FARMINGTON – “Learn to Speak the Language of Compassion” is an introductory presentation on non-violent communication with Judy Rawlings and Eileen Liddy to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, March 21, in the Group Room (behind the vestry) at Old South Congregational Church, Main Street.

Rawlings and Liddy attended a weekend workshop led by Marshall Rosenberg last April. Developed by Rosenberg, nonviolent communication is a language that is life serving and that “shows us how to reach beneath the surface and discover what is alive and vital within us, and how all our actions are based on human needs that we are seeking to meet.”

Non-violent communication guides participants to reframe how they express themselves and how they hear others by focusing consciousness on what they are observing, feeling, needing and requesting.

It can help people break patterns of thinking that lead to argument, anger and depression and it can help resolve conflicts peacefully, whether personal or public, domestic or international.

Because it a new way of hearing and speaking with people, Rawlings and Liddy are interested in forming a study group with others who wish to speak the language of compassion. If interested in the life-affirming way of communicating, people are welcome to the meeting. For more information, contact Liddy at 645-4755 and leave a message. For more information on nonviolent communication, see www.cnvc.org.