
InterSpiritual Meditation (ISM) Facilitators
Jeanette Banashak
Jeanette Banashak, EdD, PhD is the co-founder and co-director of The Spiritual Guidance Training Institute. She is an interfaith/interspiritual bilingual spiritual director and supervisor who loves to incorporate creativity and ISM into her sessions as well as teachings. Jeanette is also a senior instructor at Erikson Institute, where she teaches core child development courses and social and emotional learning, and a visiting professor of spiritual direction at the Graduate Theological Foundation. When she’s not facilitating communities of practice, Jeanette is hiking and laughing with her fabulous partner or playing board games and telling stories with friends and family.
Matt Whitney
Matthew Whitney is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and pedestrian. He lives and works in Seattle, Washington, and enjoys going for walks with his family.
He is the Creative Director for Spiritual Directors International, a learning community for people who provide spiritual care, engage in the vocation of spiritual direction, and for all who seek to connect with spiritual companionship and deep listening. Matt provides oversight on visual communications, art and illustration, and is host of the weekly podcast SDI Encounters which engages in conversations around spiritual direction, contemplative practice, and spiritual care.
Matt is a Certified ISM Facilitator and is completing an 18 month training to become a spiritual guide through the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute, an interspiritual program sourced in the Perennial Tradition, which explores, recognizes, and celebrates the deep mystery and wisdom that arises out of all the world’s mature spiritual traditions. He has taught art courses at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Central College, and Northwest University.
Nancy Rushlow Bray
Nancy is an enthusiastic and compassionate champion for the human spirit and contributes her success to her insatiable appetite to engage. Recognizing each person’s inherent worth and appreciating their individuality is her trademark. Nancy is an Emmy award-winning producer and recipient of several Clio Awards for excellence in advertising. She excels in her ability to combine business prowess and the creative experience. She began her career producing visual effects for the acclaimed PBS series Cosmos and continued on as the executive producer/producer for academy-award winner, Robert Blalack, (Star Wars) also becoming the studio’s vice-president of operations & business development.
Nancy has studied meditation and spiritual development for many years with Transcendental Meditation, Self Realization Fellowship and the Spiritual Paths Institute. She strongly values the inclusive nature of the interspiritual teachings, practice and collaboration made available through Spiritual Paths Institute and is pleased to participate as one of the Institute’s certified facilitators.
Nancy also serves as an education advisor for the Charter For Compassion Education Institute and lives in Orange County, CA.
Fabio Capano

Vivo en Buenos Aires Argentina , tengo cuatro hijos adultos , soy abuela de Simón y de Matilda. Hace más de 26 años que trabajo en una empresa líder textil que se dedica a la fabricación de ropa para niños . Soy coordinadora de Alianzas Corporativas y Eventos. Mi tarea en la empresa es la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial, entonces tengo como meta las alianzas corporativas dónde ayudamos a la comunidad a través de organizaciones como Unicef, Hospital Garrahan entre otras. Mi tarea siempre estuvo relacionada al servicio de otros, desde mi trabajo en barrios muy carenciados a acompañamiento espiritual como coach en diferentes grupos. Estudié a lo largo de mi vida varias terapias y técnicas para acercarme al autoconocimiento. Fue en la Meditación InterEspiritual, en la profundidad de sus siete pasos, y la guía de Alejandra Warden, que encontré la Unión de lo aprendido, contacto con el momento presente, y la verdad dentro de mi corazón, lo que me llevó a desear compartir lo aprendido, regalarle al mundo y a mi misma, palabras y acciones de amor que tanto se necesitan hoy.
Rev. Tim Sexton
My background includes being an Aerospace Engineer, building and operating a horse boarding stable, driving a truck, and teaching in a private school.
I recently celebrated my 44th anniversary of ordained ministry, having served Episcopal congregations and on Bishop’s Staffs in the Dioceses of Central Florida, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Utah, Olympia, Hawaii, & New Mexico. Over the course of my ordained life I have experienced many of the different contemplative practices. At different times different ones have appealed more to me. After spending a week with Thomas Keating, Centering Prayer became my “go to” practice.
