“The beautiful art of Spiritual direction is a way of walking together through life. It is a sense of companionship through the ebb and flow of life, a soul friendship where one can lean into presence and remember what is true. The truth of one’s being is alive in each person but most people fall into forgetting who they are and are pulled out of themselves into fear and control. the long journey of Spiritual Direction allows us to keep falling back into the rhythm of knowing the truth of our souls. Spiritual Direction is a gift guiding our lives toward being re-membered, re-turned, and re-called home.”
Cathy AJ Hardy, Walk with Me
Trained through the Haden Institute (rooted in the Jungian, Christian, Mystical Tradition), and mentored for over twenty-five years by two Spiritual Directors, Cathy offers one-on-one spiritual care and is the founder and director of the Soul Care® Spiritual Direction Training Program.
More information about Spiritual Direction – Read Walk With Me, Cathy’s memoir and teaching on receiving and offering Spiritual Direction.
More information about the Spiritual Direction Training Soul Care® Spiritual Direction Training Program.
A Personal Note from Cathy:
In 1998, I hit rock bottom. I was in a place of deep despair and I didn’t know what to do. I felt so utterly lost with my life situation. Someone came to mind and I decided to call them even though we had never talked personally before. That person gave me incredible wisdom on that day and one of the things they advised me to do was to find a spiritual director. I didn’t even know what a spiritual director was!! I began to ask around, ‘do you know a spiritual director? Do you even know what one is?’ The great thing about being in a place of desperation is that I found myself willing to take great risks. A lot of people didn’t know what a spiritual director was or how I could find one. But eventually, someone pulled a business card out of their pocket and suddenly I was given a name and a number. I called that person. Her name was Joy. I saw Joy for the following 3 years every month until I moved back to BC, Canada in 2001. After those 3 years I called Joy the mid-wife of my soul. Through her attentive listening and presence, she accompanied me on the
deepest soul journey of my life. She walked with me and helped me awaken to my true self. She explored with me the false voices of shame and guilt. She shone a flashlight of love on my soul where I wanted to hide or blame others. She invited me to live.
Those years with Joy changed my life. During those three years I was also introduced to the music of Taize, the labyrinth, contemplation, liturgy, silence and retreats. These are all things which I hold dear till this day. As I began to live and find my voice, I started to write music and eventually recorded 6 albums in the following 12 years. I also began to lead retreats and guide others to the same streams of Living Water that had healed and revived my soul.
And now, over 25 years since meeting Joy, I have become a companion for others. It fills me with great joy to hold a space for other souls the way that Joy did for me. Seeing the beauty of another person’s soul always fills me with great wonder and awe. To companion that soul to freedom is a sacred gift and privilege.
Spiritual Direction has now become a way of life for me; a spiritual discipline that I seek out for my own growth and accountability every month as I offer the same to those who come to me. I am grateful for all those who have companioned with me whether through one moment of time, or for many years.
