Tag: Self-Care

Healing, Inspiration, Self-Love, Spirituality

We are Grieving and It’s Okay.

Erin Keane

My husband and I sat down to watch Netflix. Last Tuesday, our kids were finally in bed and we were having a chance to connect and talk about how we are feeling about all the things that are happening in our world, and in our personal life. We live in Massachusetts. The schools closed on Thursday March 12, 2020. As everything was happening I was feeling fearful, worried. I couldn’t get my mind around what was going on. I worried about my kids, and wanting to make sure they were safe. I worried about my parents and their well-being. I worried. Plain and simple I was laced in anxiety. I tried my best to keep myself busy and distracted. But my body kept holding the fear. And I got tired from it…

How have you been?

Days went by, and on this particular Tuesday night that my husband and I were talking we expressed how life felt completely unhinged, upside-down. He asked, “Are you still feeling fear?” And I said, “Not as much, I think I’m just really sad. But it’s more than sadness. I think what we are feeling is GRIEF.” And he said, “Yes, I think you are right.” Grief, hu? Yes, grief. Today my 10 year old son asked me why he feels this weird feeling inside himself? And I asked him to tell me about it. Then I said, “You are feeling grief.” We talked about how we felt when our Dog died unexpectedly from a heart attack this past summer. He said, “Well, it’s not exactly like that kind of hurt.” And I shared, well no it’s not. We loved him. That’s a different kind of grief. But what we felt then is still a bit like what we are feeling now. We are feeling an unxpected loss. We have lost what “feeling normal,” feels like. We miss our friends, our activities, our freedom to go about our town, and to travel and look forward to things. We miss the life that we used to have. I imagine we all do. In fact, if you are feeling grief, it might not just be coming from within you. It is also coming from the vibration of the world. Because we are all interconnected, we all feel each other’s grief; the world’s vibration carries grief right now. And since most of us have more time to sit and reflect and be aware of our thoughts our bodies are actually telling us what we are feeling and holding inside ourselves. So we notice our feelings even more.

How are you doing?

So now what? How do you tend to your grief? You recognize and give yourself permission to feel this grief; you feel the sadness, fear, discomfort, etc. Don’t dismiss it. You do what you need to do to love yourself through this. Imagine what you’d do for a grieving family member or best friend. And do this same thing for yourself. Offer yourself compassion: “It’s okay to be feeling this.” I’ve been sitting with my grief these days. And working at tending to myself. I find that writing has been a place for me to release some of the sadness I feel. Writing this post is helping me right now. It gives me a place to feel connected. All of us being here together is healing. I imagine many of you are finding ways to release your feelings too. If not, do something out of the ordinary for yourself and be creative. If you can, go outside and listen to birds singing or notice something you haven’t before.

What are you doing to tend to yourself?

Be gentle with yourself. Know that it is okay to feel what you do. It is okay to grieve. It is okay to be you. You are created with divine design. You are formed from LOVE.


And as you go about your day. Offer yourself love. Offer someone you care for some love. And let your love heal you, and as you do this your love will help change the vibration of the world…

And you will begin to heal. We will all begin to heal together.

Blessings of healing and kindness upon you, Erin

©️2012-2020. Erin Keane. Bella Bleue. All rights reserved. No portion of any post or photo may be copied or reproduced without prior written permission from the author, Erin Keane. Find me on Instagram @Erins_blessings and at Facebook Bella Bleue Healing by Erin Keane

Author’s Note:
***We all have different reactions of how to handle what we are feeling. And my professional experience as a hospital Chaplain, has taught me each of us grieve differently. So we each have to work at accepting our friends and family with love and being supportive to each other as we are grieving. Even if the way you grieve is different from your partner’s, parent’s, friend’s etc. way of grieving. We all need each other right now. So supporting one another is deeply important to our healing.

Healing, Health, Inspiration

Imagine Healing is Happening for You

Erin Keane

One of the spiritual gifts we have been created with is our imagination. Using our imagination to inspire healing in our bodies is an amazing tool.  Take some time to be with your body, and any where you feel pain, illness, discomfort or off balance, take notice. And then begin to focus, and imagine your cells, your tissues, your organs working to bring healing, health, balance and peace within your body.

