For Weary Hearts

I created Blossoming Heart Divine Arts with the intention of being a place for people to feel loved. In this world of stress, challenges and a whole lot of unhealthy behaviour, I wanted to create a haven where a person can be seen, heard and held in a safe, non-judgmental and gentle way.  The services I offer are to enhance this experience for each person. I especially love helping people who are caring types and are going through issues of compassion fatigue, heartache, feeling lost, or just plain ol' stressed. 

 

A friend of mine expressed some confusion over the term "compassion fatigue", that it seems contradictory to have stress and compassion go together. He believes that we would be relaxed if we simply surrounded ourselves with caring friends and a higher presence.  Although, ideally, I would agree that this could be the case if we had those support systems, I also would suggest that it can also be stressful to be around people who need our attention equally. Our compassion and empathy for others can also weigh us down as we listen to and try to support their hurt, challenges and problems.  

 

Compassion fatigue shows up when we find ourselves over-giving and caring more about others' well-being than our own, feeling tired out or depressed, and getting caught up in the pain of the world.  We can become moody, angry, isolating and down-right overwhelmed by it all.

 

This is why I offer various services and retreats so you can re-group, re-centre and come back to a place of deeper love within.  Here are the benefits of each, depending on your needs:

• Energy Healing is really good for clearing out negativity and to restore your energy levels. It can help you relax, go deeper into yourself and feel more connected again;
• Soul Readings can help you see yourself, your relationships and personal challenges from a divine perspective giving you new understandings so you can have greater clarity and peace to make life decisions;
• Open Your Heart Retreat Weekend for Women is a chance to get away from the modern life and immerse in a luxurious yet natural setting. Reconnect with your heart and release some emotional baggage while having time to relax and be pampered.

 
If you feel you need to re-store yourself and return to your soul's natural state, please consider booking a FREE 'Get to Know Each Other' Session to talk about your needs.

Guest Post: Self-Care as A Spiritual Act by Louise Racine

What comes to mind when you think of self-care?  Is it a concept you embrace out of necessity? Perhaps something required when you reach your burnout point?  Or a mandatory commitment to prevent exhaustion or illness? What if you made the choice to take a preventative approach?  What if you started looking after your needs before you are forced to?

The specifics of what self-care entails will vary for each of us. For some, it might mean time alone, for others it could be going out with a friend. You might relish a massage, someone else might delight in reading a book. It doesn’t really matter how you do self-care, only that you make it a priority. 

Often it seems that we are a culture that relishes in being busy. Always moaning about how much we have to do, perhaps with a tinge of pride and bit of poor me thrown in for good measure.  The victim role does not serve us or anyone we care about. 

Do you even know what you need to take care of yourself? Is it your body, your mind, or your spirit that needs tending to?  Whatever you define as your self-care need is likely exactly what you need.  

As women, especially those of us in mid-life, we are mainly focused on everyone else’s needs.  It’s how we’re conditioned. More than likely we got the message that to do otherwise was selfish. To speak out was being bold. 

Then, once we are no longer needed by our families or our jobs, we can be find ourselves empty and unsatisfied. Perhaps even depressed. It’s so uncomfortable for some women, they seek out other opportunities to be of service to everyone but themselves. 

While the younger generations have made “me” more of a priority, are their self-care practices serving them or are they destructive?  Is there too much emphasis on the outward appearances, consumerism, and distractions? That’s not the path to feeling whole either.

It’s fine to be nurturing, to be of service, to be kind. We just have to remember and make time to do it for ourselves.  

Louise Racine

Thirteen Moons Wellness

www.thirteenmoons.ca

Offering space, events, products, and services to women who are ready to make their self-care a priority since 2001.

Who Has Time For Love?

We hear about how love is the truth, and that we are here on this earth journey to learn these lessons and how to grow spiritually. 

But, honestly, much of the journey of being human is difficult – there are real threats or dangers and divisions, much less the issue of being a fragile person who needs to create some stability in life. Often times, our immediate needs can over-ride our soul’s voice and we lose touch with who we really are and why we’re really here. 

This is why I created the Open Your Heart Webinar Series and am offering for FREE this coming Tuesday Oct 27^th and Thurs October 29^th. I’ve invited four people who I deeply respect because they have shown dedication and commitment to their passion and service in the world. 

Russell Scott – my love partner – will be the first speaker. He’s the author of the book Awaken the Guru in You, and he’s a stellar retreat leader (If I may say so, even with my biased opinion).  He helps people awaken to their true self through a unique contemplative technique. What takes years for some people can take days on his retreats. For real! He will be speaking about “Living From the Heart” on Tuesday the 27^th at 1:00 p.m. EST  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO

Moragh Lippert – a long-time friend and colleague – will present next on the topic of “The Heart of Forgiveness”. Moragh is a holistic nutritionist and yoga/meditation teacher. She will share stories on how forgiveness is a key component on the path to health.  She specializes in serving people with addictions and mood disorders and understands that self-forgiveness is the most important aspect to the recovery path.  She will be presenting on Tues Oct 27^th at 4:00 p.m. EST  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO

Louise Racine – she is the Goddess hearth matron of Thirteen Moons Wellness where I host my retreats. She has made a life path of serving women to slow down and to take care of themselves from the inside out as an Retreat Owner, Holistic Nutritionist and Arbonne Consultant. She has a lot to share on the topic of “Self-Care as a Spiritual Act” on Thurs Oct 29^th at 2:00 p.m. EST  CLICK HERE TO REGISTEROR FOR MORE INFO

Lori Bateman – a woman I met a few years ago who I have deep respect for in her commitment to creating a unique business, Open Heart Journals, which keeps people in their hearts through journaling as a gift and expression of love. She has personal experience with the transformative power of simply writing out and creating books that capture memories, loves and vulnerabilities so that relationships can be cherished. She will speak about “Giving and Receiving Love” on Thurs Oct 29^th at 7:30 p.m. EST  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO

All 4 Speakers will be offering specials for those who register for the Webinar Series. I will also announce discounts and options for my upcoming Open Your Heart Weekend Retreat for Women – there are only 4 spots left for it! – in November 13th-15th.

So be sure to reserve your spot ASAP and join us on the webinar.

Aligning the Heart In Your Life

As many of you know, I'm passionate about getting people more into their heart, knowing that this is where true satisfaction, love, wisdom and honesty lives.

Each time I peel away at a layer of my soul, revealing a new truth or understanding, I find that my life takes a drastic turn. Though this can feel unstable for a while, I always trust that it's leading me to where it is more authentic for me.  I encourage every person going through difficult changes to try and see that perhaps this is in one's life to guide one closer to what is in integrity, which is the "state of being whole, undivided."

Often times we get upset when things don't work out for us, believing we "attracted this into our life" and have the power to "unattract it".  On one level, yes, we have brought this in, but on another level it is also be a form of divine guidance or protection from our guides and angels, ensuring that we are making choices that are in alignment with our true nature, not our ego.

The spiritual path is, ultimately, the way of the heart.

When we can see clearly the meaning and the higher movement to our circumstances, it's amazing the way doors will open afterwards -- that spiritual gateway that reveals why and how and who we are.

This year has been filled with a ton of changes for me -- leading me closer to my artist self.  Without these changes, I wouldn't have been passionate about getting my children's book, The Stellar Queen of Oaxaca, out to the world. Nor would I have had the courage to give my notice in where I was working at the Terrace because I wasn't feeling the support of like-hearted people in the building. I took a risk, not knowing where I would go next. Then, voila, a door opened to set up my business for 3 days a week at Silence Sounds - a funky music, community arts and energetic healing venue in downtown Guelph. I'm now surrounded with people who are "like me" in our goals, outlooks, values, etc.

It takes courage to listen to your heart and follow it, trusting that doors will open and opportunities will align.

I invite you to really look into your truth, examine what feels loving, honest, deep and real for you. When you go to that place, you will feel the heartbeat of the Creator, and feel in harmony with all other beings in life.

Do We Really Need Women's Retreats Nowadays?

In this day and age in the Western world, it may seem like it is unnecessary to offer women's-only gatherings, believing that these genderized polarities are part of the problem and we should be focused on bringing everyone together, despite their gender. I hear this from both men and women alike. And I've wondered myself -- is this really necessary? Isn't it just a matter of all of us just behaving with integrity and respect?

But the more and more I offer these types of retreats and workshops, the more I realize that indeed it still is necessary.  There is a massive movement happening in our culture and world, where we are moving towards a feminine approach. It is a necessary change, as we face greater destruction of all that seemed dependable – the climate, job security, family units, health, even the sense of a future. More than ever we need to reclaim the ancient teachings of women’s wisdom so we can bring back the values of balance, sharing, community relationships, vulnerability and nurturing, so we can operate and approach life from a humanitarian perspective rather than an ambitious perspective.  

A feminine approach honours silence, stillness, inner listening, and gentleness. Indeed, men and women are meant to integrate this quality into their daily lives. So it’s not ultimately about a person’s gender or body-type.  However, in a world of activity, harshness, addiction to violence and all things that numb us, much of the feminine approach still needs to be reclaimed and integrated. Women are the vessels and pioneers of this shift and need safe, healing and calming space in order to access this quality and share it in their communities. 

Because of the world we live in, most women have had to put up some defensive armor over their hearts in order to survive in a world that is out of integrity and does not honour the feminine approach.  With heightened pornography, sexual harassment and online dating, and media images that make women feel like they are not good enough, it is important for women to gather to talk about the difficulties we face on a daily basis and to offer support and guidance to each other to cope, knowing we are not alone.  Just simply sharing about one incident from a woman’s perspective can heal so many others who have been locked in silence, believing that they “shouldn’t feel that way” or they are being “too sensitive”. 

So through all of it, I would say there indeed is still a strong need for sanctuaries and forums for women to gather so we can breathe, feel like we aren't going to be "hit on" or criticized for speaking our true feelings and to have the space to reflect on what is true for us rather than what the world (or even feminism) expects women to become. We are needing to re-discover what gifts of ours are life-serving and what roles we want to participate in rather than what is automatically assigned to us by default. In order to be conscious, honest, caring and centred women, we need time out. It takes great strength and courage to not conform to the pressures of socialization but rather be totally authentic with oneself.  And in the company of others who “get it”, a woman can blossom her soul into what is true for her and not for everybody else.

If you are a woman who needs some time and space to re-group and reflect, please consider coming to an Open Your Heart Retreat. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO