Sacred Compass Training
Embodied Spiritual formation for visionaries building communities that thrive
Grounded in wisdom. Connected in community. Purposeful in action.
What if self-care began with remembering what matters most?
The world doesn't need more leaders with all the answers, it needs people who know how to listen deeply, discern wisely, and lead with love.
People who can navigate uncertainty without losing their grounding. Who can hold complexity without rushing toward easy answers. Who understand that meaningful transformation begins in relationship—with ourselves, with one another, and with the sacred.
The Sacred Compass is an experiential embodied training for people whose work shapes the lives of others.
Through contemplative and embodied practices, deep listening, spiritual discernment, and shared experiences, we cultivate the wisdom to lead with greater presence, integrity, and purpose.
Enrollment now open for
2027 Cohort of
Women Helping Professionals
(January - June)
A Different Kind of Formation
Being a helping professional isn't just about what we know. It's about how we show up:
How we listen when someone is struggling.
How we respond when emotions run high.
How we make decisions when the path forward isn't clear.
How we navigate conflict, build trust, and create communities where people can experience belonging.
The Sacred Compass brings spiritual wisdom into these everyday realities.
Rather than offering another collection of strategies or techniques, this training invites participants into an ongoing practice of embodied awareness, relational connection, spiritual discernment, and meaningful action.
What does the Sacred Compass look like?
The 6-month cohort model offers an opportunity to not only learn, but implement, iterate and then integrate the work, with ongoing support.
What’s Included?
A private retreat on fifty acres in the Shenandoah foothills, with lodging and meals included.
A monthly group call, where participants think alongside each other and receive real-time support for implementing this work now
A live workshops and trainings and the practices that move you from learning to integration
A recorded library of the workshops and guided audio practices for the in between
A private integration calls between sessions, so you can reach me for a quick unstick instead of waiting for the next group
A custom workbook and journal to carry the work between sessions and keep it close in daily life
Applications open soon!
The program runs fully alongside your work and supports your capacity while you learn new skills for leadership. Apart from the retreat, it is entirely virtual (unless otherwise arranged)
The Cohort for Women
Helpers and Healers
begins
January through June 2027
The Spiritual Compass Method
The Spiritual Compass Method explores three interconnected pathways that shape personal and collective transformation
Memory
Every person and community carries a story.
Through storytelling, embodied awareness, and loving witness, we explore the experiences, emotions, traditions, and inherited beliefs that shape how we understand ourselves and the world.
We learn to recognize the wisdom within our stories while questioning the patterns and assumptions that no longer serve us.
For spiritual leaders, this includes understanding the histories, identities, gifts, and wounds of the communities we serve.
We cannot lead people toward a new future without understanding the stories that brought us here.
Remember Who We Are
Meaning
Spiritual leadership requires more than understanding our experiences. It asks us to discern what they mean and what they call us to do.
Through contemplative practice, deep listening, and collective discernment, we explore our values, responsibilities, relationships, and sense of purpose.
We learn to distinguish inherited expectations from genuine wisdom, navigate uncertainty, and exercise spiritual authority with integrity.
For leaders, this means developing practices that help communities listen together, make meaning of their experiences, and discern a shared direction.
We don't need to have all the answers. We need practices we can trust when the answers aren't clear.
Discern What Matters
Look for the Sacred
Miracles
The sacred is not something we simply observe. It is something we participate in.
Through embodied action, meaningful relationships, and a willingness to remain open to awe and wonder, we discover possibilities that cannot always be anticipated or explained.
Sometimes a miracle looks like reconciliation.
Sometimes it is a community finding its courage.
Sometimes it is an unexpected moment of grace that changes how we understand ourselves and one another.
We cannot manufacture miracles. But we can cultivate the awareness, relationships, and practices that allow us to recognize and participate in them.
Spiritual leadership is not simply about imagining a different world. It is about helping create one.
What Will You Take Into Your Leadership?
The Sacred Compass is designed to help you develop practices and capacities that continue long after the six months conclude.
Through the training, you'll have opportunities to:
Lead with greater presence. Recognize your emotional and embodied responses and respond to challenges with intention.
Listen more deeply. Develop relational practices that build trust and create space for authentic connection.
Discern with confidence. Strengthen your ability to navigate uncertainty, clarify values, and make meaningful decisions.
Facilitate difficult conversations. Bring embodied awareness and deep listening into conflict, disagreement, and change.
Cultivate belonging. Help create communities where people feel seen, heard, and valued.
