HeartBalm Healing Podcast

From Lifeline to Lightline: Heartbalm and what healing looks like now When I started writing HeartBalm, it was another way to find healing - and how I kept breathing. It was my lifeline. Like a rope I threw to myself in the dark. A steady anchor in the chaos of my life that held me constant, when I felt like my life was falling apart. But it wasn’t just for me. I was writing to reach others, too - those still in the dark,those still holding their breath, those trying to survive what no one believed was real. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety, go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Three years ago, I published the very first piece for HeartBalm Healing. It was called Returning to Love. It came from the rawest part of me – a beginning shaped by both grief and deep hope – all tangled together. It wasn’t just a piece of writing – it was a reaching out. A whisper into the darkness, both for me and for anyone else who needed it. A voice saying gently and firmly: Love is still here. Even when we are lost. Even when the path before us vanishes or feels uncertain. Even if it hurts to hope. And now – three years later – here we are. And I feel something deeper rising in me. Something quieter maybe, but steadier. Because what started as a way to remember love has become something more – it’s become the practice of staying with it. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s isolating, we’re locked down, and things are silent. Even through the unraveling, the unlearning, the becoming, and the rebuilding. Because love isn’t just something we return to – it’s something we live inside of. It becomes a home. It becomes the thread that holds everything together… even the broken parts. So today, I want to offer this as a kind of part two. A continuation of that first message. A balm, again – but deeper this time. A hand on your shoulder. A quiet, "Hey… you are still seen and held.” Staying With Love: Three Years of HeartBalmA continuation of Returning to Love There comes a moment… after a crisis, after a fight, after the long crawl back to yourself, where the question kind of just… shows up: “How do I stay with love?” Not just touch it for a moment or remember it when things fall apart. But actually, stay with it. Even here, and even now. Even when I’m not sure I deserve it. It’s one thing to find love again after the storm, and to feel it wrap around you in the quiet after. But staying? Staying with that knowing – when the world is cruel and loud again, when your heart is tired, when you’re afraid to hope again – that’s a whole different thing. That’s the deeper work. Because most of us learned how to run when things got tough and abandon ourselves until things calmed down. We were taught to mistrust love. To brace when things got quiet. To perform. To please. To believe that love would leave the moment we showed our truth. So we left first, or we shut down and closed off our hearts. Or we tried to be good enough to keep love from disappearing – conforming in ways that left us tied in knots. What if this time, you stay? Even when your nervous system says “Run,” or when the old stories and ghosts come knocking, or when fear starts whispering again. You stay with yourself. You stay with your breath. You stay soft. You stay awake. You stay open to the love that never left. Because love – real love – doesn’t flinch when you fall apart. It doesn’t vanish when you mess up. It doesn’t keep a ledger or ask for your best behavior. It’s still here. Not just after the pain, but in it. Like a flame that never went out or a star in the night sky that’s kept shining just for you. And when you stay… when you really let yourself stay with love, even when it’s hard – you start to build something. Not a perfect life or a polished version of yourself, but a home inside you. A sanctuary. Not a place you run to when you’re broken – but a place you live in. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what healing really is. Not getting it right or figuring it all out. But staying. With love. Just as you are. This is what I’ve learned, and what I’m still learning. And this is the gift I wanted to give you today – on HeartBalm’s third birthday. A reminder that this work, this path, this life… it’s not about arriving. It’s about staying with love. Again. And again. And again. And I’m so glad we’re still here, together. Still choosing love. Still walking each other home. Be blessed, dear one. Go feel adored. I love you. If this speaks to your bones, or if you know someone walking the same road, pass it on. This is how we remind...

