Oren Jay Sofer, SEP
Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation, mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication nationally. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. Oren is also the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, and co-author of Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Adolescents. He is a co-founder of Mindful Healthcare and the founder of Next Step Dharma, an innovative online program that helps meditators integrate their retreat experiences into daily life.
Featured Audio Talk
April 20, 2018 - The Role of Presence in Communication
The foundation for how we bring communication skills into our conversations in any context is presence. What is presence? I define presence as embodied awareness. Presence is a synonym for mindfulness, but when we hear that word “mindfulness,” most of us think about paying attention in a cognitive way, because of the word “mind.” I’m paying attention, watching, looking—there’s some separation. It’s a little cold, maybe disconnected. That’s not mindfulness. Mindfulness is about intimacy with experience. It’s a deeply embodied awareness and knowing of life in a very direct way.