Priming the Lenten Pump: A Spiritual Location Exercise

The Spiritual Location Exercise for Beginning Your Retreat

by Beth Booram

How do you come to this time?

The Spiritual Location Exercise is a helpful place to start when you begin a retreat. It answers the question, “How do I come to this time?” by providing a way to do a “life-scan” of your heart, mind, body and soul. It invites you to “locate” yourself in your life situation and take a deeper look at what’s going on within you. There are three movements to this exercise. You can write your response in the space provided or in your own journal. 

First Movement: begin by sitting up tall in your chair, grounding your feet on the floor and taking three to five deep cleansing breaths until you feel centered within your body. Then begin, stream of consciousness, to write down responses to the questions below.

1. What are the givens/facts of my life (the undeniable realities)?

2. What are the preoccupations of my mind (what I’ve been thinking a lot about lately)?

3. What are the movements of my heart (my prevailing emotions)?

4. What is the condition of my body?

5. What questions would I like to ask God? What questions do I yearn to have answered?

6. What are my longings and desires?

Second Movement: read back over your responses three or more times, underlining statements or sentences that seem to stand out and have meaning or importance. Reflect on the highlighted statements and then respond to some or all of these questions: 

·       What seems to be the overall theme? 

·       What does this theme bring to your awareness? 

·       What seems clear to you about how you come to this time? 

·       Did anything surprise you? 

Third Movement: once you’ve identified the main theme or important awareness, spend time reflecting on its significance through journaling, talking with God about it and listening for God’s response.