SDI Encounters

EP071 - Talking with Lucy Abbott Tucker about Spiritual Direction Supervision

In this episode, we share a conversation between Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares, and Lucy Abbott Tucker. This conversation was a livestreamed event from SDI, which we are calling Digital Tonw Halls, and you can find the recordings of these videos by visiting the website – sdicompanions.online, or by searching for sdiworld on Youtube. In thier conversation over Zoom, Lucy shares some stories from her life that led her into her calling as a spiritual director and supervisor to spiritual directors, beginning with a mystical experience growing up in New York, and how that experience has motivated Lucy’s lifelong work.
Lucy Abbott Tucker is one of the founders of Spiritual Directors International and she led the task force to write and establish SDI’s official Guidelines for Ethical Conduct for all spiritual directors, regardless of culture or tradition. She has worked in adult formation and the preparation of people for the ministry of spiritual direction for 35 years. Lucy has led in retreats and workshops throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and Canada. 
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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.
 
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As part of our release for Lucy’s workbook, SDI is offering an online supervision workshop with Lucy Abbott Tucker this June. This 4-part introduction to spiritual direction supervision will touch on all the key themes that make supervision an essential part of the training and on-going professional development of any spiritual companion. And at $79 for SDI members, it’s a remarkable bargain that will introduce participants to key concepts and then give them the chance to put these principles and practices into action in small groups. We call it “A Taste of Spiritual Direction Supervision” and we hope you will consider joining us.
 

EP070 - A Dreamwork Session with Amy Curran - Fishbowl Spiritual Companionship

In last week’s episode of SDI Encounters, we talked with Amy Curran, a Dreamworker, about our dreams and the work of dreamwork and spiritual companionship. As part of my (Matt Whitney) exploration into dreamwork, I went through the typical dreamwork process with Amy, using one of my own dreams for this process. In this case, my dream was about working in a grocery store. So here’s how it went – I had the dream, and Amy invited me to write it out, in the present tense. I sent that to Amy, who then responded a couple of days later with some clarifying questions, such as “you mention so-and-so in your dream, or such-and-such place – describe this person, or this place, in three words.” I responded with my answers and descriptions, and Amy then creates her dream interpretation.
What follows here is our conversation about Amy’s interpretation of my dream. For someone who was admittedly ignorant about dreamwork before these conversations, I found the exercise fascinating, and really revealing. It’s a bit long for our podcasts, and it certainly feels vulnerable to put my own dream out there – especially since it includes a LOT about my work with SDI, but I hope my doing so invites you to more freely explore your own dreams, and get a sense of how dreamwork functions as a form of spiritual companionship.
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Amy Curran is a certified dreamwork facilitator, who received her two-year certification from the Haden Institute in 2019. She also has a BA in Marketing from Western Washington University. A lifelong resident of Bainbridge Island, WA. Amy’s interest in the inner realm of the dream has lead her to seek out groups to help process her own dreams. She has also worked with psychotherapists in the Jungian tradition, both of which have provided her with rich insights. Amy’s desire as a dream worker is to guide those with curiosity and interest in their dreams, through explorations of what the unconscious brings forth. She offers a safe container for deepening relationships to dreams, in her home studio on Bainbridge Island. Learn more about Amy and her work at www.innerdreamwork.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.
 

EP069 - An Introduction to Dreamwork - Amy Curran

Maybe it goes without saying, but all of us dream, multiple times a night. Some of us are more attuned to our dreams than others, with myself being one who historically has not been attuned to my dreams.
Anecdotally I (Matt Whitney) have heard about people having more recollection of their dreams, and much more vivid dreams, during this time of pandemic. And my anecdotal recalling is backed up by recent news articles on the increased reporting of vivid dreams and their unusual content from people during this time of CoronaVirus. I have included links to a few of these articles below.
So it’s with a good deal of relevance and personal curiosity that I spoke with Amy Curran, a certified dreamwork facilitator. You can learn about her work at her website www.innerdreamwork.com
Have you been dreaming more vividly and extensively during this time, and would like to explore a deeper, more purposeful meaning to your dreams? Or are you a spiritual companion looking for some ways to explore dreams with the people you work with or meet with?  This episode has a lot of practical advice and tools for you to begin to work with.
And in the next episode, I go through the dreamwork process with Amy, so stay tuned for a session of "Fishbowl Spiritual Companionship" - looking into the real-life process of spiritual companionship!
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Amy Curran is a certified dreamwork facilitator, who received her two-year certification from the Haden Institute in 2019. She also has a BA in Marketing from Western Washington University. A lifelong resident of Bainbridge Island, WA. Amy’s interest in the inner realm of the dream has lead her to seek out groups to help process her own dreams. She has also worked with psychotherapists in the Jungian tradition, both of which have provided her with rich insights. Amy’s desire as a dream worker is to guide those with curiosity and interest in their dreams, through explorations of what the unconscious brings forth. She offers a safe container for deepening relationships to dreams, in her home studio on Bainbridge Island. Learn more about Amy and her work at www.innerdreamwork.com
 
