Being present with ourselves and for another – Aleksandra Harazin and Veronika C. Steffens

We welcome you to pause and experience different qualities of presence. The session gently moves from meeting yourself to being with others.

The practice of Nonviolent Communication supports us to connect with ourselves, so that we can respond from awareness, choice, and care, rather than from habit or reactivity. From this self-connection, we can then offer a similar quality of presence to another human being—for example through empathic listening.

What to expect from this session:

We offer time and space to explore our ways of “being present”, and the needs that support us in entering that state in a fulfilling way. 

We will also invite compassion for what makes presence difficult, and curiosity about how we relate to our current capacities and limits in staying present.

In this session, there will be space for self-reflection, practice in pairs, and group sharing. Through writing and dialogue, you may deepen your ability to stay present and integrate what you experience.

Everyone is welcome. 

Familiarity with NVC might be helpful, but is not required.

[Workshop organised in the frame of Time for Empathy 2026]

When: 6 March 2026, 09:45-11:15 am CET (Berlin time)

How: ONLINE on ZOOM

Language: English

Cost: Participating in the “Time for Empathy” sessions LIVE is, as always, free. However, if you would like to have access to the recordings, you are welcome to buy them – a special offer is available while registering for the event. Please note that not all workshops will be recorded.

This session will be RECORDED.

Not willing to be on recordings? If you do not wish to be recorded, turn off your camera and microphone for the entire duration of the session. Recorded sessions will be available for purchase. We may also use parts of the recording for marketing and publicity across various media.

Registration: 

To take part in this workshop, register for the “Time for Empathy” event here: https://www.empathiceurope.com/time-for-empathy/

NOTE: Register only ONCE for the whole event and participate live in all “Time for Empathy” workshops organised between 1 and 8 March 2026.

About the trainer:

Veronika C. Steffens: 

I began my journey with Nonviolent Communication in 2022, alongside Integral Coaching, where I developed the art of holding space for people wherever they are in their process.

For a long time, I experienced myself as strongly identified with my mind and logic, until a deep longing led me toward a fuller connection with my heart and body. During the past year, where I had many involuntary changes and the loss of my familiar living environment, I could move through the waves of emotions with more presence. It turned into a beautiful invitation to move closer to myself and begin discovering who I am and what my place in the world might look like.

For 13 years, I have worked internationally in NGOs and larger companies, coordinating projects and teams – and teaching NVC in an intercultural context. There I repeatedly heard a shared frustration: “I understand the concept of NVC, but how do I actually apply it in everyday situations?”

I am now committed to making NVC accessible and practical, supporting people to bring its essence into everyday life.

My website: veronika-c-steffens.com

Aleksandra Harazin 

I have been on the path of nonviolent communication since 2017, attending over 80 days of NVC training. I focus on implementing it in everyday life and work. 

I am working in a forest kindergarten, where I am still learning how to embrace with compassion all the challenges that arise between children, adults, and myself. NVC awareness helps me stay present and connect with the beauty of needs that are behind words, judgments, and differences.

I am passionately exploring a variety of practices of being present and the layers of being me and being with others, and all that happens in between.

I regularly practice contact improvisation and Focusing – the art of listening to the body. I am also a visual practitioner and a member of the Collective Scribing Hub, which is part of the u-school community. 

I enjoy sharing NVC individually and working with groups. I also offer 1:1 empathy sessions. Feel free to connect with me if you feel inspired.

Contact: ahalab.info@gmail.com