SDI Encounters

EP081 - Nonviolent Communication - Pam Winthrop Lauer

In this episode, I (Matt Whitney) go into the fishbowl of spiritual companionship with Pam Winthrop Lauer, a spiritual director and a practitioner and teacher of Nonviolent Communication, or (NVC). Also known as Connecting Communication, Non Violent Communication is a revolutionary communication model that provides concrete ways to transform judgment, anger, and fear into compassion for ourselves and others. NVC offers strong, effective tools to connect open-heartedly with anyone, so that when we are called outward into the public square, we have the skills to work for change nonviolently – i.e. in a way that honors the sacredness of all humanity.
Pam introduces NVC to us, offers a meditation, which then moves into our process – in which I offer a conflict I am having, with myself. Rather, my Inner Critic, that voice in my head that tells me that the things I make, as an artist and as a creative practitioner, are not good.
Pam Winthrop Lauer grew her spiritual direction and Nonviolent Communication practices gradually over 15 years while raising her children and caring for her husband who was ill.  In 2015, with her children grown and husband recovering, Pam launched a full-time practice of spiritual direction and NVC coaching and teaching.  She also volunteers as an interfaith leader.  Pam's teaching style is dynamic, effective, and gentle.  She is a candidate to become a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (cnvc.org).  Her spiritual direction certification is through the Lev Shomea Jewish Spiritual Direction Training Program of 2001-2003.
 

EP080 - Sexuality and Spiritual Companionship - Part 4 with Langston Kahn

This week we continue with our four part series on the exploration of sexuality in spiritual companionship. Facilitated by Frederica Helmiere, we present to you a series of perspectives from several spiritual directors, pastors, and guides on how they approach sexuality in their roles as spiritual companions. These episodes are offered in conjunction with our upcoming webinar series Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality, which you can learn more about at sdicompanions.org.
 
This week features a conversation with Frederica and Langston Kahn, a New York City based shamanic practitioner specializing in emotional clearing and radical transformation. He stands firmly at the crossroads, his practice informed by the western modality of Inner Relationship Focusing, initiations into traditions of the African Diaspora, the contemporary shamanic tradition of The Last Mask Center and the guidance of his helping spirits and ancestors weaving it all together.
 
Langston has studied and facilitated Inner Relationship Focusing, developed by Ann Weiser Cornell for the last 8 years. He has completed 5 years of training with Christina Pratt in the Cycle of Transformation and also serves on the leadership council for the Last Mask Community, a community of contemporary people striving to live in alignment with ancient shamanic beliefs and principles in a way that answers the unique challenges of our time.
 
A new thing we’re introducing this week is a Podcast Forum – a place where SDI Members can be in conversation about topics related to the podcast. We’re very excited about this new benefit, which is for SDI Members. You can become a member and join in the conversation by going to our website – sdicompanions.org
 
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming webinar, Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality In this two part webinar, we will explore embodied spirituality, sexuality and the divine erotic as they relate to the practice of spiritual companionship. Join us for this practice-based training designed for spiritual companions, guides and directors. Learn more at https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/sdi-webinar-series-spiritual-companionship-and-the-divine-erotic-ethics-and-sexuality/
 
 

EP079 - Sexuality and Spiritual Companionship - Part 3 with Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale

This week we continue with our four part series on the exploration of sexuality in spiritual companionship. Facilitated by Frederica Helmiere, we present to you a series of perspectives from several spiritual directors, pastors, and guides on how they approach sexuality in their roles as spiritual companions. These episodes are offered in conjunction with our upcoming webinar series Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality, which you can learn more about at sdicompanions.org.
 
This week features a conversation with Frederica and the Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale. RevBEV is the Chair and Founder of the Incarnation Institute for Sex & Faith, and she is a workshop presenter for our upcoming SDI Conference in Santa Fe.
 
A new thing we’re introducing this week is a Podcast Forum – a place where SDI Members can be in conversation about topics related to the podcast. We’re very excited about this new benefit, which is for SDI Members. You can become a member and join in the conversation by going to our website – sdicompanions.org
 
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Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale is the Chair and Founder of the non-profit, Incarnation Institute for Sex & Faith where she trains professional leadership an inclusive, science-friendly, and sex-positive Christianity. An artist and musician she has written, produced and performed in her one-woman show, An Irreverent Journey From Eggbeaters to Vibrators. She is the co-author of Advancing Sexual Health for The Christian Client recently published in 2019 by Routledge Publications. This unique resource provides tools for theological and sexual health professionals as it combines the insights of science and a sex-positive Christian theology. Her ministry has included ecumenical campus ministry at the University of Pennsylvania for 21 years and as a local pastor. She is currently serving as clergy-in-residence at UnitedChristian Church in Levittown, PA and is a professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania teaching courses on sexuality and religion.
 
