Parenting with Compassion

Courses

For everybody who would like to create more compassion and cooperation in their families or work with children

Basic: Communication with Compassion

In this course you will experience how easily ‘violence’ can slip into our daily conversations and what effect compassion can have on our communication. You will also experience how hard it is to observe without evaluating. And how clarifying and healing it can be to focus on what others and yourself are feeling and needing. You will also learn how to formulate clear requests that inspire understanding and cooperation.

Basic: Unconditional Parenting

After this course you will be able to apply the Nonviolent Communication model in challenging situations with your children. You will have experienced how you can put the needs of your child first without forgetting your own boundaries. And you will have practised asking for what you need withgout using force, guilt, fear or shame. You will also have learned how to stay present through difficult emotions with respect and compassion for your child.

Intermediate: Empathy and Self Compassion

After this course you will be able to react more compassionately towards yourself, keep your inner peace when emotions run high and you will have more skills to handle triggers. You will be able to feel how much space you have for the other person and state your boundaries without causing hurt. You will learn how to take responsibility for your own feelings and needs. You will also practice the art of making requests that lead to more understanding and connection.

Advanced: Compassion in Conflicts

In this course you will learn how to use the Nonviolent Communication model during conflicts with your family, friends and others. You will also learn how to take the perspective of the other person more easily. And you will practice authentic dialogue (smoothly alternating honest expression with empathic listening) while staying connected with yourself. So that you can move from (seemingly) conflicting interests to solutions that work for everyone.

• Are you curious to know what Nonviolent Communication is all about?
• Would you like to experience the atmosphere because you are considering participating in a course?
• Are you thinking that compassion is mostly something for crazy hippies?

Why not come to one of the free introduction workshops to experience Communication with Compassion for yourself?

More info and sign up

The mission

of ZAYMA - Communication with Compassion

On the road from emotional slavery to emotional freedom

I have a dream. I dream of a world full of Gandhi's, Mandela's and Dalai Lama's. And I think this dream can come true if more people can learn a language of respectful connection and compassion: Nonviolent Communication.

It is not easy to learn a completely new language. I will probably always speak it with an accent. But my children will certainly be more fluent than I am. And for my grandchildren, hopefully it will be like their mother tongue. I see what I do as throwing a little pebble into the ocean, in hopes that the ripple effect will ultimately result in big waves.

It is my mission to help parents and professional caretakers develop personal leadership skills. So that they can increasingly become less reactive and make more conscious choices in their daily interactions with children. I'm hoping to achieve this by offering Training Courses, Workshops, Private Sessions and a Practice Group.

Training Courses
Learning, practicing and experiencing together in a small group
Workshops
Interactive and inspiring sessions for larger groups
Private sessions
Personal coaching, empathy sessions and mediation
Practice group
Free practice group sessions for practitioners

Our Team

The people running ZAYMA - Communication with Compassion

Astara Lieuw-On

Trainer, coach, mediator

Dedicated to helping you improve your relationships and specifically help parents move beyond reactiveness and connect with children with trust and respect. And to teach you how to stay in compassion with yourself during the learning process.

Pepijn Koenders

Supporter

Supervising all the financial and administrative matters of Zayma with much precision and overview. Making him a tremendous support. He gives me space and rest so that I can focus on developing and facilitating courses and workshops.

Testimonials

What others are saying about Zayma Training & Coaching

I attended Astara’s free introduction workshop at Zayma because I wanted to find out what Nonviolent Communication is actually about. It sounds great, but how does it actually work? What has stuck with me most is that we all have similar needs, just that our strategies to fulfill those needs can differ. So if you express your needs you can create connection with the other person, while blame, judgment and comparison, often unintentionally causes distance. The clear hand out helps me get clarity about my needs and become aware of and name the feelings that come up because of those needs. After the introduction, I have of course not yet gained actual skills, but I have come away inspired by it and more aware of certain mechanisms in my communication. I am definitely taking this awareness with me into my work and private life!

Marissa Daruwalla

Social worker

I wanted to learn how to communicate without violence. To create more space on the inside. Space to listen without judgment or anxiety. I so long for more connection, the kind you feel when you are fully understood by someone. I learned that this is possible in conversations, when the painful emotional charge is no longer there. And I want to be able to state my boundaries without hurting the other person. Since the basic training course I notice I can listen emphatically more often, for example to my boyfriend. Then I notice that our desires are much closer than we initially thought. I learned not to have to think in solutions and look at needs instead. And to listen without offering words right away, to really get the whole story, until the end. And to be more emphatic with myself, which I succeed at best when I take the time and stay calm. So clarifying! I use it also in parenting my daughter. And am sometimes surprised and touched when I find out her needs, after first assuming other needs. I think it will take some time before I can apply it naturally, so I want to keep practising in the meantime.

Geneviève Kooijman

Art teacher

I attended the introduction course because I found that I was yelling at my children and really wanted to change that. The course has brought a lot of positive change. I am even more aware that there is a need behind every behavior that my children display. And I discovered that my yelling or losing it is often the result of unresolved feelings from the past when needs were unmet. This was a huge eye-opener for me. I also learned the difference between sympathy and empathy and I learned to give empathy by giving space and attention while actively listening to the other person. I also received empathy for a personal situation and noticed how healing that was. I highly recommend this course for everyone!

Chantal Jongenotter

Midwife