Green Zone Institute

Communication is Natural

mindfulness connects us with our inner guidance

Responsive

Natural communication connects us to situations as they evolve in real time. This allows us to adapt as the conversation shifts.

We-Together

Genuine communication is not about one person or another. It's about the verbal 'dance' we do together in the present moment.

Resilient

When we feel lost, Mindful Communication training allows us to regain our connection with ourselves and others.

Susan Gillis Chapman

All communication is a conversation. Our unique mindfulness-based training approach brings out our innate human capacities — allowing us to be clear, compassionate, genuine and effective. Our courses and retreats are based on The Five Keys to Mindful Communication by author and mindfulness teacher Susan Gillis Chapman. Green Zone Institute is a California 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding and supporting these unique teachings, practices and trainings.

UPDATE: we will replace our popular basic online program with an exciting new membership site, to launch Fall 2020. Look for more details in the weeks ahead.

Europe , Greg

(Spring 2021 – Holland) 5-day Retreat – Deep Solutions to Communication Breakdown with Greg Heffron

RESCHEDULED TO SPRING 2021

Come learn how Mindful Communication can enhance your ability to interact with your world with effectiveness, kindness, and truth. Based on The Five Keys to Mindful Communication, this popular five-day retreat aims to unlock stuck patterns of interaction, allowing us to rediscover our natural human ability to connect with ourselves and …

$1,242.00
Sale!

Asia , Europe

(Sept 14) 5-8 week online course – “The Five Keys to Mindful Communication”

In this pre-recorded video course (including one live session), Susan Gillis Chapman, a licensed marriage and family therapist and Buddhist teacher explains how the practice of mindfulness awareness can change the way we speak and listen, enhance our relationships, and help us achieve our goals. She teams with Senior Mindful Communication teacher and Director of Green Zone Institute Greg Heffron …

~~$100.00~~ $95.00
Sale!

Asia , Europe

(Fall 2020) 8-month Advanced Online Certification in Mindful Communication (“Green Zone Leader” program)

Green Zone Institute is proud to announce the third year of our advanced online training. This intensive weekly seminar aims to train “Green Zone Leaders” to take Susan Gillis Chapman’s models out into the world. In this course, Green Zone Institute Executive Director and Senior Teacher Gregory Heffron will train a close cohort of participants to develop the skills to …

~~$1,995.00~~ $1,795.50
Asia , Europe

The Green Zone Connection

Green Zone Institute’s online community The Green Zone Connection is designed to help us engage with Mindful Communication teachings and training in our daily lives. It’s meant to be a workable and lighthearted approach to learning, allowing us to come and go as we please while gathering inspiration at whatever level we desire.
Asia , Europe

(Aug 22) How We Talk to Ourselves: the Basic Goodness of Mindful Speech, the Mindlessness of Losing Our Confidence, and How it Can Affect Others with Greg Heffron

Using simple metaphors and exercises, this talk aims to root us in the good connection we have with our own experience, and to uncover how, if ignored, our self-aggression can end up harming others.

$75.00

Our Programs

Click for a unique guided meditation on our “Natural Communication System”

Green Zone Institute programs utilize mindfulness meditation and the techniques of Contemplative Psychology and the Contemplative Arts. Mindful Communication goes beyond communication skill building. While learning new skills is important, if we don’t identify and relate to the emotional states we inhabit during challenging communication, following “correct” rules or patterns will still produce harmful and ineffective results. In contrast, if we learn to recognize and take advantage of our natural open state of mind (‘The Green Light’), communication can be genuine, fresh and lively. This allows for creative and unexpected solutions with connection and precision, honesty and care.

Click to see our full list of programs.

Senior Instructor Greg Heffron interviewed by Lydia Greyheart for the radio show Love, Sex and Everything Between

Greg describes the natural state of open communication, and how by suppressing our innate mindfulness, we end up closing down.

Greg Heffron: What is Mindful Communication?

Greg Heffron explains the Traffic Light metaphor

for more video samples, click here.

Susan Chapman: Open & Closed Communication

Susan Gillis Chapman explains the difference between true empathy and suppressing our intelligence

for audio interviews and samples, click here

INTERVIEWS

Click to hear interviews with Susan Gillis Chapman and Greg Heffron (and others) about The Five Keys to Mindful Communication and the different programs we offer.