What is spiritual direction?

A spiritual director once told me that if therapy is like archeology, spiritual direction is like architecture – an opportunity to develop structures that support us as we move through the world. 

Many of us feel spiritually alone, sometimes this can be the result of personal or religious trauma; this can also be a very normal response to the intersecting systems of oppression we all live within. Spiritual direction is a nurturing practice that can help us see past this isolation, understanding ourselves as embedded within a divine, enchanted, magical world.

Spiritual direction can help individuals strengthen their sense of purpose, deepen their relationship with what is sacred, and develop practices that nourish, sustain, and guide them through times of both trouble and joy.

What might a spiritual direction session look like?

In our sessions together, we will develop a sacred space to allow you to hear to the subtle insights and connections that emerge when we make room for something bigger than us.  

• Grounding
  We’ll begin with a prayer, meditation, poetry, or a ritual to open our space

• Check in
  What’s happening in your life? What’s surfacing? Where are you seeing shifts in your life? What questions are you bringing to our session? 

• Let’s Dig In
  For the majority of the session, we will engage in guided practice to witness the divine and invite transformation and growth. 

• Closing
  We will end our session with a set of intentions for the time ahead and close with a grounding practice to transition back into everyday life.

Who Do I Work With?

I work with folks of all backgrounds, faiths, traditions and identities.  I'm a practicing progressive Jew from a mixed family that includes Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and Quakers. I welcome folks of all gender identities and sexual orientations; I am genderqueer and teach a course on Trans Spirituality at CIIS.

Anna Corwin, PhD

I serve as Chair of the Women's Spirituality Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies. I've published a book, twelve Academic articles, and numerous book chapters on aging and spirituality; my research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation and has been covered by Reuters, the Huffington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. I lead community workshops on Mindful Aging and Aging as Spiritual Practice and speak frequently at conferences. I was introduced to spiritual direction in 2008, when I was living in a Catholic convent studying how nuns age successfully.

I live with my librarian-archivist partner, our two wonderful kids, and a very cute dog.

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