Shelly Early
BioEnergetic Wellness Consultant
Providing An Alternative Approach To Health Featuring
The HeartMath™ System
Solex AO Scan™ Technology
Advancing Wellness and Performance
Through the BioEnergetic System
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here.
I appreciate your courage in exploring how BioEnergetic Therapeutics can complement your existing pillars of well-being. Your commitment to yourself is powerful, and I applaud your awareness that unrealized possibilities await within you.
BioEnergetic Therapeutics is a non-invasive practice that bridges ancient healing wisdom with cutting-edge science, offering a holistic approach to well-being. Integrating principles from Traditional Chinese Medicine and Quantum Biology, it employs specialized analysis and techniques to identify and alleviate BioEnergetic stress patterns that may be impacting your health. All undesired symptoms and challenges are viewed through the lens of your unique BioEnergetic blueprint—the intricate energetic framework that makes you... You.
When coherence exists between the system and its parts, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its components. In a coherent state, you begin to experience flow in your life—where mind, body, and spirit work in harmony. The BioEnergetic approach recognizes your wholeness and supports you in restoring balance at every level.
Significant improvements in wellness and performance can be achieved when underlying stress causatives are identified and BioEnergetically shifted toward optimal function. As a result, you will cultivate a renewed sense of inner composure, enhanced coherence, and greater resilience.
When you're ready, let’s begin this journey of self-healing and unlock your fullest potential—together.
BioEnergetics Therapeutics
Throughout my adult life, I have explored various holistic healing options to manage my own unpredictable health. My interest in Natural BioEnergetics grew from its unique, yet systematic approach—blending vibrational tools, nutritional insights, and supplemental support while addressing an individual’s needs in real-time.
I value scientifically grounded healing methods that remain open to innovation while maintaining clear safety boundaries. This allows for continued learning without compromising stability or effectiveness.
Over the years, I noticed that what worked wonders for some had no effect on others—and even personal breakthroughs didn’t always yield the same results over time. I was drawn to the efficiency and economy of using only what the body truly needs to heal itself. While certain foundational health principles hold true, I believe there is no single perfect method or lifelong formula that works for everyone.
BioEnergetic Therapeutics integrates time-tested techniques, emerging innovations, and proven tools to restore balance and support healing. As a BioEnergetic Specialist, I am passionate about guiding others toward a deeper understanding of their needs and supporting them in finding an individualized, holistic path to healing.
My Mission
Empower & Balance
As your Wellness Consultant, I am honored to work in partnership with you on your path to greater wellbeing.
My approach merges deep empathy with objectivity, ensuring that both emotional and analytical perspectives are honored in our work together. With advanced education and experience in understanding trauma responses in the Autonomic Nervous System, I focus on compassionate care and a trauma-informed approach to elusive symptoms.
We initiate each session with a detailed analysis of underlying causatives intrinsically contributing to stress and unwanted symptoms. This evaluation can pinpoint factors that will move you forward to establish balanced functioning and healthier life patterns.
BioEnergetic education is a key part of our work together, and each session helps you deepen your awareness and understanding of your body's interconnected wisdom. It is my desire to help you feel empowered with insight on how interconnected and powerfully your mind and body work in tandem with BioEnergetic information that instructs you how to function.
Beyond knowing about the body and its relation to stress, balancing chronic and intractable conditions takes a certain level of finesse and intuition. I have applied my BioEnergetic sensitivity, knowledge and experience to understand fields of pervasive, core patterns of imbalance. Garnering that information, we then have options to employ gentle, non-invasive methods to resolve Bioenergetic imbalances and begin transforming patterns that no longer serve you, paving the way for greater balance and vitality.
" By creating compassionate heart space with you,
together we create safety to integrate the hurtful past so that you
can live now in a peaceful presence and aspire to a hopeful future."
My Experience
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
dedicated practitioner of BioEnergetic Therapeutics
professionally since 2003
My goal is to provide a comprehensive, integrative protocol that aligns with your body's innate wisdom for well-being. I am committed to continuous learning, expanding my expertise through advanced study in science, psychology, health and wellness, with a particular focus on accumulated stress, trauma, and the BioEnergetic field.
My multi-pronged approach clarifies relational patterns—how recurring or traumatic stress manifests in physical form and function. We explore the causative impact of stress on your BioEnergetic structure, revealing how underlying patterns lead to nervous system dysregulation and contributes to ongoing symptoms.