I have been working more intentionally at getting to know my body, because I have been suffering from dizziness, headaches and tiredness. About 2 months ago I began to try to find a way to get better. I realized what I was feeling wasn’t just a phase. I talked to doctors, and friends, and did my research, but still didn’t really feel well. And then one day about a week ago it dawned on me: I have been forgetting to be in touch with my body. I had forgotten how to listen to my body and learn from it: that when something is off in your body, yes you may be ill, but your body may also be telling you that the way you are living your life may not be healthy for you.  In my case I was holding left over grief and every day stress in my head. And it was making me exhausted.

But as soon as I began to make a CHOICE to listen to my body and become aware of why I was not feeling well, day after day, I began to hear my body telling me, it needed me to “Let Go.” I needed to begin to release the emotional stuff I was holding within me, and as soon as I began to offer myself the gift of love and compassion, I began to feel better. This love encouraged me to begin to imagine healing energy, love, light flowing within me and pushing out all that was harming me. I continue to do this each day and thus, day by day am feeling better. I have also chosen to eat well, and learn more about the foods I put in my body, but that’s a story for another day.

So I invite you to be present to your body and to begin to imagine harmony and balance in your body. Be intentional about this.  Make it a part of your every day spiritual or mindfulness practice. And see what happens.

healing-cells

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue

©️2012-2020. Erin Keane. Bella Bleue Healing and Blessings. All rights reserved. No portion of any post or photo may be copied or reproduced without prior written permission from the author, Erin Keane. Find me on Instagram @Erins_blessings and at Facebook Bella Bleue Healing & Blessings by Erin Keane.

Please also visit my photography site: Photography by Bella Bleue.

See my Facebook page for daily inspirations and messages.

Healing, Inspiration, Life

Getting in Your Own Way: Missing out on Love

Erin Keane

“Who holds you?”

This has been one of the most powerful questions I have ever been asked.(I was in my spirituality residency [chaplaincy] at the hospital, and my supervisor asked me this as a reflection question). I was stunned that as I tried to respond, I began to cry. It was the kind of cry, where you have to work really hard to get yourself together. My tears seemed to be the only answer I could give, because I honestly didn’t know how to answer the question at all. After I left our meeting, I reflected some more, and I still couldn’t put my finger on it. Why was I feeling so broken, so confused by this question?

I did the natural thing for me: Evaluate my feelings…figure out where they stemmed from…what was the reason for my tears? I even sort of fought with myself internally about my tears: I know I am loved. I come from a family that loves me. I have people around me who love me. I believe God loves me. So why then do I feel so darn empty inside, each time I try to answer this question?

This happened in 2004. Here I am 9 years later, and I still reflect on this question. The question of, “Who holds you?” for me has always meant “Who loves you?” For many years, I kept searching for what Love was supposed to be like: that perfect kind of love. But as time has gone on I realize that by searching for perfect Love, many times I’ve missed the opportunity to really embrace moments of Love in my life, because I was afraid that it wasn’t the “right” kind of love, or the way love was “supposed to be.” So I walked around life feeling empty, when Love was all around me, waiting patiently for me to let it in.

My answer to this question has changed over the years. I’ve found a peace inside myself over time…instead of trying to figure out my reaction to this question over the years, I’ve learned to  “Let it be;” i.e., trust more deeply that life will reveal its answers to me, when it is the right time.  And in many ways, I finally feel I have come to an answer that I feel to be most truthful to who I am both in my every day life and in my spiritual life. I now recognize that each time I was trying to figure out where Love was in my life,  I was actually preventing myself from experiencing it because I was searching too hard for it; i.e. I was getting in my own way of  really being able to feel “held.” Instead of searching for love in my life, I now allow myself to feel Love, to experience Love, and most importantly Love myself so that I can even more honestly share my love with others and receive love from others. In other words, I allow Love to be what it is, and not what I expect it to be. I’ve gotten out of my own way! Now I feel safe and secure with Love’s arms holding me up, with a strength that will  never break. Love is always there for me, and for you. It’s everywhere in nature, in people, in God, in the Spirit, in this amazing gift of Life, and inside you…you just need to give yourself the freedom to experience it without putting up so many walls.

