Let’s come together and share a space of deep intention, co-regulation, learning and transformation.
Now, more than ever, it is essential that we gather together to support each other in learning to live from authenticity and care.
What’s it all about?
Connection
Connection to life is the ground of consciousness we will seek to cultivate. Connection, as we define here, includes a felt-sense of being in flow, which offers access to curiosity, creativity, compassion, kindness, and wise discernment.
Cultivation of this consciousness means developing the capacity to notice the quality of connection in various dimensions of experience as well as maintaining connection from the you that observes all of your experiences with warmth and acceptance - the compassionate witness.
Your body is the most reliable source of information about the quality of connection you are experiencing in a given moment. You will learn practices and skills to track contraction and expansion at subtle corporeal levels.
Tracking emotional connection also has its own nuanced practice. You will learn about emotions that are invariably linked to reactive thoughts and how to remain expansive in the face of any emotion. In addition, you will learn a basic emotional vocabulary that will support you in being present to what you feel without being swept away.
Tending to your energy is often a less familiar realm for most. You find that learning to sense and care for your energy can be done in surprisingly simple and powerful ways.
Your mind, thoughts, and words can also be supported to more consistently move toward connection. There are very specific habits of thought and speaking that when changed open up the doors to connection.
Reactivity
Recognizing reactivity means freedom. The moment you can recognize that reactivity has appeared, you can be free from its grip on you. In addition, when you learn to track reactivity in yourself, you can more easily recognize it in others. This means you can take effective action to prevent misunderstandings and arguments.
Reactivity is defined as the misperception of threat to one or more needs. It can be recognized by at least three main characteristics:
1) A change in physiology, such as heart rate or breathing
2) A stuckness or narrowing of view
3) A loss of access to creativity, skills, broad perspective, wisdom, and compassion
Recognizing reactivity means becoming familiar with the many signs and symptoms that it is present. When you fully know reactivity, it can’t take over. You get to choose speech and actions that truly serve you and others.
Once you learn to recognize reactivity, it becomes your cue to engage the skills you have for managing it. Managing reactivity includes skills such as regulation, interpersonal de-escalation, self-empathy, recognizing blame, working with tender needs, and engaging in healing work.
Learn specific and concrete tools for managing reactivity in yourself and meeting reactivity in others. Begin to transform your inner dialogue to one of inner clarity and self-compassion.
Here are some key skills for recognizing and managing reactivity that we will learn and practice:
Identify the signs of reactivity the moment it arises.
Acknowledge that the causes for reactivity are internal and name what that looks like for you
Identify your own “tender needs”* and potential healing experiences related to these needs.
Practice with regulation strategies and anchor
Shift to empathy or self-empathy the moment reactivity is identified
Life-serving Boundaries
Having clarity about life-serving boundaries in relationships allows a greater sense of security and freedom. When you are clear about boundaries for yourself and others, you also know where you are free to play and grow together.
Life-serving boundaries are about honoring the life in you and another rather cutting off connection. Setting life-serving boundaries means having clarity about what really serves life or meets needs. It means making a conscious decision about how you will relate to another or behave in a particular situation while being able to remain heart-connected.
To set life-serving boundaries, you need to be able to recognize and honor your own needs, speak clearly about them, understand the verbal and behavioral language of boundary setting, honor the needs of others without taking responsibility for them, and engage in healing work with regard to your experiences of boundary violations in the past.
Learning to set life-serving boundaries is a competency that helps you embody an authentic life and live respectfully with others.
Here are some key skills for life-serving boundaries*:
When saying “no” to someone’s request, identify the needs to which you are saying “yes”
Identify 3 types of useful boundaries
Identify current limiting beliefs that interfere with boundary setting and the expansive beliefs that will support boundary setting
Identify the signs and symptoms of behavior in yourself or others that don’t support boundaries
what to expect
In this one-day workshop, you will engage in conceptual learning, group discussion, experiential learning, and skills practice. Practice exercises will be done individually, in pairs, and in small groups. You can apply examples from your own life in the exercises.
You will receive a handout that will help you continue to practice at home.
About Mindful Compassionate Dialogue
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD) naturally supports you in creating the relationships you want by integrating the wisdom and skills of three powerful modalities: Hakomi, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and mindfulness.
Each modality contributes something unique to the process. Hakomi offers clarity about reactivity and healing. NVC provides a method for achieving self-responsibility, skillful communication, and agency. And mindfulness adds the stable attention and clear focus needed to continuously refine your understanding and skills.
MCD is a system meant to provide access to agency, compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom. Personal transformation is achieved through practice with the 12 Relationship Competencies and 9 Foundations, which arise from a central, life-serving intention.
Details
Trainers: Elia Paz and Ceferino Cenizo
When: 10:00am - 5:00pm, October 11, 2025
Where: Lotus Hall, 15B Peterhof Rd, Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
Contribution: R2100
If finances are the only obstacle to attendance, please email us at c0ach@ceferinocenizo.com
Please bring your own lunch. Alternatively, you could order something from nearby restaurants. Coffees and teas will be available.
You can read more about Life-Serving Boundaries in our new book: https://wiseheartcommunity.org/boundaries-book