Put simply, nervous system dysregulation is where the 'rubber meets the road.' It is the intersection where psychological and physiological distress emerge as undesirable symptoms. To decode stress effectively, we need a consilient framework—one that integrates multiple perspectives to see the whole picture. Without this approach, energy can be misdirected or depleted in maintaining the status quo, rather than uncovering and addressing the true underlying causes of dysfunction.
Precision execution of BioEnergetic Therapeutics
Reset Your System—Restoring Balance & Vitality
My practice of BioEnergetic Therapeutics follows a systematic, yet flexible structure designed to analyze stress from multiple angles. This approach allows us to uncover how stress relates to disconnected or dysregulated areas that may be creating blocks to your well-being and performance.
We work within an organized yet adaptable framework, ensuring that every session is personalized to your unique needs. This flexibility allows for seamless integration with any other health and wellness modalities you may already be using, creating a comprehensive and synergistic approach to your healing management.
Natural BioEnergetics™
My formal training began in Natural BioEnergetics™ with certificates of completion for all ten modules in the kinesiology coursework, plus an additional course called GeoBiology, where we explored how the earth and environmental energy affects our wellbeing for either good or bad. This intensive training included experiential, hands-on practice with each module. Today, I practice a personalized, advanced structure of BioEnergetic Therapeutics.
For further reading about Natural Bioenergetics and the courses, please press the icon for redirection:
Bachelor Degree of Family Counseling
with a Minor in Social Sciences
Having earned this degree in family counseling has helped me acquire proficiency in fields such as marriage, family harmony, human relationships, motivating others, counseling, ethics, family services, psychology, philosophy, culture, and other areas.
HeartMath™
Certifications & Layered Expertise
My three certifications with HeartMath™ build upon one another, deepening my capacity to coach, be trauma-informed, and recognize when specific interventions need to be employed. These distinct yet complementary trainings allow me to support you at different levels—whether you're looking to build resilience, process trauma, or implement scientifically backed stress-reduction interventions.
HeartMath™ licensed certified mentor
Building Personal Resilience Program™
Personalized Coaching for Resilient Living
As a licensed certified mentor, I serve as your coach, guiding you through HeartMath’s intelligent energy management system using simple yet powerful self-regulation skills.
Techniques to Empower You to:
+❤︎ Pause in the face of stress and neutralize triggers before they escalate.
+❤︎ Develop a new baseline of resilience, sustaining energy rather than depleting it.
+❤︎ Shift from reactivity to conscious response, improving emotional and physiological well-being over time.
Powerful Techniques for Deep Transformation
HeartMath™ techniques rewire your emotional responses at a physiological level, making resilience an automatic state rather than an effort. With practice, you will learn to manage stress with greater ease, transforming daily challenges into opportunities for growth and resilience.
These practices don’t just manage stress; they actively rewire your system for resilience, energy conservation, and emotional intelligence.
HeartMath™ Trauma-SensitiveCertified Professional Practitioner
Unraveling the Hidden Patterns Behind Symptoms
Through years of facilitating deep, intensive work, I’ve come to recognize a fundamental truth: persistent, pervasive symptoms are rarely random. Instead, they are messages from the body, revealing maladaptive life patterns, frozen states, and deep disconnection—all rooted in trauma responses operating beneath the surface of conscious awareness.
The Resilient Heart™ Training Empowered Me to Understand:
+❤︎ The neurophysiology of trauma—how unprocessed emotions create nervous system dysregulation.
+❤︎ Developmental, collective, and intergenerational trauma, and how they shape emotional health.
+❤︎ How to integrate HeartMath™ techniques into therapeutic settings to support trauma healing.
Bridging Trauma and Healing: A Path to Resilience
My mission is to bridge the gap between past trauma and present healing, providing a safe, co-regulated space where you can reconnect with your inner resilience and restore emotional balance. Through this work, you are not just managing symptoms—you are rewiring your nervous system for lasting stability, clarity and well-being.
Licensed Certified Practitioner In The HeartMath®
Interventions Program for Health Professionals
Bridging Neuroscience, Psychology & Biofeedback
This advanced certification is designed for clinicians and healthcare professionals, integrating HeartMath®-based interventions into therapeutic and medical settings.
Key Areas of Expertise
+❤︎ Heart-Brain Interactions – Understanding how the heart plays a key role in emotional processing and regulation.
+❤︎ The Science of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) – A biomarker for stress, anxiety, and overall mental well-being.
+❤︎ Real-Time Coherence Monitoring & Biofeedback – Using HRV technology to track progress and build emotional resilience.
