Would you like a year of support to practice nonviolence consistently in your life?
Come join a global community of committed practitioners to make 2025 your year for finding healthy balance, freedom from reactivity, and the life of kindness to self and others you've been longing for.
Yearlong program starts February 3/4 :
click here to see the date in your timezone
You missed out!
" Ongo has been the best way to learn Nonviolent Communication that I've found.
The wisdom of integrating the learning of new communication with the deep personal work that it requires really serves the transformation. And, the "daily life" format is so effective as real, honest, challenging practice. I will continue to share that nothing I've done so far, with regards to NVC, has been as powerful."
– Tony, licensed professional counselor and Ongo participant
Ongo brings the temple to you.
Living peace, wisdom, and compassion in the midst of daily life is not easy. It requires ongoing practice, guidance, support, and accountability.
Traditionally, a flourishing temple community might provide this through regular gatherings for study and practice, meetings with teachers for guidance, and connections with good spiritual friends for support and accountability.
In Ongo, we bring the temple to you through live group gatherings, buddy practices, solo practices, and a private online forum.
Live Group Gatherings
Twice a month, we gather together online as a global community for meditation, practice, and discussion. We'll explore a different aspect of the practice of nonviolence each month, using our real life situations as our learning material. Recordings of all gatherings will be provided in the event someone is unable to attend.
Buddy Practices
Twice a month, each of us meets 1-on-1 with another Ongo participant to do a practice based on the month's topic. Ongo Buddy Practices offer a unique opportunity to practice mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication in a safe interpersonal "testing ground". Full, step-by-step guidance for every practice is provided.
Solo Practices
Each week, we send out a practice for you to do in your daily life to deepen your lived experience of nonviolence. These Solo Practices are short, doable, and impactful, to help you keep your practice alive, even in the midst of a busy schedule.
Private Online Forum
With full access to our private "Tea Garden" online forum, you can share, ask questions, and engage discussions with Catherine, Jesse, and other Ongo year participants anytime. All Live Group recordings, Buddy Practices, and Solo Practices will also be available here for you to access whenever you want.
Register early for $100 USD discount on program fee (until 7 January)
Meet your Ongo guides:
Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens Chu
Catherine is a mom, activist, educator, storyteller, and dancer with over 35 years of experience in bringing innovative programs in nonviolence, mindfulness, and conflict transformation to people of all ages. Internationally recognized for her work, she was the founder of the TEMBA School, a visionary K–8 academic program which integrated nonviolent principles, mindfulness, art, and peace studies, and Play in the Wild! Initiations into Nonviolence for youth, families, and educators. She is the author of the book, Peaceable Revolution Through Education.
Jesse is an artist, husband, father, and community leader. He is the Executive Director of Baba Tree International, which promotes practical peace throughout the world, and an Assessor with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Previously, Jesse was a twice-elected local government official and the founder of ZENVC, a training organization that integrated mindfulness and other Zen Buddhist practices with Nonviolent Communication. He is a contributing author to A Thousand Hands: A Guidebook to Caring for Your Buddhist Community.
Together, Catherine and Jesse live in Beloved partnership. They are co-authors of the book, The Ongo Book: Everyday Nonviolence, and reside in Indonesia with their two children.
Live Group Gathering Times & Topics
Twice a month, we will gather together as a global community for mutual learning, support, and companionship. The two gatherings will be held at two different times of day, in order to be accessible to participants across multiple time zones. Recordings and transcripts of all live gatherings will be provided.
Below are the dates and times of the gatherings and the topics for each month (though topics may change, depending on the interests and needs of the community).
1
February 2025: Getting Grounded – Presence and Intention
In the first month, we'll set our intentions, build trust together as a community, and create a foundation in mindfulness for the rest of our practice. We'll explore:
- Bringing meditative stability into any situation
- Turning intention into action
- Creating conditions which support our practice
Monday, February 3, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, February 18, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
2
March 2025: Connecting to Life – the Energy of Needs
More info to come...
