Women’s Spirituality

Connecting to self, others, and a greater sense of the sacred…

Spirituality is an aspect of the human experience that brings connection and reminds us that there is more to us and to life than the identities we’ve created (or been given), our accomplishments or failures, and our day-to-day lives.

Connection to self: Spirituality reminds you that you are here with a unique gift to offer the world in just your being you. You are inherently worthy and an integral part of the universe.

Connection to others: In a world that loves to pit us against one another, spirituality offers us the counter-view that when we lift up one of us, we lift us all up. We are all in this life together, and we are all connected. No one is more worthy than another. Not because of race, religion, culture, education, or wealth. Spirituality helps us to see beyond the fear-based mentality that says there is not enough (success, happiness, love, resources…) for us all.

Connection to a greater sense of the sacred: Spirituality connects us to the energy of creation: the force that makes the sun rise, the flowers bloom, and your heart beat. It recognizes the magic of existence and ourselves as a part of that magic.

One’s spirituality can be explored…

… through a specific religion or none at all.

Spiritual practice is a personal thing and doesn’t look the same for everyone.

For some, attending church or temple is the way they connect and express their spirituality. For others, it is engagement in community service or philanthropy.

Many people find they connect most powerfully through nature. Prayer and/or meditation are primary to some people’s practice. Others find a profound connection through artistic expression.

Whatever your path, I will support you in exploring your own way.

When it comes to spirituality, I like to support balance.

Balance between the feminine and masculine…

This means valuing the feminine aspect equally to the masculine – valuing the yin equally to the yang, if you prefer. We can think of the feminine aspect as darkness, earthiness, feelings, and senses. We can think of the masculine aspect as light, action, thought, and power.

We need the light and the dark, the exertion and the rest, the giving and the receiving.

Women’s spirituality is also about being more inclusive in language and thought – to include women’s experiences and feminine energy so that women and men can both recognize the divine that dwells within.

Balance between the sexes…

I value women’s experiences and relationship to spirituality equally to men’s. Many people have felt a lack of balance due to male-dominated religious systems and a cultural valuing of the masculine over the feminine.

Because the structures of most of the major religions were developed primarily by men, and because women have been limited in the roles available to them within those structures, women have often felt a second-class status within the religions they were exploring, connecting to, and expressing their spirituality.

Further, we experience our lives and our worlds through our bodies while living in a culture that relentlessly sends harmful messages about women’s bodies– how they should look, how much they should or should not be shown (and for whose benefit), how they should age, how they should or should not reproduce, and on and on. It’s well understood that our relationship to our bodies has an impact on our physical and emotional health, but less recognized is how it impacts our spiritual well-being.

Women’s spirituality suggests that a spiritual system that celebrates women, their contributions, their experiences, and their bodies allows everyone to more fully connect to the sacred within and without.

Balance in your life…

Women’s spirituality is about personally connecting to your relationship with your spirituality, listening and belonging to yourself, and allowing and celebrating the feminine aspect to take expression and bring a sense of balance to your life.

It is also about celebrating your female-ness in whatever way you choose to express it and recognizing the sacredness of exactly who you are.

Our work together on your spiritual path…

My goal is to understand your relationship to your spirituality and to support you in connecting with it in whatever feels most meaningful to you. I might begin our session with a guided mindfulness exercise that invites you to connect and check in with yourself and your inner experience.

As you share with me about a way in which you are feeling stuck, I remind you of your connection to something beyond all this to help you find perspective during a challenging time. I invite you to connect more deeply through practice: “Why don’t you create a dance that embodies this feeling you’re experiencing?” or “When was the last time you spent some time in nature?” or “What does your faith tell you about this question?”

You tell me you’re having a hard time with a life transition; and I invite you to create your own personal ritual to honor, mark, and explore the meaning within this life shift. You tell me you love the idea but don’t know where to begin.

I ask you some questions to help you identify the significant elements of the transition and to find a way to represent them. Together, we come up with a practice that you feel encompasses the transition and your feelings about it. It might be something you do alone like writing a letter to the person who hurt you and then burning it. You might choose to spend some intentional time at the ocean reflecting on your connection to its vastness.

Or it might be something you want to invite others to be a part of. Perhaps you have a small gathering with a few friends to celebrate the new version of yourself that is emerging through this transition.

I am not a spiritual mentor per se. But I incorporate a spiritual lens in my approach to psychotherapy, as I believe it is important to take the totality of your human experience into account as we work together toward healing.

Call me today to get started!

I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation, so we can connect and see if we might be a good fit to work together. Let’s begin! (415) 408-6020