In 2016 I came to The Mandala Center, a retreat center in NE New Mexico, as Director. Shortly after coming here I read an article about InterSpiritual Meditation. I was draw to it first because of the name connections and then more because of the vision and emphasis that Ed Bastian had for what this was becoming. I have taken the InterSpiritual Mandala, InterSpiritual Meditation, and Facilitator Training courses. I have also facilitated a couple of InterSpiritual Meditation weekends at The Mandala Center and have created a Mandala Walk based on the seven steps, with a video of the Mandala Walk. I believe that the InterSpiritual approach is a great way for all who are on, and those who want to be on, a spiritual journey which brings together their own path with the paths of others, both present and past.
I am blessed with a wonderful and supportive wife, 7 children and 11 grandchildren. Life has been and is truly a grand adventure!
Judith Whetstine
I grew up in a small Iowa farming community and became a member of the local Methodist Church. I attended a small women’s college and majored in philosophy. It was the 60s and I was an occasional protester with no religious commitment. I returned to Iowa and obtained an MA from the University of Iowa’s College of Education and a JD from the law school.
I began my government trial attorney career in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1978 I then transferred into the United States Attorney’s Office practicing in federal court. I remained with the Department of Justice until retirement in 2007 working in Iowa and San Francisco. I loved trying federal criminal and civil cases; but I recognized that the work, which also required supervising attorneys, had a negative impact upon my view of the world. Again, I did not participate in a religious tradition.
I then met my husband’s friend Ed and learned about Spiritual Paths. I was fortunate to attend some of his early inter-spiritual retreats and have continued to participate in courses. I have achieved a 180 degree change in my attitude toward spirituality through an inter-spiritual meditation practice. What a gift to realize this spiritual growth. The brilliance of the ISM path is its universal assistance to any religious or non-religious tradition seeker and our opportunity to walk along this path with others, assisting them and therefore our own practice.
Anna Wolfe
I grew up in Illinois, was raised an Episcopalian. Through early travels my mother opened my eyes and heart to learning about and connecting with people of other cultures and religions. After graduating from Yale, I settled in Washington, D.C. where I worked on Capitol Hill for my Congressman. I began to raise my family in Virginia, and I started to take courses in spiritual subjects, getting an adult education certificate in religion from Georgetown University, completing the Education for Ministry program for lay people from the University of the South, and I became a Stephen Minister. In 1996 I founded a retreat center, the Mandala Center, on the high plains of New Mexico. My family moved to New Mexico, where we lived for about 15 years to serve those who came on retreat. Over the years the Mandala Center has had programs on meditation, yoga, healing, Buddhism, and many of the arts, as well as personal growth. I now live in Carpinteria, California. On our Center’s 20th anniversary I learned about InterSpiritual Meditation, and I have practiced this daily ever since. I have taken the ISM course several times, and I am now certified as a facilitator.
Gena Davis
I grew up in Kingsville, a small town in South Texas, where I developed my deep love for desert spirituality. With a graduate degree in business, I worked as a human resources director in the financial services, healthcare, and higher education industries. As I began to explore Christian spirituality, I became a certified Spiritual Director, answered the call to ordained priesthood, and became a Benedictine Oblate in the World Community for Christian Meditation.
Upon ordination and while leading Grace Episcopal in Houston, I began the integration of yoga into my ministry. In 2015, upon receiving my yoga teacher certification, I founded and co-created YogaMass—a blend of yoga, breathwork, meditation and Holy Communion.
Interfaith relations is a key component of my ministry, and when I discovered Interspiritual Meditation, it deeply resonated with my work to integrate yoga, meditation, and respect for people of all faith traditions. ISM is a tool that will help many to integrate the wisdom teachings into their own spirituality and to find their unique styles that deepen their spiritual path. ISM supports my work in helping others discover wholeness within and to discover their true essence and I am honored to be a facilitator of ISM.