Translate wisdom into action. Integrate spiritual insight into the decisions, relationships, and responsibilities of leadership.
Sustain your practice. Develop personal and communal practices that support continued growth and discernment.
Grounded in wisdom. Connected in community. Purposeful in action.
Since this work is relational, the first step is a conversation. Reach out to find a time on my calendar and discover if the Sacred Compass is right for you.
Who Is This Training For?
The founding cohort is designed for ordained and otherwise recognized clergy from diverse spiritual and religious traditions.
It's especially suited to people who:
Want to deepen their spiritual formation alongside peers.
Are navigating complex relationships, congregational challenges, or significant transitions.
Want to integrate embodied awareness and contemplative practices into their leadership.
Value interfaith learning and meaningful dialogue.
Are interested in creating communities rooted in love, belonging, and shared responsibility.
Are ready to bring their own spiritual growth into the way they lead and serve.
You don't need to have everything figured out.
You do need a willingness to explore, practice, and learn alongside others.
Not Clergy?
The Sacred Compass is designed to serve leaders across professions.
While our founding cohort is specifically for clergy, future offerings may include educators, healthcare professionals, higher-education leaders, nonprofit professionals, and others whose work shapes the lives of others.
Our Sacred Compass Workshops also offer opportunities to experience this approach outside the six-month cohort.
About Your Guide
Rev. Maeba Jonas, M.Div.
There is work only you can do, and it lives inside a wisdom only you can see. Let’s discover it together.
I’m Rev. Maeba Jonas, an ordained interfaith minister, chaplain, spiritual educator, and retreat facilitator.
My work draws on years of experience accompanying people through life's most significant transitions, facilitating spiritual exploration, and helping individuals and communities develop deeper capacities for love, connection, and discernment.
With graduate theological training from Yale Divinity School and a background in higher education and interfaith spiritual life, I bring together contemplative traditions, embodied practices, relational learning, and practical leadership formation.
I believe spiritual wisdom is not something we simply study, it's something we practice, experience, and bring into the world.
I built this training for the leaders and caregivers who never ask for help until they cannot take it anymore.
I know, because I lived it. I rose to the level of Acting Associate Vice President — doing the work of three people — only to find myself paying the cost with my body.
Fortunately, my somatic training and life-long spiritual study allowed me to see a way out.
Now, I teach those who are doing the work that matters to listen deeply to what matters to them, in order to create the capacity to lead a community that thrives.
All Offerings
On funding:
If you need a board, a bishop, an HR team, or a grant to say yes, I have gathered everything they will need in one place: a program description written for reviewers, a budget justification, sample grant language, and board-ready documentation. Send them to the funding page, or bring it to your next conversation with them.
Just the Retreat
Want to begin with just the retreat? Four days away, a small number of participants, pre- and post-retreat private sessions included.
(Subject to availability.)
Just Coaching
Some seasons of life don't allow for 6 months of training — caregiving, a search process, a newborn, a body that needs to stay close to home.
My custom coaching offers virtual or in-person sessions built around the questions your life is asking, and your leadership is needing.
“I was grateful for the centering and renewing self-care work that Maeba facilitated. As a pastor, I carry a lot of the emotional weight of the community. The space to process feelings is so important to sustain meaningful ministry.”
~ Rev. Dr. Kristen McBrayer
Pastor, Vienna, VA
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Sacred Compass affiliated with a particular religious tradition?
No. The Sacred Compass is an interfaith training that welcomes clergy from diverse religious and spiritual traditions. Participants are invited to bring their own theological perspectives while engaging respectfully with the wisdom and experiences of others.
Is this a certification program?
No. The Sacred Compass is an experiential spiritual formation and leadership training, not a professional certification or licensure program.
Do I need experience with meditation or somatic practices?
No prior experience is required. The training introduces practices in ways that accommodate different backgrounds and levels of familiarity.
Is the retreat included in tuition?
Yes. The residential retreat, including lodging and meals, is included in the program tuition. Travel arrangements and any additional personal expenses will be clarified before enrollment.
Can my congregation or organization pay for my participation?
Yes. Congregational, denominational, and organizational sponsorship is encouraged.
What if I'm interested but I'm not clergy?
You're welcome to explore Sacred Compass Workshops or inquire about future cohorts for other professional audiences.
Lead With Love. Discern With Wisdom. Create What's Possible.
The world needs spiritual leaders who can hold complexity, cultivate connection, and help communities recognize the sacred possibilities before them.