NVC Residential: Living Truth Authentically Where Angels Fear to Tread @ Braziers Park Sept 2026
NVC Residential: Living Truth Authentically Where Angels Fear to Tread @ Braziers Park Sept 2026
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Living Truth Authentically Where Angels Fear to Tread
Residential at Braziers Park, Oxfordshire.
Reality NVC Transforming Crisis into Creative Response
September 24 - 27, 2026
The Residential
Living Truth Authentically Where Angels Fear to Tread
Where Angels might fear to tread, we develop increasing confidence in deepening our Nonviolent Communication approach to enter spaces of conflict and confusion especially in the areas of;
- Identity politics & DEI tensions
- Global crisis & social fragmentation
- Personal trauma and shadow parts in us
- The Complexity and confusions of identity
- Overwhelm and freeze around climate destruction and change
- Personal vulnerability, isolation and disconnection
About Reality NVC
The 'Reality' quality is the compassionate connection that happens live, meeting you and the community in the moment, attending to the needs that are most alive for you right now. Working live carries higher risk but also higher reward — it enables immediate felt shifts, a vivid sense of connection, and a deeper, more embodied learning experience. By engaging fully in the present, you cultivate a closer, richer, and more enlivened experience of NVC Presence.
The emphasis is on experiential learning, a good grounding in the essence of NVC through Embodied Relational Presence as its foundation. The NVC 'Form' is secondary and finds natural expression from grounded essence, giving rise to an unshakeable quality of Presence that can be expressed naturally relying on an empathic experience rather than 'thinking about' what to say next.
Reality NVC invites a creative response
To turn towards truthfulness, embodied relational presence, and conscious relating — especially in the places we habitually avoid.
- Not-knowing, curiosity, and courageous human contact: This three-day residential at Braziers Park offers a rare opportunity to step out of habitual narratives, identity patterns, and defensive certainty, and step into the deeper territory of not-knowing, curiosity, and courageous human contact.
- Genuine presence: Rather than trying to save others or fix the world, we learn the inner work that enables us to turn up whoever shows up — including the difficult, the unfamiliar, and the uncomfortable — with genuine presence.
- Safety and Compassion: We will explore what it means to be willing to be open, without fixed agenda, available to the living experience of self and other - the safety required not to polarise, the compassion present to be open to the needs of others through the pain.
The Residential: Living Truth Authentically Where Angels Fear to Tread
In a world marked by intensifying identity conflict, cultural polarisation, and global crises, it is increasingly difficult to stay grounded, humane, and connected. Many of us feel caught between competing loyalties, pressured to take positions, or exhausted by the emotional weight of social fragmentation, even maintaining our own sense of a positive and empowering identity. Meanwhile, environmental collapse, war, economic instability, authoritarian rise, and the speed of digital culture fuel a deep sense of existential uncertainty.
What We Explore
Cultivating Inner Safety
Learn to meet reactive, wounded, or rigid parts with compassion. Build resilience for staying present in a world where identity triggers, ideological conflict, and global uncertainty easily overwhelm the nervous system.
Compassion AND Wisdom
NVC is known for its compassionate quality, yet if also offers a profound wisdom elements, namely in the areas of freedom and carefreeness - we'll have fun exploring this.
Empathy as Shared Nourishment
Practise empathy that is not filtered through labels or fixed viewpoints. Discover how to connect across difference with authenticity, humour, humility, and embodied awareness.
Embodied Relational Presence
Develop whole-body listening, pausing, and settling practices that support real contact. Learn to stay with ambiguity and tension without collapsing into defensiveness or certainty.
Receiving Empathy Skillfully
Explore why it can be so hard to be seen — and how to soften into relational support even when vulnerability feels risky.
Sensitivity & Availability
Discover availability as a grounded somatic state rather than a mental story. Learn to rest in presence rather than position.
Unity in Community-Centred Learning
Experience the safety of a community willing to engage complexity without demanding sameness. Practise relational honesty, repair, curiosity, and generative disagreement.
