Ep. 5 - Chasing the Spark: Deepening Your Intimacy with the Divine

What if your relationship with the Divine could feel more real and fulfilling than any human connection you’ve ever known?

In this episode, Tamara Ridge explores spiritual intimacy—a lived relationship with the Divine that grows stronger through simple, embodied practices. She shares the single insight that changed everything for her: learning to notice and follow the small sparks of divine connection that appear in everyday life.

Through storytelling, gentle self-reflection, and a calming guided meditation, Tamara invites you to put down distractions, open your heart, and rediscover the Divine presence that’s been beside you all along.

Whether you’re healing from religious trauma or simply longing for a deeper spiritual bond, this episode will remind you: the Divine is ready to connect with you right now.

✨ Ready for a gentle starting point?
Begin with the free Sacred Intimacy Snapshot — a quick, insightful look at where your spiritual connection is thriving and where you might want to grow. It only takes a few minutes and helps you see which of the 12 Sacred Intimacies is calling you next.
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Stay close to this work
If today’s episode spoke to your heart and you’d like gentle support for your own sacred intimacy with the Divine, you’re welcome to join my Inner Light Companion email list. Each week I send a brief reflection, a simple spiritual practice, and a question to pray or journal with—so you can keep deepening your relationship with God in the middle of your real life. 

Work with me 1:1
If you’re longing for a soul friend to walk beside you in this season—someone to hold quiet, sacred space as you heal spiritually, disentangle religious wounding, and learn to trust your

If your nervous system feels tired—and you’re longing for a deeper, more embodied connection with the Divine—I’d love to invite you to my free Sacred Intimacy Snapshot. In just a few minutes, you’ll discover which area of intimacy in your life is asking for care right now—and you’ll receive a gentle four-part mini-course to help you tend what’s next on your journey. You can take it at innerlightcompanion.com

The Art House of Sacred Becoming is a body‑safe, archetypal art journey for spiritually attuned women longing for deeper becoming. No art skills required! Join the interest list and receive a free Wise Woman Journal Prompt at ArthouseofSacredBecoming.com.

🌿 The Inner Light Companion is hosted by Tamara Ridge, LMFT — guiding spiritually curious souls into deeper connection, intuitive healing, and divine remembrance. 

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However you show up on this path, your story is sacred.
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Transcript

Tamara Ridge (00:03.682)
What if I told you that your relationship with the divine could be more real and satisfying than any relationship you've ever had? Today I'm sharing the one thing that changed everything for me and how you can experience it too, starting right now.

Tamara Ridge (00:29.294)
as I sit here with my journal asking myself, what do I want to share with you about spiritual intimacy? One thing alone comes to mind. How can I help you believe and then experience the reality that your relationship with the divine

Tamara Ridge (00:56.94)
Your relationship with the divine can be as real and satisfying as any relationship you've ever had. Maybe even more than any relationship you've ever had. I define sacred intimacy as a lived relationship with the divine that matures through 12 intimacy capacities.

The more of these you integrate into your life, the more you experience spirituality in your body.

But spiritual intimacy feels like the foundation of all of the sacred intimacies. When I look back on my own life, it has been the intimacy that has grown most naturally and organically, beginning from remembering the connection with the divine through my body during times of solitude and isolation in my childhood.

From those memories, can tell you that spiritual intimacy starts with a little spark of awareness that the source of love, safety, and personal care are nearby.

during times of need, during quiet moments, in reflection.

Tamara Ridge (02:33.154)
But I think that many people don't listen or feel for that little spark. Or if the spark makes itself known through things like spontaneous cycling of your windshield wipers or a falling feather in your path when no visible birds are around or something you've been silently praying for without any words that

synchronistically emerges in your life.

We don't follow the spark. We should pause in wonder and awe, then chase the spark, just like a character in a wonder-filled animated movie would chase the little talking spark into deeper adventure. Instead, we tell the story and move on.

without seeking more. I think many people don't even think about these things deep. I think many people don't even think about these things deeply enough to reflect on what would happen if I pursued this little spark.

