How to Live a Heart-Centred Life

Living from the heart seems to be a spiritual ideal and something difficult to live on a daily basis. With the stress of bills, conflicting relationships, pressures to be a certain way, it is easy to get thrown off-centre. Yet, many of us can relate with that feeling of giving and speaking from a place of genuine care and love. From my experience, the doors of human compassion and the resolution of loneliness happens in that beautiful place.

In a culture that seems to actively strive to make our lives busy, individualistic and rooted in base values of just making money, it can be a radical thing to live from the heart -- that is to live a life of benevolent compassion.

When we are living from our hearts, we are choosing to put our values in the driver's seat. We are not so reactive to the demands of daily living but are steering all areas of our lives from the place of our core self -- our heart. We choose relationships over getting ahead; we take time to get to know a stranger; we become part of a caring cause; we invest in our personal and spiritual growth because we want to be more conscious and kind and aware people; we detach from drama and violence; we find ways to make our lives culturally rich; we create for the sake of it; we fall in love with something or someone; we put care and consideration into our daily tasks, we support others in expressing their truth and feelings. There are so many ways we can live from that place. The important thing is to choose to. Because it is a choice. It's the difference between living a full life of invisible blessings or a life of being alone but full of one's ego.

It's my business to help others move from their heads filled with feelings of fear and disorder and conflict, to a more calm place within the heart. I offer retreats, workshops, and one-on-one sessions to help us come back to the truth of our being. We each have the capacity to be more loving and wise, to attract more love and to radiate it out into the world. And the benefits are just endless when you do. 

If you feel you would like more support to connect with and live from your heart, consider booking a session with me.  I'd love to get to know you and your journey more.


CLICK HERE TO BOOK A FREE SHARING OUR HEARTS SESSION

Ch...ch..ch…changes! Welcome to 2016!

I did one of those Facebook Quizzes to find out the theme for 2016 for me. It turned up the card, “changes” and I groaned. “Not again!” I wanted to scream. 

Last year was one change after the next, and feeling like I was not in the driver’s seat of those changes. My partner wanted to take time off the relationship as he was overwhelmed and feeling out of his own energy and truth. So I had to change my living conditions, and was fortunate to find a place that met every one of my checklist needs – this came from sending a prayer and commitment to Hestia, the Goddess of Hearth and Home. (He and I are still together, but living separately – though it was a stressful move, I see the higher wisdom now of why it had to happen for the sake of both of us). 

Then I had tenancy challenges with a roommate in my office space and all the signs were showing I needed to make a move. I had to trust the Universe to provide. And it did.  I was invited to have my practice at a community arts space, which was the perfect place to support me with launching my children’s book, The Stellar Queen of Oaxaca.  It was great for workshops and a feeling of support (which was what I asked the Universe for).  But it wasn’t the best place for one-on-one sessions and being around others who really had a spiritual understanding and perspective of life. 

So a new opportunity opened up and, voila, as of January 1^st, I’m at a wellness centre at 44 Cardigan Street in Guelph, where I’m surrounded by other holistic practitioners and spiritually-minded people who appreciate this realm of work and healing.  

 

I’m explaining this, to give hope to those of you who find yourself wondering if you have the strength, or if the support is there to help you through unknown changes. Often times we stay stuck in a circumstance, dynamic or relationship because we are afraid that there is nothing there for us if we made a change. These are pivotal points towards your personal happiness and well-being.  It’s also helpful to know that if someone else is not behaving well, or has to withdraw their love and affection, that there is support in our own movement forward towards that which is well and caring, instead of staying and taking sub-standard treatment. 

If you’re going through Changes, or need the strength and faith to make them happen, here are some tips to get you through it:

1)      Allow yourself to surrender to the situation and trust there is a higher reason why this is happening. If you can hold the perspective that the Universe wants all beings to be well, happy and healthy, then you may see that this is leaving your life so healthy dynamics and relationships can come in.

2)      Send a prayer or intention to the Universe, and with it, make a commitment or promise you can keep. Many of us have lost touch with the power of prayer/intentions that are spoken and felt with your whole heart. We are in an intimate dance with the divine, and the move love and integrity you give to the world, the more the universe will want to support you.

3)      Reach out for strength in the support of others as you move through this.  A support group, a soul reading (click here for more info), going on a retreat, going to a therapist or counsellor, are all ways that can help you see clearly the issues and dynamics you are working with.

4)      Take care of your body…these are stressful times. So be sure to go to sleep on time, drink lots of water, eat your greens and take your vitamins, and consider going to a massage therapist/spa to stay connected to your body.

5)      Create a vision board to help you see a new way of life or being for yourself.

If you need any support or a retreat, please consider finding out more about my services and offers to keep your heart open. I offer a FREE Sharing Our Hearts Session to see if I can be of assistance.  

Please remember, you are not alone through these times of change.

With warm hugs,

Heather Embree

Do You Care Too Much?

Are you one of those people who would do anything to help a friend out? Who will listen to her problems until 11 at night, even though you planned to go to bed by 10? Who feels the suffering of complete strangers and wish you could do more, and may even feel guilty because you can’t?  Are you feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and even moody because you’ve emotionally spent yourself? Perhaps you’ve lost hope in love and kindness?

Well you are not alone. In this world, empathetic people have to face a s*#t-storm of emotions where there are still many conflicts, injustices and horrible news stories.  We have to find a way to balance our own truths and needs with those of others’ pain and suffering. Then we get energetically drained, or “zapped”, having to take days to recover.  

There’s also the circumstance where the empath uses all of his inner strength to listen deeply, care for others, relate, only to discover that those others can’t return the same level of compassion and understanding. 

I know, because this is me. I am the kind of person who wants to run orphanages, to scoop up kids living in horrible conditions and show them what they truly deserve. I’m the one who wants to change every inequality – where I despise prejudice and bigotry of any kind. I want to be the leader who brings in democracy in the world, and a sense of human rights and animal rights so everyone knows that they are loveable and safe.  If only I had the cash, the years, the foundation or outlet to do more.  But I’m one person, with my own resources and challenges, and I must know my limits, which is not easy for empaths like me.  

I roller-coaster between serving others and having to take time out and retreat in order to collect my energy and my core self. I have had to learn about boundaries and to heal my inner wounds from childhood challenges so I can keep a soft heart while not having a codependent dynamic. I have to get energy healing regularly, so I can release all that is not mine and stay in my own skin. I have had to find ways to stay grounded, focused and inwardly strong on my personal values and mission. It’s not easy with all the distractions in the world and the pressure to stay mindful so as to not cause further harm.

I believe that these are ongoing challenges for myself and for other empaths I’ve met. This is why I have created the Webinar: How toProtect Your Kind Heart in a Cruel World.  I will be hosting it on Wed January 20^th at 2:30 p.m. EST and Friday January 22^nd at 11:00 a.m. EST.   

If you’d like to join me for this crucial talk so you don’t become disheartened with the world, please sign up here.

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.