In the Absence of Hope: Living with Grit, Love, and Fierce Determination It is hard for me to write today; hard to find the words when the world and the actions of others sit heavy on my heart. Yet, somehow, the words always come, and with them, a surrender to the grace and strength that carry me through challenging times, even the darkest moments. It’s as if the darkness within me needs to be alchemized and purged to make space for light again – a delicate balancing act to soothe my deepest fears and heartache. Poet Nikita Gill speaks directly to the importance of confronting our pain to truly be soothed and heal. The wound is where the light enters you. It is only through the darkness that we can see the stars. _Nikita Gill, Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light I know this heartsick feeling doesn’t just belong to me; it is shared by you and by so many. Each of us carries a fresh wound today – a familiar betrayal that challenges our longing to believe the world is safe, good, fair, and loving, when in fact it still feels like it is on fire, set by those around us and, all too often, by those closest to us. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Returning to Peace Via the Art of Listening (includes meditation) There is so much going on in the world today. It can be overwhelming and unrelenting at times. When I find myself in the spaces between love and compassion, lagging well behind trust and grace, and far away from my own safe harbor of knowing I am enough, okay, loved, and loving – I fight to return to that place of peace and acceptance. But I never seem to find it where I am so fervently looking and where I know it must be. In trying to escape those in-between spaces – that place that feels like purgatory – I end up creating more pain. In frustrating times, we want something that will soothe the ache within, take away the pain that won’t relent, or distract us from the grip it has over our swirling mind and floundering heart. I have found that dropping the fight and letting go of the fear that keeps me striving in desperation to find relief is the only way home. It is about allowing the subtle, quiet voice of Love to find me instead. To continue reading go to https://heartbalm.substack.com, or https://heartbalmhealing.com This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Letting Go of Habituated Stress & Discovering a Peaceful Normal (includes 6-minute guided meditation) I often delve into the workings of the mind: our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, because the mind is often the very source of our pain and suffering. While external events can trigger these inner turmoils, they are ultimately left in our care to tend, manage, and cope with. Our self-care routines can often falter, and self-love can be sabotaged when our critical inner voice takes over, remains unchecked, and is allowed to run rampant. However, it is also through our responses to upsets and triggers that we can access our deepest and most wounded aspects. Here, we can begin the gentle practice of befriending ourselves, respecting our pain, and holding our own hand through discomfort. In this space, we can learn to comfort ourselves, find relief in our loving awareness, and embrace compassionate presence. This is where long-term healing and transformation take place – a synergy of learning how to stop normalizing stressful times and begin to love the slow, quiet, and peaceful moments without fear or skepticism of what may lurk around the corner, poised to upend our tranquility. We become our own loving healers and guides on this journey. _Gabor Mate, “When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection” For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Finding Purpose at the Crossroads of Passion and Service: Celebrating 100 Episodes of HeartBalm Healing Dearest HeartBalm’ers and Friends, This episode marks the 100th HeartBalm Healing podcast and newsletter that I’ve shared. It is a huge milestone for me and I am filled with gratitude for each and every one of you that has joined me on this journey of healing and self-discovery. With this 100th episode, I’d like to dive into the beautiful way this little HeartIdea has grown and blossomed into a 2+ years and still-growing project of self-love, healing, and service. Born out of a deep need to heal, HeartBalm became a lifeline toward believing in, nurturing, and loving myself more, evolving and healing, and opening my heart to share deeply vulnerable personal truths to bring light to the darkness. It is a promise that I made to myself over 40 years ago to find wholeness and peace within myself, to heal the pain, and trauma that comes with CPTSD, and to move from surviving to truly thriving. What began as a personal passion evolved into a quest to help others, and to ease the suffering of those, who like me, are questioning life, searching for meaning, and seeking ways to come closer to themselves, heal deeply, and nurture their own path toward self-love and peace. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. _Steve Jobs For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

HeartQuestions: What They Ask of Us, Reveal and Answer (Includes Guided Meditation) Have you ever received those heartfelt questions that have knocked at your soul, asking you to open up to their meaning, divine timing, and relevance? These questions often appear, and it’s as if the whole world pauses to highlight this one poignant thing. Beyond their simplicity is the timing of their arrival, the weight they carry, and their validity in your present circumstances. They come when it is impossible to ignore their unbidden arrival. They sidle up in the moments when you are open and unguarded in both heart and mind, demanding attention. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