How are you going to let Love into your life?

Rumi Love Quote

We all search for relationships in our lives, and deeper connections…open yourself to looking deeper within you, so that LOVE may spring forth anew for you.

You are Beloved. You are Loved.

So I leave you with my question today, “Who holds you?” 

…and just remember that whatever your answer is today, it may change again tomorrow: be gentle with yourself, offer yourself love…and your answers will come. I have faith that they will for you.

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue

©Bella Bleue Healing™ All Rights Reserved.
Please also visit my photography site: Photography by Bella Bleue

And if you use Facebook and would like daily inspirations and messages check out my page Bella Bleue Healing

Discovering Strength, Healing

Don’t Panic!

Erin Keane

Yesterday, I Panicked! That feeling of “Oh, No!–This can’t be happening!” My panic wasn’t the result of the most awful thing in the world. No one was hurt; everyone I love was safe and sound, and the earth was still tilted and spinning normally on its axis.  But, it was life-shattering for me in my immediate moments of realizing what had occurred.

I put my photo memory card in my computer, and it wasn’t recognized. Of course, no worry yet. I had the brilliant idea of trying it in my camera. It would certainly read in there. But, NO! No response, no recognition. Hu? Why? What’s going on here? THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! All of my pictures of my son for the last 6 months—GONE! NO! A portion of the story of our life as a family erased. And of course this is when my heart, Sank.  And panic flooded my insides…Hot hands, racing heartbeat, uncontrolled thoughts all dismantled, defeat, worry….

But wait a minute...I don’t want to feel this way!

With everything else calm and quiet around my house, I was able to grab a hold of the chaos inside me, and put it on pause for a few minutes. Okay, brain: You work. You got to help me out here: You [mind] got to get this heart of mine under control, and help me FIX THIS! I won’t accept defeat!  Normal brain function returning, I was able to start solving this problem like a puzzle: Getting out another memory card, and examining the two together, I realized a significant part of the edge around the access point of my broken card was missing.   So of course the panic returned for a minute, and then my mind started buzzing:  “I’VE GOT to FIX THIS, I’VE GOT to FIX THIS!”

Stabilizing myself, I began some creative ideas to fix this. But none seemed practical. And then I paused, as I sat at the window, and I began to say a prayer: “Saint Anthony, I know I ask you to help me with things I have lost, I’ve lost my photos. Please help me find them.“—Connecting to my faith calms me down; it re-centers me….What works for you??  Believe it or not, I started to get my answers. I went back to where I was sitting on the couch the night before, and laying on the rug, was a tiny strip of black plastic. After many cross-eyed tries at the microscopic puzzle and with super-glued fingers, I got that strip back on! I put my memory card gently in my computer. And there were my photos. BREATHE, AGAIN. All was not lost.

I realize this was a lesson for me about Life, not just about this particular moment of panic. I know in many situations when I am panicking I lose all sense of hope; i.e., I become hopeless. I feel like nothing will change. And I get stuck. But yesterday, I handled myself well. I need to remember   this experience when I lose control of other parts of my life. I know that I won’t be able to fix everything that’s placed in front of me. But I can learn to work at re-centering myself, and being more intentional about asking for help (because we aren’t made to walk this walk of life alone).

It also made me realize, how much I don’t want to sink into that trap of Depression again. It’s funny how proactive we can be with ourselves, when we are working in opposition to something negative in our lives, isn’t it?  And that’s the key here: Yes, I’m writing about not wanting my pictures to be lost, but what I am really writing about is: “I don’t want to get stuck feeling this way!”  And wanting to change the way I feel, has great power in it. This power is what I want to hold onto. It’s what we all need to hold onto when we want to change our emotional state in life. It’s not the kind of power that dominates, and dictates, rather it’s the kind of power that is gentle and honest. It’s the kind of power that says to each of us in our own unique way, “ You are going to be okay.” ” You are going to get through this somehow.” And thus, it is the kind of power that also says, “It’s okay if I don’t know the outcome, I’ve just got to give myself the chance to Live through this, rather than being a puppet of panic and anxiety.”

The best part of this lesson learned, is that the strength to get through the obstacles in life is right there inside each and every one of us. And life offers us the opportunity to tap into our inner strength daily. Sometimes this inner strength moves us forward to discover solutions (like fixing my memory card) other times this inner strength teaches us how to take care of ourselves (like in my case asking for St. Anthony’s help…maybe for you its taking a relaxing bath, meditating, admitting when you need to rest, etc).

So know you are not alone when you panic. It’s a very real feeling for all of us. Knowing this is healing. Taking care of ourselves in the midst of struggles is healing.

Somehow all will be well…Life will find its way to take care of you, when you open your arms to receive healing.

Blessings of healing and peace to you,

Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All Rights Reserved.
Please visit my photography site: Naturescapes, Flowerscapes & Life: Photography by Bella Bleue

Life, Spirituality

Please: Just Try to be Patient with ME!

Erin Keane

It was one of those days. The kind of day when everyone needs you, kind of day. All you hear from the ends of every corner you try to hide in: “I need you, Mama!” And every time you get a moment of “alone-time” (which really is a figment of you imagination) the dog or cat come find you–and of course need to be pet or taken outside. So you literally want to scream! and of course catch the first plane to a secluded island of paradise, but you regain your senses and you grab a hold of the reins of your life: and you patiently respond: “Here I am. What do you need? How can I help you?”

I’m sure we’ve all had days and moments when it seems like no matter where we turn someone needs us or life is making us wait for something we hope will be better.  Whatever these moments are like they require our patience. Patience: that ‘wonderful’ virtue that life tells us to work at each day…well that is if we want to.

“Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.”    —Wikipedia

So as the day went on I did try and work at not being negative: I smiled, let my son climb all over me while I tried to type, played games, made dinner and all the usual housewife stuff with out getting angry at all…

Well, I guess I did show some frustration and raised my voice, a couple times. But I did wait it out until I got to boiling point—(which totally defeats the logic behind being patient). And then as quickly as I let it out, I put all those feelings of negativity and frustration aside and smiled again.

How are you with patience? Is it something easy or challenging for you?

When I used to go to work daily, I was really good at patience. I believed patience was defining of my character and I had to be flawless. No matter how rough or intense the situation was at work, I remained calm and serene.  I credited myself for this virtue. And people affirmed my ability to be patient.

But the problem was, I was so patient at work, i.e., I had a really high endurance for staying positive and calm even when I was frustrated or overwhelmed, that I didn’t release any of these feelings (frustration, etc.) during the day. So the negative feelings would show up at home when I felt annoyed about a house chore or responsibility; and these feelings would be released in the communication between my husband and I.  Which of course did not do wonders for our relationship.

Now that I have been away from my work environment for 8 months, I realize that although being patient at work was a virtue I prided myself on…I was not good at taking care of myself because I didn’t have a healthy outlet to release my exhaustion, frustration, or negativity that sometimes was welling up inside me while I was being patient. And I am reminded  that I am still not really taking care of myself because I experience these negative feelings when I’m at home from time to time, and I’m still not always good at creating an outlet to release them.

Do you have a way to take care of yourself when you feel exhausted from being patient?

Today I’ve come to realize that I can offer patience over and over, and continue to put on my smile for everyone, but if I am not taking care of myself while being patient, then I am doing no one a service. When I start feeling frustrated or I get impatient: wanting things to change right then and there, I get down on myself. For example, I often get the idea that I should be able to be all these things: a patient worker, a patient mother, a patient wife, a patient caregiver, a patient believer, a patient follower, etc.

But as I’ve been writing this I realize I’m doing the best I can, right? So if I have the patience for other people to be imperfect and I have the patience to wait for them to figure things out shouldn’t I offer the same kind of patience to myself? WHY OF COURSE I SHOULD. So there’s a bit of wisdom I’ve discovered. Now I just need to act on it.

What about you? Are you good at being patient with yourself when life isn’t going exactly the way you want it to, or when you just can’t seem to get life right? Are you able to provide yourself with compassion and patience while you are working on healing or recovery?  I’m going to work on all these things starting today.

We all deserve to love ourselves and one of the ways to do this is to offer ourselves the gift of patience. A gift of patience that says: “I’m not perfect, and there’s no way I can be. I am always healing, always learning, always growing…Learning to love myself and my life is an ongoing process every day.”

