Meet our guest teachers:
Yahya Nadler and Raphael Birney
Psychology is the higher alchemy,
but it must be practiced.
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan
Discovering Truth
Through the Light of the Soul
Are you challenged by the world today? Have you ever observed conflicting desires in yourself? Or fluctuating levels of interest for something you know you want? Do you yearn to go "higher" in your spiritual life, but find yourself absorbed in numbing distractions you can't seem to shake?
Yahya Suzanna Nadler and Raphael Rod Birney are bringing to Northwest Sufi Camp 2026 a rich understanding of what is possible in human becoming -- benefiting us as individuals, and also in groups. As living practitioners of SoulWork, they occupy a vitally energizing intersection of psychology, spirituality, movement and practical embodiment.
Yahya found her way to the Sufi path through her theatre friendship with (now Murshid) Mariam Baker and enjoyment of the Dances led by Sheikh Ishaq Jud. With the encouragement of her friend, Michael Harrison, who was a fellow musician and friend to her husband at the time, she took the plunge into initiation. With a graduate degree in Dance/Movement Therapy, she was already focused on using the body as a way to express what dwells within and also to understand the deeper aspects of oneself. In working with the Diamond Heart path, she added inquiry, curiosity, and knowing even spiritual states as sensorial experiences of wonder. She has made understanding of people, as well as herself, her lifelong passion.
In Raphael's own words: "I was in the third year of my psychiatry residency staying with Yahya (in the early phases of our relationship) and a friend of hers came to visit who had just been to a Sufi camp. I literally saw light pouring off her body. I was like 'I wanna do that’. After my residency, we went to several Sufi camps and I met Rabia Ana Perez. One evening she (now Murshid Aadya Chishti) was giving Darshan before Zikr. Again I saw Light pouring out of her eyes and saw home, my home, the home. A year later, I asked to take initiation with her and into this beautiful path of the heart."
SoulWork is an ancient and modern practice that allows one to be-friend, accept and bring into harmony all the selves/parts within High Self. Similar paths of self-knowledge and creative imagination have arisen throughout human history, but SoulWork was developed and integrated into the Sufi Ruhaniat lineage by Pir Moineddin Jablonski, who was student of The Three Selves work with Frida Waterhouse, a peer of Murshid SAM.
SoulWork enhances creativity and connection through spiritual practices (chanting, dances), inquiry, embodiment, parts work, and active imagination. Conscious Self through its capacity to witness and observe helps us navigate our inner world. High Self, who can be experienced as the Wise Self, Animal Spirit, Angelic Being, etc., in communion with Conscious Self create a welcoming holding atmosphere where each part can be met with love, curiosity, compassion and respect.