Spiritual practices

We might assume that character strengths are a result of our spiritual practice but I think the loop runs both ways. In this post, I want to introduce (probably) the most scientifically rigorous personality test, useful in the world of spiritual direction: the VIA Character Strengths Survey and get you started with some ideas about how you might find it useful. Spiritual practice can become strangely vague. We may know we want more depth, more steadiness, more connection, mor

Building on from my previous post on the breath I want to share a breathing practice that you can use day to day to help bring, and build, calm. Coherent Breathing, sometimes called resonance breathing, is where you intentionally regulate your breathing rate to about five to six breaths per minute, which is achieved by slowing your breath cycle down to around 12 seconds per breath. The fundamental practice of slow, rhythmic breathing has roots in ancient traditions like Yogic

A pilgrimage is traditionally understood as a journey undertaken to a sacred or spiritually significant place, often for religious devotion, personal transformation, or spiritual growth. That definition carries centuries of history: long roads, holy sites, and days or weeks spent walking with intention. But recently, I discovered something quietly transformative. Even a short walk of say ten minutes, twenty, the length of a lunch break can become a pilgrimage when approached

A few days ago, I walked from a spectacular viewpoint down into a valley alive with signs of spring, and used the walk as a simple nature prayer practice. The path wove through woodland, old mine workings and quarry ground, then back up towards the start. It was one of those walks where spring was delightful and hard to miss. Wood sorrel was flowering in the shade. New birch leaves were almost impossibly fresh, soft and vulnerable. Ferns were beginning to unfurl, honeysuckle

Does nature have value? Of course it does. But how do we measure that value? And what happens when the way we measure something changes the way we see it? One dominant way of measuring nature’s value has been as a material resource for humans to use. Land is valuable if it produces crops, timber, grazing, minerals, housing, profit. That measure has shaped much of the modern world, not always beautifully or kindly. Another way of valuing nature emerged through the protection a

What holds you in place amidst the swirling currents of life? Do you have a shape to your day or your week? Are there activities or practices that keep you heading in the right direction? Are there things you do that give you energy, life and meaning, or bring you joy? If so, you already have a spiritual rhythm, or what the Christian tradition has long called a Rule of Life. At its heart, a Rule of Life is about discovering what holds you steady amidst the ever-changing natur

Some exercises for when life demands more than you have to give Burnout happens when life keeps asking more of you, and you don't have the resources or practices to cope. It can creep up on you – maybe you feel exhausted, but you're aware you're still not doing enough; the responsibilities keep coming. People (or work or family, community or ministry) need things from you. Over time, three things can occur: emotional exhaustion a sense that nothing you do is enough and possib

Spiritual direction invites you to slow down and listen deeply to what stirs beneath the surface of your daily life. It is a space where left-field questions open doors to hidden truths and silent burdens you might be carrying. Sometimes they evoke a cathartic aha moment ... Asking the right questions can reveal what is easy to miss and even what we refuse to feel, what we hide behind explanations, and what parts of our faith quietly endure without words. This Lent, I am expl

If you’ve ever seen a labyrinth set into the floor of a cathedral, or mown into the grass at a wellbeing or retreat centre, you might have wondered what it’s for. The most famous example is the great labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, laid into the stone floor in the early 1200s. It is nearly 13 metres across. Medieval pilgrims would walk it as a form of embodied prayer, sometimes as a substitute for a journey to Jerusalem they could not make. You enter. You follow th