What do you love? Resistance and Nourishing The Heart If you look around the landscape of your mind, your thoughts, your heart, and your world you will see that all pain, fears, and worries plaguing you are anchored in resistance. The mind loves to solve problems and will seek endlessly to find solutions and rid you of the haunting emotions and feelings that seem to stalk you day and night, perpetuating internal battles. But I ask you to look again. Can you see that these things are with you, relentlessly beside you, not to hurt you but for you to bring them closer and open your curiosity and heart to them – to aid, give balm, hold, allow, and accept them? This is not an easy task. When you stop to look again at something that has brought you discomfort, despair, or dis-ease, you feel the resistance within you. In that open-hearted pause to see something differently, you can see the invitation to open, allow, and let go of your resistance. Nothing about stopping to meet a scary foe or embrace what has kept us sleepless, exhausted, thwarted, and in torment is simple. Pulling the threads of painful and scary emotions back to the root will always reveal your resistance to what you do not want to allow or accept. And, while this is not an easy process – to love yourself is to allow and accept everything that is arising within you, allowing the flow of your life to be just as it is without resistance. The essential chord in this symphony of life is understanding that when we resist what arises we will feel pain – yet when we let go of resistance and fully accept what is here to be here we find a vast horizon of peace. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Two years ago, we embarked on a journey together—a journey of healing, growth, and connection. Today, as we celebrate the second anniversary of HeartBalm Healing, my heart is filled with gratitude for each and every one of you who has been a part of this incredible community. To all our followers and subscribers, thank you for your unwavering support, your kindness, and your openness. Your trust in our mission to foster healing and well-being means the world to us. Together, we've created a space where vulnerability is celebrated, where wounds are transformed into sources of strength, and where love and compassion abound. As we reflect on the past two years, we're filled with joy at how far we've come and the lives we've touched. But we also look to the future with excitement and anticipation. There's so much more healing to be done, so many more lives to impact, and so many more stories to share. So here's to opening our hearts even wider, to welcoming more souls into our community, and to continuing this journey of healing together. Thank you for being a part of HeartBalm Healing, and here's to many more years of growth, connection, and transformation. With love, balm, and gratitude, Sunny Lynn, OMC P.S. Enjoy the inaugural episode of HeartBalm Healing (with accompanying guided meditation) as an invitation to renew our shared connection of love and healing, and honor the profound healing steps you take each and every day – as we all “Return to Love.” This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Winter: An Unbidden Revolt into Nothingness The seasons of life breathe as the loving rhythm of this world, of nature, and into our lives of flesh and bone. Yet, acceptance of this instinctual rhythm falters at times, and waxes and wanes. The relentless pulse of urgency and song of “what’s next” supersedes our call to rest and pulls us from one moment to the next. We miss out on the brilliant need for Now – for what is extraordinary about this moment and this season. We long for what is ahead while standing indifferent and jaded to what is Now. I wonder at my own hurry to get to what is next, and for something to be revealed that is new, exciting, and fresh. Tired or bored of the same weathered day in whatever season it may be. But today I am reminded, given clarity and gratitude for the beauty and blessing of this February day. The mountains surrounding me are dusted and covered with snow and ice – like heavy white frosting poured over every peak and range – overflowing and dripping down its sides. Bundled bodies move by quickly on errands and destinations unknown, the grey exhaust of spent heat trails behind each moving car, and spent smoke and ash billow out from neighboring chimney tops – a sign of warmth within. There is a tangible bliss when heat meets frozen fingertips, cold noses, and chilled skin – a welcome relief and contrast of comfort and warmth. On this February day, I feel liberation and deep relief as I arrive home and realize how tired I am; grateful to let go, unfurl, accept coziness, and the invitation to heed the inner call for rest and stillness. I allow myself to give over to my own instincts for hibernation – and what that means to me. This timeless offering of respite and curing is granted to all even if unrecognized or unappreciated. It is nature’s rhythm – it is the heartbeat and life-giving breath of earth – the ceaseless, seasonal activity of life itself. The cycles of birth to decay – sprout to husk – emerging, nourishing, growing, and ripening to bounty, gathering, and harvest to reseeding, gifting, slowing down, and giving over life unto death, resting and stillness, and back again. Look to the seasons when choosing your cures. _Hippocrates, “Writings of Hippocrates” I give over to the truth of this cold day, this wintery dullness that shades the sun with merging dull clouds creating an endless grey ceiling to my world’s stage. I accept the respite that winter offers me – a time to resign to the wisdom of nature that does not resist but wholly embraces this time of suspense, rest, and fervent dormancy. An unbidden excuse to revolt into nothingness, turn off tv, phone, and tablet; reflect, pause, slumber, unfurl and let what was, and of seasons past dissolve into the ethers of time and space, and let go of “what’s next” to the worries of tomorrow. I am inspired during this Winter season by Winnie the Pooh when he says: People say nothing is impossible. But I do nothing every day. _Winnie The Pooh, “Positively Pooh: Timeless Wisdom from Pooh” I am drawn to the barren branches of trees and forest, and the still breath of silence, icy tranquility, and the slowed pace of things. I am beckoned to sit and hold steady in Winter’s naked, quiet, and peaceful expanse of just This. Even bears with their voracious appetites and wild, wandering ways give over to the wisdom of seasonal needs, and bodily instincts and find comfort in the deepest caves. A time-out for rejuvenation, a break to shut watchful eyes and set aside the old world for a time, restore tired muscles and limbs, and let healing and renewal have their time. I find respite, an opportunity for self-love and acceptance in the invitation to pause – the pleasure of giving up the guilt-ridden shoulds and musts of Spring, Summer, and Fall for the shoulds and musts of Winter’s coming. I should take nature’s lead during this Winter season and slow down; take time to care for myself and recover my physical, mental, and spiritual being. I...

