The Crack is where the Light gets in.
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Hello, friends.I wanted to share something beautiful that is coming out of the broken pieces. Bringing beauty from brokenness is something God loves to do and I'm so grateful. He is a God who brings beauty from ashes, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, and the oil of JOY instead of mourning (Isa. 61:3). Twelve months ago I felt that I would never feel joy again. I felt that I would never be able to move through the heartache and pain of losing my mom just after the adoption losses. But I had dear friends reach out and remind me that it will get better. I had reminders from the Spirit that He was near. I had my amazing husband walking with me. No, I'm not completely healed. No, I will never be the same. And no, I will never stop missing my mom with that deep ache. BUT, God has worked and is working to bring light into the dark places and replace my mourning with specks of Joy.I've always been someone who longs for living a purposeful life, and I've always had a strong desire to make a difference in the world. Throughout the months of grieving, I've prayed that God would bring something good out of it. Not that it makes it "worth it"- because I would always rather have my mom here. But, I knew that I couldn't reverse the fact that she's gone, and I wanted something to surface from the ashes - something that might bring healing for me, and impact others in a meaningful way.That's where Flourishing Hearts came in.The vision for Flourishing Hearts was planted in me years ago, when I realized the impact yoga and breath/movement can have on people who've experienced trauma. I've been researching trauma over the last few years since my graduate school days, and I keep coming across yoga and breath/movement as a healing tool. I also knew that for me, yoga was a place I could connect in a new way to God's Spirit. For me, it's about spending time with myself and the One who is always with me - moving my body and connecting to my breath, all while reflecting and praying. I will write more on this some day, but for now, I really want to share about the newest fruit from this place:
Healing Hearts: A Creative Journey Through Art & Movement
In the last year, I've dealt with so many emotions and physical symptoms from grief. In the following months after mom passed away, I felt lethargic, worthless, exhausted, and unmotivated. Not only did I feel this deep loss emotionally, but I felt it physically. Many people might not realize the affect grief and loss and trauma have on our bodies. I did what I could to keep going - and many of the helpful tools were in the form of creative expression and yoga. I didn't know how helpful it truly was until my body needed it so badly. I also found that creating art, journaling, and walking were helpful for my healing process.So, over the last few months, my friend Teryn and I have been planning a grief + healing retreat to be held here in Colorado. After a few attempts to make it happen, we realized that it wasn't time, yet. So we came up with the idea of making this "retreat" available to anyone, anywhere. We came together with ideas and prayers that God might use our stories and experience to bring light and healing to others. And that's when the Healing Hearts workshop was born! Healing Hearts is now an online "retreat"; a creative journey through art and movement. Teryn and I created this workshop to reflect our experience and understanding of how to express grief in order to begin healing. We are really grateful for what we've learned in this process, and excited to share it with others. If you're interested at all, or know someone who is, we would love for you to share. The more healed hearts walking around in this world, the better!For more info, you can check out our video and read about it here:
Healing Hearts: A Creative Journey Through Art & Movement
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No matter what, I hope that those of you who've experienced grief and loss in this life are able to find time for yourself to heal and find joy again. There is hope! Love,Abby