Broadening my Spirituality by Anne Baenziger
I have had the privilege of being a part of the team here at the Sanctuary for my college placement over the last 12 months. I am studying chaplaincy and pastoral care at DCU and have learned so much during my time at the Sanctuary.
As I began my placement here, I wanted to learn and explore more broadly spirituality and how we all engage with it differently. During my time at the Sanctuary, I have joined the community meditations, completed the Mindfulness Based Living Course, continued to volunteer in the garden, participated in Brother Richard’s Calming the Storms course, and joined other various events.
All of these have given me time and space to explore spirituality much more broadly and richly. I have come to a deeper appreciation of stillness and mindful practices. I have seen the beautiful benefit of practicing meditation in a group setting - even with strangers - there is something about it that brings us back to life and grounds us in the goodness of humanity and creation. I have experienced practices which I had never heard of before and felt the care, grace, and compassion from various facilitators and co-participants to explore these together. I have also grown deeper in my own Christian faith in terms of the simplicity, balance, peace, and appreciation for the tradition and my own way of practicing the faith.
I have always been drawn to holistic health and well being in terms of thinking of life not just with my head but also with my heart and soul. In the last few years, I have been curious to experience and see more creative forms of faith and spirituality in my own life for the wider society. I have engaged with prayer rooms, retreats, spiritual formation sessions, and more but being present at the Sanctuary has given me yet another creative outlet and environment to witness creative holistic living.
Mixing food, a cup of tea and meditation on Mondays has opened my heart to hearing about people’s lives and our shared experiences. Mixing music, poetry, and dessert during solstice brought about communal feelings of being grounded to the earth as fellow humans. So whether it is intentional prayer, moving our body with yoga, or sitting in silence in nature - there is a wide variety of means and ways for us all to explore spirituality. I also have felt the support, care, and passion from the staff, volunteers, and visitors of the Sanctuary - it has been a life changing season in my life.
