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Circles of Empathy and Wisdom: Join us for a day of community and practice (In-Person, Portland, OR)

Saturday, April 29, 2023
10:00 AM 3:00 PM

4312 Southeast Stark Street Portland, OR, 97215 United States (map)

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Saturday, April 29th, 10:00am-3:00pm

Is this for you?

You would enjoy learning more about empathy and engaging in a simple and powerful practice for giving and receiving empathy. You want to get past the first layer of knowing and understanding and learn to access wisdom.

You want to enter and create community around living the consciousness of connection and practicing the concrete skills that help relationships thrive.

What is it about?

Empathy is the second relationship competency in Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD). Empathy means listening to someone’s experience with warm curiosity. It might be offered in silence or with guesses about thoughts, feelings, and needs. Empathy is a form of attunement. It is a heart-based response to a heart-based expression. Empathy requires you to stay centered and self-connected. When you offer empathy, you are not taking responsibility for the other person’s feelings and needs.

As you learn and integrate the relationship competency of empathy, you will find that you are less likely to take things personally and more able to hear someone’s message regardless of the words they use.

Wise action is one of the four fruits of MCD.

Wise action arises from supportive conditions. It is an action that arises from a greater source of wisdom that flows through us in response to what is happening in the present moment. Supportive conditions for accessing wisdom include spiritual friendships, seeking and listening to what resonates deeply within you, and mindful attention to present experience. Accessing wisdom also includes consistent practices to train the body, heart and mind to align with the flow of life.

What to expect?

You will have the opportunity to give and receive empathy in a structured exercise called an empathy circle. This exercise invites each person to share something for which they need empathy. The group then offers empathy using feelings and needs cards.

For the break we hope to continue building connection and community. We invite you to bring a lunch and enjoy eating together. Coffee and tea will be provided.

The wisdom circle will be very similar to the empathy circles. A specific structure and guidance will support you finding inner silence and focusing in a specific way.

Let’s create an economy based on the power of gratitude and giving from the heart

We trust in the satisfaction that human beings feel when we live from gratitude and become aware of the power we have to contribute to Life and share our resources.

With tremendous gratitude, we are aware that everything we offer at Wise Heart is possible due to the generosity of many who have supported us and continue to support the consciousness and skills of love and connection.
We trust that when we create a certain quality of connection we naturally act with compassion and generosity and can care for the needs of all.
Because we recognize that the economic system in which we live does not promote generosity nor help distribute resources, we are taking steps to support a new way of managing resources based on transparency, trust, and gratitude. We want to live in a world in which resources flow more naturally towards needs, and money doesn’t determine whether one’s needs are met.
Much time and effort goes into offering this series. We avoid using the word “free” as it often lives in association with purely transactional relationships and promotes a sort of disconnection from relationships with those who offer something.
When there is not an expected transaction involving money, there can be a tendency to devalue what you receive. We know in our hearts that money does not determine value, but yet there is incredible propaganda that would have us think otherwise.
Please let a sense of resonance, clarity, and your heart’s longing be your guide in deciding to register.

We realize that this may be a new way of doing things for you and therefore could be anxiety-provoking. This is also new for us! We are learning how to live and create community based on trust, gratitude, and generosity. We ask for your patience and collaboration as we figure this out together. If you need more information to help you discern, contact us at info@wiseheartpdx.org