All spiritual directors need to be in a supervision relationship. If you are doing regular spiritual direction with anyone, you need to meet on a periodic basis with an experienced spiritual director who can assist you in taking a look at what goes on inside of you as you do this work. This supervisor should be someone other than your current spiritual director or therapist. He or she may have special training in supervision (some spiritual direction training programs incorporate... Read more

Don’t even think about becoming a spiritual director if you are not willing to be diligent about self-care. Once you begin to hold space for other people’s spiritual questions, challenges, pain and bliss, you will notice how much you need additional time for prayer, processing and play in your own life. If you don’t become wise about how much rest and reflection time you need, you can easily become emotionally overwhelmed. So here’s what I recommend for every spiritual director... Read more

This is for those of you thinking of becoming spiritual directors but who dislike the title “spiritual director” because the verb “to direct” can imply that you have answers and are directing another person toward certain answers.  Don’t get too hung up about that one word–direct. At best, spiritual directors are directing another person’s attention to an event, emotion or situation that may hold clues about where God is speaking or leading that person. So if you are holding back... Read more

Perhaps you have been reading Spiritual Direction 101 and have been wondering if you are—or could be—a spiritual director. You’ve read that training is important, advisable and enriching but since the profession is not “professionalized” (no standardized certification) training is not mandatory. You’ve read that some people fall into this work by nature of their other ministries—clergy, nuns and chaplains, for example. Others develop a sense of call over many years. Part of discerning your call to spiritual direction gets... Read more

One of the hardest spiritual practices in life is accepting that which we cannot change. Even in the case of events and situations that we can change, the practice of radical acceptance helps us find the patience we need while discerning and making the change. The term “radical acceptance” is used by many Buddhists to refer to the practice of sitting with your situation—just as it is–and feeling your emotions–just as they are–for a period of time. The interesting thing... Read more

A body prayer is any prayer that incorporates movement. It can be as simple as taking a walk with the intention that your every step be a prayer. The most popular form of body prayer today is yoga. Combining breath and movement with the intention of connecting with the source of life is a powerful form of prayer. Spiritual directors frequently suggest body prayers for people who are particularly drawn to kinesthetic experience. If someone tells me they pray best... Read more

If we think of God being as close to us as our very breath, then breath prayer is a natural. Breath and spirit are closely linked in both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament.  In the book of Job, Elihu tells Job, “the spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life,” and in the gospel of John, when Jesus appeared to the disciples after resurrection, he breathed on them and said, “Receive... Read more

If images speak louder than words to you, then your spiritual director may invite you into guided imagery at times. It’s a way of letting your imagination mingle with the Spirit and run free. You can also use guided imagery on your own in your prayer time. Here are three of my favorite, simple ways to use images: Imagine yourself the director of a stage production sitting off to the side of an empty stage. Imagine thoughts to be like... Read more

We need to practice stillness in order to become comfortable with it. When the Psalmist wrote “Be still and know that I am God,” he was telling us that to be in relationship with God, we need to settle down and become peaceful and still. Since knowing and experiencing God is what spiritual direction is all about, the practice of Centering Prayer can be very helpful both to directors and directees. This prayer is not something you would ordinarily practice... Read more

Have you ever read something  that led to such a deep and exciting insight that you had to stop, read it again, mull it over and sink into gratitude for having stumbled across just what you needed to read? If so, you know something about the essential spiritual practice of lectio divina—the Latin term for “sacred reading.” The practice of reading a sacred text over and over, mining it for meaning and clarity, is probably as old as reading itself.... Read more