"In the Inner Empathy work, I learned that my inner critical voices are not in fact trying to punish or destroy me, but rather that they are looking out for my best interests, despite some questionable strategies has led to nothing less than a monumental shift. Before, "I" was the enemy' now, there IS no enemy. By learning to hear all those voices, to actually hear them as expressions of unmet needs, to empathize with them, and to not just accept but embrace or allow them has created a most spacious, quiet, peaceful interior." —Diane Almond
• People who know the value of meeting shadow aspects of themselves (the unsavory unconscious or disowned aspects of ourselves) and have the courage, strength and willingness to stay with and move through their reluctance to connect with these parts.
• People who are intrinsically motivated and appreciate bolstering their self-guidance skills, yet also enjoy having others contribute to their own self-guidance (when such guidance is done in a safe, gentle, compassionate way).
• People who would enjoy a relaxed way of being with others and learning and exploring without the groupthink or peer pressure of being or speaking a certain way.
• People who enjoy non confrontational methods of learning.
• People who are willing to show up authentically and move into vulnerability in a group setting or, if not, then have this be the topic for experiential exploration.
• People who have done a lot of personal growth work and are wanting to move into the fruition of their path, to realized the stabilized peace and equanimity from their efforts.
• People who can welcome change into their lives, know and appreciate that doing deep experiential core work and reclaiming disowned parts means things can dramatically shift in their lives—relationships fall away or new ones formed, careers change, newly found gifts are offered to the world, etc.
• People who have a basic grounding in NVC principles and language, especially empathy.
• People who are eager to find out what is true for themselves and refrain from accepting conceptual information without question (and if they can hold all models and conceptual information lightly that is a bonus).
• People who have done awareness work of some kind or meditate and can separate themselves from what is arising in their experience.
• People who operate or accept the assumption that the answers and solutions are within and empower themselves with their self-corrective awareness. People who are not overly attached to blaming others (even subtly blaming using NVC) and are open to the possibility and hold trust that life's challenges past/present are not about the other person, situation or life circumstance. They no longer see the value in disempower themselves by barking up the wrong tree, but understand that true empowerment comes from experientially connecting with and becoming aware of their core values, beliefs and constructs of reality that were/are responses to these past/present challenges.
• People who are willing to treat any triggers that come up with others in the group as an internal event and opportunity to first do the Inner Empathy work before engaging the other person with interpersonal NVC work.
• People who know and can be comfortable experiencing the difference between intellectual "talking about" work and working on the experiential level of self-evident emotional truths that come via deep connection with disowned parts.
• People who are looking for deep and precise tools to support themselves and others in penetrating the depths of their being in a safe and gentle way.
• People who are not looking for a facilitator to put up on a pedestal and project all kind of perfect images onto the facilitator to compensate for their lack of adequate parenting. Or if they know they do that, this can be the topic of exploration in their work.
• People who are okay with and comfortable with not a lot of structure and thrive in creating and allowing whatever structure to emerge in a collaborative environment.
• People who can get excited about doing the Inner Empathy work as a foundation for and transition into doing the Nondual Effortless Being work I'm developing.
• People who are okay sitting in the unknown.
• People who see the value and appreciate working in the present. That does not mean that past memories are excluded, but they are treated as something that are presently arising.
• People who want to use what they learn about themselves and contribute to others in the world. That such contributions to others be grounded in their own learning and experience and not in place of their own learning and experience.
• People who have the financial means to support their learning and have the patience and self-supporting willingness to learn over time and give themselves space and room to explore their experience.
Beside all these characteristics, the people who I attract and contribute to mostly are Spiritual Teachers, Healers, Psychologist, Educators, Artists, people who have been on a spiritual path and done a lot of personal growth work. I enjoy passing on my learning about how to untangle the subtle ways we confound ourselves with our own brilliance, knowledge and personal growth practices. It is gratifying to help support someone who has refined their awareness and is willing and ready to receive the effortless shifts that come with the Inner Empathy work. It gives me a great sense of meaning and purpose to support people who are wanting to experience the fruition of all their personal growth work... who want to abide in the present more fully...who yearn to experience a stabilized wholeness in their life.