I offer spontaneous blessings in private sessions that usually last an hour. During these meetings, I quiet my mind, feel my love-nature and allow its energy to move within me and through me to my blessing partner. Sometimes I sit quietly during this process, but more often heart prompts me into movements and sounds that interact with the other person. I refer to these blessings as “spontaneous” because they are directed by heart, not by my mind.

 The Shape of Blessings

These sessions assume many forms, depending on what my partner-in-blessing brings to the experience.

Some women come with no agenda at all.  They report that the environment we create together enables them to glimpse their “divine nature” or to receive insights into their spiritual journey.  Some simply feel more peaceful – more “collected” and less rushed or fragmented.

Traditional Spiritual Practices

Occasionally, women like to perform familiar spiritual practices during a blessing, assuming hatha yoga poses, for example, or silently repeating Christian prayers.  They tell me that their spiritual exercises are more fulfilling when experienced in the environment create by the heart-led expressions that flow through me.

Mantra Meditation

Others want to learn to meditate with a sacred word or phrase.  For them, I offer instructions in the use of a mantra.  In Christianity, “Jesus,” “Abba,” and “Blessed Mary” often provide a meditative focus. In Hinduism, common mantras include “Soham” (I am That), “Om Namah Shivaya” (I bow to the God within) and “Om Ma” (an invocation to the Divine Mother). Sufis regularly concentrate on “Allah,” or another name of God.  Although Judaism and Buddhism are less known for the use of mantras, these traditions also provide meditators with sacred words and phrases.

Expressive Meditation

Still others come with a desire to explore themselves through their own un-programmed sounds and movements. For them, the spaciousness of a blessing session supports the development of their inner witness as they watch, without judgment or attachment, while thoughts and body sensations come and go. From within this state of neutral presence, they then enact any impulses to vocalize or move that arise. These women say that the energy field generated by my spontaneously arising blessings provides them with a sense of safety and freedom that makes their inner explorations easier.

Distinguishing Blessings from Spontaneous Meditations

The difference between a blessing and a spontaneous meditation is easy to describe. During a blessing, individuals focus primarily on mind-based exercises or physical sensations; generally, their experiences of heart are intermittent. During a spontaneous meditation, women occasionally attend to mind-based practices or physical sensations, but their focus is primarily on heart—the Indwelling God—and its thought-stilling emanations. When a spontaneous meditator acts on impulses to move or vocalize, she observes her inner world carefully, making sure these impulses are arising from heart’s silent love.

In practice, of course, these categories are not always clear cut: some women regularly oscillate between experiencing a blessing and practicing spontaneous meditation.

Whether we meet during a spontaneous meditation or a blessing session, the differences between us eventually fade, including the degree to which we directly experience heart. Then, we are simply two beings bathing in the divine flow, like plants receiving a life-giving rain.

Preparing for a Blessing

Most blessings unfold in silence.  During our first meeting, we will talk to get acquainted and discuss what you want to explore during the blessing. In later sessions, we may only exchange a few sentences at the beginning and end of our time together.

If you want instruction in mantra meditation, we will spend some time discussing the power of sacred words to connect us with our innermost being.  We will also discuss the attitudes that support this kind of practice and how our explorations in the silence are going at home.

To meet for a blessing, please follow the simple instructions listed on the Introductory Sessions page of this website. I’ll respond to you by email.

Be sure to read “Guidelines for Spontaneous Meditations and Blessings” in the Forms section of this site. These guidelines offer suggestions for how to prepare for a blessing. They also describe the spiritual power that can be communicated during a blessing session.

Free-Will Offerings

In the spirit of ministry, I ask that you leave a free-will offering in any amount each time we meet for a spontaneous blessing. Because communing with divine love is our birthright, no fees are charged.

© T. Reed, Text; N. Hope, Photo