+❤︎ Intervention-Based Application – Integrating HeartMath® into therapy to enhance treatments for stress, trauma, anxiety, depression, and chronic illness.
What Makes This Approach Unique?
Unlike traditional methods that focus solely on talk-based therapy, HeartMath™ provides a direct physiological pathway to emotional regulation.
Studies have shown that:
+❤︎ HRV biofeedback significantly reduces stress, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms.
+❤︎ Individuals trained in coherence techniques experience greater emotional stability and well-being.
+❤︎ HeartMath interventions lead to a measurable decrease in depressive symptoms, creating lasting psychological resilience.
.A Systematic Approach to Emotional and Neural Restructuring
HeartMath techniques do not just manage stress—they rewire emotional responses. Techniques such as Heart Lock-In, Attitude Breathing™, Compassionate Latitude, and Inner Stillness progressively deepen one’s ability to sustain heart coherence and shift toward restorative emotional states.
Transforming Stress into Strength
The HeartMath® System does more than manage stress—it retrains the nervous system. By applying these techniques, we plug up energy drains that deplete us, allowing you to reclaim your energy, build resilience, and develop a deeper sense of internal balance.
+❤︎ Heart-brain interactions and how the heart plays a key role in emotional processing.
+❤︎ The science of heart rate variability (HRV) and its significance in stress, anxiety, and behavioral change.
+❤︎ Real-time coherence monitoring and biofeedback, enabling individuals to track physiological changes and build sustainable emotional regulation strategies.
+❤︎ You’ll receive guides, worksheets, and practice logs to reinforce learning, making it easier to integrate these tools into daily life.
The HeartMath™ Advantage
A Science-Backed Path to Emotional Resilience
Beyond Breathing: A System for Lasting Transformation
HeartMath™ is more than breathwork—it’s a science-backed system for rewiring emotional and physiological patterns at their root. Through practice, you can:
+❤︎ Break free from chronic stress loops and energy drains.
+❤︎ Cultivate lasting emotional balance and coherence.
+❤︎ Improve clarity, decision-making, and adaptability.
+❤︎ Shift from survival mode to resilience and vitality
+❤︎ Sustain positive emotional states with ease.
+❤︎ Transform how you process and respond to life’s challenges.
The HeartMath™ Difference: The Science of Self-Regulation
Unlike traditional stress-management approaches, HeartMath™ doesn’t require reliving the past or analyzing emotional pain. Instead, it works directly with your body’s physiology, training your system to naturally release stress, sustain positive emotions, and develop deep inner resilience. With consistent practice, coherence becomes your default state—allowing you to navigate life’s challenges with greater ease.
+❤︎ Science-Based – Grounded in 30+ years of research on heart-brain interactions and nervous system regulation.
+❤︎ Trauma-Informed – Designed for nervous system healing without triggering overwhelm.
+❤︎ Clinically Proven – Used by health professionals, therapists, and high-performance leaders worldwide.
Ready to Experience the Power of HeartMath™?
HeartMath™ is more than stress management—it’s a pathway to lifelong resilience. I offer personalized coaching to help you:
+❤︎ Integrate HRV tracking to monitor emotional resilience.
+❤︎ Find the right techniques to fit your unique journey.
+❤︎ Apply HeartMath™ tools for real-time transformation.
Explore More
+❤︎ Use HRV technology to track coherence and measure progress.
+❤︎ Dive into HeartMath™ research and case studies.
For more information or to explore HeartMath™ resources, visit ::
Solex AO Scan™ Technology
With each session, my clients are offered an advantageous education about themselves through the use of Solex AO Scan™ Technology, a comprehensive program for measuring and optimizing frequencies. Communicating with the body via subtle bio-frequencies and electromagnetic signals, AO Scan™ identifies the areas that may be out of balance. Pinpointing those areas that may need assistance, we can suggest the proper lifestyle changes to optimize your health and reach a state of harmony and balance. This supports us with valuable information on the current state of your body’s frequencies, track changes and much more!
Over the past 20 years, Solex has compiled a database of over 120,000 unique blueprint frequencies. These blueprints are similar to notes of music—they are recordings of the cell's natural, optimal state. By comparing the body's current state with these blueprints, we are able to encourage the body into balance, which can restore harmony and your sense of well-being. The methods used in the AO Scan™ Technology are supported by a plethora of research from peer-reviewed publications, independent research analysis and practical experiences. It is based on technology used by Astronauts, Cosmonauts, physicians, chiropractors, and naturopaths in numerous countries around the world with reported success.
