SDI Encounters

Walking With Spiritual Independents - Perspectives on Seeking Spiritual Freedom

There are many attempts at categorizing those walking a path of spiritual freedom. We see, and use, broad terms such as ‘Spiritual Independents’, ‘Spiritual but not religious’, or ‘The Nones’. These categories, as any, are ultimately limited. As spiritual directors and companions, we know each person’s spiritual story is unique, regardless of spiritual tradition and orientation.
So all that said, how do we companion the spiritual explorer – the wayfarer who has left the religion of their upbringing, practices more than one religion, or does not see themselves as rooted in a particular religious tradition or spiritual orientation? How do we nurture the increased spiritual curiosity and playfulness our companions bring to their sessions with us? How do we help others navigate the rejection of an upbringing, or subjection to a religion and spirituality they found stunted or even harmful? What if that tradition they’ve left behind is one we cherish?
These questions are the underpinnings of our new online series from SDI – Seeking Spiritual Freedom – about companioning those who have entered the spiritual wilderness, and earnestly tread a “wayless path” that is beyond what they know, and possibly what others have known. However one’s unique journey manifests, the diversity of the paths walked by those we companion will only continue to grow. 
In this podcast I talked with all our presenters for this series, about their work and service to others, how they understand the path of spiritual freedom, and what to expect from our upcoming series – which you can register for now on our website, sdicompanions.org. I’ll introduce each of them as we go.
 

Kō Sam Tullman - Disease and Dis-Ease on the Spiritual Path

SDI has launched registration for a new webinar for all spiritual directors and companions, it’s called Disease and Dis-Ease on the Spiritual Path, a series on being a wise companion to yourself and others when the fragility of human life is most evident: in times of illness.
Our guide for this series is Kō Sam Tullman, founder of DiabetesSangha and Head of Behavioral Science at Quilt Technologies. With deep roots in Rinzai Zen Buddhism and a broad background in religious traditions, neuroscience, and modern Western psychology, Sam brings a unique perspective to this journey. His work blends brain, behavior, and technology to empower people to make healthy, life-affirming choices. Sam’s expertise in understanding the body’s physiological and psychological states will offer profound insights into how we can transform dis-ease into a path of healing and self-discovery.
In this episode Kō Sam shares a bit on what to expect during this webinar series.
Each session of this series will offer grounding practices, insightful discussions, and contemplative exercises, helping you deepen your understanding of the body-mind-spirit connection. We will cover the spiritual and neurobiological process of tending to those things which ail us, that they may teach us. Whether for personal growth or supporting others, this series provides valuable tools to navigate the spiritual journey through dis-ease. Transform challenges into opportunities for learning and compassion.
Learn more and register here - all are welcome: https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/dis-ease-on-the-spiritual-path/

Journey to India, January 2025 - Companionship and Transformation - Amrutham Babu

In this episode, recorded Thursday August 1st 2024, I spoke with Amrutham Babu, where we discussed the "Journey to India" from SDI, a 14-day and 15-night experience taking place from January 10 to 24, 2025. This trip is specifically designed for spiritual directors and companions, offering an in-depth look at India's spiritual heritage.
The journey includes:
- **Internal Airfare:** Travel between locations within India.
- **Airport Shuttle:** Pick-up and drop-off from the airport.
- **Accommodation:** Single and twin/double rooms available.
- **Meals:** Daily breakfast at the hotel.
- **Arrival/Departure Assistance:** Transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle.
- **Sightseeing Transportation:** Private, air-conditioned coach.
- **Guides:** A local English-speaking guide, an experienced spiritual companion, and an SDI staff member.
- **Entrance Fees:** Access to all monuments.
- **Toll Taxes and 5% GST.**
- **Activities:** Rickshaw ride in Delhi, village tour in Amritsar, battery van ride in Agra, daily yoga sessions in Rishikesh, and a boat ride on the Ganges River in Varanasi.
This journey is an opportunity for spiritual growth and connection through experiencing India's spiritual heritage. Amrutham and I explore the details of this transformative trip and how you can be part of it.
Come join us. Learn more and register here: https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/india-journey-january-2025/

NEW VIDEO POD - Spiritual Companionship Through Queer Lenses - Larry J Morris III

