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Mystery & Magic in the Unfolding
I lean in to the mystical. I can’t get enough of it … reading about it, having my own direct experiences (even if they’re brief and sometimes sporadic), living for the ‘big aha’s’ of life. So reading about boundaries and ethics didn’t set my soul on fire but I absolutely see the importance of it. The Virtual Residential Intensive (VRI) also made it come alive, as we talked about how we are physically integrating the principles more deeply into our lives. It might be one of the most important topics we cover related to how we do the work of spiritual direction. In terms of ethics as a Spiritual Director, SDI does a great job of outlining them. It feels pretty straightforward to me, not unlike the ethics I’m bound to as a yoga teacher. It’s important to understand the power dynamics at play…
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Receiving the Sacred Tale
I let things be here. I show up. As myself. I have nothing to hide. It feels good. Training to be a Spiritual Director is life-changing and life-giving work. Below is my Reflective Expression for Modules 5 & 6. ‘Receiving the sacred tale,’ to me, is a lot different from ‘listening to a tale,’ or even ‘listening to a sacred tale.’ Receiving involves our whole being, and that is exactly what we are called to in spiritual direction, no matter on which side we sit. Pure presence is an amazing tool to cultivate this capacity. I loved all of the material in this module, and I love thinking about each of us going on a ‘hero’s journey.’ It’s something we rarely think about so thank you for giving voice to the physical thing we are doing (and have likely done several times over in…
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Relax … Trust Your Life
Documenting the journey. This is my Reflective Expression for Module Four of my Spiritual Direction Certification/Master’s of Pastoral Counseling Program … As I sit here reflecting on Module Four, tears stream down my face. So much is moving in me that is hard to articulate. The Divine has always been present in my life, more present than my own breath and the blood coursing through my veins, but for much of my life I never saw it that way. While I’ve always been spiritually inclined and attuned, at the same time something has often made me feel alone and at war with the world … ego? Throughout life, I’ve been driven to excel and I’ve often felt like it was up to me (and only me) to get where I wanted to go. I see now that God has always been directing my actions,…
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Spirit vs. Ego
The concept of True Self/false self is not new to me. As a long time yogi, I’ve been working on recognizing ego vs. spirit for a long time. One would think that I’d be ‘good at it’ by now, having mastered it, even. Not so much. But I am convinced that simply understanding the fact that they both exist (and are both necessary), is the first step in working my way through them. Since finding the work of the Center for Action and Contemplation, I’ve recognized many full-circle moments, events, concepts and situations. Having spent two and a half decades dedicating my life to yoga—practice and philosophy—it was quite a moment to recognize that many of the concepts I’d learned from yogic philosophy have direct correlations within the context of Christian Mysticism (as well as mysticism within other traditions). The church (religion), for me,…
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Metta & Growing in Compassion
Metta (lovingkindness) practice is a tool to grow compassion, and compassion is absolutely essential to the work of spiritual guidance. Metta, it seems to me, is a deep internal practice that uses the mind, yet bypasses it entirely. It meshes the heart with the mind with the soul. As we repeat the short simple phrases for ourselves, our loved ones and those we don’t hold in high esteem, our hearts begin to incline toward a softer way of being; our hearts grow more compassionate. We cannot will compassion per se; it is more of a graced way of being. We can, however, practice metta to nurture its growth within us. What I sense from the readings and recordings is an intention on your part, as our guides and teachers, to help us grow contemplatively. The contemplative mind, to me, is non-dual. It is not…
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My God Story
The first writing assignment for my spiritual direction/pastoral counseling program was to write and record my spiritual memoir. I loved the process; it made me hone my thoughts from minutia to big picture. I share here now for posterity’s sake: What an adventure my spiritual journey has been. I used to envy the self-assured ones, those with complete certitude in their faith (and lives, in general). My truth, however, is that I’ve always been a seeker. I used to run from this fact; it made me feel inadequate. But that was only a made-up story in my head, due in part to a dis-regulated nervous system that is finally healing—the main block that has kept me from trusting myself, God, and from living into my fullness. Today I have deep faith in God and recognize that everything has been divinely timed. My spiritual heritage…