With the AO Scan™ you will receive scans run remotely from the comfort of your home that provide immediate results with comprehensive reports. There are several different scans that can be performed for you:
Quick Scan, Inner Voice, Vitals Scan, Body Systems Scan, Comprehensive Scan and S.E.F.I.
If you would like to learn more about the benefit of frequencies and how it works, obtain any Solex products, or if you would like to benefit from daily restorative care by subscribing to become a Preferred Customer or Quantum Living Advocate, please see my page by pressing the icon:
Facilitating Healing
With years of experience in BioEnergetic Therapeutics, HeartMath™ Mentorship, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Integrative Somatic Trauma Training, and Trauma-Sensitivity Training—combined with my background in Family Counseling and Solex AO™ technology—I bring a well-rounded, integrative, and heart-centered approach to healing.
I listen objectively—with both knowledge and intuition—to help you identify the roadblocks disrupting the ease in your life. My goal is to help you connect the dots between what’s happening in your body and the deeper patterns at play.
Together, we can chart a compassionate path forward—one that transforms struggle into flow.
Intuitive and Analytical Perspective
As your BioEnergetic Specialist, I bring a unique combination of intuition and analysis to our work together. I have a keen ability to pinpoint patterns—identifying the contributing factors behind your current health challenges and linking them to outdated programming that operates beneath conscious awareness.
These patterns were once brilliant survival strategies, but over time, they may have become maladaptive, contributing to unnecessary stress, dysfunction, and dis-ease.
Our BioEnergetic Therapeutics sessions will help:
✧ Free up energy and improve efficiency for functioning.
✧ Provide context and resolution for hidden stress patterns.
✧ Support nervous system healing and regulation.
I’ll also help you feel empowered with practical insights—so you can implement greater self-care, leverage heart intelligence to make wiser choices, and plug energy drains that reduce vitality. Ultimately, this work builds resilience, helping you move forward with greater ease.
I Am On Your team!
While I bring expertise as a seasoned facilitator, the true healing power is within you.
Together, we’ll unlock the essential shifts needed to achieve your goals and bring greater coherence to your life. My role is to support, guide, and inspire—whether for deep transformation or ongoing refinement. While I am always here to offer expertise and objective insight, your future wellness is ultimately in your hands.
It is a joy to empower my clients to step into their fullest potential and embrace their own agency in healing and growth!
Foremost in Facilitating Healing:
Honoring Every Part of Who You Are
One of the greatest obstacles to healing is ignoring major aspects of ourselves—especially our emotions.
Too often, I hear people dismiss emotionality, as if feeling deeply is a weakness. But let’s get real about this: our emotions are not a flaw; they are fundamental to our biology.
In truth, the molecules of emotion play a direct role in our performance, overall functionality, and relationships—both with ourselves and others. Recognizing emotions as part of our physiology is a pivotal step toward true, coherent self-care.
When we become aware of what drains us, we gain agency over our well-being. Preventive and curative health measures become more effective when we understand, regulate, and work with our emotions rather than against them.
If we want to significantly improve our quality of life, we must learn to observe how we feel and develop the ability to self-regulate. This effort pays off profoundly—bringing more flow, ease, and direction into our daily lives.
Which way do you want your emotions Take you?Emotions are not just feelings; they are biochemical forces in motion—influencing over 1,400 physiological processes moment by moment.
They serve as signals, guiding us toward our needs, boundaries, and preferences—helping us navigate life in alignment with what truly supports us. When we learn to listen to and adjust based on these signals, we create harmony rather than conflict within ourselves.
➣ Draining, unregulated emotions often manifest as struggle and strain.
➣ Regulated, renewing emotions create flow and fluidity in life.
But when emotions are suppressed, dismissed, or misunderstood, they don’t just disappear—they often resurface in dysfunctional ways. Over time, habitually ignoring one of our body's primary intelligence systems ironically creates more weakness—both physically and mentally.
The body experiences either wear and tear or healing and resilience—not just because of what happens to us, but because of how we respond.
From everyday frustrations like traffic jams to life-altering events, our emotional responses shape our inner and outer well-being.
By embracing emotional intelligence and regulation, we reclaim our strength, clarity, and vitality—allowing us to move through life with greater ease and coherence.