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From the Los Angeles Times: You’re not imagining it: We’re all having intense coronavirus dreams https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-04-07/coronavirus-quarantine-dreams
From the New York Times: Why Am I Having Weird Dreams Lately? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/style/why-weird-dreams-coronavirus.html
From National Geographic: The Pandemic is Giving People Weird, Unusual Dreams. Here's Why: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-is-giving-people-vivid-unusual-dreams-here-is-why/
 

EP068 - Meet Ann Lancaster - SDI Production Assistant

We’re using the podcast here to occasionally introduce you to new faces and voices in the SDI Family – we heard from Desiree Casil a couple of weeks ago who is taking over for Membership Services. This week, we get to meet Ann Lancaster, who has come on as SDI’s Production Assistant, helping us with graphic and layout design, helping me in the SDI Laboratories where we are cooking up many new and exciting offerings for spiritual companions.
Ann tells us about her previous work at Microsoft, her experience so far working with SDI, her own spiritual awakening, being a Reiki practitioner, being a mega-fan of a Danish band called Mew, and how she unwinds by playing odd video games.
Learn more about the amazing Ann Lancaster through her various projects:
http://www.annlancaster.com/
https://www.whitelodgeawakening.com/
http://www.mewx.info/

EP067 - Group Spiritual Direction with Diane Millis (and new offering from SDI!)

SDI is announcing a new series of group spiritual direction sessions, facilitated by Diane Millis and Matt Whitney, beginning May 12th 2020. Learn more and register on our store site, sdistore.org. In this Encounters episode, Diane and I (Matt Whitney) talk about how she developed her methods for group spiritual direction, and what you can expect in the group zoom sessions we have upcoming for May 2020.
SDI's Group Spiritual Direction package will include 4 90-minute sessions over zoom, Tuesdays at 9am Pacific. Our time together will include Centering in shared silence, group spiritual companioning in groups of 4, and Collective Reflection and Meditation.
You can expect to gain familiarity and experience practicing a specific approach to Group Spiritual Companioning;
Co-create an occasion for community building in this period of social distancing;
Increase our sense of solidarity and service as spiritual caregivers in these uncertain times.
Diane M. Millis, PhD, is an inspirational speaker, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and consultant. She is the author of Conversation—The Sacred Art, and Re-Creating A Life: Learning How to Tell Our Most Life-Giving Story, which was named one of the "Best Spiritual Books of 2019" by Spirituality and Practice. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 

EP066 - Meet Desiree Casil - SDI Membership Services

SDI is a member based organization, with over 6000 members worldwide. We have a Membership Services Team that is there to assist our members with anything from renewing a membership to taking a payment to registering for a conference or workshop, or anything else related to your SDI Membership. Desiree Casil is taking over as our new Membership Services Coordinator, and so in this episode of Encounters I had a chat with her about how her training over zoom is going, we do a riveting roleplay in which I pretend to call in as a member with some seriously hardball questions to see how Desiree handles them. In Part 2 we chat about her weekend, some big spiritual questions Desiree is chewing on, and learn a bit about her dog Ava, whose picture is posted in these notes.
You can become a member too, by calling our Office, at 1-425-455-1565, or by going to our online store, sdistore.org.
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I just want to update you on a couple of webinar offerings we have in the next month. First of all, the Remote Spiritual Comapnionship webinar I mentioned in the roleplay is really happening. In fact it is Thursday April 22nd, with Kristen Hobby and Ravi Verma and will offer practical advice and wisdom on how to do spiritual companionship over web conference, phone, email, how to handle scheduling and payment, and some approaches to the kinds of things people are wrestling with during the global pandemic.
The 2nd Webinar I want to mention, this is really exciting, is a four part series with Mirabai Starr, titled Mystic Wisdom in an Uncertain Time, which begins May 8th. Mirabai will be sharing on insights on spiritual companionship through the contexts of St. Teresa of Avila, Ram Dass, Grief and Loss, and The Divine Feminine.
All our webinar offerings can be watched live, and are also recorded so you can watch them at your convenience. You can register for either or both of these webinars by calling our Office at 1-425-455-1565, or by going to our online store, sdistore.org.
 
