LISTENING . DISCERNING . JOINING

You already know the world is beautiful—alive with awe, wonder, and mystery. Deep within, you sense there is still more to discover. Yet many days, you’re simply trying to keep your head above water. Perhaps you’ve known moments, relationships, or seasons that awakened your longing for a life that is deeper, more connected, and more fully alive.

Wherever you are today—feeling what you feel, knowing what you know, carrying the story you’ve lived, and longing for what is yet to come—is exactly where the journey begins. Every meaningful spiritual practice starts by honoring your lived experience: your body and place, your joys and wounds, your relationships, your history, and your hope.

For decades, Dwight has journeyed with individuals, communities, and organizations, creating spaces of deep listening, courageous discernment, and faithful presence. Together, you will explore the stories that have shaped you, attend to the invitations emerging in the present, and cultivate practices that open you to a life of greater wholeness, belonging, and flourishing.

Integral Intention Setting

Intention setting is a conscious and deliberate act of reclaiming your life, in which you identify and articulate what’s genuinely important to you. Intentions are about attending to and from your inner journey and how you want to experience life, (re)discovering all facets of your life as an integrated whole. Intention setting is a proven practice for deepening one’s self knowledge, while fostering even deeper internal alignment… the overflow of the practice can be relationally transformative.

Listening for your life…

Life, Death, & Relational Rituals

Rituals are an intentional set of mental, spiritual, relational, and physical actions designed to mark a shift while supporting you amidst real change. Rituals enable one to locate oneself within a season of profound disruption; marriage, death, coming-of-age, divorce, change in vocation, shift in ability, coming out, gender transitions, and many more. Ceremonies provide a dynamic path for drawing your community around you, so you know you are not alone.

Marking important transitions…

Real-Life Spiritual Direction

Spiritual direction is a deep listening process in which a person opens up and attunes to their relationship with the Divine, others, creation, and oneself. Through conversation with a spiritual director in an atmosphere of trust, one moves toward a deeper awareness of the presence and movement of G-d in everyday life. As we share our dreams, struggles, triumphs, and fears, we open up to our deepest and wisest source of freedom and joy.

Joining the mystery…

Dwight offers spiritual accompaniment for those longing to notice more deeply, savor more fully, and discern the movements of the Divine in the ordinary stuff of life. Together, you’ll cultivate practices that help you mark change, attend to what is emerging, and open yourself to the quiet invitations of grace already present in your everyday life.

“The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface of a [person’s] life, to get behind the façade of conventional gestures and attitudes which they present to the world, and to bring out their inner spiritual freedom, their inmost truth, which is what we call the likeness of Christ in their soul.”

THOMAS MERTON

The full range of human experience—past, present, and future; body, mind, and soul; relationships, suffering, delight, and hope—is the landscape of spiritual integration.

This journey begins with the conviction that G-d is encountered in the deepest dimensions of ordinary life. Spirituality is not a separate compartment of our existence, reserved for explicitly “religious” topics or practices. Rather, it is a way of relating to whatever life is presenting.

The distinctive work of spiritual integration is learning to welcome reality with openness and curiosity—to receive each moment, each relationship, each joy, each wound, and each question as both gift and teacher. As we become more fully present to our lives, we also become more attentive to the presence and invitation of the Divine woven through them.

Body

Our bodies are beautiful, particular, and located. Attending to and from the uniqueness of our bodied selves is vital to any authentic encounter. Body, place, and time are three trustworthy guides to reality.

Mind

Mindfulness practice invites us to discover a more unitive way of being. We are not our thoughts. We are more than stories we tell ourselves. Languages, communities, and the narratives we rehearse form mind… mind can therefore be transformed.

Spirit

Spirit joins in love… it’s all about openhearted, soulful relations. Spirit woos us to open to the ecosystem relations giving and sustaining life, while wooing us to discover a way of love, of presence, and gratitude.

At the heart of every presencing practice is the invitation to welcome all of oneself with honesty, compassion, and curiosity, while becoming increasingly aware of the stories, assumptions, and definitions of success, purpose, and fulfillment that shape one’s life.

Like seeds in a garden, we discover that endings and losses often become the soil from which new life emerges. The goal is not self-improvement or perfection, but growing into the fullness of one’s being. This is the work of a lifetime. Though the path has been well traveled by countless seekers before us, each person’s journey unfolds in its own unique way.

As we learn to live with greater openness and integration, we begin to see ourselves—and the world—with what the vast array of Christian traditions sometimes calls “the eyes of G-d”: eyes of warmth and delight, welcome and compassion, grace and hope.

“We have to learn to hear on every level at once if we are really to become whole. The problem is that most of us are deaf in at least one ear. We have to learn to listen to Scripture. And we have to learn to listen to life around us.”

JOAN CHITTISTER

If something within you is stirring—an invitation toward deeper presence, greater wholeness, or a more flourishing life—perhaps this is your moment to take the next step. You’re warmly invited to schedule a complimentary introductory Zoom conversation by clicking the Zoom link below or by contacting Dwight directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The fact you are already exploring presencing practices or spiritual direction may be all the response you need. You sense a need for something.  So, if you find yourself longing to experience a greater sense of the Divine in your life; if you desire a more integrative or holistic spirituality; if you desire a more joyful & compassionate, community-oriented & deeply liberating, mystical & intellectually honest, mentally stimulating & body-positive, creative & respectful of tradition spirituality then working alongside someone may be for you.

