Completely Connected: Uniting Our Empathy and Insight for Extraordinary Results

Stunning in its simplicity, revolutionary in its impact, Completely Connected is the profound made practical. It's not just about connecting with others though your relationships will never be the same. It's not just about connecting with yourself though that's where it all starts.

In this book, Rita Marie Johnson shares the Connection Practice®, a unique method for connecting with ourselves and others that is supported by scientific research and testimony from people around the world. The practice has boosted the social and emotional intelligence of over 40,000 students in Costa Rica and won the Ashoka Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society, out of 79 projects in 32 countries.

Johnson discovered that the synergy of connecting mind and heart, feelings and needs, and insight and empathy maximizes our social-emotional intelligence, builds resilience and enhances performance. The Connection Practice is now being used by individuals, schools, businesses, and organizations to enhance personal well-being, reduce conflicts and bullying, improve communication and collaboration, and boost performance.

Completely Connected: Uniting Our Empathy and Insight for Extraordinary Results lays out the key features and benefits of the Connection Practice -- and it tells the touching, inspiring story of how Johnson came to discover it.

Johnson began teaching the practice in 2003 and found that it works for people of all ages from all walks of life. She has taught it to Central American leaders, rectors of universities, CEOs and their staffs, health professionals, public school teachers, troubled junior high students, adults with brain injuries, parents with challenging kids, idealistic college students and the list goes on. The fruits of this practice inspire hope in everyone it touches.

The goal of Connection Practice in schools is to prevent bullying and resolve conflicts creatively. In business, the implementation of Connection Practice increases rapport and accelerates innovation. Wherever the Connection Practice is initiated, it builds cooperative cultures.

Johnson's vision is a world where every person practices the art of connection and passes this gift on to the next generation. Through the vivid examples she shares, she spells out exactly how that vision can be realized.

This book will inspire you with its how-to for personal and global change as you:
- achieve maximum creativity for problem solving
- build your social and emotional intelligence resulting in solid self-esteem
- increase rapport and deepen connections, leading to a sense of belonging
- prevent or resolve conflicts in a way that brings people closer

Features:
- scientifically based explanations of how the Connection Practice works to create more harmonious and productive lives
- ideas on how the Connection Practice can improve relationships and performance in schools, businesses, government, nonprofits and at home
- plenty of first-person accounts of how the Connection Practice changed lives
- Book study guide
- full-color illustrations of the Connection Path and more informative materials

As an educator, author, speaker and award-winning innovator, Rita Marie Johnson creates and shares powerful, practical solutions for key personal and societal challenges. She has been sharing her ideas and methods worldwide for more than 10 years.

In 2004, Johnson began offering the Connection Practice methodology in Costa Rican public schools. Now close to 1,500 teachers have been trained, impacting more than 40,000 students. Annual evaluations revealed that bullying, intolerance, conflicts, violence and misconduct reports decreased. The Connection Practice earned her the Ashoka Changemakers Innovation Award, chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries.

Since 2010, Johnson has taught the Connection Practice Foundations Course at the University for Peace, a graduate school for international leaders. Through trainers certified by RFI, the Connection Practice is spreading rapidly in the United States. The Connection Practice has also been adopted in addiction recovery centers, nonprofits working on domestic violence, faith-based communities, therapeutic massage institutes and after-school programs.

In addition to presenting seminars in the U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Europe and Central America, Johnson was a keynote speaker at the Department of Peace Conference in Washington DC, at a Global Summit for Ministries and Departments for Peace in 2009 and a Rotary International Conference in 2013. Audiences everywhere have embraced her authenticity and unique solutions.

Johnson is the founder and CEO of Rasur Foundation International, which sponsors the Connection Practice. Johnson lives in Costa Rica and works globally, with headquarters for Rasur Foundation International in Dallas, Texas.

To learn more, visit rasurinternational.org.