Speak Peace in a World of Conflict by Marshall B. Rosenberg

PuddleDancer Press

By Claire Dederer

Though he never names the eight limbs in his new book about communication, Marshall Rosenberg thinks like a guy who's spent some time studying yoga. Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication, asks us to refrain from judgment of ourselves and others, to stay present in the moment, to not become attached to a situation's outcome, and, above all, to adhere to a practice of nonviolence. Sound familiar? Call it ahimsa or call it nonviolent communication, Rosenberg's approach is sound. Be in touch with your own needs, try to hear others' needs, and always request rather than demand. In fact, at first glance, his advice is so simple as to seem rudimentary. What makes the book work is the way he applies this wisdom. Rosenberg's previous book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion, was a kind of primer on interpersonal relationships. Now he turns his attention outward, to more far-flung problems. He still gives us close-to-home examples of folks who've benefited from his teaching, such as a frustrated mom trying to get her kid to clean his room. But he also talks about his experiences mediating for the chiefs of warring African tribes. The way Rosenberg tells it, his approach has an almost infinite flexibility. Think of it as the yoga of communication.