Read the full HeartBalm Healing podcast - "When You Feel Yourself Bracing Against Life" at https://heartbalm.substack.com. This podcast also includes a guided meditation. Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Where Love Prevails The arc and ache of life move between Love and hate – between peace and the wars within and without. I know this ride well. This space of back and forth, uncertainty, a nervous system on high alert, the desire for healing and to feel the weight, and light of Love’s embrace again. As a child, I had a deep inner knowing of the ever-present space of Love and grace. Yet, life, others’ agendas, trauma, and my own fears and need to survive developed a space that became more shadowed, jaded, harsh, and cold. It was my mind and body’s way to balance the pain and uncertainty of life and brace for what would come next. Yet Love always found a way to bring softness, and light back into my everyday life, meet my aching heart, and remind me of the truth. I know this arc and ache of life is true for so many – this desire and place within that is exhausted by life and all that is happening, and the deep knowing that your own inner being is aching for Love’s presence, and longing for grace to find you and fill you with its warmth, mercy, peace, and certainty of being. We ask for relief and to rest in the grounded space of tranquility and spaciousness as we move through life – despite all that is unconscionable, unfair, and absurd in the world. When we feel lost to the realms of Love’s presence, and our reactions to life and others become tense, cynical, and our focus narrows it is time to look again, and open back up to the mystery of life and see again with clear eyes and an open heart all the places where Love prevails. Love is often thought of as a fleeting thing – a personal feeling of adoration and a spark of connection between one and another. It is often used as the singular word that sums up the emotional bonds between ourselves and others, pets, places, things, or possessions. In this limited form, it can provide a powerful expression to explain to others how passionately we want, need, desire, or are connected to someone or something else. We feel its warmth and its magnetized pull. It can bring a smile to our lips and warmth to our hearts just by thinking about it. Love has a power that is known to all. It is the feeling that can break and heal hearts, grow, and stunt relationships, endure and fade with time, shift and change or remain dedicated and committed depending on how it is used. Yet Love is so much more than a personal feeling towards others or things. Nondual teacher and author Rupert Spira says: Love is never the property of an individual. Love is the recognition of our shared being. Love is the natural condition of all experience before thought has divided it into a multiplicity and diversity of objects, selves, and others. _Rupert Spira, “The Transparency of Things: Contemplating the Nature of Experience” For the full newsletter please visit https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Who’s Driving the Mind? There are mornings when I first wake when an intrusive fearful thought, and then two and then three begin to squeeze between my just waking moments and my want to sleep longer, and then rudely elbow me to awaken more fully. These thoughts are like dominoes that begin to fall one after another, and in my half-asleep state, I follow them. Like a child in footed pajamas, dragging my teddy bear along I sleepily toddle along behind them thinking they know best, they know what they are talking about, and where we are going. I follow like a little soldier thinking that my mind has some important mission we must attend to. We’ve all been in these places in the early morning or throughout our day when we are not quite fully aware, or in the default setting of half-conscious living. We find ourselves following our worrying thoughts and then before we know it, we are lost in the haze of random meanderings that begin to elbow us in the ribs to pay attention, and we alight with a variety of feelings and emotions that have shifted our state from open-hearted to worry, fear, anger, or even worse: fight, flight, freeze or fawn. It is no wonder we are all so exhausted, and struggle to find time to come home to ourselves, be present, stand up to our controlling voices, and cut through the jungle of old and new thoughts to find ourselves again. This ain’t easy! Juggling life, relationships, home, and work commitments, social and political injustices, sorting truth from lies, and trying to manage the algorithms and data points that have taken over our lives without our permission is overwhelming. In addition to that, we must manage our physical body, mental and emotional well-being, be mindful, and conscious, and find time for ourselves amidst it all. It is a herculean task sweet one! Unless you take this moment to remember that who you truly are is love, who you are is pure source consciousness, who you are is the light reflecting back to you from the vast cosmos of sun and stars above, who you are is made of stardust. