Center for Spiritual Integration
Mission Statement
Our mission is to help people reclaim their sense of spirituality by integrating spiritual practices into their daily lives. We do this by helping to create and nurture a sacred space in people’s lives in which to re-center, rejuvenate, and connect with others in spiritual community. By engaging in a process with others around our deepest questions and longings, we may grow into the fullness of spirit-filled humanity.
What We Do. We specialize in offering:
Workshops
Retreats
Year-Long Intensives
Spiritual Direction
Designing Sacred Spaces for Your Home
Education and Research
The Center for Spiritual Integration was founded to provide a space in which our deeper life questions can be asked, contemplated, and embraced. We believe that the process of spiritual discovery happens by entering sacred space, both individually and in community. We are not here to provide easy answers. We are here to offer sanctuary and companionship on your journey.
We invite you to come to discover what we are all about—Creating Sacred Space in Daily Living.
“Divinity is an underground river that no one can stop, and no one can dam up.”
—Meister Eckhardt
“The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”
—Charles DuBos
Listen to Dr. Gianotti on the Earth & Spirit podcast (NPR), where she speaks about exploring what spiritual integration means in the context of human resilience, authenticity, purpose, building community, and other themes of living and aging well.
Retreats & Workshops
Why a Retreat?
Many of us are at a point of transition in life, where old responsibilities are winding down and a new passion or purpose has yet to emerge. Many of us are tired of simplistic, black and white answers to our deepest, most complex spiritual questions. Others have been hurt, even scarred at the hands of religious leaders. Some of us are involved in a religious community, but are looking for a structured retreat or activity than can help deepen our spiritual journey. Many others have attempted a spiritual practice or discipline, only to find themselves drifting away from it due to a busy schedule.
At a spiritual retreat, we create a sacred space together.
We gather at the turning points of our lives. We allow ourselves to exist in shades of gray. We foster an environment of safety and respect for diversity. We embrace personal conscience in spirituality and advocate no prescribed path to the Divine. We give ourselves the gift of time away from our hectic lives in order that we may return to the essence of life.
At each retreat we create a process that leads to personal discovery, helping us to gain insight, and allowing us to experience a greater integration of ourselves spiritually and psychologically, as well as how these are anchored in community and family — the daily rhythms of our lives.
“Let yourself be pulled by the stronger pull of what you really love.”
—Rumi
What Can I Expect?
The goals of the spiritual retreat are fourfold:
Transition – Most of us are in some form of life transition, or we could use some help gaining clarity on how to add deeper meaning or balance to our lives. Our goal for this retreat is to help facilitate a greater understanding of transition processes. This may mean gaining greater clarity about the type of life transition you are in, or it may mean that you gain greater clarity about what questions you need to ask yourself to help you move through a transition, or how to let go of things that encumber or interfere with moving toward the next phase of your life with more purpose and excitement. Sometimes we need to let something go before we can move forward, so we will be focusing on how each of us will articulate the question—“from what to what.” Each of you has your own questions that have to do with personal transition or transformation, and these will help guide your direction in the retreat.
Integration – The retreat helps to integrate the spiritual parts of ourselves with the parts that anchor us to the realities of life. This retreat will help work toward blending the spiritual (inspiration and creative potential) with the practical (daily obligations) and will strive to help you develop a daily rhythm that attends to both in a balanced and nurturing way.
Purpose – The individualized component of this retreat is to help you identify the next steps in your life’s purpose, whether that means gaining personal, individual clarity around your passion or creativity, or helping you to connect your passion back into the world or your community. No two people here will have the same purpose, although there may be common themes, concerns, and desires about how to connect one’s personal purpose back into the larger community once we leave.
Structure – The design of the retreat structure itself will be part experiential, part reflective, part journaling, part time alone and in small groups. The overarching intent behind all activities and aspects of the retreat is to invite an experience of being in a sacred space together. In addition some didactic information will be shared on universal elements of entering into communion with the sacred or divine.
“I began to have an idea of my life, not as the show shaping of achievement to fit my pre-conceived purposes, but as the gradual discovery and growth of a purpose that I did not know.”
—Johanna Field
“Before I began the group, I thought spirituality was something you got from an expert, a source outside of myself. What I have learned is that with very little effort I can tap into the spirituality that lives inside of me.
My definition of spirit is broader now, more personal, easier to access. It feels like it has been “in me” all along, but I only needed to be pointed to it...”
—Participant in Year-Long Intensive
Who Should Attend?
People searching for deeper meaning or purpose in their lives
People in need of time for contemplation, reflection, and rejuvenation
People considering or embarking on a career or life transition, such as entering mid-life or retirement
People of any religious affiliation — or none at all
People wishing to design personalized rituals as well as creating a space in their homes set apart for spiritual practices
People wishing to integrate their spirituality with their daily living
Religions communities seeking to deepen their spiritual growth together
“I now think of spirituality as a journey; a path that may not be in my control but to which I must remain open. I understand that the depth of spirituality is only as deep as you devote to your practice and your willingness to go inward. I feel a closer connection to others spiritually. I want to live a spirit-soul life in all I say and do. I want to live less of an ego life.”
—Participant in Year-Long Intensive
Stay Up to Date with More Information About Spiritual Integration, on our blog…
