6-week LIVE Online Course
JUNE 3 - JULY 8, 2025
TUESDAYS 9:15 – 11:00AM PT / 12:15 – 2:00PM ET
offered By Donation
Communication is at the heart of our lives—personally, professionally, and spiritually. This six-week online course offers practical training in mindful, skillful speech grounded in the Buddha’s path of practice
Rooted in the teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path—especially Right Speech and mindfulness—this course integrates ancient wisdom with modern tools from Nonviolent Communication and trauma-informed awareness. You’ll receive concrete practices to stay grounded, listen deeply, and speak with clarity and care—even in difficult conversations.
Through a combination of guided meditations, reflections, and interactive exercises, you’ll develop a stronger sense of presence, deeper compassion, and more skillful ways of relating.
This course is open to all and especially supports those roles of service—including therapists, educators, healthcare workers, chaplains, and other helping professionals. No prior experience is necessary.
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Engage in meaningful, effective dialogue
- Feel more confident in conversations
- Strengthen your empathy, clarity, and resilience
- Stay connected to what really matters in any interaction
- Questions? Please contact BCBS here.
- Donations: This course is offered freely. Links to donate will be posted after registration opens.
- Registration: To be notified when registration opens, add your name to our Early Notification List by clicking the button below.
About the course
EACH LIVE SESSION INCLUDES:
- Teachings on a key aspect of meditation and communication
- Expert instruction on integrating mindfulness into conversation
- Guided meditations on cognitive, emotional, and somatic aspects of communication
- Stories and examples of the intersection between spiritual practice and relationship
WHAT ELSE YOU RECEIVE:
- Live interactive Q&A with the teacher (during classes)
- Written online forum between sessions
- Weekly practice assignments and journal topics
- Optional weekly calls with a practice buddy
- Lifetime access to course recordings
WHO'S IT FOR?
This course is appropriate for those newer to Buddhist meditation and/or Nonviolent Communication, as well as for experienced practitioners seeking to deepen their skills. Past students include: psychologists, therapists, doctors, nurses and healthcare practitioners, chaplains, teachers, writers, artists, life coaches, lawyers, police, engineers, civil servants, and many more.
COST: BY DONATION
We are honored to offer this course free of charge. Both Oren and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies depend on donations to continue our work. Please consider making a donation when you register to support our programming.
About the Teacher
Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally, integrating Buddhist wisdom with Nonviolent Communication and Somatics. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. is a nationally recognized teacher of meditation, mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication. Oren is the author of several books including Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Adolescents, and Your Heart Was Made For This. A husband and father, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches worldwide through courses and guided meditations.
Assistant Trainers
Ranjana Ariaratnam: Passionate about healing – ourselves, intergenerationally, and the world – Ranji has shared NVC with families, teachers, activists, schools, and social service organizations via workshops, retreats, and mediation since 2009. Ranji worked for years overseas in humanitarian aid with people displaced by conflict. Now she brings together approaches that are very healing in her own life – NVC, painting and writing, somatic practices, and Vipassana meditation – each addressing different layers of our being. She lives on Vancouver Island.
David Johnson spent years overseas as a humanitarian aid worker. A few years after being introduced to NVC he returned to North America and immersed himself in the study of NVC as part of his exploration of practices that address the roots of violence and suffering. He has seen how NVC supports him as part of a couple and in all aspects of his life, and has shared NVC with families, schools, activists, and social service organizations via workshops, retreats, and mediation since 2011. He now lives on Vancouver Island.
This donation-based course is sponsored by the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (“BCBS”). Registration is being handled by BCBS. If you have further questions, please contact BCBS here.