I truly believe that when we are patient with each other, and patient with ourselves: by allowing healing to take the time it needs to, by allowing ourselves to feel different emotions, and by allowing ourselves to take as much time to grow and develop as we need to, we will all be happier, healthier people. And Life in general will be a much more pleasant experience for us all.

So offer yourself the gift of patience.  And be well.

…and as I finish this post my son is running around the house and playing his drums…breathe…”Patience is a Virtue.” Breathe again. Smile. Amen. 

He finally went to sleep. Now I get to edit. And the house is quiet. I really worked at being patient with myself and my son today, and it seems to be paying off. And my husband was patient with me tonight too, and said, “Go ahead and work on your post” while I clean up after dinner. Wow! What a gift. I guess being patient does pay off sometimes!

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue

Related articles:
Be Patient with Yourself by Steve Pavlina
How to be Patient

©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Healing, Health

I’m Grieving and I’m Healing

Erin Keane

Last week I wrote about how to deal with unexpected change. I was blessed with some very supportive answers from fellow bloggers…and an underlying message was to take some time and listen…which I did. I discovered that deep down I was anticipating the grief: the sadness, and pain, I was going to feel because of the change I would be undergoing.  And this anticipatory grief was getting in my way—my feelings were not being tended to, and I couldn’t make any choices because I was ignoring what I was really feeling. It was hard to discover my true feelings because what was going to happen was something good, and yet, I was feeling sad.

When I did my residency at the hospital years ago, I used to talk about anticipatory grief often with my colleagues. I worked in the ICU and Transplant Units and could often tell when death was near and I knew when I was feeling sad about losing my patient and watching the family grieve as well. I understood this grief. It made sense. I could call it by its name. Grieving death was normal…something to be expected—and the people I worked with understood it too. They created a safe place to talk about grief. 

BUT! Grief isn’t just an experience before or after someone dies—Grief  is also very normal in the every day dealings of life. Every Day Grief can happen when: we have a baby & everything in life changes, or the kind of grief we have when we finish college, or the kind of grief we have when we move out of state, or the kind of grief we have when we realize we aren’t living the life we had hoped for and so on. [This kind of] grief  is not something we usually want to talk about in our culture. Consequently, when I say, I’m grieving about some future event or something I’m going through, I notice I often get the expected response: “It will be okay. Don’t worry so much.” Yet, the response I really need is a good LISTENING EAR, that is comfortable with my feelings…that says, “I hear what you are saying, and if you need anything, I’m here for you.”

I believe that  if we, as a culture, were more comfortable with grief, we all might be a lot happier & healthier in life: We could talk about what we feel—and feel listened to—and be able to move through our grief more naturally and comfortably.

  • We wouldn’t be hiding our feelings: Our grief wouldn’t be a hidden experience in our lives that keeps us feeling down—we would be dealing with what we were feeling and give ourselves the chance to understand what we really need at that time
  • We would be dealing with our feelings while they were happening: We would be able to be in the moment instead of  misunderstanding our feelings for something else.
  • We wouldn’t be as reactive to people who are close to us: Sometimes when we don’t understand our grief we may be more reactive towards  people we are close to. For example, we may get angry with our spouse because he or she says the wrong thing, when the real reason we are angry is because we don’t feel like we are being cared for—
  • We would be able to ask for help or care more easily when we know that we are grieving—if grieving is an accepted part of life–people won’t feel shamed for their feelings or experience of grief and thus, be more in tune with themselves and what they need when feeling this way.

Do you recognize when you are grieving?
Are you comfortable about feeling grief?
Are you able to talk openly about your grief? Whether it be about death, change, loss of self or identity, etc.?
 

It is always amazing to me how so many of us talk about wanting to be happy and positive all the time, but in doing so we often forget how important it is that we allow ourselves to feel sadness, anger, loss, etc. because by allowing ourselves to be open about our feelings we actually are allowing ourselves to heal—and the healing invites the positive, happy, joyful feelings to naturally arise.

