• Westina Matthews

    • Westina Matthews is an author, a public speaker, retreat leader, and an Adjunct Professor at General Theological Seminary where she teaches contemplative spiritual direction. Her poignant reflections have turned into her book Dancing from the Inside Out: Grace-Filled Reflections on Growing Older (2019). A graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program, she is also a Shalem board member. You may contact Westina at matthews@gts.edu.

Widening the Lens: Diversity and Inclusion in Contemplative Living and Leadership

Grant Awarded from Trinity Church Wall Street From 2020 to 2022, the Shalem Program Committee focused on the issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion through several initiatives, including: 1) meeting with the program directors of all long-term programs, to include more diverse reading lists and curricula; 2) engaging and surveying over 100 self-identified Contemplatives of […]

November 11, 2023 by Westina Matthews 3 Comments

Stillness and Silence as An African American Contemplative

The 2022 lecturer for the Gerald May Seminar was the Most Reverend Michael B. Curry who leads the U.S.-based Episcopal Church as Presiding Bishop. As the 27th Presiding Bishop, he is the first person of color – and African American – to serve in this role. During the seminar, Curry said more than once, “I […]

September 09, 2022 by Westina Matthews 5 Comments

Exhaling My Prayer Breath

On January 29th I received my first Pfizer vaccine shot. On February 19th, I received the second shot. Two weeks later, I could finally begin to breathe deeply again. How long had I been holding my prayer breath? I didn’t realize how long I had been shallow breathing… more than 11 months, beginning when we […]

April 04, 2021 by Westina Matthews

I Surrender to God

Believing that one should end the year the way one would like to begin the new year, I spent the last three days prior to New Year’s Eve in prayer, meditation, and on a semi-fast. If I had been at Kripalu, my favorite yoga retreat center located in the Berkshires, I would have been experiencing […]

January 01, 2009 by Westina Matthews