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Is a break ever really a break? Renewing Intentions and Purpose Hello HeartBalm’ers & Friends! I’m back from a quick break and am so excited to be back with all of you. It’s wonderful to see so many new followers and fresh faces here also. I welcome you to HeartBalm Healing and our beautiful HeartBalm Community. This little hiatus has been an enlightening time. Though my initial intention was to unplug, rest, and lightly revisit projects that have been sitting on the shelf, this break had other plans for me and brought its own agenda – as life often does. I think therefore life creates that which I am thinking about. I believe that life manifests based on our thoughts – a quantum law of creation that explains the “how” but not always the “why.” Managing every thought is impossible, but like many of us, I strive to monitor the mischief my thoughts may get up to. There is so much here to play with in our embodied world but it often gets skewed and tarnished by pain and hurt and the subconscious thoughts related to these experiences. Long-lasting pain and trauma, and childhood trauma leave little quarter for those who are affected by the everyday fallout of PTSD and CPTSD. Yet there is a resilient light that always breaks through – no matter our unruly thoughts – and pulls us from the darkness and back to our world and loved ones again. This is the shining spot of hope that acts as our life raft in tough times. We know it well and wish it was larger, more constant, and would keep us from the darkness and deep pain. As I step back into HeartBalm I have a renewed sense of intention and purpose with what graces its shores and how it continues to ebb and flow. How it aligns with clients, followers, and subscriber feedback, requests, and comments. And, if you haven’t already - please leave me a comment, share your story, or just say hello! The creation of HeartBalm was born of the little life raft of light and the essential need to be more heart-centered, nurture and cultivate self-loving habits, and compassionate discourse, and create a practice of mindfulness and presence. The Friday Edition emerged from the necessity to understand and bring light to emotional challenges and conditions, trauma, CPTSD, and everything related to this complex condition. These two areas of life create a “yo-yo feeling” between needing to survive and the longing to thrive; where anguish and shadow yearn for self-love, relief, and compassion. Then there are the other facets – Meditations with Sunny to find more peace, healing, and presence, Notes from Nature to bring a moment of zen and unconditional love into our day, and Power Gems to bring mini meditations of affirmations and power thoughts to keep us centered and feeling empowered – all born out of the need to play, allow the inner child to come into the light and laugh, have fun, explore, find solace, and rest in our being, practice presence and mindfulness, learn and heal. All so important when trying to expand the life raft into a reliable, limitless oasis filled with love, healing, safety, and belonging. But life has its plans. The saying “We make plans and the universe chuckles” is never truer than when we think we have it all figured out and know what we’re doing. It’s an instructive force that uses challenges, setbacks, and upsets to help us remember our true selves, and teach us surrender, growth, and evolution beyond our limited perception of who we think we are. Life asks us to dance with it and not get stuck in the vortex of cyclical turmoil. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Mending & Nourishing Your Life Through Grounding (includes a guided meditation) Grounding is the dance between our roots and the earth, a harmonious connection that allows us to stand tall, anchored by our own authenticity and aligned with our true purpose. I write quite often on the subject of grounding because it is so important for our well-being. I have also created many guided meditations to help us anchor into this powerful source of stillness, oneness, and grace; guided meditations that I hope meet me and others where they are. Feeling grounded is vital. When I am grounded, I find that I am at my happiest, at my most centered in mind, body, and soul, and feeling my healthiest. Sometimes it is hard to cultivate – when I feel miles away from myself or feel lost and unable to find solid ground. Yet, I know all I need do is find time to open myself up to grounding, to listen, to unfurl the petals of my closed heart and mind, and take the time to accept help, allow love to flow to me and from me again, and surrender to this deeply loving, and centering force. Grounding is the sacred act of reclaiming our own power, silencing external distractions, and embracing the whispers of our own intuition. As the ceaseless winds of our bustling lives carry us from one task to the next, it becomes all too easy to lose ourselves to external demands and expectations. We become entangled in the threads of responsibility and