Spiritual Direction for Yoga Teacher Trainees
Spiritual Direction is an ancient tradition in the Church and we are blessed to have a number of Spiritual Directors in our midst.
Spiritual Directors are trained listeners – they’re not there to give you all the answers or counsel you on a change of behavior, but to hold space with you, God, and the longings of your heart. As opposed to pastors who counsel or therapists who help to facilitate change, Spiritual Directors are companions on the journey of faith, there to help you notice the presence of God in your life.
Yoga Teacher Training – and LIFE – can bring up a lot of things that long for a compassionate witness, good listener, and keen question asker. To that end, trainees are invited to schedule one 30-minute Spiritual Direction session per month with one of our Directors listed below, free of charge.
If interested, please connect directly with a Spiritual Director below and mention that you are a current yoga teacher trainee.
We understand that unexpected situations may arise. However, cancellations made within 24 hours of your scheduled spiritual direction session or a missed session without prior notice will mean the session cannot be rescheduled for that month. Thank you for your understanding and respect for this sacred time.
Eliza Jane | Charleston, SC
Trained by Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction.
Hi! I’m Eliza, a trauma-informed Spiritual Director, therapist in training, and aspiring good-enoughist. I love helping others deconstruct their beliefs while overcoming religious shame, hurt, and trauma. As a trauma informed spiritual director, I’m deeply aware of how religious shame & trauma can affect our ability to draw close to God and keep us from becoming our most authentic self. I take a deeply affirming, whole-person approach; offering Spiritual Direction through a queer & neurodivergent lens and with underpinnings in somatic (body) awareness, integrative parts work (IFS), and therapeutic art. When I’m not in sessions, I can be found working toward becoming a licensed therapist, making messy art, or tending to my own soul.
Melissa Reed | Columbus, OH
Trained at Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction
To me, Spiritual Direction is a luxurious, sacred hour of resting in God’s presence. It’s a slow, quiet conversation about what God is stirring in your heart. It’s about uncovering your deepest, truest desires. It’s about discovering who you were created to be.
Lori Ferrell | Vero Beach, FL
Trained at Selah, Leadership Transformations Inc.
200-hr YTT with The Yoga Abbey, 2021
I began my journey with spiritual direction in 2013 after experiencing burnout in a cross-cultural context. This was a significant turning point in my life towards healing and wholeness as I met with a spiritual director and began to know my identity as God’s beloved—not marked by what I do (or don’t do). I studied through Selah (Leadership Transformations, Inc.) and completed my certificate in 2018. My heart is to offer safe sacred space to listen to both the heart of the one I am sitting with, and the Spirit’s invitation for them. My desire is that others would know themselves as God’s Beloved, and I believe that this knowing will transform the way one lives her life.
Elizabeth Stover | Annapolis, MD
Trained at Loyola University Maryland
You are beloved; exactly as you are today.
Can you imagine Jesus’ face before you, beholding you with an overflowing love and inviting you into presence?
Can you hear Him ask, “Where are you? What do you seek?”
Can you sense His invitation to lead you down gentle paths of peaceful guidance?
As we stand on the shifting ground of life in this fast-paced world, you may be longing to re-center; to feel the safety of God’s presence, and to trust how the Lord leads with unfailing love in your life.
I warmly invite you into the safe space of noticing where and how God is showing the way.
I’m a mama of seven, working in Psychology at Loyola University Maryland and a 2022 graduate of The Yoga Abbey’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training!
Carroll Lane Parsons | Memphis, TN
Spiritual Director training with The Institute of Christian Spirituality
With a background in social work and hospice, I wanted to become a Spiritual Director when I first sat in that sacred space and felt my soul come home and come alive at the same time. Spiritual Direction has helped me to notice more the work and whispers of God, helped me to notice and discern my questions and desires and helped me to notice graces, big and small, in my daily life. It is my desire for you to experience this as well.
I’m also a certified Enneagram coach, certified yoga instructor and artist – three more offerings that I love to share with people in their faith journey. My husband Brad and I have four children, two dogs and a cat without a tail. When I’m not outside with my family or reading a book, I love to paint, take walks and laugh with friends.
Spiritual Direction sessions are not meant to be a substitute for professional counseling. While there is some overlap, counseling primarily focuses on one’s relationship with others and the issues surrounding them or on a particular situation in which one is seeking resolution, while spiritual direction focuses on one’s relationship with God. Sometimes God brings issues to the surface that need to be worked through and require the help of professional therapy in addition to or in lieu of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction does not include financial, professional, relational or health care advice and any decisions or actions taken in that regard are done without the advice or recommendation of the Spiritual Director or The Yoga Abbey.