Season of Nonviolence

The annual Season of Nonviolence (Jan 30 - Apr 4) bookends the memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., two inspiring leaders who utilized nonviolent methods to successfully lead movements for change.

In honor of the Season, we suggest a practice or an action each week that's intended to help us to better live nonviolently.

Community Events:

Central Oregon Community College hosts events and facilitates community book conversations during the Season of Nonviolence. Follow their page for a complete schedule.


SNV Practice Tips

More About the Season of Nonviolence

Each year, the campaign commemorates the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and raises awareness about the healing and transformative power of nonviolence. It also honors the visionary work of leaders like César Chávez, President Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Chief Wilma Mankiller.

The Season of Nonviolence has become an important opportunity to bring communities together, empowering them to envision and help create a nonviolent world, one heart and one day at a time.


About the SNV Practice Tips

Nonviolent Communication founder Marshall Rosenberg encouraged us to connect to ourselves and to others (by focusing on feelings and needs) so we can live in our natural state of compassion.

At first glance, you may wonder how these suggestions are peacemaking practices. The answer is as simple as it is challenging—we bring peacemaking into our lives when we practice being peaceful with ourselves.

How does this work? Well, when we use judgments, shame, blame, and guilt against ourselves we use these against others. When we do not see ourselves as equal to others, we deny others that same equality. These are the seeds from which violence arises.

Choosing to live nonviolently is choosing to let go of these strategies and replacing them with life-affirming practices—like self-kindness and compassion. As these practices change us, our inner peace grows and spreads outward to others. Ah! Now we can see. As we cultivate our inner peace, we bring peace into the world. This, for me, has made all the difference.