Learn what it takes to exchange ideas given your discomfort and/or the presence of opposing viewpoints with calm, confidence, clarity, mutual respect and openness so that you can relate better and make progress.
lacking confidence…
feeling flustered and stuck in/taken over by your emotions whenever race, politics, sex and sexuality, gender, religion or hot button topics like those come up…
have no idea how or where to begin to do better…
feeling depleted and helpless…
restore and replenish yourself,
feel more confident, clear and capable,
and make notable and meaningful progress in uncomfortable yet important conversations.
Under the guidance of Yolonda Coles Jones, founder, lead coach facilitator and wellness consultant at Empowered People™ Deliberate Love School also known as “The Calm & Thrive Coach,” you will learn what it means to:
support yourself before, during and after difficult conversations;
better know how to recognize and disarm your own triggers when you're in difficult conversations so that you don't end up looking or acting like someone you don't really want to be in the world
better show up to powerfully support the people and causes you care about
better understand what it takes to respond to others with grace, wisdom, patience, skill and integrity instead of getting stuck dealing with matters that aren't really the heart of this issue.
know what it looks like for you to listen to another's truth in a grounded way, with an open heart instead of coming off as an attacker or a stone wall when what you really want to do is connect.
know what it looks like for you to speak your own truth in a grounded way, with an open heart instead of ignoring, discounting or disregarding your true feelings, your real questions and your own lived experience.
better understand the skill and importance of navigating timing and capacity so that you don't get overwhelmed, fatigued, give up or miss out on meaningful opportunities while working on a mission that is important to you nor contribute to the same kind of experience for others.
This program consists of three parts:
INDEPENDENT STUDY & DEEPENING EXERCISES
Join Yolonda who will be streaming via live video into a private online community to you and an audience of your peers who are invested at your same level of commitment or higher. She will teach you and you will have opportunity to get your questions answered directly as well as gain further insight from questions posed by other program participants.
Don’t worry, if you have to miss the live gatherings, you will have access to the playbacks for a limited time.
To support you in reflecting on where you are now and connecting in real time to where you want to be, each session will be accompanied by worksheets for you to complete independently. This is where you unlock and unpack how to implement what you’re learning to custom-fit you and your family. Yolonda’s signature inquiry-based approach to gaining insight will amaze you.
No idea what to do with yourself when matters of discussion move to race, sex and sexuality, gender, religion, politics or the like?
Feeling stuck?
Tired of coming off all wrong when you feel your heart is in the right place?
Ready to relate better to other people, even with you disagree with them?
Driven by your desire for a healthier home, school, or work culture and ultimately a better world?
Want to feel calmer, clearer, more confident and more connected as you move through important idea exchanges?
>> Imagine moving through your days with the tools and support you need to nurture yourself deeply and well.
>> Imagine having a strategy for encountering challenging emotions—mindfully, gently and effectively.
>> Imagine having confidence to defend your way of being to anyone who challenges it.
>> Imagine having practical and experienced guidance that supports you and your community’s unique circumstance at this time.
>> Imagine having the exact words to inspire movement towards more thoughtful communication.
>> Imagine feeling calm, graceful, balanced, at peace and supported as you keep true to yourself, take good care of yourself and engage with other viewpoints.
Conscious disagreement after sincere inquiry and righteous interrogation is not the same as avoidance or attacking based in assumption, fear or ignorance.
This is not a call to or course in "kum ba yah" bypassing or pretending.
This is not a place to dump your emotional baggage and leave it for someone else to handle.
This is where you learn to be with yourself and your discomfort and also to be with another, fully seeing--with deep respect for yourself and for the possibility and legitimacy of another's experience.
Yolonda Coles Jones created this program to support humans in developing the skills needed to be present in emotionally charged conversations and also move through the discomfort with confidence, clarity, empowerment and grace.
She is offering guidance through what author Susan Gillis Chapman describes as the "Yellow Light" zone where emotions like shame, embarrassment, fear, grief and anger are present into the "Green Light" zone of progress, consciously away from the "Red Light" zone where opposing sides remain in their heat and insular experiences.
Clarify where you stand, what you can do, what you cannot do, what you will commit to and how to carry out that commitment while keeping hold of your sanity and health.
As a sought-after and celebrated leader, coach and thought-partner, Yolonda’s approach is to help you clarify what will work best to support your success and wellness.
This supportive space is designed for anyone who wants to do better with conversations that make them feel uncomfortable.
It is based on Yolonda’s studies, her professional work and her personal lifestyle.
“Yolonda, I appreciate your honesty and how you’ve held yourself in such grace.”
“Yolonda Coles Jones has the gift of communication and human connection! ...She is
amazing...absolutely inspiring and thought-provoking!”
“I went to UVA with Yolanda and was always impressed with her ability to break down perspectives and teach those around her to hear everyone else.”
“I learned how to peacefully and respectfully engage in uncomfortable conversations. We are all challenged to understand (with open mind and open heart) an opposing view. You shined a beautiful light on an intelligent and healthy exchange. Thank you for being a Stella teacher and role model.”
“...a positive way to challenge ourselves while keeping productive conversation!”
“Thank you for your fair, balanced and well crafted questions and offerings. THIS is how to have meaningful conversations, dialogue with those that don’t look
like you. This is community.”
“I love how [Yolonda] brought out such dialogue ...without being antagonistic. She called you out when she thought necessary but was also completely respectful.”
“Masterful.”
I've been committed the work of caring well for and fully actualizing myself in this lifetime as an artist, a businesswoman and a human being. That mission has run congruently and intertwined with my work in fiercely advocating for and facilitating my children's comprehensive education with "home" and "family" as our established base. We have been of this mind and about this work since we welcomed our first child in 2008.
Browse through playbacks from pop-up coaching experiences.
When does the Masterclass take place? The course is pre-recorded. Once you enroll, you have immediate access.
Who can join? Anyone who is frustrated with current or previous conversation patterns (name-calling, yelling, screaming, storming off, attacking, close-mindedness, gaslighting, sarcasm, fumbling over the words, clamming up, lies) and who is open, ready and willing to do the work to better themselves in this area.
Who will lead/teach/facilitate? Yolonda Coles Jones
How much does it cost? $750 (accessible in one payment or a few.)
More questions? Email us.