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming webinar, Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality In this two part webinar, we will explore embodied spirituality, sexuality and the divine erotic as they relate to the practice of spiritual companionship. Join us for this practice-based training designed for spiritual companions, guides and directors. Learn more at https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/sdi-webinar-series-spiritual-companionship-and-the-divine-erotic-ethics-and-sexuality/
 
 

EP078 - Sexuality and Spiritual Companionship - Part 2 with Tommie Watkins and Westina Matthews

This week we continue with our four part series on the exploration of sexuality in spiritual companionship. Facilitated by Frederica Helmiere, we present to you a series of perspectives from several spiritual directors, pastors, and guides on how they approach sexuality in their roles as spiritual companions. These episodes are offered in conjunction with our upcoming webinar series Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality, which you can learn more about at sdicompanions.org.
This week features a conversation with Frederica, professor and spiritual director Westina Matthews, and Episcopal Priest Father Tommie Watkins, who will be presenters at our upcoming Santa Fe conference.
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Westina Matthews is an adjunct professor for the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary, where she teaches contemplative spiritual direction. A graduate of the Spiritual Guidance program at the Shalem Institute, she is an author, public speaker, spiritual director and retreat leader whose practice reflects contemplative living through “holy listening.” Westina has contributed to several Forward Movement anthologies and was a frequent contributor to Sacred Journey: The Journal of Fellowship in Faith. Her newest book is Dancing from the Inside Out: Grace-filled Reflections on Growing Older (Church Publishing Inc., 2019).  
Father Tommie Watkins, the first openly gay ordained black priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, is the Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama. A certified Spiritual Director and licensed master social worker (LMSW), he completed his joint Doctorate in Philosophy degree from the Universities of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and University of Alabama, Birmingham, School of Public Health. Father Tommie earned his Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from The General Theological Seminary. In his book Living Out Loud, he shares his struggle of self-acceptance. Father Tommie’s favorite quote is Dr. King’s: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” As such, Father Tommie is compelled to continue to Live Out Loud.
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming webinar, Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality In this two part webinar, we will explore embodied spirituality, sexuality and the divine erotic as they relate to the practice of spiritual companionship. Join us for this practice-based training designed for spiritual companions, guides and directors. Learn more at https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/sdi-webinar-series-spiritual-companionship-and-the-divine-erotic-ethics-and-sexuality/

EP077 - Sexuality and Spiritual Companionship - Part 1 with Karen Erlichman

Today we start a four part series on the exploration of sexuality in spiritual companionship. Facilitated by Frederica Helmiere, we present to you a series of perspectives from several spiritual directors, pastors, and guides on how they approach sexuality in their roles as spiritual companions. 
Karen Erlichman, DMin, LCSW provides psychotherapy, spiritual direction, supervision and So(U)L coaching in San Francisco, with a mind-body-spirit approach to healing. Karen’s writing has been published in numerous journals, blogs and anthologies, including Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, Tikkun, Feminist Studies in Religion and in the interfaith anthology Spiritual Guidance Across Religions.  She is passionate about creating diverse and welcoming spaces for liberation, embodied spirituality and community. Her website is karenerlichman.com.
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming webinar, Spiritual Companionship and the Divine Erotic – Ethics and Sexuality In this two part webinar, we will explore embodied spirituality, sexuality and the divine erotic as they relate to the practice of spiritual companionship. Join us for this practice-based training designed for spiritual companions, guides and directors. Learn more at https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/sdi-webinar-series-spiritual-companionship-and-the-divine-erotic-ethics-and-sexuality/
 
 

EP076 - New Website! sdicompanions.org

Hey everybody; SDI has a brand new website! After months of work, we are so excited to present to our community sdicompanions.org. Built from the ground-up, sdicompanions.org integrates everything that we do, from offering clear information on the work of spiritual companionship across orientations, to our popular searchable database of spiritual companions, as well as new spaces where our members can be in conversation with one another, access resources, including a brand-new digital platform for Presence, our quarterly flagship publication. Ann Lancaster and I talked about the process of getting this website up and running, our vision for this website, and some of the new features that people will find. I invite everybody to come explore spiritual companionship, at sdicompanions.org.
A few of the items we discussed:
Our vision for the new website
Seek and Find Guide is now Find a Spiritual Companion – back end improvements, new real-time search results
Unified login
Member Forums
Events Calendar
Digital Presence