Tamara Ridge (04:00.138)
I can tell you what happens. It's this. You start to feel supported.

You know you were never alone, even when no one else is around. You have a silent, invisible friend. And you know things. No drinking required. Sorry about the Game of Thrones reference. Actually, not sorry. I loved that show. But back to knowing things. If we think about spiritual circles and spiritual social media,

There's a lot of talk about intuition. Intuition is the sacred equivalent of the metaphors coming back to Tyrian's high level knowledge. Okay, not really. Okay, I'll drop the metaphor now. It isn't working, but what does work is this. Paramahansa Yogananda said, the library of the universe

is hidden within you.

this is a reference to intuition and chasing the sparks of light that only come from the divine. The divine. And if you're coming from religious injury like me, you might be thinking, but I don't have intuition because your experiences have made you feel like an outsider. Let me tell you right now, my friend.

Tamara Ridge (05:41.634)
You are just as capable of building your intuition muscle as anyone else. It's hardwired in because you're human. And the part that's beautiful about this is it doesn't take months. The divine is ready to connect with you right now. So let's talk a little bit about the how.

If the divine is ready for you, what do you need to do to make the connection?

First things first, put down your phone. Spiritual intimacy depends on you showing up as you are. How many times have you responded to tough emotions or moments by numbing yourself out through doom scrolling, online shopping,

using marijuana or alcohol or binge watching Netflix. Believe me, I've had my share of TikTok scroll till midnight, ignoring those, are you scrolling again instead of sleeping posts?

But spiritual intimacy calls us to pause, to connect with whatever those emotions are that the doom scroll numbs and show up real. What if you put your phone down and journaled instead? Even if your journaling is only two words, I'm upset.

Tamara Ridge (07:34.721)
then follow those words with a prayer or silence that places your feelings in the space between you and the divine.

Tamara Ridge (07:49.269)
Just offer it.

then pause.

Notice sensations, thoughts, awareness. Maybe then journal some more. Just stay present. Even if you cannot find words, just linger with the offering that you've made toward the divine from your heart.

Tamara Ridge (08:24.683)
I would also invite you to experiment with the idea that no matter who you are or where you are in your life right now, the divine can reach you.

with consistent practice of simple effort, you will experience the divine more regularly in your life.

Tamara Ridge (08:54.017)
I also want to talk for a minute about how to know you're making the connection. What you need is to bring emotional honesty, gentleness toward yourself, and repetition. This is like a muscle. The more you practice, the more your connection grows. And it's sure, sometimes

you'll mess up. Sometimes you won't seek the connection, but that's okay. It doesn't mean you're moving backwards. This is a process, a journey where you're learning to draw closer to the divine.

I've learned by experience that these simple practices lead to a deep personal bond with the divine that is so unique to you that you no longer need anyone outside of you to validate your connection with God. You'll start to feel presence in everyday, quiet, ordinary moments.

You'll learn to trust your spiritual experiences and intuition as guides in your life, regardless of others' opinions or experiences.

As your moments alone with the Divine develop into a stronger bond, you'll find yourself feeling safer to be more honest and more vulnerable in your prayer and meditation life. And when this happens, you'll experience the Divine as loving and nurturing, which allows you to let go of those old beliefs.

Tamara Ridge (10:57.825)
that make you feel small and you'll begin to accept yourself.

Tamara Ridge (11:10.015)
and you'll bring even more of yourself to your relationship with the divine.

As you develop this relationship, you'll begin to recognize the differences between your fears, anxieties, or worries, and the sensations that come from divine intuition.

you'll understand and accept yourself more. And the beautiful thing about all of this is that the skills, honesty, and presence you learn in your relationship with the divine will spill over into your relationships throughout your life. To me, that makes a few minutes a day for

nurturing yourself in relationship with the divine, totally worth it.

