ONGOING FORMATION
If you are new to contemplation, consider the (Primer) Contemplative School. Or if you are not quite ready to do the school of spiritual direction, but want to engage in preparatory formation, this might be a fit. We can also help you find a spiritual director if you are looking for one.
If you are a bit further along in your exploration, and are searching out new formation opportunities, consider making the 18th or 19th Annotation of the Ignatian Exercises. On this page, you will also find upcoming retreats and pilgrimages for 2026-2027.
If you are a spiritual director that has trained in one of our schools, don’t miss out on our regional gatherings or monthly online trainings on pertinent topics.
More details below:
THE (PRIMER) CONTEMPLATIVE SCHOOL
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This online cohort will provide a chance to experience the formation of the contemplative path and it is a great preparation for our two-year certificate programme in spiritual direction, if you wish to take it further. First, we link you with a qualified spiritual director so you have nine to twelve invaluable months of receiving direction. Second, we guide you monthly in a small group setting online through foundational aspects of the contemplative tradition via teaching, practice, debriefings and short readings. Each month you will have reading and practices that you can engage with, as you desire, between modules.
Each monthly meeting lasts about three hours and follows the same format: welcome, a prayer exercise, interactive teaching, a guided practice, a time to debrief the practice, and time to comment and reflect on whatever readings were assigned in the prior month. (The readings typically consist of two-three chapters). It is like being guided in a monthly retreat for a few hours in daily life.
We have Contemplative Schools available in Asia, Online, and in Southwest England. If your organisation is interested in this school as a group, please get in touch!
THE NINE MODULES
Presence Over Performance
Desire Over Duty
(Inter) Dependence Over Self-Sufficiency
Vulnerability Over Self-Protection
Gratitude Over Entitlement
Embodied Over Fragmented
Mercy Over Judgement
Mystery Over Certainty
Consent Over Control
Cost and Dates
The 2025-26 School of Contemplation Trowbridge, Bath, and Online is now full.
Now accepting applications for Asian Primer 2026 and will accept applications for The 2026-2027 Schools of Contemplation soon! 2026-27 Dates TBC.
ASIAN PRIMER DATES: Last Thursday of each month January-September 2026 / 5-8 Indian Standard Time.
COST: £600 total for the 2025-2026 school year.
There will be a £100 non-refundable deposit with nine monthly payments of about £56 during the school year.
Other cost information: Books (which are minimal) and monthly spiritual direction are not included.
If you’d like to find out more information before applying, please get in touch via our Contact Page.
FINDING A
SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Spiritual direction is an ancient form of pastoral care with a very tight focus: it examines the substance, nature, and actual experience of the God-human relationship. In spiritual direction, the director comes alongside the directee for the primary purpose of focusing on the presence and activity of God in the directee’s life. In a word, spiritual direction is co-discernment. We learn to “see what the Father is doing” (John 5:19), - not just in that moment, but over the months and seasons of a person’s life. The goal is to deepen the relationship with God by growing in attentiveness.
We have trained dozens of spiritual directors across Europe, the UK and beyond. If you need help finding one, just reach out. We would be happy to assist you.
THE IGNATIAN EXERCISES
→ We can connect you with an Ignatian-trained director to meet weekly or bi-weekly for the 18th or 19th Annotation. Contact us if you want to sign up.
→ The 19th Annotation is a nine-month journey that aligns with the church calendar and typically begins in the autumn to coincide with Advent and Lent.
→ The 18th Annotation is an abbreviated version that will give you a ten-week taste of this journey.
→ Each annotation has a component of daily practices (consisting of Ignatian Contemplation of the Gospels, Ignatian Meditations, and forms of prayer).
WHAT’S INCLUDED
MONTHLY TRAININGS
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If you are a spiritual director that has trained in one of our schools, and you are longing for more training, consider our monthly online trainings. They are typically midweek on Wednesday evening 6-8 UK / 7-9 Central Europe Time. If you sign up for the year, you have access to all recordings, whether you can attend or not. If you’d like to sign up, please click here.
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Monthly Training 25-26.
22.10.25 - The Theology of Beauty & Vision Divina with Sandra Innes & Sara Carlisle
26.11.25 - Breathwork with Caroline Gibson
3.12.25 - Spiritual Direction & Attachment with Erin Zappin
28.1.26 - Ignatian Discernment & Decision-Making with Natalie Baxter-Strange
18.2.26 (Ash Wednesday Special Gathering) - Spiritual Direction and Accompaniment through Darkness with Sara Carlisle
18.3.26 - Theosis: Participation in Love with Kris Miller
+and more to come for April, May and June!Monthly Trainings from 2024-25.
If you trained in one of our schools, and you weren’t able to join us this last year, you can still pay to access these previous sessions. This can be either a single session or the whole year. You can contact us here. We covered:+Spiritual Direction and Trauma I with Erin Zappin
+Spiritual Direction and Somatic Body Awareness I with Hope Stockman
+Spiritual Direction and Suffering with Sara Carlisle
+Spiritual Direction and Ignatian Rules of Discernment I with Natalie Baxter Strange
+Spiritual Direction and Desire with Sara Carlisle
+Spiritual Direction and Ignatian Rules of Discernment II with Natalie Baxter Strange
+Spiritual Direction and Interior Movements with Helen Vince
+Spiritual Direction and the Enneagram with Sara Carlisle
+Spiritual Direction and Somatic Body Awareness II with Susan Powell
Still to come:
+Spiritual Direction and Trauma II (Attachment) with Erin Zappin
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Our next Monthly Training is on 28th January 2026 - Ignatian Discernment & Decision-Making with Natalie Baxter-Strange
Life is full of decisions from the seemingly small everyday ones to the bigger, more significant ones. Whether you find making decisions easy or difficult, what guides your decision making? Would you like to have greater confidence in the choices your make in your life?
In this time together, we will be considering how St. Ignatius of Loyola approached decision making. His supreme concern was how to live his life for the greater glory of God. His approach has been used down the centuries and has proven to be a reliable way to make decisions that are in keeping with our deepest desires and God’s desires for us.
Before the session, it would be helpful if you can think of a decision you would like to make or are in the process of making. If there isn’t anything alive for you at the moment, then you might like to think back to a decision that you made that seemed significant at the time. There will be time to reflect on and work with these decisions during our time together.
If you are a spiritual director that has trained in one of our schools and would like to sign up, please click here.
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You can sign up for a single training for £30, or you can sign up for the whole year of 9 trainings for only £235. You can sign up here.