Give yourself the gift of being tender with you, and let yourself grieve when you need to. Grief comes and goes whenever it wants to show up so don’t be hard on yourself and say, “What’s wrong with me?…Just let it be: accept it and love yourself enough to say, “It’s okay that I feel this way today.” And trust that there will be better days ahead when the time is right!

But also remember that being consumed with grief that leads to depression or grief that begins to interfere with your life, is not healthy— and you should seek help when you need it! You deserve to be well!

Blessings,Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

*photo from Wikpedia: Angel of Grief

Life's Journey

Choosing the Right Path: Sharing Your Wisdom With Others

Erin Keane

Sometimes good things fall apart so that better things can fall together.

                                                                                                     –Marilyn Monroe.

The last few days I have been navigating uncharted waters. I’m trying to figure out which direction to take on my current life journey, and  I am really unsure where the compass is trying to lead me. The needle is always supposed to face North, but somehow the electromagnetic pull is out of sync, and it’s leading me all over the place.  More simply stated: I’m not liking the idea of change in my life.

How about you? How do you deal with change?

I’m particularly good at dealing with change by being anxious. I get anxious about the unknown future ahead of me when big changes could possibly happen. And instead of being able to be right in the moment…LIVE FOR THE MOMENT…I’m already 2, 000 miles ahead of myself saying…BUT WHAT IF…? But I know this isn’t always the healthiest way to deal…

For those of you who’ve been with me on this journey, you have probably noticed I write when I’m anxious. It really does center me. And I really need grounding when I’m feeling lost.

I always come up with things to help me:

  • My biggest help often is my faith…or at least turning to the Divine and remembering, “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).  These words are helpful to me, they are words that I turn to when I do feel lost or unsure.
  • Sometimes, it’s turning to Beauty, and Nature.
  • Sometimes it’s emotionally connecting to those I trust and Love.—being listened to, talking it out, recieving their points of view.
  • Sometimes it’s remembering how much my son &  pets trust that I will take care of them…and remembering that if my energy of love & care is being put into the universe, in return, I can only receive love and care back.

So, I want to say thank you to each of you, for sharing in my journey and for accompanying me with your support.

  • Where does your guidance come from when you are unsure of choices you have in front of you?
  • How do you discover which path to take?
I invite you to share your wisdom…it will be a gift to all those who search for answers like me.

For no one person can know all, that’s why we need each other, and have each other to share in the journey.–Bella Bleue

THANK YOU.

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

Healing

Sunlight Transforms Our Mind, Body and Spirit

Erin Keane

Light warms the Heart

and Brightens the Soul.

Light energizes the Body

and Inspires the Mind.

It truly is amazing how much the gift of sunlight awakens hope and inspiration in our lives. Light is a source of healing and renewal. Have you ever noticed that the flowers that do not receive as much sunlight take longer to bloom? This seems true for most of us too. When our bodies are not being touched by sunlight, even light that just comes in through the window, we may become less motivated or less hopeful. But when the sunlight is present, it awakens us both literally and metaphorically. We awaken feeling better; we feel like new possibilities can become reality. Just as sunlight is an energy source bringing forth life in nature, sunlight is also an energy source bringing forth healing, & inspiration within our bodies.

The last few days it has rained, and been cloudy daily. This weather has challenged my spirit: My soul, the deeper part within me, has been struggling to be hopeful. Today though the sun came out, and I honestly feel better. Does this ever happen to you?

The gift of light is essential to my well-being. I notice that I become more down in consistently dreary days; they become a metaphor for how I feel. However, in the presence of light I awaken and feel more grounded. I am able to reconnect to the wonder that I am rather, than losing sight of it. I also think this happens because at our core, we do need to be connected to the natural world—and when the sun is out, it invites us to come out too, and become a part of nature.

Other good things happen when we are touched by light like:

  • Taking a walk with the dog—exercising my body
  • Playing at the park with my son—provides a place for me to interact with other adults
  • Listening to the birds chirping—beautiful songs for my ears
  • Opening the windows—feeling the breeze upon my skin
  • Smiling—feeling better within myself—hopeful!

How about you? What happens when you are touched by sunlight? Share your wisdom…

Blessings, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

Inspiration, Life

A Deep Longing, Fulfilled.