obligation; our energy is depleted as we strive to meet the world's relentless demands. Yet, in this perpetual dance, we forget our authentic nature, and our true essence, and can become lost to ourselves. As we begin to feel how lost we are there is a desperate yearning to find our way back to stillness, peace, and a way to regain our footing again. We have experienced the transformative power of grounding before, and deep down we know that finding solid ground again holds the key to our well-being. It is the gateway to feeling at home in our own skin, allowing our mind to soften and find stillness, and expanding our hearts to hold ourselves and others as loved, loving, and loveable. I marvel at the smallest saplings to the tallest and most ancient of trees rooting themselves deeply into the earth. An act of trust, a sacred bond that gives and receives the energy of life, and finds stability and nourishment in earth’s maternal embrace. In the same way, as those roots offer stability amidst the fiercest storms, grounding grants us a solid foundation—a profound connection to our innermost selves. It is the very essence of nourishment that keeps us centered, resilient, and prepared to navigate the highs and lows that life presents us. Just as a tree draws sustenance from the earth, grounding nourishes our souls, enabling us to flourish and radiate our unique brilliance. For more or to read the newsletter in its entirety go to https://heartbalm.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

Transitions, Graduation & Change, and the Choice to Awaken to the Sub-Surface Unity of All Things Transitions happen throughout our lives. Often, we are completely unconscious of the shifts taking place within ourselves or around us. At other times changes arrive abruptly and are unwelcome, while some are expected and filled with ceremony. Questions arise in our awareness about how to weather the shifting sands of change, the “why me’s” and resistance to the experience, or we wonder if we are ready for what is to come, and what the future will hold, bring, or look like. This time of the year brings graduations and ceremonies; closing completed chapters to open to blank pages waiting for the words that will capture all of the new moments to come. The process and transformation that graduation brings, not just for the student, but for the family, and extended support system is a big deal. It is a time of coming together to honor the journey and celebrate the evolution that is a part of every life process – the graduation and transition of one phase to the next. What a gift to be able to stand in the point of time that represents the fulcrum of achievement, growth, and change, and be a witness to that beautiful and unfolding process. As these optimistic, just-graduated students are released to the world, to the land of “what’s next,” and all that awaits we may ask ourselves are they ready? Are we ready? Even as our children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, friends, and loved ones come to transitions like graduation – those of us that are part of their sphere will also transform, shift, and change as well. All involved will come face to face with the reality of an ending and a new beginning. So much of our lives end up in unconscious cycles and linear windows of “things we did at a point in time” that have a beginning and an ending. Yet, so often we miss what happened in the middle moments of life. But I offer a remedy and a consciously clarifying speech by the renowned author, David Foster Wallace. I want to dedicate this episode to my lovely niece, Ruby, a fabulous and talented graduate heading off to collegiate endeavors, and to the entire graduating class of 2023, their families, friends, and to all those who come next. David’s speech is indeed for everyone! It reaches beyond this point in time of graduation and extends to our lifetime, and is a call to become aware of the world around us, to stop living by default, and wake up to all that is real and vital in all parts of our experience - especially the middle. It is a powerful, humorous, and relevant outpouring of heart-balm to remind ourselves that life and real freedom take sacrifice, and as David says, None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. _David Foster Wallace, “This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life” David Foster Wallace has been called one of the most brilliant American writers of his generation. In 2005, he gave what some have called “the greatest commencement speech” at Kenyon College in Ohio. I share it here as an invitation, a blessing, a congratulatory ovation, and a dose of heart-balm for everyone who hears or reads it. This is Water! (Adapted from the commencement speech the author gave to a graduating class at Kenyon College, Ohio) There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?" If you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise old fish explaining what water is, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish. The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the...