Monday, March 3, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, March 18, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
3
April 2025: Returning to Center – Self-Compassion
More info to come...
Monday, April 7, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, April 22, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
4
May 2025: Opening to Wisdom – a Higher Power
More info to come...
Monday, May 5, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, May 20, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
5
June 2025: Healing – Core Beliefs, Habits, and Choice
More info to come...
Monday, June 2, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, June 17, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
6
July 2025: Freedom – Forgiveness and Finishing Business
More info to come...
Monday, July 7, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, July 22, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
7
August 2025: Gratitude – Celebration and Mourning
More info to come...
Monday, August 4, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, August 19, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
8
September 2025: Serving Life – Requests and Boundaries
More info to come...
Monday, September 1, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, September 16, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
9
October 2025: Balance – Being with Reactive Emotions
More info to come...
Monday, October 6, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, October 21, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
10
November 2025: Being Real – Speaking Truth
More info to come...
Monday, November 3, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, November 18, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
11
December 2025: Interdependence – Dialogues of the Heart
More info to come...
Monday, December 1, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, December 16, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
12
January 2026: Letting Go – Facing Endings and Change
More info to come...
Monday, January 5, 8-10:00pm US ET (click for other time zones)
Tuesday, January 20, 8-9:30am CET (click for other time zones)
+
Optional 1-on-1 Sessions & Support for Parents & NVC Trainer Candidates
Want support for applying Ongo practice to parenting or becoming an NVC trainer? We heard your requests.
When you join Ongo, you can add-on an optional monthly live gathering with a focus either on parenting or on NVC trainer certification. Want to meet one-on-one with Catherine or Jesse for support with your individual situation? All Ongo participants can sign up for discounted private meetings with Catherine or Jesse throughout the Ongo year.
Monthly Live Group with Catherine
Each month, join Catherine in exploring the Ongo topics in the context of parenting. As a mother of two children and a veteran schoolteacher who founded and ran her own primary school based in nonviolence, Catherine brings a wealth of authentic experience – and ongoing humility! You'll be supported to grow in your ability to parent with presence and love in the midst of your real-life challenges.
Starts Monday, February 10, 8pm U.S. ET (click here to see in your time zone) and continues the 2nd Monday of every month for the 12 months of Ongo.
Monthly Live Group with Jesse
For NVC trainer candidates, living NVC is the heartbeat of the certification journey. In Ongo, the group, buddy, and solo practices provide a foundation in living NVC. This add-on offers an additional monthly gathering for trainer candidates to deepen their knowledge of NVC and work towards their requirements for certification, accompanied by Jesse, a trainer and assessor who studied with Dr. Marshall Rosenberg and other veteran trainers. Note: you do not need to register with Jesse as your assessor to join this group.
Starts Tuesday, February 25 with meeting time to be decided with the candidates who sign up and continues the 4th Tuesday of every month for the 12 months of Ongo.
1-on-1 Meetings with Catherine or Jesse
Throughout Ongo, participants have the option to sign-up for one-hour private meetings with Catherine or Jesse to get individual support. These sessions are offered at a deeply discounted rate for Ongo participants.
Testimonials
What past Ongo participants have said:
"I was able to survive"
I cannot imagine how I would have handled the recent events that have permeated my life in the past couple of months without the guidance and support offered by this Ongo. Losing my job and my life partner on the same day was an unbelievably challenging trigger and source of pain, and I was able to survive this trauma utilizing a more diverse array of skills (empathy for both myself and for [my partner] in the aftermath of our breakup, for example) than the coping mechanisms that I have depended upon in the past.
(Anonymous)
ongo participant
"a revolutionary discovery"
The biggest benefit to me has been in my relationship with myself... The stuff we did early on around our core beliefs led to a revolutionary discovery of a "rock solid" belief I had that "No one wants to hear what I think or feel and that if I express myself I will be punished." I had very good evidence to support this core belief, but by some miracle, I suddenly saw the 'belief" as separate from my core, and irrelevant in my present life. It has mostly ceased to rule me in the way it has for the past 54 years.
