Compression and Expansion When Your Spirituality Shifts
A couple of Springs ago, I visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio, Taliesin West, just outside Phoenix, Arizona. One of the architectural features of the beautiful property that caught my mind was how he played with the idea of compression and expansion.
The entrance to the building, and the transitions between rooms, would typically have a low ceiling and a fairly small space, some as small as 6’x6’. These spaces were often dim, narrow, sparsely appointed, and non-descript. Our tour guide suggested Wright did this intentionally to create tension, compelling his visitors forward into the building.
After experiencing the feeling of being squeezed forward or around a corner, the room would open to a space filled with windows and open floor plans. In the compression entries, I felt myself almost holding my breath, then releasing and relaxing as I stepped into the comfortable expansion space.
Compression and Expansion in Faith Journeys
Faith journeys can also be an interplay between the tension of compression and expansion. Some clients report the compression includes feelings such as guilt, confusion, grief, and frustration. Clients also report that expansion can be lifegiving, hopeful, and healing.
Grief, loss, and spiritual suffering, in the context of a faith journey, can cause dissonance and isolation. One of the threads that we see when clients navigate complex faith journeys is their deep sense of loss. This loss can feel like a low-ceilinged, dark, narrow space of compression.
Moving into Expansion
If you feel like you are being compressed, here are four tips to help move into the expansion phase of your faith journey:
Name the losses and acknowledge your feelings. Honor your experiences of loss and allow yourself to grieve and mourn.
Be kind, and attend to yourself with awareness, acceptance, and self-care.
Permit yourself to let go of the expectations in your old story.
Begin writing your new story, explore, and discover what your current version of spirituality is. Breathe into the expansion.
Resources for Navigating a Faith Crisis
If you are currently navigating a faith crisis or faith expansion and feel that support from a therapist would be helpful, Wasatch Family Therapy is here to help. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our therapists in Utah. Call or text our office at 801.944.4555 or email us here.