HeartQuestions: What They Ask of Us, Reveal and Answer Have you ever received those heartfelt questions that have knocked at your soul and asked you to get curious about their meaning, their timing, their relevance, and what door they might unlock for you should you choose to investigate them further? Sometimes questions arrive in my awareness in such a way that it seems as if the whole world has paused to highlight this one thing – this query or statement that has hit me squarely in my heart. Even beyond the simplicity of its coming is the timing of its arrival, and the feel of its weight and validity in my present circumstances. They hit me in a way that I cannot ignore their unbidden arrival. They sidle up in the moments when I am more open, and unguarded in heart and mind. I know now when questions come, and I am stopped in my tracks, and my attention is fully drawn to these potent teasers that they are for me; that it is time to allow in this inspired invitation and all the spaces in between. It is time to expand, open, and elicit my heart and mind to look within for what resonates, for raw truths, and ruthless honesty. I call these “HeartQuestions” – loving missives arriving to guide me to open me up to a new way of thinking, to breathe into uncertainty, expand my comfort zone, and give way to what may not be easily unearthed or easy to hear but are meant for me and my continued healing and evolution. Maybe you have had tidbits of insights or HeartQuestions arrive in your life, questions that grab your attention or linger in the background of your being; poke you in subtle or bold ways to go within and inquire further about a burdensome thought or belief, experience or lasting suffering that has held you in place, and left you unable to move ahead and grow with life. This process is affirmed by Rilke, the acclaimed poet, and novelist who wrote: Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. _Rainer Maria Rilke, “Letters to a Young Poet” To read HeartBalm Healing | Episode No. 44 in its entirety please go to: https://heartbalm.substack.com other keep listening and enjoy the HeartBalm Healing Podcast! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heartbalm.substack.com/subscribe

On Monday’s HeartBalm Healing Newsletter and Podcast, I spoke on the topic of being mirrored in the grace of nature. The “Nature Transparency” picture above is a healing visual extension of that concept which I will attempt to explain further. If you missed Monday’s offering, please click here to view or listen to this release in its entirety. If you’re new to hiking or do not spend endless hours and days in nature as I have done :-) I offer you some of my “Notes From Nature” for your pleasure and to hopefully inspire you to find time to melt into the open arms and grace of wild spaces. Too many days and treks to count now. So many times, I hiked the two and a half miles up to the top of my mountain; to almost 6,000 feet elevation, and once at the peak I would spread out my pack on the hard stone seat, take off my shoes, and socks, and let my sore feet take in the cold, solid comfort of the limestone cliff that I was perched on; grounding myself into the depths and breadth of the mountain itself. Sweaty and hot from the hike I’d take out my water – still cold in the metal bottle, and quench my thirst. I could feel the wind coming up the mountainside cooling me and humbly sharing every bit of its life and breath with me. The generosity here was always a given – unapologetically so. I always felt at home, connected, welcomed, and part of the family of things more than anywhere else I had ever known. The sun was usually still shining and warm on my skin, and the mountain and all its comforts cooled me off from my long vertical journey. Ravens danced around me in the wind currents above spinning through the valley below and up the layers of mountains in every direction. They would circle above and then just as quickly tuck their wings and flip over to make a deep dive, gurgling a quick, deep guttural sound, that always makes me smile, and then turn back over, find their wings, and off they’d fly. Time and time again this shining black poetry with wings would soar, flip, gurgle, dive, and then turn back over to rise and start again. What fun they were having – dancing in the air unafraid and unconcerned with anything – just living in the carefree bliss of the moment. Chipmunks would come scurrying up to me and then realize I wasn’t just a rock or a tree. They’d stop for a minute and stare. Their little whiskers and hands shaking like excited little men on a mission of some great mystery. And, then with a flick of their stubby little tail turn and dash off. _Sunny Lynn, HeartBalm Little birds would fly towards me in undulating lines and land on a branch nearby. I would hear them whistling softly and wonder if they wanted to come closer. I tried to open my heart and say hello – to make them feel as welcome as I felt on the mountain. Sometimes they dared a closer look but then off again finding the line of dips and darts until they found another branch to rest on. There are times when I get to the top of the mountain after a long day or week, and I just sit and let my heart break open, and linger in the infinite expanse of grace and magnificence. Sometimes, the feeling of sadness to leave is so overwhelming that I think I may never be able to go back down. I could just put up a teepee or tent and stay there forever. But I know I can’t – at some point, I must put my shoes back on, refill my backpack and begin the cool journey back down the trail. Sometimes I wonder if I could bottle the feeling that I feel up there and bring it down with me to drink or infuse myself with, and make life easier among the chaos of daily life, and all of the people and their demands, falsehoods, and inconsistencies. I’ve tried but haven’t figured out yet how to capture the beauty of my mountain, the essence of being at one with everything, welcomed, completely trusting, at home, and let that guide me throughout my days on the horizontal, concrete ground of daily living. Walking through nature, hiking a mountain trail, smelling the evergreen trees...

