The Lectio Divina Trust promotes the benefits of Western mainly Christian meditation to people in the Midlands and beyond.

To show the benefits of Christian meditation to those who find life stressful is one of our main emphases.

Over the last 30 years Eastern forms of meditation have become increasingly popular. It is often forgotten that Europe also has ancient traditions of meditation offering similar benefits.

For 2000 years men and women from within the Christian traditions have experimented with different forms of meditation. The Lectio Divina Trust focuses on two of these ancients traditions: Lectio Divina or ‘Sacred Reading’ and Ignatian Meditation.

LECTIO DIVINA

Some 1800 years ago men and women retreated to lonely places to escape the stresses of daily life and developed Lectio Divina or ‘sacred reading’, a way of meditating that people have found helpful ever since. Traditionally it involved a ‘slow reading’ of a chosen text from the Bible and allowing the words to speak in new ways. In modern times the scope of the materials used in the exercises has been greatly widened to include the visual arts and music. In today’s understanding it can be described as ‘attentive listening or looking’ – allowing what is listened to or looked at to speak to your situation in a fresh way.
For an example see the ‘A meditation exercise' page

IGNATIAN MEDITATION

This is a form of meditation developed in the 16th century by the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola; Ignatian meditation makes creative use of our imagination through ‘visualization’. The practitioner is encouraged to imagine him or herself in a given situation – ‘as if you are there’, thus allowing the story to directly speak to the person in fresh ways, often addressing situation of stress in daily life.
Traditionally the stories used would be from the Christian Bible but today other resources are also used. In the events run by Lectio Divina poetry and paintings are also used.
For an example see: 'A meditation exercise' page

The feedback given by those who have attended courses run by the Lectio Divina Trust has emphasised the sense of rest and peace people experienced after the sessions; “I sleep better and feel more at peace with myself” is an often heard phrase.

To attend any of the sessions you do not need to adhere to religious beliefs. Meditation is for everyone.