Erin Keane

Deep within us all is a longing to be connected, to be loved, to belong. Sometimes this yearning is more intense than at other times. Each of us discovers how to function in the world and how to be connected to this deeper part of who we are.  What do you do when you need to fulfill this longing within you, and have no one to really be there to help you fulfill these needs?

When this happens to me I turn to my “spiritual” side and take the time to pray or meditate. Opening myself to that which is beyond me, and inviting it to become a part of me seems to create that sense of connection that I need at any given moment. In other words, connecting to the Divine is something I need sometimes, well maybe lots of the time.

When I open myself in prayer I just allow myself to talk freely about what I feel. God is my journal buddy—-I can share whatever I need to from my heart, without writing it down, and yet it feels like I’ve got my pen in my hand. I find that when I have this deep longing for connection I need to release what I feel somehow somewhere, to someone. And why not give myself the gift of some quiet, where I can speak clearly, and know that the one on the other end of the phone-line wants to do nothing but listen to me?

Sometimes this longing for connection, love and belonging, is most fulfilled when I am able to share what’s in my heat & mind freely without hesitation. Or it happens when I just let go of my needs and send them out into the benevolent universe and into the hands of the Divine.

What happens to you when you meditate or pray? Do you feel the connection you need, or does the experience do something else for you? Do you have to be in a certain place or posture to achieve the connection or can it be spontaneous?

I find I need the spontaneity of sharing what’s on my heart and mind at any moment. But for the deeper sharing of my heart I need to take the time and be intentional, so that I can really allow myself to share what I feel.

If you haven’t already discovered a way to feel connected, I invite you to open yourself to all the energy in this beautiful world we have, and ask it to receive you. Do  it over and over again, until it becomes a part of who you are.

We are all connected to each other, the earth and all the creatures. So when you don’t feel connected, loved or like you belong. Just walk out your door step, and see the world…and thus you are, never alone.

And when I pray, I pray for your happiness too.

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Healing, Health, Life

“I’m Not Tired. I’m Just Really Good at Not Falling-Asleep!”

Erin Keane

My 2 1/2 year old son, runs around the house yelling, “I’m not tired!” as he loses total control and has a meltdown. Sure, he’s not tired…”Mamma, I’m not tired at all!”

I realize my son, speaks with great wisdom and honesty. I know oh too well, how to stay up way past my tired place, and then discover the next day I am completely wore-out. Yet, I’ll go through my day, and do it all over again. “I’m not tired!” But the truth is I’m exhausted…emotionally and physically at times… But of course, I just won’t let myself fall asleep.

Does this ever happen to you?

I find in this day and age I’m always feeling the need to be connected.  Connected to all this stuff in the World Wide Web. I need to be fed by it, and nourished by it. And because I’ve become so involved in it, my mind at times finds it so hard to just be calm…and thus to just close my eyes and fall asleep.  I need to be better about disengaging!

Other times I feel like I just need to be alone, to discover something, to just relax. And then I end up busying myself with something and staying up too late at night—Like listening to music that energizes me rather than relaxes me…

My eyes are tired.

My mind is tired.

My body is tired.

“So just go to bed, Why don’t you?!”

But, “I’m not tired!”

Stop lying to myself, I say.

I realize that as I have become intentional about caring for myself by listening to my own breath better & getting to know myself deeper I have become happier and healthier. But I need to rest more.  I need to be intentional about taking the time to let myself deeply sleep.

So I am going to work on

  1. Washing my face and being intentional about imagining that I am washing away all the stresses of the day and leaving them behind.
  2. Drying my face and freeing myself of tomorrow’s worries—my face is refreshed and calm.
  3. Walking myself up to bed earlier—allowing myself to be done with the day, and leaving it downstairs–making my bedroom a place to truly relax.
  4. Taking the time to listen to my husband’s meditation music before falling asleep—creating a sense of bodily-felt calm.
  5. Taking the time to pray and be connected to the Divine or to Meditate—It helps me let go of my worries that might be left too deep to be washed away, and placing them in hands of the Sacred who can carry all things that I cannot.

What about you? What do you do to help yourself rest and fall asleep?  Are you intentional about allowing yourself to go to bed when you need to?

May you discover a sense of peace within yourself…

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.