Spiritual Direction is establishing a relationship with a Spiritual Director who can help guide a person in their spiritual journey, explore answers to life’s big questions, and shape beliefs. Spiritual Direction is a trust relationship with a Spiritual Director who takes time to listen and understand, offers empathy, insight and guidance on the path toward personal growth.
The goal of Spiritual Direction is to help people connect with their faith and with the ineffable in a deeper, more meaningful way. It is also useful in setting people free from the trappings of organized religion, reconnecting with God, purpose and presence. Sometimes that includes helping a person deconstruct their faith and belief in order to be free of structures that are not helpful or useful. The goal of a coherent spiritual life is that a person feels more grounded in their particular story and has a greater sense of well-being and meaning.
Spiritual Practices
A person in Spiritual Direction will learn and utilize practices that help them access their inner voice and intuition. Spiritual practices include, but are not limited to: meditation, writing, centering prayer, and body awareness practices like Yoga and Somatic Experiencing. A person’s spirituality is not separate from their intellectuality, emotionality and physicality. Discerning is accessing all the different channels of awareness to come to a sense of the whole and move toward a state of balance and health.
Discernment in Spiritual Direction
Discernment is utilizing all a person’s faculties, their intuition, their inner wisdom, feedback from others, as well as a person’s perceptions of and about God. All those things serve to facilitate a greater awareness of a plan and purpose for life, or simply greater understanding of self and existence. Successful discernment flows directly into practical application.
A Spiritual Director will offer guidance on your meditation, prayer and contemplation practices. You may practice meditation and contemplation in solitude, but also collectively as a part of Spiritual Direction. Spiritual Direction itself is a contemplative activity – two or more people accessing their contemplative selves to glean some helpful insights and practical direction.
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