Who I Am
MY JOURNEY
I was introduced to Natural Bioenergetics™ (formerly Health Kinesiology), a branch of BioEnergetics, in 2002—after my health spiraled while living in New York City and witnessing firsthand the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. That event felt like Pandora’s Box had been opened within me.
I never saw myself as a fearful person, yet after that day, fear began governing my life in ways I couldn’t control. I became hesitant to engage in the world and, before long, my body reflected my inner turmoil—hives, allergies, respiratory issues, and even a goitered thyroid.
That experience became a turning point—a call to understand, heal, and reclaim my sense of balance.
Awakening and Self-Awareness: Keys to Healing
My journey toward life balance has helped me understand my own health, frame my needs in context, and resolve past trauma. By working on the energetic weaknesses beneath my physical struggles, I was able to support my autoimmune system, balance my nervous system, and even eliminate allergies.
Through this process, I uncovered something profound:
I had cleverly hidden my deepest fears behind a bravado of facing them head-on—but that false strength came at a tremendous cost to my nervous system.
I wasn’t truly overcoming fear; I was functioning in a constant state of hypervigilance, trapped in a Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) response. My body remained on high alert, mistaking survival mode for strength.
This realization led me to explore tools that could bring true healing, not just survival. Using BioEnergetic Therapeutics techniques, I learned to quiet my overactive mind, improve my sleep, and release anxiety.
"You Care Too Much." "You Shouldn’t Feel That Way." "You’re Too Sensitive!"
How does an empath turn off the deep processing of sensory and emotional input from the world around them?
💭 If I feel everything so deeply, doesn’t that mean I am obligated to set aside my own needs for others?
💭 Doesn’t everyone feel as intensely as I do?
The truth is, an empath can try to ignore their sensitivity, but doing so creates an internal paradox—one that inevitably manifests as physical symptoms, chronic stress, or a dysregulated nervous system.
When we habitually override our emotions, we risk self-doubt, self-attack, and even autoimmunity issues. Without conscious boundaries, the gift of deep sensitivity can feel like a curse.
I spent years believing that my high sensitivity was a flaw that needed to be toughened up. But the truth is, about 20% of the population has a nervous system that deeply registers sensory input—and an even smaller percentage identify as highly empathic.
Understanding this changed everything for me.
Thriving as an Empath: Finding My Own Rhythm
Once I embraced my sensitivity rather than fought against it, I discovered a new way of being—one that allowed me to move beyond survival and into thriving.
Now, I honor my true nature by weaving in consistent, small practices that have become a delightful routine:
✧ AO Scan™
✧ HeartMath™
✧ Qigong & Nature
✧ Time with My Pets
✧ BioEnergetic Therapeutics
✧ Bible Study, Meditation and Prayer
This journey has taught me something crucial:
Sensitivity isn’t something to “deprogram” or suppress—it’s something to nurture, understand, and use as a strength.
The Art of Nurturing a Sensitive & Empathic Nervous System
To prevent overwhelm, I have become the queen of 5-minute practices.
I know that I absorb deeply, so I’ve learned to balance my focus—intentionally engaging in a variety of self-care practices for short bursts of time. This prevents me from overcommitting to one thing while neglecting others.
Most importantly, I’ve learned the power of acknowledgment—taking time each day to appreciate whatever I accomplished, no matter how small.
✧ Gratitude is a form of self-care.
✧Self-care is a process of attunement.
✧ Attunement is how I stay connected to my authentic self.
By nurturing my mind, body, emotions, and spirit, I have cultivated the strength, stamina, and adaptability to persevere through life’s hardest moments.
Are Your Eyes Open or Closed to Your Emotions?
Emotional awareness is like the difference between walking through life with your eyes open or shut.
When we pay attention to our emotions, we see the terrain clearly—understanding our reactions, identifying patterns, and adjusting course to avoid unnecessary obstacles. This awareness empowers us to move through life with greater ease, resilience, and adaptability.
On the other hand, when we ignore, suppress, or dismiss emotions, it’s like walking with our eyes closed—we may still move forward, but we are far more likely to stumble, get stuck, or unknowingly repeat old patterns.
By learning to open our eyes to what we feel, we gain clarity, direction, and choice—turning our emotions into a powerful guide rather than an unseen force working against us.
Healing Begins With....
" Presence First, Love Always."
Benefit From Uniquely Designed Sessions To Meet Your Needs
I love how BioEnergetic Therapeutics offers us a variety of options to achieve your wellbeing through a scientific and targeted system of self-care. We work to reach your healing potential by accessing whatever is possible, safe and balanced.
