14.11.2024 Alumni event – Cultivating Connection

What a truly wonderful evening we shared at the CfC Alumni Get-Together.

To those who joined us on November 14th, thank you for making it such a warm, engaging, and meaningful gathering. Your participation and energy turned the event into a celebration of the connections we have cultivated over the years.

For those who couldn’t attend, we missed you, but we hope this post gives you a glimpse of the evening and inspires you to join us for future events.

Highlights from the Evening:

Daniel opened the evening by welcoming everyone, leading us through the flow and introductions, and marking an incredible milestone: 10 years since the launch of our first certification course in Switzerland!

Together, with Michele’s brief introduction to the theme, we explored the theme of Cultivating Connection, framed by the wisdom of kinship and deep listening.

Daniel reminded us of the 3 Pots, inviting us all into a practice of being whole, clean and empty for our exercise. He revisited the concept of Structure of Interpretation, sharing a personal story involving insight gained from his golf coach, before introducing a new model to support us in deepening our listening skills.

Engaging Exercises:

With the theory and new framework fresh in our minds, we practiced deepening our listening skills with a couple of different partners. We embraced the challenge of uncovering the underlying emotions and values behind words—a skill that stretched us all and brought us closer to the essence of meaningful connection.

Kinship Wisdom:

Inspired by Dr. Yuria Celidwen’s teachings, we used Michele’s introduction to reflect together on the “Ethics of Belonging” — an invitation to honour reciprocity and connection with all living beings —while our partners practiced honing their listening skills.

Feedback from participants was that this exercise was both challenging and rewarding, stretching everyone to go a little deeper in the short amount of time available, listening using their whole body to sense the emotion and underlying value the other person was expressing. While naming these emotions and values felt nerve-racking at times, the supportive environment encouraged experimentation and allowed participants to experience what it felt like to listen from a place of presence and deeper connection.

The conversations enabled new connections to be forged among alumni, offering fresh perspectives and helping us all grow in our ability to listen deeply in a pragmatic way.