For over twenty years, I have maintained a friendship with a fellow teacher that I met at a conference early in my career. We live on opposite ends of the country. We have shared teaching philosophies and practices by the truckloads over the years. But, mostly, we have become friends, and for those two decades and counting, we text and call each other, “just to check in.” Those check-ins have included all kinds of conversation about our lives from relationships, to money, to personal struggles to what we are going to do with our holidays.

These check-ins have become what I now recognize as a key piece to the work and practice of spiritual direction: how we take care of ourselves.

There are many ways that we can and should take care of ourselves, not the least of which are things like healthy food, good, regular sleep, exercise, and various kinds of therapeutic processes from massage therapy to talk therapy. 

Spiritual direction, usually a once a month conversation with a spiritual director, can be a powerful way to “check-in.” The spiritual direction check-in is about giving witness to meaning in one’s life. In spiritual terms, this check-in is about noticing the presence and movement of Spirit, Source, the Divine, however we understand that, in one’s life. We need time, space and support to do this sacred noticing. This is a significant way of taking care of ourselves.

So much of our time and space is already given to many people and things. We may find ourselves wondering where the time and space is for what is inside of us that needs to be noticed, valued and empowered. In an odd, almost counter-intuitive sense, when we make time to take care of ourselves, tending to the rest of our lives takes on a sacred character that we might not have seen before.

What does your self-care look like? If you think spiritual direction is something you want to try out, go here for help getting started. 

~Robert Patrick