Integrating Life
BALANCE AND INSPIRATION!
Personally applying my experience with BioEnergetic Therapeutics has greatly improved my own life-work balance. Reframing a paradigm that more comfortably incorporates my strengths, limitations, passionate interests and difficult circumstances has been so advantageous. BioEnergetic Therapeutics stimulates my aptitude for creativity and problem-solving when tailoring sessions for my clients; however, I value the inspiration gained during times of rest and relaxation.
Run, Dance, Travel
I love engaging in both active and quieter pursuits. My life has been filled with three principle hobbies: running, dancing and traveling. It's fun to weave my interests together. When I travel, I enjoy running on foreign pavement, soaking in the local culture and appreciating the arts. e.g. soaking in Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Budapest, High Tea at Fortnam & Mason in London and attending the Ballet at the Palais Garnier in Paris... yummy memories!
Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Fortnam & Mason
The Palais Garnier
"Bad Things Happen to Everyone"
The quoted subheading is a universal truth as cited in Scripture at Ecclesiastes 9:11 ("Holy Bible, Easy-to-Read Version"). So it has been that catastrophe struck my life in an unalterable way. After a marriage of 35 years, I am on an unexpected and uncharted course as a widow when I tragically lost my husband, Kelly, to suicide on November 1, 2021. Kelly and I grew up together and he was the love of my life since I was a girl of 16 years of age. We were both originally from suburban Northern Kentucky located within the Greater Cincinnati Area. Sharing a passion for travel and new life experiences, our journey together gave us many adventures such as living in NYC at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO for 6 years, Barbados, the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years and Europe.
The 'We' That We Were
Throughout life's opportunities and challenges, Kelly was always a champion of my every heart's desire and he had that special talent to make things happen for me, including my pursuits to help people, rescue greyhounds, run marathons, and on it went.
Over the years, a great appreciation of diversity and culture has complemented my education as we traveled throughout North and Central Americas, Caribbean, Europe and the Mediterranean. Kelly and I visited many megacities, yet the City of Light was our preference together having visited Paris many times, and I ran my last full 26.2 marathon on Parisian streets. We also spent time with my parents on several American cross-country road trips. What a privilege it has been visiting National Parks and World Heritage Sites.
Throughout marriage, we participated in various local and global volunteer programs and assignments in Kentucky, NYC and in the countries of Panama and Barbados. Kelly had said his most rewarding experience was participating in hurricane relief work in Puerto Rico. We also were engaged in a Special Volunteer Bible Educational Program within the Metropolitan Area of San Francisco. Currently, I continue to offer myself as Bible Educator to any interested in learning what the Bible really teaches.
Suicide Loss Makes Everything Go Sideways
Now in widowhood, I am being reintroduced to who I am without Kelly and learning myself anew. Suicide loss challenges every fiber of who I thought that I was and what I thought that I knew, believed and trusted. To survive it, the boundaries of my heart have been tested and stretched to hold greater space for compassion and to develop or refine all of the potential heart qualities that love encompasses. With pensive, contemplative prayer, I am engineering my life and career to reflect who I am at heart and align my intentions and thoughts with what is here now. To fill my life with heart-friends and to enfold meaning into my experiences.
It seemed that within the first weeks following the loss of Kelly, I had singular clarity about everything. Possibly, it will take me the rest of my life to truly grasp what I intuitively knew. One of those insights was that I would survive. I didn't know how, but I set determination that I would stay upright and keep one foot moving in front of the other.
The Gifts In Presence & Stillness
When life hands us change, learning to flow through the tougher moments is synonymous with becoming a meaning-maker. To pare down and connect to what really matters and why. To set the intention to let the rest go.
Losing a loved one to suicide is categorized as catastrophic loss. It is a complex traumatic grief that brings all semblance of former life to a full stop. It is undeniable. Highlighting what isn't working and breaking what once was, it is simply unavoidable. The only way through it is to let go of judgment and open the heart to reflect and consider, "What is it that really matters to me?"
I understood that this demanded an inner stillness to be present to honor what has been lost to us. Being that quiet in a time of utter chaos is frightening. Allowing oneself to be, there is a gift box of lessons to learn enabling an ability to reframe and gain perspective and tap into latent potential. Being with grief and learning to accept the full range of moment-to-moment shifting emotions, I have discovered the gateway emotion of gratitude to be the guiding light through the darker feelings. It unveils how the past facilitates this very moment and that the rich texture that somehow remains in our lives can be absorbed anew as wholehearted and intentional.