     

    Working with a spiritual guide can also be helpful if you are recovering from a legalistic or fundamentalist experience of G-d or religion. Or if you feel like you might be on the verge of “giving up” on your practice of religion or spirituality. Often the experience of wanting to abandon one’s own experience of religion or spiritualty is a kind of Spirit invitation to more… it’s like you know it isn’t working… and you can’t do “that” anymore. Sometimes you may even feel that by continuing to engage in those practices your soul is eroding or even that it’s contributing to harm or injustice in the world. There is no need to navigate all of that on your own.

  • Engaging presencing practices is NOT an exclusively Christian practice.  In fact, many if not most, faith traditions and spiritual paths have a similar practice of journeying alongside a “wise guide.”  Because spiritual direction attends – in part – to some of the more mystical aspects of life it leans more apophatic than cataphatic, thus “beliefs” and “theology” are not the focus. Attending to being, listening, acceptance of reality, welcoming the stranger, curiosity, and love tend to be more common threads. While Dwight is deeply rooted within Christian traditions, his life’s work has been to discover and open to ever more loving ways of being faithfully present. Having spent much of his vocational life walking alongside people journeying to wholeness and liberation, he is opening his practice even wider.  The only prerequisite for entering into such a relationship is a desire to move toward even greater union with the real, and willingness to bring one’s whole self in honest and curious conversation.

  • Spiritual Direction is a time-honored practice of accompaniment, and a rhythm of intentional conversation. Ordinarily it is between two persons, in which one person consults another – typically a wise guide, trained, and experienced in spiritual accompaniment – about ways in which the Divine may be touching their life, directly or indirectly.  Spiritual direction is a process of consciously inviting another to journey with you as you deepen your attunement practice to the gift of presence: God’s, creation’s, other people, other communities’, and even one’s own presence. Though conversation, shared silence, somatic practice, and opening postures a person is joined in welcoming the real in all of life.

  • Each person’s journey is particular. Your journey is particular. Often a wise way to begin is in conversation with some valued friends as they may be able to point you to a spiritual director who could uniquely accompany you at this leg of your journey. Also, you may want to try opening up to Divine guidance, inviting Spirit to bring people into your world and remain open and curious as you encounter various wise guides. A practical resource is, Spiritual Directors International; SDI is an online network with databases to help people find soul friends in their region or with a needed specialization. And of course, since you’re already at his website, you are welcome to initiate an initial conversation with Dwight Friesen, and please know that any initial sessions are complimentary to help in your discernment process.

  • Given that you’ve clicked this question, you are likely amid a significant transition. Seasons of liminality are a double-edged sword, on the one hand, a person often becomes open and willing to risk stepping into the unknown; on the other hand, a person can feel lonely, afraid, and start to drift. Intentionally marking pivotal moments in a person’s journey is vital to holistic health and vibrant spirituality. Dwight is available to co-create – with you – a ritual to mark this important era in your life (and the lives of those around you). He can work with you in designing rituals drawing on a wealth of spiritual traditions. Reach out to Dwight through this site or set up an appointment now.

  • Life is relationship… love is life flourishing! Finding a partner you can imagine doing life with… someone with whom you desire to covenant with to co-discover and lean into love with is worth celebrating. Dwight would be delighted to help you design the wedding ceremony reflective of the shared life the two of you desire to co-create. He can officiate marriage rituals drawing on a wealth of traditions while welcoming creativity and attending to the contours of the two of you. Reach out to Dwight through this site or set up an appointment now.

  • Life is gift! Death is an important part of the cycle of life. Remembering is a vital spiritual practice. In an era in which Western culture often seems avoidant of pain, grief, and loss, Dwight would count it a great privilege to help you and those you love to celebrate the life and honor the death of your loved one. He can guide rituals drawing from a wealth of traditions. Reach out to Dwight through this site or set up an appointment now.

  • The integrative nature of presencing practices invites investment in every realm of one’s existence. However, during this process of initial inquiry, having a clear sense of the financial costs can be helpful. Dr. Friesen’s rates vary based on the type of engagement one seeks. Please be aware that if cost ever becomes a barrier to action, simply let Dwight know… while he does need to earn a living, his vocation is dynamically linked to serving people seeking holistic, present, and flourishing lives.

    Marking Rituals, Weddings, Memorials, & Other Ceremonies
    • Most weddings and funerals/memorials are $300 – $900 (you choose the fee).
    • Custom rituals and ceremonies often require significant creative energy and usually range between $500 – $1,500 (you’ll come to a mutual understanding in conversation with Dr. Friesen).
    Spiritual Direction

    Sessions are 50 minutes, & can be in person or via Zoom… one-on-one, couples, or group/family sessions are welcome:

    • One-on-one, regular spiritual direction, for one hour $60 – $100/hour (you choose the fee).
    • Couples Spiritual Direction $70 – $125/hour (y’all choose the fee).
    • Small Group Spiritual Direction $20 – $30 per person (based on group size).
    Leadership Coaching

    Sessions are 50 minutes, & can be in person or via Zoom… one-on-one, or group/team sessions are welcome:

    • One-on-one leadership coaching, $60 – $125 per session (you choose fee).
    • Pairs, triads, or teams, for one hour $20 – $30 per person (based on group size).
    Organizational Consulting

    This is a customized and contracted level of engagement. Visit Dr. Friesen’s Consulting page, complete the organizational assessment survey at the bottom of the page and Dwight will be in touch shortly. Or you can set up a Zoom conversation with him right now.

Set up an initial conversation regarding life rituals or spiritual practices

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Thanks for connecting with me. I be in contact soon… I’m looking forward to being in touch. Peace, dwight

Presencing Practice

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