Sometimes you want to sit back and think on how life is feeling to you.
Whether you believe in pure randomness or see a purpose to human life, regardless, you might appreciate making a dedicated time on occasion to allow your own answers to bubble up and be seen in the presence of a skillfully-listening witness. Between the two of you, it might be easier to keep track of the directions you are currently traveling in your life.
Life can be so mysterious. . .
Called spiritual direction or spiritual accompaniment, the relationship formed with your “Director” in these sessions are distinct from therapy or counseling because they are not oriented towards providing healing or solutions, but rather on offering reflective time together. Quite often, they can end up feeling very healing but the only goal is to make the space for reflection and self-reflection.
I’m calling these sessions where the “Director” makes a container in time for you to to be able to unpack your thoughts Life-Direction Listening sessions, sometimes by sitting very quietly and not talking much at all…
How people use Life-Direction Listening/ Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction appears in many religious and faith tradition lineages around the world, under different forms and names.
Specifically, in the group I have studied with, it developed in seminaries for people who feel called to fulfill a role as a pastoral counselor (a rabbi, nun, priest, or Christian monk). Such folx might meet once or twice a month with their ‘Director’ to help discern how they want to answer their calling now that they are in seminary, what communities they are serving and what roles they are rising to meet, and then to evaluate how it is going for them to be fulfilling that role.
In both Jewish and Christian traditions it has become common for some people to meet once a month for spiritual direction during a specific time in their life where the time together is supportive to their healing or life goals.
For example, when planning on becoming a parent, or when a close loved one is on their own healing journey and you want a space to reflect on the situation that’s distinct from therapy and feelings.
Or, because you are a caregiver (already a parent, a therapist, a medical professional) and want a quiet reflective space to contemplate the big questions of life that your role brings to your attention. They might meet with their ‘Director’ for a few sessions, a few months and then feel complete. Or, such a space might extend a couple of years. You decide.
Some people want to meet just once or twice a year to serve as a guidepost to think back on what’s happened since the last time they met with their ‘Director.’
What’s Involved?
I send the interested person a short ‘Care Survey’/ Intake form to get a sense of how they may want to approach using the time together.
And to give some background about what they can expect from the sessions, which are conducted over video conference software like Zoom or GoogleMeet.
To schedule an exploratory free 15-minute conversation, email me at Victoria (at) Ayurveda-Healthcare (dot) com
Life-direction listening is a willingness to listen to your own life. They are sessions where the main modality is my amplification of your own intuition, my trained noticing of what you notice. A space made in time to witness yourself and to be witnessed, to look for patterns that emerge or for choices to crystalize. Clarity can reveal what may be Your Next Step in the path of your life…
Overall, Your Being-ness Shines Through
In everything I offer, ultimately, the practice is about you listening to yourself, your intuition, and your body, with input and guidance from the deep traditions I have studied.
The ayurvedic dietary and lifestyle management packages I offer include my reflective presence in our session time together. But Spiritual Direction, a.k.a. Life-Direction Listening, is a space I am making available apart from ayurvedic consultation sessions.
I’m feeling so very blessed to have been able to sit with a cohort of students at the feet of some very wise, liberatory spiritual direction instructors and to bring that presence through to my own clients and patients, now.