Excel Sheets. Spiritual Practice. Possibly two phrases that have never before been written together.

It is an association that would never have occurred to me until it cropped up in a conversation with a friend.

Over the years we had been chatting about the circumstances in which she most easily felt calm, at ease and aware of the magic of life. She had the idea that it ought to happen for her in meditation and had tried many different meditation strategies. She could stay comfortably silent in a group meditation, carried along by the communal dynamic, but on her own, she found meditation to be slow torture.

Her culture and her community of friends highly valued meditation, so for many years she kept exploring meditation, but sitting on her own, it was always uncomfortable and distressing. She was so sincere in her desire to meditate that she asked me to nudge and remind her to get into practice.

Then in a conversation, she casually mentioned some quiet spiritual experiences she was having. In those experiences, she was completely calm, felt the presence of a higher power — whatever you may wish to call it — and a heightened sense of intuition, which helped guide her important life decisions.

I asked in what circumstances she was having these encounters. There was a pause as she gathered her thoughts. With some embarrassment she finally responded that her spiritual awareness surfaced when she was at her computer deeply involved in Excel spreadsheets, and organising the complex arrangements for very large international conferences – speakers, rotas, tech, flights, breakout rooms, accommodation and more.

Her answer excited me for two reasons. The first reason for my excitement was very personal, because I experience a lowkey panic when I have to work with information that is tabulated inside spreadsheets. (I interpret this as a form of dyslexia.)

The second reason for my excitement was because this was a breakthrough moment for my friend as she realised, acknowledged and validated for the first time that her consciousness expanded into a state of spiritual connection when she was working on complex spreadsheets. She had never really acknowledged this to herself and never to her friends because it was not meditation.

We talked about her experiences. She said that her mind and body just felt incredibly content and peaceful when working on complex arrangements on a spreadsheet, and she went into a ‘flow’ state. In this experience of psychological harmony, another crucial part of her mind – of her psyche – was liberated to go into an altered state of consciousness.

She was multitasking. Seen from the perspective of one psycho-spiritual model, her left brain was happily doing its mental thing, liberating her right brain to do its intuitive-spiritual work.

For decades I have been promoting the idea that people have very different ways of entering into spiritual awareness, and it is crucial for each individual to understand how they best do it. I find it really easy to meditate on my own and that is my preferred practice. But teaching spiritual practice and listening to students and colleagues, I have had to learn and value that there are many different gateways for entering a state of calm connection with the magic of life. I was astonished when I first heard people saying that mindful spiritual awareness happened for them while swimming. (I can’t do that. I can’t do spreadsheets.)

There are huge variances between, for example, people who practise ecstatic drumming and those who prefer a gentle walk in the cloisters; or those who chant and those who sit quietly reading inspiring texts.

People have very different gateways and circumstances to spiritual awareness; and it is really helpful if people know what they are and value them.

Spreadsheet spiritual practice! Once I was over the mini-trauma to my established ideas, I reflected more calmly about it. I recalled that I had several other friends, who also love working with spreadsheets. I need to ask them whether they too can go into a spiritual state when engaged with them.

I also found myself thinking of all the people who relax doing jigsaws and the members of my family who love puzzles. I remembered too a headteacher I once supported and was helping into reflective practice. The only time that he could calm and think more expansively was when he was working on the engine of his classic motor car.

Spreadsheets. Puzzles. Mechanics. These might be surprising, but knitting, weaving, embroidery and crafts are already well recognised as spiritual practices, and they are in a similar zone. These are all circumstances that one hundred per cent work for some people and provide gateways into calm and altered states of awareness.

Over and over again we can also observe children going into magic-land with the tiniest of figures. A blade of grass can be anyone or anything as a child’s awareness goes through a gateway into the world of imagination, play and connection.

So, we come back to this core insight — that there are very many different gateways and circumstances that enable people into spiritual awareness. Meditation is only the best way for meditators. Just as movement, or dance, or reading, or nature, are the best ways for others. And now we can add to this list of spiritual practices – spreadsheets.

There is a wonderful cultural development happening in our world today. Historically, most religions and spiritual traditions have suggested specific ways of worship and spiritual practice. Today’s spiritual culture is expanding to a recognition of and respect for each individual’s best approach. Whatever path people take, though, they lead to a destination of greater compassion and service, expanded consciousness and deeper connection.

Let’s welcome spreadsheets into the wondrous toolbox of spiritual strategies.

Important things first (at least for me):

My new motorbike is grrrreat!

Autumn rains are feeling soggy and damp, but the sun is still emerging warmly.

Our chickens are still laying.

I’ve been silent for a few weeks, but very busy in the background. The diploma course in spiritual coaching and caregiving is successfully off the ground, being led by a great team of colleagues from the Spiritual Companions Trust.  I’m in the background, leading the assessment and quality assurance process.

