"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity"
- Carl Jung
Remain standing amidst storm and change
About Equanimity
Equanimity is a training agency founded by Boris Nauta. Boris collaborates with a team of trainers with diverse professional backgrounds. Equanimity offers training courses for individuals and teams in companies and organizations in the field of emotional, social and system intelligence.
How can Equanimity benefit you?
It is well known that physical health is largely the result of a lifestyle with sufficient attention to exercise, sleep, relaxation, and healthy nutrition. It is less known that the same applies to your mental health. Living in balance with yourself and others, despite the inevitable setbacks and frustrations of everyday life, is also a matter of self-care. Self-knowledge, empathy, managing emotions, and communicating effectively are all skills you can develop. And just like learning a language, a sport, a musical instrument, or salsa dancing, it is a matter of trial and error, making mistakes, and continuing to practice.
Paying attention to your mental health can bring many benefits, such as resilience against stress and adversity, stronger physical resistance, a positive outlook, satisfying interactions, and meaningful relationships. You will notice that you start making more conscious choices and that more peace and relaxation enter your life.
How can Equanimity benefit my company or organization?
According to The World Economic Forum, we are at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which will be more profound and all-encompassing than anything we have ever seen. Rapid developments in various fields such as (social) media, genetics, AI, robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology are interconnected and reinforce each other. As a result, the world is changing rapidly, and life on Earth is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. It is impossible to keep up with all these developments and oversee their consequences. What is self-evident at one moment is uncertain the next.
Being able to handle these changes and this uncertainty requires special skills within teams, companies, and organizations. Adaptability, effective communication, collaboration, creativity, flexibility, and stress resistance are becoming increasingly important. Emotional intelligence is therefore now widely recognized as the key competency for the future, and we see this reflected in the results of research into effective teams.
How can Equanimity benefit the world?
Just as a better environment starts with yourself, the same applies to a better world. We can look to the government, the media, other countries, or large companies and wait for them to fix the global problems around us. But ultimately, we all form that world and those institutions together. We each bear individual responsibility for ourselves, our children, and the people around us to work on our personal growth. Any individual can become depressed, hostile, or even violent if they do not feel good enough, welcome, or understood by their environment. But if you can grow up, live, and work in an atmosphere of appreciation, openness, and respect for your uniqueness, and you get the chance to discover your talents and overcome your pitfalls, then the world as a whole will also continue to develop into a pleasant place for everyone.
What does Equanimity mean?
06 39 42 2005
boris@equanimity.nu
Tip Maruggstraat 10
1087 VR Amsterdam
Want to order Equanimity cards?
By popular request, the coaching cards from our training sessions can now also be ordered online. The cards are in stock in Dutch and English. Other languages can be produced upon request. Order
Equanimity blog
Blog about Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, Nonviolent Communication, and more...
Put a stop to polarisation in your team
The systematic provision of training in non-violent communication in combination with targeted inclusion training is a successful combination for countering polarisation in teams, as argues Vivian Acquah of Amplify DEI.Read more
Nonviolent resistance and Nonviolent communication: courageous parenting
Nonviolent resistance & Connective authority is sometimes confused with Nonviolent communication. That is understandable, because both approaches are rooted in the same principles of nonviolence. Read here what they can mean for you as a parent can mean, and what Equanimity has to offer in this regard to you.Read more
Psychological safety in teams
In almost every team, there are differences of opinion and insight, doubts about a decision, different perspectives, or a feeling that a different or better solution is possible. Whether or not we speak up in the workplace says a lot about a team's culture. Do we feel that our input is welcome, or does it…Read more
Nonviolence as ‘the third way’
In this article, I explore the meaning of nonviolence as “the third way”. Inspired by the work of Marshall Rosenberg, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Walter Wink, we look at nonviolence as a way to actively stand up for justice without giving up on the humanity of the other.Read more
Empathy pitfalls: why well-intentioned reactions sometimes do not help at all
When you are angry, struggling with something, or have experienced something sad, you hope for an empathetic response from another person. Yet, not every reaction you receive, however well-intentioned, is actually helpful. Why is that?Read more
Conflict and the Art of Connecting
The ability to engage in and resolve conflicts is one of the fundamental pillars of high-performing teams. But how do you create a sustainable culture that embraces diversity and where conflicts can be seen as a path toward connection, innovation, and renewal?Read more
Being in control of your ears: the four ways of listening in Nonviolent Communication
In a sense, what we hear is a choice. By learning to recognize which ears we are wearing, space is created to consciously choose how to respond. Within Nonviolent Communication, different ways of listening are distinguished that you can practice.Read more
Shame as a key to connection
Usually, we view anger, guilt, and shame as feelings we would rather get rid of. We find them uncomfortable, sometimes embarrassing, and so we push them away—often before we are even aware that we have them. But what if these very feelings are the keys to connection?Read more
Balance in emotion regulation: about the Threat System, Drive System, and Soothing System
Professor Paul Gilbert emphasizes that a healthy balance between three emotion regulation systems is essential for our well-being. How can Nonviolent communication and Mindfulness contribute to this balance?Read more
“Why that word?” On ‘Nonviolence’ in Nonviolent Communication
"That word 'Nonviolent', I don't know, are we supposed to just be nice to each other all the time or something?". I frequently hear a variation of this sentence at the start of a training session within a company or organization. Apparently, the word triggers an allergic reaction in some people.Read more
Quasi-feelings and how they contribute to conflict and polarization
Expressing your feelings can be a great relief and have a connecting effect. Yet, you may also encounter resistance or irritation. Why is that? There is a high probability that you have expressed yourself in quasi-feelings.Read more
Gabor Maté on the myth of normal
Everyone longs for connection, and sometimes this longing is so great that we lose ourselves along the way. In his book 'The Myth of Normal,' physician and trauma expert Gabor Maté shows how this happens and how we can rediscover our authenticity. Nonviolent Communication can help us in this process.Read more
On the silent power of the super-rich and our own influence
If we want to build a world of equality and care for the planet, we cannot continue to think within the frameworks of the current system. It requires the courage to see the silent influence of the powerful as well as our own influence on the world.Read more
The Giraffe and the Jackal in Nonviolent communication
The Giraffe and the Jackal are used in Nonviolent Communication as metaphors for different ways of thinking and communicating. The Jackal represents thinking and communicating from a place of dominance and submission, while the Giraffe represents thinking and communicating from a place of compassion and self-awareness.Read more
Collaborative decision-making: Deep Democracy and Nonviolent Communication
While Nonviolent Communication focuses primarily on individual introspection and interpersonal dialogue, Deep Democracy focuses more on conversation and decision-making with groups. In this post, I will explain how Deep Democracy and Nonviolent Communication can complement each other.Read more