EP075 - Poetry as Spiritual Companionship - Pastor Dave Brown

This week, I and Pastor Dave Brown explore poetry as spiritual companionship. Dave shares a bit about how he began using poetry in his services as a pastor, to the ways he incorporates poems as one of the Pacific NW Interfaith Amigos, and through his Blues Vespers concerts, where he intersperses poetry reading with performances by musicians. In our conversation, the poem serves as the sacred text through which our companionship finds common ground, and shared presence.
Pastor Dave Brown retired from Immanuel Presbyterian Church, a growing progressive community where he had served since 2005, in 2018. He is the innovator of award-winning Blues Vespers, a Blues concert with poetry and reflection. While at Immanuel, he led four spiritual pilgrimages to the Island of Iona, Scotland, as well as organizing four Habitat builds in Guatemala. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Pastor Dave has served congregations in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Federal Way, Washington. He also worked as staff for the National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy, and the Comprehensive Health Education Foundations‘ Partnership Project.
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI Press – announcing its newly published book, Spiritual Direction Supervision: Principles, Practices, & Storytelling by Lucy Abbott Tucker. An innovative, full-color workbook designed to support the care and growth of your spiritual companionship practice, representing the best thinking of master teacher Lucy Abbott Tucker. We invite you to explore her principles, practices, and stories as you deepen your own approach to spiritual direction, companionship, and the supervision process. Learn more at sdicompanions.org

EP074 - Companionship in the Outdoors - Heather Makowicz

I (Matt Whitney) had a really fun conversation with one of our SDI members, Heather Makowicz, who is the founder of an organization called Peak Encounter Ministries.
As founder and president of Peak Encounter Ministries, Heather Makowicz organizes and leads hiking excursions and other outdoor experiences that integrate prayer, contemplation, and reflection with her enthusiasm while encouraging people to encounter God in his creation.
She is a certified Spiritual Director, retreat director, speaker, and outdoor adventure leader.
Heather has found a calling in speaking with young adults and women, particularly on prayer, healing, discernment, and spiritual accompaniment.
 
Heather holds a Masters Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Neumann University in Aston, PA, and a Masters in Clinical Social Work from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Peak Encounter Website: https://peakencounter.org/
Video for Peak Encounter: https://youtu.be/lbWT2QnQzeU

EP073 - The Long-Term Benefits of Meditation - Sean Murphy (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of my deep dive conversation on meditation practice with Sean Murphy, Zen Master, Author, and SDI Coordinating Council Member. Here we learn something of the long-term benefits of mindfulness, as it plays out in our work, our creativity, and our relationships. What does it look like to stick with a meditation practice for the long haul, especially when it seems like nothing is happening or nothing is changing? The fact is we are changing, and we are growing. How often have you noticed that, in the early springtime, there are buds on a tree, and then later suddenly the whole of nature is awash in color, and then just as suddenly, the trees are bare again? I think its like meditation - the process seems slow, but the results can be dramatic.
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Sean Murphy teaches meditation, creative writing and literature for UNM-Taos and has taught and presented on Zen practice and meditation for over 20 years.  Sean is the recipient of a 2018 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing, and is a fully sanctioned Zen teacher in the American White Plum lineage. He is the founder of the Sage Institute for Creativity, Consciousness & Environment, and also serves on SDI’s Coordinating Council. You can learn more about Sean’s work at his personal website, murphyzen.com, and at sagetaos.com.

EP072 - Mindfulness as the First Fruits of Meditation - Sean Murphy

I (Matt Whitney) had a wonderful deep dive conversation with Sean Murphy, Zen Master, Author, and SDI Coordinating Council Member. His story is fascinating, and there’s a lot of wisdom gleaned from his 30+ years of meditation practice. My biggest question to him is, what are the results of that practice? We have this understanding that meditation is about mindfulness – being aware of ourselves, our thoughts, our emotions, and the present moment. But listening to Sean, it’s clear that there is so much more than that. Mindfulness, as I learned from Sean, is just the first fruits of meditation.
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Sean Murphy teaches meditation, creative writing and literature for UNM-Taos and has taught and presented on Zen practice and meditation for over 20 years.  Sean is the recipient of a 2018 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing, and is a fully sanctioned Zen teacher in the American White Plum lineage. He is the founder of the Sage Institute for Creativity, Consciousness & Environment, and also serves on SDI’s Coordinating Council. You can learn more about Sean’s work at his personal website, murphyzen.com, and at sagetaos.com.
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI Press – announcing its newly published book, Spiritual Direction Supervision: Principles, Practices, & Storytelling by Lucy Abbott Tucker. An innovative, full-color workbook designed to support the care and growth of your spiritual companionship practice, representing the best thinking of master teacher Lucy Abbott Tucker. We invite you to explore her principles, practices, and stories as you deepen your own approach to spiritual direction, companionship, and the supervision process. Learn more at sdistore.org.