Grounding in Nature
Let the land at Braziers Park steady your system. Nature becomes a companion in the work of releasing habit and recovering direct experience.
Rebuilding Connection
Learn practices for restoring relationships, healing ruptures, and connecting more deeply — not through forced harmony, but through truthful contact.
The Felt Sense for in depth Healing
Central to working through discomfort, ambiguity and not knowing to invite the fresh edge of a new knowing and direction, if wanted. Unshakeable
Unshakeable Presence as a Core Identity Exploring the paradigm
Exploring the paradigm; 'Thinking, Sensing and Presencing' we move towards what it means to rest in a heartfelt and grounded sense of being that does not rely on labels yet has a full and satisfying sense of being authentic.
Pioneering Approach
Simon's pioneering methodology - Embodied Relational Presence - offers an inspiring synergistic combination of Focusing's felt-sense wisdom, NVC's compassionate communication, and Presence-based mindfulness and Buddhist secular approaches - creating a 'felt-sense' oriented approach that transforms how we relate to ourselves, others, and our world in crisis.
This Residential offers time out for you; fun, play, relaxation, and ease, respect and warm connection all in the context of a safely held space make for a compelling and transformative experience. I aim to follow your personal needs as well as the collective spirit.
What is this residential like?
Take a panoramic, playful and colourful trip into the heart of Braziers (in this case it shares a focusing residential showing you the grounds and facilities)
Community Centred Learning through Direct Experience
I believe nourishing community to be the source of our growth and forward movement. As such I work live honouring your core essence in the moment to meet you in community to meet you where you are, addressing your underlying needs directly.
Fun, humour, depth, connection, authenticity, pausing for space and rest, moving at an organic pace, enjoyment and safety being instrumental in the process, this is my way. Giving you room to breathe, and flourish in your own way, to honour your full humanity in relationship.
The Amazing and Quirky Gothic Braziers Park
Nestled in the rolling hills of Oxfordshire, Braziers Park is a sanctuary for seekers of peace, connection, and inspiration. This historic mansion, with its striking Gothic architecture and lush surroundings, serves as a tranquil retreat from the busyness of life. The park’s sprawling 55 acres of woodland and meadows provide an ideal backdrop for rejuvenation, whether through yoga, meditation, or simply wandering the peaceful grounds.
With its strong sense of community and commitment to sustainability, Braziers Park offers a retreat experience that not only soothes the soul but also ignites a deeper connection to nature and each other. Whether you’re attending a retreat or hosting your own event, Braziers Park provides a serene and inspiring environment where growth and reflection come naturally.
Vicky Binns shares her experience of the residential at Braziers Park (45 seconds!)
Look see! Braziers Park - the official website
COST RANGE — ACCOMMODATION + TRAINING FEES
⏰ Early bird — 10% off training fee. Book before 31 May.
ACCOMMODATION — 3 nights, fixed cost
| Single room | £285 |
| Shared room | £250 |
| Camping | £210 |
Camping guests eat and socialise in the main building. Accommodation pricing is set by Braziers Park and passed on at cost.
TRAINING & FACILITATION FEE — sliding scale
A sliding scale ensures accessibility. Contributing toward the higher end helps create space for those who need the lower rate.
| Minimum | Standard | Sweet spot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full price | £225 | £310 | £395 |
| Early bird (−10%) | £203 | £279 | £356 |
⏰ Early bird — 10% off training fee. Book before 31 May.
TOTAL PACKAGES — Early bird (ends 31 May) 10% off training fee only; accommodation price unchanged.
| Single £285 | Shared £250 | Camping £210 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | £488 | £453 | £413 |
| Standard | £564 | £529 | £489 |
| Sweet spot | £641 | £606 | £566 |
TOTAL PACKAGES — Full price Accommodation + training fee combined.
| Single £285 | Shared £250 | Camping £210 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | £510 | £475 | £435 |
| Standard | £595 | £560 | £520 |
| Sweet spot | £680 | £645 | £605 |
A note on reciprocity
I work within a paradigm of abundance and reciprocity. Gift according to your felt sense — consider gratitude, fair value, and what you can afford. My life is devoted to ecology, nonviolence, and regenerative community change. Gratitude for your support, financial and otherwise.
