Make The Most Of Spiritual Direction

You’ve made the decision. You’ve set aside time for spiritual guidance. But you might be wondering, “What am I going to talk about today?” If you have a burning question, situation, or spiritual experience to explore with your spiritual leader, that’s okay — start there. But what if you don’t?

Whether you’re experiencing serious problems or not, here are some ways to get the most out of your spiritual direction session.

Take some time before your session to think about what you want to discuss.

This seems obvious, but sometimes our busy lives can get packed with one appointment to the next with little time to spare. If possible, take a few minutes the day or a few hours before your monthly session to quiet your mind and think about what areas of your life you want or need to explore. Recall, in your mind or from your notes, any experiences you would like to share with your spiritual director. We love to hear about all aspects of your life – all things spiritual. In particular, we would like to hear about:

1. An experience of prayer or a time when you felt a notable manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
2. Challenges faced during the month.
3. The joys, the gifts, the highlights of this month.
4. What is your relationship like?
5. How you relate to your spiritual community.
6. What did you learn last month and how did you grow?
7. Discernment questions in your life.
8. Memories that we need to spend time with.

Regularly practice spiritual practices and record your progress.

When you engage in regular spiritual practice, whether that be prayer, meditation, bodywork, or play, you are communicating with God. Even if you’re not the type to keep a diary, take some notes throughout the month about how your practice feels and how you experience God. It’s a good idea to review your notes before your spiritual direction session, because you know your spiritual director will ask you how your spiritual practice is going (that’s our job!).

If you keep a journal, please bring it with you to the session.

I love it when my guidance recipients bring in their journals – journals of their daily experiences, questions, prayers, etc. If you’re not sure where to start during a session, a journal is a great place to dig in. Some people forget a really amazing experience with God that happened a few weeks ago. A journal can be a place to write an essay or poem about your life. These are all great content for deep and engaging spiritual direction conversations.

Bring your own art

If you are an artist or writer, you are likely experiencing God in your creative process, and if you would like to bring in your creation or share your writing with the director, by all means, do so.

Yes, you may bring a list of topics you would like to discuss.

I always bring a list to meetings with my spiritual director, and many of my clients do. Some apologize for bringing a list, and I understand. I have a lot to discuss with my director, and the list helps me to cover the key points before the hour begins. If the session is moving in a productive direction even before we bring up the list, there is no need to do anything with it. The act of making a list itself helps us organize our thoughts and makes the most of the 50 minutes to an hour with our spiritual director.

Spiritual direction sessions are completely your Directors are trained to follow your lead when it comes to what to say. If you’ve done all of the above and still don’t know what to say, share the story of your faith journey. There is always something more noteworthy embedded in the story of your life.

Want to learn more about spiritual direction? I have a book Spiritual Direction 101: The Basics of Spiritual Guidance This book by Apocryphile Press covers many aspects of this practice and is available on Amazon.

Are you thinking about becoming a Spiritual Director? Check out my one-on-one online training program, “Apprenticeship Training Program for Spiritual Directors.” If you’re interested, contact me at teresa@teresablythe.net or through my website. www.phoenixspiritualdirection.com.