Svein Strømberg at the Acem communication course
“The insights from this course are directly applicable to social situations at home and at work.” Svein Strømberg grew up in Norway, but has spent the past 16 years with his wife and two girls in Switzerland, where he works in sales of industrial raw materials. This year he participated in the Acem International Training Course in Interpersonal Communication.
“I had read about the communication course before I came here, so I thought I knew what to expect. But the open structure of the group sessions took me by surprise. I had imagined there would be a fixed agenda for the group activities. Instead, it was left to us, the participants, to find a way to start communicating. It was fascinating, but also slightly unsettling. In the beginning there was quite a lot of silence. But gradually we found ways of relating to each other. And in the process, with only a little help from the leaders and the other participants, I made quite a few new discoveries about myself. I began to identify patterns that I had only vaguely perceived before, such as my tendency – and even need – to adapt to external structures.”
Svein decided to attend the communication course on the strength of recommendations from previous participants. He was curious.
“The course was extremely intense. In the group sessions, I could always rely on good support from the leaders whenever I approached difficult topics. The evening lectures were of a very high standard and helped us understand the processes we were going through. I learnt a lot about myself, and the course has also helped me to understand other people better. My communication with family and colleagues has become more meaningful. Insights from the communication course are useful in many social settings.”
Svein found the course location an extra bonus. “The Halvorsbøle retreat centre has some stunning scenery. It reminds me of my childhood. You can hear the wind blowing through the pine trees, and you can see the beautiful lake and the hills on the other side. It is a high-quality centre with great facilities and wonderful food.”
Hört sich gut an.
Schickt mir doch bitte mehr Informationen zu dem Kurs zu.
Ich muss Halvorsbole kennenlernen, wo so viel schönes von erzählt wird.
Herr Stromberg ist ein sympatischer Mensch, mit dem ich gern ins Gespräch gekommen wäre, aber die Zeit war wieder einmal wie in Ammersbeck zu kurz. Aber da ich ein erfahrender Meditierender bin kann ich damit umgehen und komme auch mit meinen Problemen gut allein zu recht.
Aus meinen eigenen Erfahrungen -lasst die Anfänger nicht im Regen sitzen.
Renate
Ich meditiere seit ca 28 Jahre Transcendental Meditation, es geht mir sehr gut. Ich meditiere 2 Mal täglich. 2x 20 minuten. Trotzdem bin ich interesierrt Informationen über Acem Meditation. Ich werde diese ihre Webseite grundlich lesen aber es freut mich sehr mit Leute die meditieren zu hören und kontaktieren.
Implementing mindfulness in everyday life
Does one need to become buddhist to benefit from the meditation methods developed within the various buddhist meditation schools? – Not necessarily! Some of the methods practiced within buddhism are available to anybody who is interested in taking responsibility for their own life and improving their own situation. In particular, John Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme has become a very popular approach for training people in becoming more aware and mindful in daily life. MBSR primarily focuses on patients with chronic diseases and thus has a strong focus on developing a different perspective on the disease and the stress and pain it may cause. A quite significant body of research exists trying to evaluate this approach and a growing number of well controlled studies suggest that it really is beneficial for the patients.
To learn more about this aspect of mindfulness research, you may want to visit David Black’s Mindfulness Research Guide. For the practical side, the bemindful website, developed by the UK Charity Mental Health Foundation may be of interest.
Our own interest is, however, less related to clinical applications. Over the last few years I developed and refined the mindfulness @ work programme, which focuses on ordinary people who, like all of us, are faced with pressures of life and would like to take active measures to develop a more balanced approach. Here our first concern is to determine whether a mindfulness-based approach is also helpful for the general population and under what circumstances. In addition we are interested in pin-pointing the main processes of change and development that take place when we develop a more mindful way of life.