BACKGROUND OF THE SANCTUARY OF THE SEEKING

Conceived by Indhira Udofia, The Sanctuary of The Seeking was first conceptualized in 2010 as a ministerial support organization to assist folks and communities seeking to address spiritual trauma in faith spaces.

Indhira envisioned a space where people of color within different faith traditions could come and unpack experiences of religious based trauma and violence through a trauma informed, spiritually sensitive lens. Informally, Indhira coached, counseled, and co-create restorative spiritual practices and experiences for peers and friends who experienced religious based violence since 2008. However, it was beginning her own healing journey from religious trauma in 2013 where she began to imagine an organization dedicated to providing resources, support, and experiences of healing and wellness.

As a former licensed youth minister, therapist, and spiritual practitioner, Indhira has spent the majority of her academic and professional life examining spirituality’s impact on socio-cultural functioning among individuals and communities. Seeing how many experiences within various church spaces influenced people’s ability to build and sustain relationships and the lasting impact on community functioning, Indhira felt the vocational pull to provide therapeutically minded spiritual care and counseling through spiritual coaching and consultation, educational resources and experiences, and therapeutic programming. 

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The aim of The Sanctuary of the Seeking is to provide comprehensive interventions to assist individuals and communities in navigating spirituality and wellness without inflicting trauma and violence. At the Sanctuary of the Seeking, our aim is to provide multidimensional, dynamic interventions to aid in religious based trauma prevention and recovery efforts for faith community members, practitioners, and organizations. In addition, The Sanctuary of the Seeking desires to provide tools, strategies, and services to aid in the spiritual formation of individuals and communities grasping with defining or reimagining their faith expression and practices. Here at The Sanctuary of the Seeking, we embrace various wisdom and healing modalities of various faith expressions and traditions, including the wisdom and healing power of Black and Indigenious traditional religions, the wisdom of contemplative practices, and other forms of esoteric mysticism.