We're experimenting with a video version of our podcast on spiritual direction and companionship! In this first video conversation, we chat with Larry J Morris III about the broader themes of our upcoming webinar series, Beyond Binaries: Spiritual Companionship Through Queer Lenses. 
To watch the video of this conversation, head over to YouTube: https://youtu.be/vfoR4UXW5wU
To learn more about our series, and sign up to join us, click here: https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/beyond-binaries-spiritual-companionship-through-queer-lenses/
In this series we will experience stories of spiritual companionship, presented by a diverse group of queer Mystics, who approach their work as spiritual companions through diverse and open-hearted containers. All spiritual directors, companions, and wayfarers are encouraged to participate, walking any straight, queer, or otherwise crooked path to Wholeness.
This engaging new SDI series, open to all people and all identities, invites us to explore our lives, our work as spiritual companions, and our very souls, through the prism of queer perspectives. Indeed we can understand Queerness as a wisdom path – one which, along with our other spiritual traditions and orientations, offers deep wisdom, profound insight, and spiritual liberation. And in true openness and interspiritual dialogue, all of us, queer or straight,  can glean insight from the spiritual jewels of the mystical path of queerness.
If that statement invites excitement and possibility, this webinar is for you. If it invites discomfort, this webinar is also for you.
Learn more and register – everyone is welcome – at sdicompanions.org. https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/beyond-binaries-spiritual-companionship-through-queer-lenses/

Meditation and Mindfulness with the SDI Community - Sean Murphy

In this week’s episode, SDI’s Creative Director Matt Whitney speaks with Sean Murphy on his upcoming webinar series on Meditation and Mindfulness. To learn more and register, please visit https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/zen-meditation-and-mindfulness-for-spiritual-directors-and-companions/
Sean Tetsudo Murphy, Sensei, is a fully authorized Zen teacher in the American White Plum lineage, as well an award-winning author and recipient of a 2018 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing. He served six years as a member of the SDI board, and has taught on a number of occasions for SDI programs. He is highly experienced in sharing traditional meditative techniques in interfaith and secular settings for practitioners of all backgrounds. The author of One Bird, One Stone:108 Contemporary Zen Stories as well as three novels with Bantam Dell books, he is founder and director of The Sage Institute of Taos, NM, which hosts an innovative ecumenical Meditation and Mindfulness Leader Training Program. He also teaches meditation, creative writing, and literature for the University of New Mexico-Taos and many other venues. His websites are www.sagetaos.org and www.murphyzen.com

SDI Solstice Celebrations - Why We Do Them

This week, through June 24, we are running our Solstice Celebration, which offers 20 percent savings on most everything SDI offers, including memberships. In this conversation with Executive Director Rev. SeiFu, we discuss why we do these celebrations, and how we hope folks benefit.
An SDI membership is a particularly valuable and critical way to develop, connect, and expand the practice of spiritual companionship and the vibrant and deeply meaningful community we share. Whether a seasoned veteran or a newly budding spiritual director, we all benefit greatly from the exchange and conversation that occurs on a community-wide level. If you haven’t already, consider taking advantage of 20% off a new or renewed SDI membership through Monday June 24th!
Discounts this extensive are only available twice per year and include new webinars, journeys and pilgrimages, retreats, special bundled packages, books and publications, advertising, and, as we mentioned, even memberships!  
 

Preview Part 3: New Perspectives on the Enneagram - Chelsea Forbrook, Rev. Nhien Vuong

