5 Ways Spiritual Direction Can Improve Your New Year

Last updated on: January 3, 2017 at 3:32 pm by Teresa Blythe

5 Ways Spiritual Direction Can Improve Your New Year 2017-01-03T15:32:23-08:00 Teresa Blythe

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Have you included “getting spiritually grounded” on your list of goals for 2017?

If so, you may find the practice of spiritual direction helpful. Spiritual direction is a contemplative look at what really matters in your life.

Here are 5 ways spiritual direction can be helpful to you:

Spiritual direction provides a safe, confidential space for you to share your hopes, dreams, beliefs, doubts, spiritual experiences and longings. A spiritual director is a nonjudgmental presence who can assist you in answering your own questions about paths to take in life. A spiritual direction session allows you freedom to speak from your deepest truth and become accustomed to what it feels like to always speak from that place.

Spiritual direction adds one more person to your circle of support. Everyone needs a “dream team,” a circle of people who encourage you, help you set boundaries and help you move past your fears. Spiritual directors offer one kind of support—we listen deeply as you share life’s ups and downs, and we can help you identify where God is most active in your daily life.

Spiritual direction can help you discern your role in making the world a more loving and compassionate place. None of us can do everything but each of us can do something—something we are particularly suited for in the healing of the world. Discerning our call, our place, our point of action is important. The discernment you do in spiritual direction can help you avoid burnout from spreading yourself too thin.

Spiritual direction can help you process and heal wounds of abuse and exclusion at the hands of religious institutions. Sadly, people who look, act or think differently from the religious institution they grew up in can feel adrift spiritually. You do not have to go to church, synagogue, mosque, scripture studies or any other form of religious or spiritual activity to be welcome in spiritual direction. In fact, many people who see spiritual directors are there because they don’t know where they belong when it comes to faith communities. Spiritual direction is one place you are not judged for your participation or lack of participation in faith communities.

Most importantly, spiritual direction is designed to help you deepen your awareness of the sacred in life. It’s one hour, once a month, where you can sit with someone who knows what it’s like to long for a deeper relationship with God. We don’t offer solutions, instead we explore with you those moments when you experience a glimmer of God. Spiritual direction helps you pay closer attention to those moments. If you are looking for a few spiritual practices to help with that, we can offer those and we’ll do them with you if you need accompaniment.

I hope you will consider spiritual direction if your heart is calling out for a guide along the spiritual path. To find out more about spiritual direction, visit my websites www.teresablythe.net or www.phoenixspiritualdirection.com. You may also contact me at [email protected].

Happy New Year!

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