HOW TO PAY
Two options — both work perfectly well. Bank transfer simply keeps a little more of your contribution in the pot.
Option 1 · Bank transfer (BACS) — NO booking fees Simon McKibbin · First Direct Sort code: 40-47-64 · Account: 90739723 IMPORTANT! YOUR Reference: RES 2 + initial + surname — e.g. RES 2 S McKibbin
Option 2 · Pay via Ticket Tailor — Stripe processing fees apply Convenient and secure. Use the Tickets button on this page to pay by card through Stripe.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
- Full payment
- Payment plan — available on request
- Other arrangements — chat to me
💺 Not ready to pay in full? Secure your place with a £75 non-refundable deposit.
Bursary
There is room for one bursary for anyone willing to offer their time to help support the booking process and be an enabler on the residential.
CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS
We understand that life can change unexpectedly, and we want to hold that with care. Here's how we navigate cancellations together:
- More than 2 months before — Full refund, no questions asked.
- Up to 1 month before — Full refund minus a £50 admin contribution to help cover costs already incurred.
- Less than 1 month before — We'll do our best to find another participant. If we succeed, or if there's a waiting list, you'll receive a full refund. If we're unable to fill your place, we hold the fee to support the continuity and viability of the work — and warmly offer you a place on an equivalent future retreat.
- If we need to cancel — You will receive a full refund of everything paid.
Meet Simon 'K2' McKibbin - Mentor, Coach and Facilitator
Pioneer of Embodied Relational Presence
We are living in unprecedented times—both thrilling and unsettling with forces beyond our control at play on financial, global, environmental, and social levels. The lack of meaning in materialism has left our culture's social fabric empty, sowing confusion in our identities and a sense of lostness about what it means to feel secure, grounded in the natural order, and truly connected to others and the awe and mystery of the universe.
We live in a culture of atomization where technology promises connection yet alienates us further—moving from Cartesian "I am" to Apple "I-Phone," faces frozen and hypnotized by screens. The proliferation of information competes for our attention—it's hard to draw breath and sense our true identity as sovereign beings.
And yet... in every moment, the sun rises and stars offer their soft light. The ground remains ever faithful, lovingly supporting us. Birds continue to sing, trees remain rooted, oceans stay deep, and there is richness and beauty in every precious, tingling, vibrant moment. A silky breath slides into our bodies from the skies as the universe continues breathing through us, perfuming every cell with vibrancy and warmth. We are here now, alive—coming home to ourselves is the prayer of every star, every mote of dust. Something deep within knows how to return to its authentic original self—like a hidden gem stitched into a garment's lining, we had it all the time. Embodied Relational Presence offers a portal to true self-empowerment where we realize we are not foam buffeted by waves, but the ocean itself.
For over 34 years, I've supported individuals and communities toward greater personal and professional empowerment through Mindfulness, Nonviolent Communication, and Focusing—practices that unlock our capacity to live more fully, creatively, and courageously. My work bridges inner transformation with outer change, rooted in active commitment to ecological regeneration, social equity, and nonviolent living through grassroots organising and co-creation. I invite you into this portal of Embodied Relational Presence—where there is autonomous, sovereign, connected, and irrepressible life—to become both magician of your own wholeness and powerful ally for planetary regeneration and collective wellbeing.
Experience: CNVC Certified NVC Trainer | BFA Focusing Teacher | Breathworks Mindfulness Teacher | Associate Mindfulness Teacher, University of Cambridge (2017–2023) | Extinction Rebellion consultant, mediator & trainer | Møller Institute Cambridge University Executive Coaching Guest Lecturer | Mindfulness in Schools Project (MISP) teacher | Triratna Buddhist Order member | Samaritans volunteer
Questions? Comments, or just for a natter!
Mob: +44 (0)7974817393
Location
Braziers Park, OX10 6AN