By curating the ever-present gifts of faith, hope and love, the bedrock of all the courageous moments is formulated. Aggregating those qualities together, a yellow brick road is built for safe passage through the dark tunnel of all the tumultuous feelings that grief delivers to the door of our heart.
When Kelly died, my life instantaneously vanished. Immediately, the enormity and significance that life as I knew it was forever gone was forced upon me. His suicide questioned the validity of my own existence. Each and every step taken since that life-altering moment has strained my faith, hope and love. The supreme effort that I am making continues to be well worthwhile because it ultimately dignifies my Creator and in reality, all existence. And, it is integrity that connects me with that.
Connection & Belonging
In Solitude & With Community
It has taken everything that I am, have, and have been given, including all that I have done, am doing and others have done for me, not to allow Kelly's death to hijack my life. Grief is exhausting and, unfortunately, suicide loss can be disenfranchised and is definitely stigmatized, knowingly and unknowingly. It could be so easy to give in and give up. But, for me, no! Ultimately, I am a believer in the cliché 'never to say never'. I have come to appreciate there is always a way!
Rather than his death ending my life, I am in the process of rebirthing myself. In my process to crack open the doors of unknown fields of possibilities, I have even had a couple of longtime wishes fulfilled recently when I went to the Isle of Capri with my oldest friend, visited new friends living in South Africa, stood out on a glacier in the Swiss Alps with my mom, took a roadtrip with a dear friend to the famous Unesco World Heritage Historic City of Córdoba and finally got to see one of the great musical legends, Eric Clapton, in concert in Zurich despite the 3-times Covid pandemic rescheduling!
The lesson is this: "Stay curious about each step and give attention to where it leads..."
South Africa
Capri
Córdoba
Swiss Alps
E.C. Concert
Elevate the Journey, Embrace the Flow
Healing Breaths
Although Kelly and I had no children, many of you know that my maternal love is channeled into my "fur-family". Over the years, I have rescued four greyhounds and various kitties. My home with Dash, Lily and Mr. Collins is blessedly located near the ocean in a very healing space as you can notice with the inclusion of many Carcavelos beach photos throughout this website. Daily my dogs and I stay grounded by enjoying barefoot runs on the sand.
Sometimes, life just isn't fair and makes absolutely no sense. Suicide makes no sense! If it did, then the person at the moment of completion would have been in their right mind and could have seen or accepted other options. But, in that instant of time, no matter the lead up to it, they couldn't feel in their heart that life was supportable. Fact is, all of us are needy in some way or other. There is no shame in it, we are human and built for community and mutual support. All of humanity are in need of a great degree of compassionate latitude.
So when rainbows are delightfully spotted over the ocean, they remind me that all the noise and chaos in life can be quieted. Within the majesty of that beautiful spectrum of color, peace and hope shine forth to me. Further witness is the continuum of the ocean. Beholding such wonder everyday helps me to refocus my perspective. From that standpoint, I have a new frame to align myself with the timeless truth that "Love never fails" no matter what happens.
Everyday I ask myself: What would love do?
"My preferred quiet thing is curling up to read with a pot of loose-leaf tea. I love expanding my understanding of life that only deep reading and meditation can offer, such as studying the Bible. Laughter and light are also important to me, and it is vastly entertaining and illuminating to read historical-fiction and comedies of manners — love the classics such as Jane Austen and P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, but also enjoy modern authors’ take on historical periods — or a classic movie from the Silver Screen days.
While my life has had its fill of challenges and devastating losses, I believe it is vital to cultivate a wondrous curiosity, caring interest and awe for life. I look for synchronicities manifesting, which create connections of awareness that overshadow any deficits in my life with the abundance of gratitude. In my efforts to dig deep for the stimulus to integrate my grief into healing, although untrained, I have found great relief by developing a penchant for drawing pictures of my greyhounds. For inspiration to keep moving forward, I am a voracious reader and researcher, practicer of HeartMath™, and additionally, I dance at least 5 minutes everyday, journal, practice qigong and do cold water immersions in the Atlantic.
Since becoming a widow, I started keeping a record of accomplishments, small and large, to track my growth. I have logged over 150 'victories' since November 2021! "In all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who love us." -- Romans 8:37.
Love compels me to make it a practice of generating goodness.
