Session Description:

In this hour Susan Cranston presents an interactive workshop on Conscious Communications to Live Our Lives in Harmony.

Do you ever feel that you waste time and energy by not communicating well or by being distracted by mental chatter? This session will provide practical tips and resources to support your ability to communicate effectively, navigate change, stay present, and find more joy and success in each day. You'll learn conscious communication tools, breathing techniques, and participate in a visualization exercise to enhance your ability manage stress and release negative thoughts.

Learning outcomes:

1. manage stress more effectively through mindfulness techniques and breathing exercises (diaphragmatic breathing vs shallow breathing, alternate nostril breathing)
2. explore communication blockers (example: mental chatter - video clip, reactive response, ambiguity, inconsistency, need to be liked rather than respected) and how various blockers negatively impact effective communication.
3. learn the four key steps to conscious communication as well as words to avoid and words to use.

This interactive session is experiential and supports the needs of kinesthetic, auditory and visual learners. The 1 hour presentation includes —

1. breathing exercises - learning about the importance of diagrammatic breathing and a relaxation technique using alternate nostril breathing
2. a visualization exercise of releasing what no longer serves you and creating space for what you want to do, experience and how you ‘show up’.

Susan will then discuss some of the key communication blockers and ask participants to share examples they’ve experienced.

Next Susan will address congruent communication and how 93 percent of communication is non-verbal and the need to consciously communicate verbally with the remaining 7 percent.

Susan will provide handouts of words that are communication blockers and words that are communication builders. I will also walk the group through the four key steps to conscious communication and with each step, I will ask the group to provide input, share examples, and do a bit of role playing as they pair up and immediately apply what they’ve just learned.

The session will end with the following TEDTalk video starting at 4:32min to provide a perspective that no matter how busy or stressful a day may seem, it helps to stay mindful and grateful for the important things in life that might seem easy to forget.

Q&A if time permits.