Inamorata Center is grounded in my practice as a spiritual clinician and lover of the Divine. I have spent over 40 years providing spiritual care and exploration with people of all faiths and no explicit faith. I am a process educator who has worked with hundreds of graduate students coming to learn the art of spiritual care and supervision within the context of hospitals, prisons, long term care facilities, congregations, or community shelters. My approach is influenced by my interspiritual perspective and grounding in contemplative practices.
My work springs from my love of guiding others in their movement toward greater authenticity, skillful living, and simply being.
One of my earliest memories of my inamorata center was a felt sense that there is much more to reality. I was a small girl laying upon a large branch of my weeping willow tree and feeling the movement of the tree as it held my body effortlessly. Hidden inside this cacophony of outer branches, I felt in this sanctuary a surrender that I had not known within my childhood body. I knew this sense of holding was something we call God. At the same time, I was also experiencing this mystery in the Catholic Mass and learning about a God who is both beyond knowing and radically present.
I have come to value the integration of many perspectives into a cohering and grounding center.
I have practiced Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity, Progressive Protestantism, 12-step Spirituality, Feminist Spirituality, Mindfulness training, as well as Contemplative and Mystical Non-Dual Christianity within my lifetime. I have found the wisdom of Buddhism and Sufism expanding my spiritual life. I have taught classes on the ‘Spirituality of Pregnancy and Birthing” from my own experiences as a mother and partner. Through participation in Sandplay as a spiritual practice for many years, I have found that the playful, imaginative and creative are wonderful doorways within and between us.
Currently, I am a United Church of Christ Minister http://UCC.org and an Ordained Teacher in the Ridhwan Spiritual School or Diamond Approach http://ridhwan.org/school/method.
Credentials:
Professional Christian Minister and Pastoral Educator
- Ordained United of Church of Christ minister in 1984
- Master of Divinity—United Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN 1983
- Parish minister 3 years
- Inter-faith Hospital Chaplain from 1985-2018
- ACPE certified Clinical Pastoral Educator at the Fairview CPE Center, part of Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis, from 1990-2018.
(Clinical Pastoral Education is a graduate level process education program focused on the development of identity formation, professional competencies and reflective abilities for those who serve in ministry. The curriculum is based in theological, psychological, educational and group theories.)
Spiritual Director
- Trained at the Center for Spiritual Guidance in Minneapolis, MN 1996-98
(Center for Spiritual Guidance focused on eco-spirituality found in the New Cosmology/Universe Story, mysticism, inter-faith traditions and the use of story in spiritual guidance.)
- Private practice from 1997-2005 and 2016-present
Ordained Teacher in the Ridhwan School/Diamond Approach
Current student in the Diamond Approach since 2006 and trained in teacher seminary program from 2012-2022.
(The Diamond Approach brings an integration of a non-dual understanding of reality drawing primarily from Buddhism and Sufism (mystical tradition of Islam), along with an open-ended method of inquiry into our direct experience, insights from modern psychology and meditation practices.
As quoted from the Diamond Approach Website–“The Diamond Approach emphasizes the personal aspects of spiritual reality, in a way different from most spiritual paths. Development of the personal essence—the Pearl beyond Price—is central to the Diamond Approach. This process honors, supports, and develops the uniqueness of each individual to his or her fullest potential. Beingness in a personal form becomes a stepping stone from ordinary consciousness to the transcendent oneness of spiritual reality.”)
Rev. Sheryl Lyndes Stowman, B.A. Theater Arts, Master of Divinity, A.C.P.E. Clinical Pastoral Educator, Spiritual Direction Certification, Ordained Teacher of the Ridhwan School/Diamond Approach