 

EP065 - Hallmarks of Spiritual Companionship (Listen 14.2 - April 2020, read by SDI Staff)

At SDI we just released our quarterly digital publication of Listen – it includes a written reflection on spiritual companionship by Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares, poetry by well-known members of our SDI community, and original artwork by me. You can find it, download it, and read it from our website, sdiworld.org, under the Media navigation.
In this episode, please enjoy an audio version of the April issue of Listen, read by us at SDI.
 
 

EP064 - The Paradox of Showing Up, and Letting Go, as a Spiritual Companion - Brian Plachta

Brian Plachta is a spiritual director based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brian joined me for this conversation about spiritual direction and companionship, and he offers very practical advice for on being present to the companion, while not getting in the way or over-directing the companion’s spiritual journey. We begin with talking about the notion of failing someone we’ve been companioning, which relates to an article Brian wrote for Presence Journal, which appeared in the December 2019 issue.
What is at the essence of being a spiritual companion? Perhaps it's simply to walk alongside someone on their spiritual journey as they discern the Divine in their lives. How do we handle it when someone we’ve been walking with goes away, and takes a path that for whatever reason, we can't follow?
You can learn more about Brian's work on his website, http://brianplachta.net/
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Support for this podcast comes from SDI Digital Refuge - a new service from SDI, designed to support you through our enhanced digital offerings. As we face this time of pandemic, we hope that these offerings will offer solace and strength. Learn more at http://sdicompanions.online

BONUS - My Boss is a Zen Priest (and an amazing guitar player!)

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for awhile, or have viewed some of the SDI short videos for our Santa Fe conference, you’ve heard the guitar music in the background. You may not know that the classically trained person playing guitar is our very own Executive Director, Reverend Seifu Anil Singh-Molares, and one day at the SDI Offices he brought in his guitar and we recorded him playing so I could carve it up for our various media offerings. Well, I dug up the original recording of that session, which also has a cameo from Frederica Helmiere who had just joined SDI. So I thought it would be cool, as a bonus podcast, to release the unedited take of Reverend Seifu playing some amazingly beautiful guitar, with a few mistakes which I’m only pointing out because he needs you to know that he knows they’re mistakes. Anyway, enjoy!

EP063 - Walking as Spiritual Companionship (Pilgrimage in Place)

Pilgrimage-in-place, or, Walking as Spiritual Companionship.
For this week’s podcast, I (Matt Whitney) went for a walk with a spiritual companion. That is, my friend Jeanette Banashak went for a walk around her neighborhood in Chicago, and we recorded the conversation we had while Jeanette was walking. Jeanette is a co-founder of the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute, and is pretty knowledgeable on the topic of Pilgrimage, having undertaken multiple pilgrimage journeys around the world to many different holy sites. She is the author of The Mindful Pilgrimage: A 40-Day Pocket Devotional for Pilgrims of Any Faith or None. 
We recorded this conversation last month, and now as I record this today, there’s not a whole lot of travel going on. Our conversation feels prescient now, because we spend some time getting to what the essence of a pilgrimage is. What is supposed to happen on a pilgrimage, and what makes for a successful pilgrimage? Knowing or understanding these things, can a pilgrimage happen on a walk from your home to the grocery store? Or the post office? Or just meandering around your neighborhood?
We used the Five Excellent Practices of Pilgrimage as a framework to address this question, from a book called The Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau. I hope our conversation inspires you to try this out for yourself.
Go for a walk. Go a different direction. Go somewhere you don’t normally go. Go for the sake of going. Take your phone and call a friend, and chat while you walk. Describe what you are seeing to one-another.