This is Part Three of our preview for our next 10-session course, New Perspectives on the Enneagram for Troubled Times, featuring Chelsea Forbrook and Rev. Nhien Vuong. 
Those familiar with the Enneagram know what a powerful tool for self-discovery and insight it can be. With that in mind we are pleased to announce our latest 10 session course offering from SDI – New Perspectives on the Enneagram for Spiritual Directors and Companions. This unique online course offering from SDI offers spiritual directors and companions the opportunity to connect with peers who are on the leading edge of the Enneagram field.  This course will give seasoned Enneagram explorers the opportunity to take a deep dive and develop new perspectives about the use of this medium in spiritual direction and companionship, while honing new skills and approaches to their practice and calling.
We recently hosted a preview of this series, inviting many of our Presenters for this course to share their perspectives – what’s new, what’s stirring for them, how does exploration of the Enneagram take them beyond archetpyes and personality types – and into deeper reality and identity?
To learn more about the presenters, the course, and to register, go to sdicompanions.org. You do not need to be a spiritual director, or an SDI Member to attend (though members receive large discounts on the registration price).
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Chelsea Forbrook is the author of “Blessing My Demons: How to Name, Tame & Transform Your Inner Critic,” available in stores and on Amazon October 2023.
Chelsea was awarded a scholarship from Spiritual Directors International (SDI) to be a part of the New Contemplatives cohort in 2018 (a selected group of outstanding spiritual directors under age 40), and is a current member of SDI.
Chelsea Forbrook is the President of Enneagram Minnesota, and is a Spiritual Director and Enneagram educator based in Minneapolis, MN. She takes great delight in making spiritual principles and practices easy and accessible for all. Chelsea is certified through Full Circle Enneagram, The Enneagram Institute, Russ Hudson’s year long Depth Certification in Conscious Living, The Somatic Enneagram, and is an accredited professional through the International Enneagram Association (IEA). She teaches a five month experiential Enneagram course for personal transformation, is the creator of the Enneaplaque (a meditation tool for awakening), and hosts a podcast called “The Enneagram of Essence.”
Before Chelsea discovered the Enneagram, she was immersed in anti-racism facilitation work through ASDIC (Anti Racism Study Dialogue Circles), the YWCA, and People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. Chelsea holds a degree in religious studies with an emphasis on Liberation Theology, and a certificate in Leadership Toward Racial Justice from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Learn more about Chelsea at www.chelseaforbrook.com
Reverend Nhien Vuong, J.D., M.Div., (she/her/hers) is an international Enneagram thought leader, keynote presenter, and retreat facilitator who spiritually companions individuals around the globe using a compassion-based, contemplative approach to the Enneagram. A former Stanford-trained attorney, Nhien left the law to support the evolution of consciousness. An ordained Unity minister, Nhien has been studying the Enneagram since 2002 and teaching it since 2006. She is a Certified Enneagram Teacher, Accredited Enneagram Professional, and the Founder of Evolving Enneagram, a community-based business whose interdisciplinary team of Enneagram professionals offers interspiritual programming to seed and sustain our collective awakening. A Vietnamese refugee living in the United States, Nhien is passionate about a world in which everyone belongs. She regularly offers scholarships for her programs and volunteers to teach the Enneagram to recovery groups, non-profits, and the incarcerated. Nhien is the upcoming author of Enneagram of Soul, a 40-day contemplative Enneagram companion guide to living a more authentic, inspired, and soulful life, scheduled to be published by Hampton Roads in 2025.

Preview Part 2: New Perspectives on the Enneagram - Allen Proctor, Erlina Edwards, Ben Campbell

This is Part Two of our preview for our next 10-session course, New Perspectives on the Enneagram for Troubled Times, featuring Allen Proctor, Erlina Edwards, and Ben Campbell. 
Those familiar with the Enneagram know what a powerful tool for self-discovery and insight it can be. With that in mind we are pleased to announce our latest 10 session course offering from SDI – New Perspectives on the Enneagram for Spiritual Directors and Companions. This unique online course offering from SDI offers spiritual directors and companions the opportunity to connect with peers who are on the leading edge of the Enneagram field.  This course will give seasoned Enneagram explorers the opportunity to take a deep dive and develop new perspectives about the use of this medium in spiritual direction and companionship, while honing new skills and approaches to their practice and calling.
We recently hosted a preview of this series, inviting many of our Presenters for this course to share their perspectives – what’s new, what’s stirring for them, how does exploration of the Enneagram take them beyond archetpyes and personality types – and into deeper reality and identity?
To learn more about the presenters, the course, and to register, go to sdicompanions.org. You do not need to be a spiritual director, or an SDI Member to attend (though members receive large discounts on the registration price).
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Allen Proctor is Director of the Haden Institute, spiritual director and Presbyterian Minister. Allen works with others to explore questions of identity, relationships, vocation and meaning, using Dream Work, the Enneagram, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, meditation practices and creation spirituality.
Erlina Edwards, passioned by her business interests and spiritual pursuits, is known to many as an Organizational Builder and Enneagram Practitioner. Driven by her commitment to Human Potential Development, she successfully built sustainable organizations to advance emotional intelligence and overall psychological wellness. Erlina Edwards initially earned her Enneagram certification through The Enneagram School of Narrative Tradition and is professionally certified through the IEA. Erlina is an International Interfaith Seminary graduate, an accredited Spiritual Director, and a certified IDEA Consultant (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racist). Erlina also holds accredited academic certifications that have advanced and broadened her business and spiritual studies. She is the Co-Executive Director of The Narrative Enneagram School and runs a private spiritual consulting practice; she lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, Gene.
Ben Campbell is a Riso-Hudson Certified Enneagram teacher living in Bath, Maine. In addition to his own programs and coaching, he was selected as a Coach/Facilitator for the Shift Network’s Enneagram Certification Program in Conscious Living (2021-2022) with Russ Hudson and Jessica Dibb. He also presented two talks at the 2023 Global Enneagram Conference in San Francisco: “An Introduction to the Enneagram & Inner Work,” and “Rewilding the Enneagram.” He has appeared on the podcasts “No Small Thing”, “The Enneagram of Essence,” “The Lonely Edges,” and “The Blindspot,” and he taught the Minnesota IEA’s March 2021 Workshop “Passions and Purposes.” He holds a degree in East Asian Studies from Bates College. He is an apprentice at the Maine Primitive Skills School and a long-time student of the Animas Valley Institute. Ben is also President and founder of Enneagram Northeast USA, an official chapter of the International Enneagram Association.

