Tenets of Companioning

Companioning is about honoring all parts of the spirit; it is not about focusing only on intellect.

Companioning is more about curiosity; it is less about expertise.

Companioning is about walking alongside; it is not always about urgent movement forward.

Companioning means discovering the gifts of sacred silence; it is not about filling every moment with talk.

Companioning is about being present to another person's emotional and spiritual pain; it is not about taking away or fixing the pain.

Companioning is about respecting disorder and confusion; it is not about imposing order and logic.

Companioning is about going into the wilderness of the soul with another human being; it is not about thinking you are responsible for finding the way out....

"As we understand companioning at deeper levels, we become freed from the illusion that our job is to prevent existential suffering. When our belief system begins to change, we become less apt to interfere with what is already progressing, as it is supposed to."

By Greg Yoder