Category: Mindfulness

Can you make self-care a priority this month?

7/7/2015

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe www.HealingForGrievingHearts.com

With the beginning of July everything slows down a bit in my life. During that time I am always in danger to take on new challenges instead of embracing the calm and quiet that the summer months bring.

I have more time to be creative in my studio, take long walks in the morning before it gets too hot, and have finally time to attend to a very overgrown garden. (smile)

This year I want to focus on a mindful break and self-care.
Taking care of my needs for meditation, alone time, and creativity will be the priority.

What does self-care look like to you?

Is it walking, dancing, singing, meditating or preparing a good meal with fresh ingredients?
Or is it being alone in silence, taking a long shower, or being with friends at a busy beach?

I dare you to make a self-care plan for the next two weeks.
Listen to your inner voice and take at least 30 minutes per day to do something that fills you with content and yes happiness.

I would like to hear what self-care means to you.

Please let me know and I promise to answer each email personally. (smile)

Blessings,
Jacqueline

Healing Happens Sometimes Unseen

19/5/2015

Be gentle to yourself. Your heart will tell you when you are ready to open up again. HealingForGrievingHearts.com

Over the last couple of weeks I have been in awe with nature.
We had so much snow and then the snow melted and revealed the growing that must have gone on for some time under all the layers of snow.

All of a sudden the garlic was showing its tips at the beginning of May and today it is more than a foot (30 cm) up.

Healing has the same quality like the layers of snow covering the growth underneath.

While we are still in the midst of our feelings and our sadness we don’t realize that our actions of acknowledging the loss and honouring the time we had together helps us to heal.

Healing instills new growth of awareness, gentleness and mindfulness.

We can recover and grow unseen.

When the time comes we shed the layers and show our blooming self again.

Healing and blessings!

Take good care,
Jacqueline

How shame can stop you on your healing path

21/4/2015

Today, I am celebrating the rain in Nova Scotia. (smile) The rain will help melt the snow that has obscured the growth of plants and delayed spring. Finally the blanket of white is lifting. Green is starting to appear and other colours will join nature again - soon - I hope.

Last week I read a Facebook post by Elizabeth Gilbert about shame and especially tribal shaming.
From Elizabeth's post:
A tribe being your family, your religion, your neighborhood, your nationality, your culture, etc.
Simply put: Our tribe of origin tells us who we are.
Our tribe tells us what to believe and how to behave.
Each tribe is governed by its own rules. These rules constitute the honor code that defines every tribe’s essence....

You can find Elizabeth’s post at http://on.fb.me/1E0abLL It is a long post but it is worth your time to read it all. She also explains how to step out of the shame circle. (You don’t have to be on Facebook to read it.)

Her post resonated deeply with me and coincided with stories I have heard from women I work with.

One woman told me, that she went to a potluck supper in her neighbourhood after a year of experiencing multiple loses and lots of healing work. It took her a lot of strength to step out and join. But then people wouldn’t speak to her. They would avoid being near her and one person even said in a loud voice, that she was surprised to see her at the event. My client got the message: "Shouldn’t you be at home grieving?” first she felt angry and then she felt ashamed. In this instance all her strength and trust that she had built disappeared. It took her a while to step out again.

The tribe we have been born in, the one we live in will determine rules that define the tribe’s essence. If we step outside the rules we might face adversity and puzzled looks.
We might even feel ashamed that we don’t fit in anymore.

What if your tribe supports the following rules:

Grief is something private and shouldn’t be shared.
A mother that has lost her child will never be happy again.
A woman that has lost her husband and is still grieving after 2 years is a drama queen.

or they could be:

Grief is something we share and heal together.
A mother’s grief is sacred and we welcome her returning smile into the world.
Grief is unique and we accept that everyone is different and that there is no time frame.

Sometimes it is good to have a look at our own tribal rules and to decide to no longer hurt others and ourselves through those rules.

In her post Elizabeth Gilbert explains how to overcome our shame and live more healthy and happy again. http://on.fb.me/1E0abLL
(I am not affiliated with her in any way. I just felt that she shares a very important message for all of us.)

Take good care on your healing path.

Love and blessings,
Jacqueline

What a donkey taught me

7/4/2015

Equine Assisted Therapy can also help with grief. Donkeys are very intuitive and can help the healing process. www.HealingForGrievingHearts.com

Florian, my teacher the donkey.

My time in Switzerland was wonderful. I enjoyed the warm weather and the spring flowers in the gardens. The colours were a joy to soak in.

The little ritual for my mother’s Birthday helped me once more to honour and celebrate her life.

Every time I go to Switzerland my days are filled with visits to see all my friends and family members. Sometimes I am in such a hurry to see everyone that I forget to spend real time, quite time with my friends and family.

Then I met Flo (Florian). He is one of my sister-in-law’s donkies.

They have five donkies, two horses, one mule, one dog and two cats. You can imagine that they spend a lot of time in the stables, cleaning, feeding, riding and just spending time with them all.

My sister-in-law has a degree in Horse and Donkey Assisted Therapy also called Equine Assisted Therapy. Her stories of healing and support are impressive. My brother is working with the elderly and there are also two horses at his workplace.

I was glad that I chose to see my brother and his wife on my first weekend in Switzerland.

We had time to sit, to chat, to catch up on each other's lives and went on a little track with two of the donkies. I was given Flo because he had greeted me right away when I had stepped into the stable the day before.

I learned how to lead Flo, lovingly but with clear intentions.

Not getting distracted by his nudging on my arm or him stopping in the middle of the road was difficult in the beginning.

But then I realized that it was quite easy when I tuned into his needs and his pace and at the same time became clear about my pace, to lead, to be clear, and to stay calm.

His gift to me was a feeling of being centered and relaxed that never left me during my stay. In hindsight I realized that I spent more 'real' time with my friends and family because of the calm I felt.

What did Flo teach me?

To be present, to tune into a new challenge and to adjust to the new situation, to be firm and loving at the same time. All things that I knew before but just needed to be reminded of.

What is it that you need to be reminded of?

Love and blessings,
Jacqueline

Nature is ready for new growth

13/1/2015

Nature is a wonderful teacher when we want to step out of our grief.

The world has turned white overnight and it is a sunny but very cold day here in Nova Scotia.

I love winter, when it is really cold and the snow squeaks under my boots when I go for a walk.

While wandering around in the new snowy landscape this morning bundled up to my nose I realized once more how much nature has already prepared for a new growing season.

I found many buds on our Rhododendrons and trees hidden under the snow and ice seemingly oblivious to the cold temperatures of up to -30 degrees Celsius (around -22 Fahrenheit).

Nature reflects back to us what could be waiting inside our soul. We might experience a winter inside when we feel cold and disconnected to the world because a loss is overshadowing everything else.

But like in nature there might already be some buds waiting for the season to change, for the soul to heal, for the support to arrive. Those buds of warmth, memories without pain, love, and moments of new adventures might just be waiting for you to be discovered.

I hope you will find time today and in the coming weeks to keep an eye out for those buds of growths and healing inside and out.

Take good care,
Jacqueline

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Can you make self-care a priority this month?

Healing Happens Sometimes Unseen

How shame can stop you on your healing path

What a donkey taught me

Nature is ready for new growth

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