There is also a substantial piece of good news. Two decades ago I started contemplating how a person-centred approach to spiritual wellbeing could be incorporated into schools, to support the children, staff, parents and wider community. Our approach in the Spiritual Companions Trust has proven over the last decade to work well for adults. Could it help children and their schools? How can we integrate our approach into the system?

First, a reminder of our approach.
We always start with an enquiry and build on people’s prior experience. We ask these questions:

• In what circumstances do you most easily connect with the wonder and energy of life?
• How would you describe your experience?
• What is your favourite name for it – God, Goddess, Spirit, Allah, Source, Mystery . . .?

We then show our students the substantial evidence for the health and wellbeing benefits of spirituality. We explain the physiology and psychology of how these benefits are achieved, and we then coach the students in the universal practices that can deepen their experience and amplify the benefits – embodiment, somatic awareness, compassionate witnessing, emptying, and so on.

Over the years, developing and teaching this approach, as I wrote above, I pondered how this could be integrated into schools, possibly through the Religious Education (RE) or Personal & Social Health Education (PSHE) curricula.

Fast forward to a few months ago when I was contacted by Lady Hohn, wife of Sir Chris Hohn, asking whether I might collaborate on a mystery school educational project. I replied Yes, but a few weeks later when I was talking with Vanessa Jeffery, their project director, I had an intuitive nudge. Out of the blue, I asked Vanessa whether they might be interested in a project around schools’ spiritual wellbeing and curriculum development. There was an immediate response of Yes. I seemed to be falling through an open door.

The next stage in this process was to develop a spiritual wellbeing CPD offer for teachers and develop relevant resources. The big issue, however, was how we would be able to get teachers out of their schools for a day’s training. Individual teachers needed to want to come and their school heads needed to give them permission, plus be able to employ a supply replacement teacher. Working with Amy Morrison, our project manage at Spiritual Companions who has had previous experience with two substantial UK charities, the RSPB and Rethink Mental Illness, we began to research possible partners in the education world. It was obvious, however, that we needed advice on the best strategy.

Someone I knew came into my mind – Ed Gregory. We sit together on the board of trustees for Glastonbury Abbey (I live in Glastonbury) and he is a hugely experienced and relevant educator, now leading the education department of the Diocese of Bath & Wells and was a head teacher for thirty years. Ed and I had never hung out together, but I always found his presence useful and calming. So I emailed asking whether he and I could have a word at the annual trustees away-day. He said Yes and I suggested we might take a few minutes at lunch, where I would explain my problem and he might have some advice. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, the Church of England has 4,360 schools under its wing, and has a genuine ethos of inclusivity and compassionate care.) 

At that lunch, before I had hardly said anything, Ed said he has hoping I might be able to help him and the diocese with some CPD for their schools! Within less than a minute, sitting at a table by a window looking across the beautiful grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, we were discussing a spiritual wellbeing CPD day for school staff. Within another few minutes, I was scheduled to speak for 40 minutes at a meeting of heads and senior educators, including Ofsted inspectors, working in the Southwest.

I then had several meetings with Ed and his colleague, Louise Jenkins (also a teacher), and we developed a plan for how and when we could move forward. We agreed that our CPD day be divided into two parts. In the first two thirds of the day participants would personally experience the approach and be taught some of the strategies. In the last third of the day, we would harvest their thoughts, insights and feedback on how this approach might best be integrated into schools  — classrooms, special needs, staff, governance, curriculum, parents and the wider community. We would then build on this, running further CPD days, developing resources and strategies.

So, a few weeks ago I put on a smart shirt and suit (!), and delivered that presentation on a person-centred approach to spiritual wellbeing, ending with a request for support in delivering the CPD.

My heart is still moved by the fact that these senior and very grounded people in the teaching profession all liked our approach. They thought it useful and relevant. It spoke to them. They wanted to support it and they wanted personally to attend. In fact, they suggested that ideally each school would send a head teacher and a classroom teacher.

Our first CPD day in the Schools Spiritual Wellbeing project is now scheduled for early January and others are being planned. The generous support of Kylie Hohn and the LightEn foundation has ensured that schools can meet the costs of supply teacher cover, that we can develop resources and an ongoing appraisal, and as my daughter, who is herself a teacher, insisted, that all the teachers on the CPD day be valued and cared for with a cooked organic hot lunch!

In a future eLetter/blog I will let you all know how it goes. In particular, we will learn from the first CPD day and its feedback whether we have a project that can integrate into schools’ systems and cultures. Our intentions are, I believe, impeccable but there needs to be a grounded reality check on whether it is actually useful and whether the time is right. Watch this space. I’ll keep you informed.

Right now, it feels blessed.

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If you are connected to a school and want to be involved, please email Amy – amy@spiritualcompanions.org

If you want to financially support the project, you can donate here: https://spiritualcompanions.org/donate/

If you want to give a substantial donation, then please contact me directly william@williambloom.com