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Who We Are

Soul Care is a spiritual wellness center in the heart of Urbana serving people across east central Illinois.

Our mission is to help people incorporate spiritual wellness in their everyday life by providing mindfully designed experiences and sacred space to inspire meaningful connection with self, others, and the divine.

We are a robust, heart-centered community of spiritual practitioners and seekers who are living with intention into our most authentic selves.

Some people in our community are leaders, teachers, and caregivers who need space to renew. Some people identify strongly with a faith tradition while others have questions they want to understand or seek new perspectives.

We welcome people of all genders, ages, life experiences, faiths, and backgrounds. We are not associated with a specific religion or faith community, and we aspire to be a safe, inclusive space for all. Come as you are and enrich yourself.

Our Guiding Principles

  • Everything is sacred. Spiritual practice is what each of us does in our everyday life with the intention of moving closer to the divine and what is most true and alive for each of us.
  • Regular practice of rest and renewal is important. Solitude and stillness is necessary to hear the quiet inner voice of our soul and listen to what it needs.
  • There is a powerful connection between the heart, mind, and body. Each needs to be engaged in different ways as we learn to practice soul care and self-care in everyday life. Honoring each leads us closer to wholeness.
  • No one needs to feel alone on his or her spiritual journey. Even when they have more questions than answers. Even if they aren’t sure who or what they believe in.
  • God is real and active in this world, and each of us can call the divine by whatever name feels right. Whatever your beliefs about the divine are, whatever your relationship with God is or isn’t, and whatever names or metaphors you use for the divine are honored and respected.
  • Soul care is both an individual endeavor and a community experience.
  • Everyone has a seat at the table. Transformation, understanding, and support all happen when space is made to give everyone a voice and let everyone participate and be seen. Whoever you are, whatever your beliefs or the circumstances of your life, you will be welcomed.
  • Practices and resources provided by Soul Care are not meant to replace or distract from any denomination, affiliation, religion, or community. Rather they are meant to enhance and enrich personal spiritual wellness and growth.
  • It's important to meet people where they are. Curiosity about spiritual truth and openness to a variety of spiritual practices is encouraged. There is value in taking what is beneficial and useful for spiritual development from any experience.
  • People desire a deeper knowledge of themselves so that they can discover and honor their true nature, their most authentic self.
kelly

MEET KELLY

Life events often force people to look inside, prompting lifelong journeys to sift and mold and realize your authentic identity. I've been there.

Over the last 15 years, I have learned that spiritual journey is about self-reflection, community, and intention. I want to help others on this journey.

I was happily married with two young children when my first husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Nine months later, he was gone. Going through that experience, my thoughts about God began to change, and I wanted a more personal relationship with the divine.

A women's retreat in St. Louis unexpectedly taught me new ways to connect with the divine and express my longing for a more personal and practical spirituality. Not through church, sacrament, typical prayer or scripture study, but through a whole other world of contemporary mystics and contemplative prayer I hadn't known before. It blew my mind. I started reading about and practicing other ways to interact with divine and find joy in my soul.

About two years ago, I was questioning my purpose and feeling unfulfilled, so I sought out a spiritual director to help. Under the layers within myself, my director saw me—someone who could help others: an educator. She told me she thought I could connect with people to share some of what I had learned and help with growth, and asked me if I'd considered ministry or something similar. I hadn't, but there was a seed planted in my heart.

Later that year, that seed sprouted when I asked God what to do. On a silent retreat, I was sitting on the front porch of my cottage overlooking the forest and watching squirrels run around the glade, digging up nuts and moving them and I thought, "That's what I can do." Get a nut or seed, move it here, plant it there, grow a tree. I could be a facilitator to help people in this diverse glade to grow into something beautiful.

I began to host pop up workshops and reach out to people, having heart-centered conversations to discover their spiritual needs and longing and challenges. From this feedback came Soul Care.

We are in a time of great transition when it comes to spirituality. People are becoming disillusioned with religion or being turned away because they have questions. I want to provide a comfortable space and community where people can bounce ideas off one another and learn new spiritual practices to help connect them with their authentic self and the divine.

When people feel overworked, stressed, out of touch with their inner self, they feel isolated and alone. Here, they can walk together. Here they can unwind and relax and be still.

I’m excited to offer Soul Care to our community and can’t wait to see what connections and relationships emerge.

Find Your Moment of Peace

Schedule a personal tour and 30 minute meeting to discuss your spiritual needs. Get a warm cup of tea and experience first hand the feel of our welcoming space.

Tour