SDI Encounters – Details, episodes & analysis

“If SDI has done nothing else, and it has done much…but help us to gather together in support of one another, that might have been enough.”

So says SDI Co-Founder Lucy Abbott Tucker, perennial teacher, leader and contributor to the SDI community, and keynote speaker at SDI’s 35th Anniversary Conference to be held in Niagara Falls, May 29th-31st, 2025, and online.

I published a short video of Lucy last week on our YouTube channel, with this being the full conversation we had.

SDI has much to be proud of over its 35-year history, and we look forward to celebrating all those achievements with you, even as we continue to explore areas where we need to keep striving and learning together. And that’s the key, as Lucy tells us: all of us who practice, are dedicated to, or interested in, spiritual direction and companionship can rely on one another for support, discernment, and encouragement

So, please join us for our annual gathering, whether in person, or online. And if cost is a concern, you can apply for a scholarship.

In this 20 minute conversation, SDI Executive Director Rev. SeiFu Singh-Molares and Creative Director Matt Whitney discuss how in challenging times, we can learn how to use these challenges as gateways to deeper awareness, understanding, and spiritual growth. Our work as spiritual directors and companions involves helping others through their own challenges, as well as tending to our own. We believe we can do more than just survive difficult times, we can thrive.

Rev. SeiFu's full written reflection is available in Listen - Reflections on Spiritual Direction and Companionship. It is freely available to all and can be accessed on the SDI website: https://www.sdicompanions.org/media/listen/listen-19-1-january-2025/

Listen is a free outreach publication from SDI that assists spiritual travelers in the search for everyday encounters with the Sacred. It is published in January, May, and September. This simple and inviting publication includes short articles, poetry, and global resource announcements. It is read around the world by more than fifteen-thousand seekers, subscribers, and members of SDI. Become a supporting member of SDI today. Learn more at https://www.sdicompanions.org/become-a-member/

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.

---

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.

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 

In this chat with Executive Director Rev. SeiFu Singh-Molares, we explore some nuts-and-bolts questions about spiritual companionship. What is spiritual companionship? How does it work? Who is it for? Why would someone need spiritual companionship? How does it differ from working with a mental health professional? What is considered "on the table" or "off the table" in a spiritual companionship conversation? Should we pay money for spiritual companionship? This conversation is for anyone who is curious about working with a spiritual companion, and how it can help you on your spiritual journey. 

SDI Communities are SDI-sponsored, often locally-run groups of spiritual companions. These people gather either regionally, or based on a shared commonality, on a regular basis to connect, support one another, network, share contemplative time and practice new skills in spiritual care. An SDI Community can operate anywhere in the world.

Let us know if you’d be interested in joining an SDI Community and we will connect you. You can email us at communities@sdiworld.org

Ravi Verma, previously on the SDI Board as a Member and as Chair, now is helping us host several Special Interest or “Affinity” Groups. In this conversation with our Executive Director Reverend SeiFu, Ravi talks about how these groups are going, where they are going in the future, and how they relate and integrate into the larger vision for the SDI Community in general.

We are pleased to offer this recent conversation with Jennifer "Jinks" Hoffmann, author of The Light of God's Shadow - Musings, Stories, and Poems on Waking Up, from SDI Press Books. We discuss poetry and creativity, death, finding God in all things - in other words, just an "ordinary" conversation from the Home of Spiritual Companionship :)

---

In The Light of God's Shadow, Jinks reminds us through earthy, vulnerable and humorous musings, stories, and poetry that waking up is a lifetime endeavor. Psychotherapist and spiritual director Jinks Hoffmann encourages us to listen for the divine daily call to wholeness—in our relationships and work, our joys and dreams, our messes and triumphs, our losses and grief. We accompany Jinks on her journey through radiant and dark shadow, and we learn with her from the wisdom of her teachers. We grow in understanding— and in our bodies, hearts and souls—that when we welcome our vulnerability and strength, we heighten our humanity and heal our souls. By becoming kinder and more compassionate with ourselves and with one another we keep waking up and we bring healing to the world.

Click here to order your copy today. On sale, along with our webinars, courses, and other books, through December 18th 2023.

In March 2023 during our Forest Bathing Retreat in North Carolina, I (Matt Whitney) made some recordings of our time together - sounds of the forest, some testimonials and poetry by participants, and a bit of audio from our facilitators Jeanette Banashak and Simon De Voil. With our next retreat upcoming in March 2024, I finally got around to organizing some of this audio in a reflection, which begins around the 10 minute marker. Prior to that, I explain a bit about what to expect on the Retreat.

https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/forest-bathing-2024/

Come join us! SDI returns to the woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina from March 3 - 9, 2024. We invite you to spend a week forest bathing, immersing in nature, breathing the clean forest air, finding silence and stillness, and experience deep listening on new levels.

If you missed our first Retreat, here is your opportunity to join us for this truly restful and transformative experience. If you previously attended, we are excited to again bring this offering to you. All are welcome!

https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/forest-bathing-2024/

In this week’s episode, Matt Whitney speaks with Paul Burgmayer on a History of Spiritual Direction and Supervision that he has been working on. Paul is working on a comprehensive history of spiritual direction and supervision in North America, and is seeking assistance with anything that can help him fill in the gaps in his research. If you can help him by providing missing details, or know of someone who might be able to help, please send him an email at historyofsd@gmail.com.

---

Paul Burgmayer has been accompanying others in spiritual direction for fourteen years now. A former industrial researcher and retired high school teacher, he has a master’s degree in Holistic Spirituality and a certificate in spiritual direction from Chestnut Hill College, certificates in the supervision of spiritual direction from Together in the Mystery and Mercy Center, Burlingame, and trained at Chestnut Hill College and the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Canada to accompany others in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. A member of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church for many years, he has developed and taught a number of adult education classes. Paul lives in Wayne, PA with his wife, Sharon, a piano-playing chemistry professor at Bryn Mawr College. In his spare time, Paul enjoys gardening with Sharon, woodworking, learning jazz improvisation on his trumpet, singing, and writing.

To preview their upcoming 4-part webinar for SDI on Desert Spirituality, we invite you to enjoy this quick session with Tessa Bielecki and Fr. David Denny. And, we hope you will consider joining us for a full four part series on Desert Spirituality beginning November 1st (all sessions recorded). https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/desert-wisdom-for-spiritual-directors-and-companions/

Attracted by beauty and responding to sorrow, Tessa Bielecki and Fr. David Denny offer insights about inner work and earth care, peacemaking and social justice, living and dying, and share the nourishing desert wisdom that blooms today. Learn more about their work at https://sandandsky.org/.

We extend a heartfelt invitation to all spiritual directors, companions, and wayfarers to join us in exploring the rich and profound tradition of desert spirituality and the wisdom of the Desert Mothers and Fathers. In this enlightening learning opportunity, we will delve into the depths of this ancient path, discovering invaluable insights and practices that can deeply enhance our spiritual guidance practices.