RETURNING TO LOVE If you look closely, you will see that at the end of things, at the bottom and the frayed edges of it all… the fear, loneliness, anger, despair, sadness, pain, recurring trauma, heartache… after these things rise up and threaten to capsize our lives into a terrifying ocean of darkness and unfathomable depths – LOVE still abides. This one thing. This not-insignificant or minuscule thing. This infinite, vast, all-encompassing thing – LOVE is still here. It has never left. It will never leave you to the oblivion that you feel closer to and seem to be more at home with at times – this oblivion that you cling to like huge boulders in the endless, turbulent ocean of your life. Of course, this is more familiar to you in many moments of your life than LOVE is. But LOVE doesn’t mind. LOVE only LOVES. When the waves of tears have finally been wiped away from your eyes – LOVE will be here. When the ocean of your mind calms and you can feel your body breathing once more – LOVE will embrace you. When life is peaceful once more and the dark, cloudy skies open to sun shining its light for you – Love will find you again. But what do you do when the storm clouds close in again and the waves of unconsciousness tower over you, threatening to sink you back to oblivion? Is LOVE here then? Yes, even here in the depths of despair, sweet one. LOVE will never abandon you. LOVE is here with you always. When we forget ourselves to the darkness and doings of life, we think softness and LOVE have abandoned us along the way, and we find ourselves desperate, alone and in the dark. But if we stop and pause… in that space we can begin to see the flicker of light that is still there – waiting for us to wipe the toil of daily living from our eyes and see clearly again. LOVE still holds us in its gentle embrace. It is here on the other side of what skews our sight or the thoughts that create shadows and haze that block the light of LOVE from what we think is reality. When we have forgotten how to see and feel, we submit to thinking that life is dull, scary, and endless in its torments and challenges. We find old beliefs that tell us we are not worthy of better or more, because disappointment and betrayal have trained us to feel okay with less. We think if there is LOVE here for us, it is scarce, transactional, limited, or long gone – lost to our inner storms, to anger, and frustration. Lost to our badness, ignorance, laziness, or other self-defeating mantras. But this is not so sweet one. You are not broken, you do not have to be fixed, you are unconditionally loved at all times, in all spaces, and in all ways. LOVE only ever sees your deserving, worthy, and infinite heart. LOVE does not mind that you have erred, faltered, or failed in some human way – LOVE is still here with you – always! When you find yourself hardening to life again, adding layers of armor onto your already shielded body and mind, LOVE can be found in the briefest moments of remembrance, opening the door for you to see and feel your way clearly again. All it takes is a pause – to feel the breath of life flowing in and out of your body, softening your thoughts and your heart, even if just a little bit, to open to the awareness of LOVE. Every moment offers you full-spectrum access to LOVE. The LOVE that holds you, the LOVE that you are innately, the LOVE that forgives and allows, the LOVE that soothes your heart when a moment before it seemed all was lost. LOVE is not a trivial thing. LOVE is found in all things, in all moments, and waits at the bottom of your darkest and most painful times. These are the moments where pausing to see once more – to see the obstacles that have been placed in front of us – those things that seem opaque to LOVE’s light are exactly what shows us the way back to ourselves and back to LOVE. This is the moment you begin to see the light as it begins to seep back into your bruised and shaded heart. Challenging times that show up as...