Preview Part 1: New Perspectives on the Enneagram - Sandra Smith and Dina ElBadry

Those familiar with the Enneagram know what a powerful tool for self-discovery and insight it can be. With that in mind we are pleased to announce our latest 10 session course offering from SDI – New Perspectives on the Enneagram for Spiritual Directors and Companions. This unique online course offering from SDI offers spiritual directors and companions the opportunity to connect with peers who are on the leading edge of the Enneagram field.  This course will give seasoned Enneagram explorers the opportunity to take a deep dive and develop new perspectives about the use of this medium in spiritual direction and companionship, while honing new skills and approaches to their practice and calling.
We recently hosted a preview of this series, inviting many of our Presenters for this course to share their perspectives – what’s new, what’s stirring for them, how does exploration of the Enneagram take them beyond archetpyes and personality types – and into deeper reality and identity?
In this episode, we are sharing the first two presenters from this free session, who also will be part of our upcoming course, Sandra Smith and Dina ElBadry.
To learn more about the presenters, the course, and to register, go to sdicompanions.org. You do not need to be a spiritual director, or an SDI Member to attend (though members receive large discounts on the registration price).
In the next episode of this podcast we’ll have Part Two of this session, featuring Allen Proctor, Erlina Edwards, and Ben Campbell, then we’ll release Part Three with Chelsea Forbrook, Rev. Nhien Vuong, and a brief Q&A.
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With over 23 years of teaching experience, author Sandra Smith weaves her background in business and non-profits with her theological education to offer a practical and compassionate exploration of the Enneagram’s nine types. An accredited International Enneagram Association Professional and certified in the Narrative Enneagram Tradition, Sandra teaches internationally, inviting curiosity and compassion to guide the inward turn in exploring the foundational question, “Who Am I?” Sandra has presented at numerous International Enneagram Association Conferences in the USA as well as Canada, and been a speaker at several SDI (Spiritual Directors International) conferences, speaking to the role of the Enneagram in Spiritual Companioning. Her forthcoming book The Enneagram Map to Your Deeper Self: Living Beyond Your Type will be released by Hampton Roads Publishing in September 1, 2024.
Dina ElBadry is an IEA accredited professional and Founder & Head Teacher at The Enneagram Academy, Egypt. She works with Chestnut Pães Academy As Head Mentor Worldwide & Staff member in Africa and Europe. Dina studied the Gurdjieff work and she teaches the CP levels of awareness model that’s based on both Gurdjieff & Sufi Work.

SDI's 2024 Online Conference: Navigating the Global Dark Night of the Soul of Spiritual Directors and Companions

In this week's episode, Rev. SeiFu speaks with Matt Whitney on SDI's 2024 online conference.
Our conference theme this year is “Navigating the Global Dark Night of the Soul of Spiritual Directors and Companions.” We will create an opening and a field for spiritual directors and companions to listen, and speak, into the hardships, struggles, and opportunities we have encountered over the last few difficult years.  Unfortunately, the world’s circumstances don’t seem to be improving, but rather, progressively worsening in many ways.  So we will need particularly effective tools to address empathy fatigue, burnout, and the very same afflictions that can ail all of us at any time: isolation, loneliness, despair, and loss of meaning and purpose.
JOIN US MAY 8-10, 2024!
Let us come together to listen and share insights, fostering a supportive community to navigate these complex times. 
Register now at sdicompanions.org