Tamara Ridge (12:15.597)
Now, let's take a few moments together to practice this connection. I'm going to walk you through a brief guided meditation to help you find your connection with the divine. So if it's appropriate and you're in a safe place, find a comfortable position. Close your eyes if that feels safe.

And let's nurture your relationship with the divine through this guided experience.

I would invite you now to take a few deep breaths into the count of four, two, three, four. Hold your breath. Two, three, four. Exhale to six, three, four, five, six. Inhale again.

Two, three, four. Hold your breath. Two, three, four. Release. Two, three, four, five, six. Two more. Inhale. Two, three, four. Hold your breath. Two, three,

four, release, two, three, four, five, six. Last one, inhale, two, three, four, hold your breath, two, three, four, release, two, three, four, five.

Tamara Ridge (14:23.437)
Now I want to invite you to take a nice breath in, release and let go of your breath. Pay attention to what's happening in your body. Allow yourself to wiggle around and get comfortable if something feels uncomfortable. But as you breathe and you listen to the sound of my voice.

Allow your body to become more and more relaxed.

Tamara Ridge (15:26.443)
Now I want you to take a moment to visualize where you feel most connected to the divine.

It may be alone in your room.

It may be out in nature.

Tamara Ridge (15:49.582)
Or it may be an imagined space filled with light where you've never been, but that feels comfortable and familiar.

Tamara Ridge (16:06.761)
Imagine yourself there in that space.

Take a few moments in your imagination to look around the space.

Tamara Ridge (16:22.999)
What is familiar about this space for you?

Tamara Ridge (16:30.157)
What do you see that brings you comfort?

What do you smell?

Tamara Ridge (16:39.819)
What can you hear?

Tamara Ridge (16:49.717)
And as you're experiencing the space and relaxing into the comfort of it, I want you to imagine.

Tamara Ridge (17:02.903)
However you call the divine, coming into your space, joining you here.

bringing nothing but love, acceptance, and support for you just as you are right here, right now.

Tamara Ridge (17:44.245)
as you're imagining connecting with the divine. What is the message that's coming through to you that you need today?

Tamara Ridge (18:01.399)
What does the divine want to tell you about you as a person who is loved, part of the universe, and right now held in the attention of the divine?

Tamara Ridge (18:24.983)
Listen with your heart.

Tamara Ridge (18:44.501)
As you listen with your heart, make a promise to yourself and to the divine that you will remember this feeling of reassurance, that you will remember these words of encouragement.

You will take them with you into your daily life.

Tamara Ridge (19:11.469)
Take a moment now to make those promises, to seal them into your heart.

Tamara Ridge (19:40.661)
And now I want you to prepare yourself to leave this sacred space. But before you do, look around. Notice what's here.

Tamara Ridge (20:00.997)
Seal into your memory the feelings and the sights, knowing that you can come back to this welcome space because it is your space, the place where you meet the divine and you are welcome here.

Tamara Ridge (20:31.915)
And once you've taken a moment to sear this place in your memory and to promise to return.

Come back to your breath. Take a deep cleansing breath.

Tamara Ridge (20:53.769)
Start to wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes. Maybe stretch. Start to experience your body in present time.

Tamara Ridge (21:11.113)
a few more breaths.

And when you are ready, open your eyes and return to the room.

Tamara Ridge (21:29.707)
I would invite you if you had an experience that helped you remember how beloved you are. Open your journal and write. We can have these wonderful experiences and then quickly forget as I talked about today. I would encourage you to write your thoughts. Make them a prayer. And again, place it in the space between you and the divine.

Tamara Ridge (22:01.641)
If this episode resonates with your heart, I'd love to continue this journey together with you. Subscribe to the Inner Light Companion podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. We're exploring all 12 sacred intimacies that transform your spiritual life from the inside out. And if you're ready to discover which of these intimacies

might be your strongest pathway to divine connection, take my free Sacred Intimacies snapshot. The link is in the show notes. Remember, the divine is ready to connect with you right now.

The question is, are you ready to chase that little spark?

Until next time, may you know how deeply you are helped.