From Lifeline to Lightline: Heartbalm and what healing looks like nowWhen 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 LoveThere 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 each other we’re not alone.DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this website is a replacement for or supersedes the direction of your medical or mental health provider, nor is anything on this site a diagnosis, treatment plan, advice, or care for any medical or mental health illness, condition, or disease. 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

In the Absence of Hope: Living with Grit, Love, and Fierce DeterminationIt 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 LightI 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 HealingDearest 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 JobsFor 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 HeartIf 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, OMCP.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 NothingnessThe 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 should honor my partnership with the whole – with nature and embrace what this season asks of me, offers me, and allows me to learn or unlearn, to do or not do as an act of self-care and transformation. I must learn to embrace and honor my own seasonal and numinous needs, and bodily instincts.Nature’s brilliance and wisdom to maintain balance, abundance, life, and death in the simplicity of its unapologetically, ceaseless cycles – is my teacher and guide. Each flower, bud, leaf and grassy field, bear, butterfly, rock, mountain, and tree is deeply connected to and in harmony with the whole and is my invitation to surrender in kind to this sacred dance. Alex Elle affirms this instinct and says…There is something beautiful about choosing yourself after spending so long doing the opposite._Alex ElleEven though today comes with its long, grey stillness squeezed tightly by the dark bookends of dawn and dusk, and I yearn for summer’s sunshine and warmth I feel and know there is a reason for this time of Winter.Even though I long to stand with nature, feel the sun’s warmth on my skin, breathe in its aliveness, and become part of its connective tissues again I know that time will come but Now offers me exactly what I need.Even though I wish for the days of feeling and hearing the crunch-crunch-crunch of dirt and stone beneath my feet as I hike my rocky trails I know the time to abide is Now even as my memories beckon me to then and when.Even though the warm perfume of pine needles and wildflowers in spring tempts me with candied scent for every in-breath I embrace the art of seasonal dormancy and remain steadfast in this Winter moment of Here and Now.I endure the cold and embrace the long hibernation and repose that Winter offers without apology. It is the necessary landing before stepping into spring refreshed and ready for Summer and then Fall. We stow along with the seasons and give little notice to the cycles and recurring patterns that have witnessed our every breath, day, month, and year. Henry David Thoreau highlights our need to…Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth._Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”Join me now for a moment of meditation (in the audio podcast) to notice this time of quiet and stillness lulling you to just be; imagining yourself having the instincts of a bear and the time has come to go into hibernation. Feel the pull of this deep inner call to rest – to slow down, and allow your being to just be HereNow.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