Embodying Insight,
Loving Presence
Treasures within the Darkness
When you feel hemmed in, stuck, or without a way forward, I invite you to not fear the dark too much. Light is always just beyond the dark cycle. Often, the answers you seek are not ahead of you, but within you, patiently waiting in the depths of your own inner landscape. Befriend yourself as you journey from the mind into the heart—for that is where true wisdom lives.
Healing is an inside job, one that requires tapping into steady, reliable resources. The rewards of self-discovery are like a miner’s treasure—waiting beneath the surface, hidden within the layers of your own experiences. What awaits you is a motherlode of untapped potential, pearls of deep wisdom, and the golden fulfillment of knowing you are living a life aligned with your true essence.
And please, always remember this: for all eternity, there will only ever be one you. Because you arrived, your life matters! Whether you realize it or not, you make a difference every single day—in ways seen and unseen. Dismantle the barriers that separate you from truly living. Turn the handles of your heart and allow love to flow in and through you. Practice the feeling of loving and, just as importantly, the feeling of being loved. That kind of guidance—that kind of light—is always a winning path forward.
Heart Matters
Live Wholeheartedly!
It is not in spite of the twists, turns, and crushing blows along my journey, but because of them, that I choose to stay connected—to truly live rather than numb out and miss life. There is a raison d'être if we seek it. We can endure pain and ease suffering when we recognize that beauty still exists. Behold it. Create it!
Even in hardship, beauty reveals itself when we pause, reflect, count our blessings, stay true to ourselves, and share love and kindness. As part of my own reset, I embrace this simple truth:
“Live wholeheartedly.”
Along the roadway of my life, I am reminded that there have been many faces marking the miles for me. There are endurance runners still traveling with me, others who did a leg of the race or handed onto me the baton, some were cheerleaders, and then there were acquaintances who showed up right when I needed someone to hand me refreshment. Indeed, I have been blessed with people, family and friends who have touched my heart and made a true difference in my journey. I am deeply appreciative for these connections.
I have had to adjust the eyes and ears of my heart to sensitively adapt to the changes in my life for survival. More than that, I am attuning to thrive. Therefore, I aspire to keep life simple, but rich with experience that inspires me. The 'secret ingredient' in my recipe is to digest this truth:
"Heart Matters!"
Having had the privilege of receiving many gifts in life, I feel honored to add my heart to that and pay it forward!
Anchored in Truth,
Guided By Light
Integrating Heart Intelligence
During my darkest days, there were moments when I wasn’t sure I would make it through. I had to reach deeper than I ever thought possible—to find acceptance for both the givens and the realities of life.
Now, as I navigate foreign territory—both literally and metaphorically—the ground beneath me feels uncertain. But I am learning that the intelligence of the heart is the most reliable signpost, orienting me toward universal truth and divine principles.
Heart intelligence is not the same as the mental and emotional loops that keep us spinning in place, wasting precious energy. No, this is something far more profound:
It is the wisdom cultivated deep within the heart—the inner knowing that cannot be fabricated, only discovered.
The Courage to Trust the Process
Surrendering to this process—which we so often resist—is like being handed a golden ticket to healing.
At first, it doesn’t feel like a gift at all. It feels more like a booby prize—as if we’ve been dropped into a black, lonely cave of vulnerability.
But then, in the stillness, something remarkable happens.
A hidden passage appears—the passage of trust—illuminating the way, step by step.
When we trust our inner knowing, we reclaim the driver’s seat of our own life. Fear no longer controls the journey. Love does.
And from that place, flow happens.
'Reset and Be Good as New
I hope to inspire you to aspire to...
Since June 2019, I have been living in Portugal, near Lisbon, in a beach flat beautifully renovated by Kelly. Choosing to live abroad has been one of my greatest teachers—pushing me beyond the familiar and into unexplored territory.
Immersing myself fully in another culture has been an invitation to expand my understanding of diversity. The differences I encounter gently challenge me, asking for an ever-deepening sense of mutual compassion and openness.
The inevitable missteps of trying something new carry countless insights—teaching patience, adaptability, and humility. And with them comes unexpected gifts:
❤︎ Heartfelt connections—born from the necessity to reach out for help.
❤︎ A deeper reservoir of resilience than I ever knew I had.
❤︎ The realization that untapped potential is always waiting to be discovered.
The Lessons in Stepping Beyond Comfort
We often don’t know the strength within us until we put our face to the wind, embrace uncertainty, and step beyond our comfort zones.
It is there, in the space between what was and what could be, that we uncover who we truly are.
May Love, Light and Laughter
be the result we create together...
