively in the decision making processes that shape the future they will be inheriting.
Our Youth Need Your Support
The NCDD conference provides a great opportunity to welcome, include and validate young voices and concerns. It is expected to draw over 500 participants. Our goal is to ensure that at least 50 of those people are under 30. If you'd like to sponsor a youth participant in whole or in part through a contribution to the scholarship fund please contact Deborah Goldblatt (debgoldblatt@gmail.com).
North Bay Four Fold Way Youth Program - June 25-26, 2009. Click HERE for Flyer.
See below for information on the 2008 NBFFW Youth Program
The North Bay Four-Fold Way Youth program on June 20-21, 2008 was a great success! In the words of the youth they had “fun”!
The young people came from varied races, cultures, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. There were youth from COTS, a homeless shelter in Sonoma County, a youth from the AVID program in Cloverdale, which promotes youth to be the first in their family to graduate from High School and attend college and youth from very advantaged backgrounds clearly en route to Ivy League schools. Participants came from a variety of living places including rural Sonoma County and large Bay Area city communities.
Simple ground rules, to which all agreed, created safety and a forum for honest sharing and open reflection: no put downs of self or others, a willingness to try new things, full participation, a willingness to share reflections and listen closely. Creative arts (music, instruments, collage, oil crayon drawing, and singing) were woven throughout the program, deepening participants' ability to access dreams, feelings and thoughts about their life purpose and where they were on their journey. In addition to the arts, the following techniques were used to awaken the students' inner worlds:
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•four types of meditation
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•using the four directions and the way of living associated with each
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•making corn traps and prayer arrows
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•a drumming journey
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•rattle practices
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•click stick work for character development (identifying and working with harmful patterns of behavior)
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•bells for connection to their life dream
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•building self-esteem practices, from Borneo
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•practices in conflict management/resolution
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•honorable closure
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•practice in giving and receiving gratitude and acknowledgment.
The teaching team felt honored to work with, and along side, the youth and brought great heart and focus to the program which created a safe, fun and high learning environment.
Special thanks is extended to the Lopez Low Foundation for providing funds which allowed the purchase of a permanent collection of drums, rattles, click sticks and bells. Deepest thanks is also extended to RockRose Institute for their ongoing support and to Angeles Arrien, PhD for creating the Four-Fold Way.
- Janet Hughes, Trice Bonney, Malcolm Berg-Smith & Dan Gronwald
For information about the North Bay Four-Fold Way Youth Program, please contact Janet Hughes at janta@sleepydog.com.
Building Peace One Dream at a Time (October 15,2005)
The Moral Imagination in Law, Religion and Conflict Resolution
with John Paul Lederach and others
RockRose Institute, in collaboration with the Bar Association of San Francisco and United Religions Initiative, hosted this event. Click here for a summary of the event. Click here to view video and photos from the event.
A Practice in Intentional Integrity (2000-2003)
Before the formation of RockRose Institute as a public charity, the founders of the Institute taught hundreds of people communication skills for maintaining integrity in communication, particularly in conflict. Informed by their study of Angeles Arrien's cross-cultural wisdom teaching and their professional mediation and litigation experience, the workshop was offered over 4 weeks or as a 3-day weekend intensive to identify and transform old patterns, such as collapsing, disappearing, attacking and appeasing in order to communicate more effectively while in conflict or under stress.
This course provided a safe, supportive environment in which to practice holding ground and speaking truthfully. Through well-structured practice each week, participants integrated new, intentional patterns of communicating to take into their professional and personal lives. Practice of a variety of creative, intellectual and spiritual processes grounded and supported the retention of the new skills.
