In the last decade, the recognition of the importance of the spiritual in our everyday lives continues to reach important heights and larger widespread acknowledgement. Some are no longer able to set aside the value and recognition that a spiritual practice or perspective has in transmuting and transforming the human struggle and condition that is thoroughly part of our lives until it is carefully unwoven, thread by thread, with presence, with compassion, with balance, with true seeing, and with mindfulness.
For those who find themselves recognizing the necessity of spiritual work as an inextricable part of the psychological work, I offer the information below as a way to illuminate some of the supportive energies at work when spirituality becomes part of the therapy process.
My own experience
After taking my first yoga and meditation class at age 18, I was profoundly affected by the power of these practices to assist in the development of “just being.” In this busy culture we are rewarded and praised for production, result and for doing and doing and doing more! It’s no wonder that we can suffer from feeling inadequate or not enough. It is in this true place of “being with” that opens up a tremendous inner world with so many of the answers, reflections, awareness, insights, and compassion that we may have been earnestly seeking but not found.
My explorations and studies of the various meditations traditions have taken me on a continuous journey through the worlds of Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan Buddhism in addition to the Bhakti & Devotional Practices of the Hindu traditions. I have also been guided by the self inquiry, process, and being work of A.H. Almaas, Byron Katie, & Eckhart Tolle to name a few. I am also a Registered Yoga Therapist and yogic principles, practices, and wisdom are incorporated in my practice, workshops and retreats when it is the right medicine. I have taught meditation and yoga classes for teens and adults at a number of different settings in the Bay Area since 1994.
For many people already engaged with an ongoing spiritual practice of any kind, working with a practitioner who can support the integration of spiritual and psychological work becomes essential and inseparable. To be able to sit in the space together with whatever arises, and to whole heartedly listen to & through it, to open up to truly feeling and sensing through it and to see what comes from that becomes an important spiritual and mindfulness tool that has many benefits. Our work together will continue to cultivate the psychic and spiritual muscle through both the meditative and therapeutic process that grows with your spiritual or religious practice.