Andi W.
Ongo participant
"A burden that I carried for 8 years has been healed"
I thoroughly enjoyed the Ongo experience. For me, the practices are simple and so doable that I have continued many of them after Ongo. I am finding that though simple, their cumulative effect is powerful.
A burden that I carried for 8 years has been healed using the combined practices of the breath, self empathy and speaking truth... I have grown in confidence in living and sharing NVC.
Sr. Franca Onyibor
CNVC Certified Trainer and christian nun
"my life with my husband has transformed"
My life with my husband has transformed. My ability to "hear" his voice and be a part of his life without judging what is good/bad is growing our love and our commitment to live happily. My ability to hear my nonverbal son's voice and empathically guess what his needs are has improved my confidence and in my ability to connect to him, and
to trust myself more in connecting with other people whom (I think) are difficult to connect with.
Heidy
ongo participant
"staying compassionate with my father as i felt hurt"
The experience of staying compassionate with my father as I felt hurt and triggered, seems to stand out as a specific marker of my growth and learning from this Ongo.
My self-connection seems much more vibrant and powerful, so that the needs activated in me seem to flow along with my generosity to meet the needs stimulated in the other... I find it to be a beautiful energy, one that I have not experienced so clearly before now. In the experience with my father, I find myself just less inclined toward violence, reaction, defense, judgment, and more inclined toward the healing/life giving practice of compassion.
Tony G.
licensed professional counselor
"integrating my awakened heart into my daily life"
It's not easy to put into words...nor is easy to narrow it to one way... I keep coming back to trust; a trust in myself, a trust in others, a trust in the universe, a trust in the cosmos, a trust in the unknown and unknowable,
a trust in my heart as it learns to radiate truth, a trust in my awakened heart. I have learned that to awaken the heart is a continual practice, and through [Ongo] practice integrating my awakened heart into my daily life becomes possible.
Stuart
Ongo participant
Join a supportive global community.
Make 2025 a year of presence, compassion, and liberation.
Give yourself the gift of 12 months of continuous support and guidance to bring greater mindfulness and nonviolence into your life.
Sign up before January 7th and receive $100 off the registration cost.
What you get:
$
295
now
Pay in 4 payments: now, April 1, July 1, and October 1 ($1,180 total)
What you get:
$
895
995
single payment
includes $100 early registration discount (until January 7th)
optional add-on's:
- 12 monthly Parent Support Meetings with Catherine - $295
- 12 monthly NVC Trainer Support Meetings with Jesse - $295
- 1-on-1 Meetings with Catherine or Jesse - $85 per 1 hour session
Click "Join Now" on either the quarterly or single payment plan above,
then select the options you want in the registration form.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, all live gatherings will be recorded and you will be able to watch the replays at your convenience. Still, we strongly recommend that you attend as many live group gatherings as you can, in order to get the hands-on practice.
Right now, there are no plans to offer the yearlong Ongo again, but that could change. If you do choose to sign up, the recordings from this course would be available to you for one year.
No. The practices in this course are designed to be used by anyone, without prior training. At the same time, those with previous experience in mindfulness or Nonviolent Communication will have the opportunity to deepen their embodiment of those practices, and expand on their.ability to engage them in challenging circumstances.
Download and replay links will be provided to you by email and in the Tea Garden online forum within 2 days of the live course modules. Transcripts and audio recordings of the modules will also be provided at that time.
Currently, there is both a quarterly payment plan and an early registration discount of $100 USD on single payments for those who join by January 7th. If the quarterly plan and discounted single payment are both still beyond your means and you are passionate about joining the Ongo yearlong program, please contact us to discuss alternative arrangements.
100% Satisfaction-Guarantee.
If, for any reason, you're not 100% satisfied with this course, you can get a full refund anytime within 30 days after your purchase.
©2024 Baba Tree International (ZENVC is a program of Baba Tree International)