Integrative Wellness & Energy Therapies, LLC

02/13/2026

🌿 13 Days of Roots and Release

Day 6: Exhaustion

There are many moments in the old stories where the heroes simply stop.

Not because they are weak.
Not because they have failed.
But because they have come to the edge of their strength.

Warriors laid down their weapons beside the fire. Travelers rested at holy wells and under ancient trees. Even the gods and heroes of the tales sought out quiet places to sleep, to heal, or to wait until their strength returned.

Rest was not seen as laziness.
It was part of the rhythm of life.

The hearth was the heart of the home and the clan. Fires were tended carefully, banked low at night to last until morning. Food, water, and warmth were shared with kin and guests alike. The Brehon laws emphasized the importance of hospitality, ensuring travelers and workers could rest and recover.
That is how important The Celts knew rest was; it was cemented in law.

Fields were left fallow so the soil could recover, and seasonal festivals like Samhain and Imbolc marked the slowing and renewal of the year. Animals were brought into shelter for the winter. Nothing living was meant to burn at full heat forever.

Read this again and hold it in your heart: Nothing living was meant to burn at full heat forever.

It it no small wonder that we oftentimes can feel “burnt out.”

Exhaustion is not a personal failure.
It is a message from the body and the spirit that the fire has been burning too hot for too long.

Sometimes exhaustion comes after fear, after grief, after anger, or after long seasons of simply trying to survive. The body keeps going because it must, but eventually the coals grow thin and the flame begins to flicker.

In the old ways, when a fire burned low, people did not scold it.

They did not demand it blaze higher out of sheer will.

Harsher force and more pressure will not cause a flame to rise; they will cause it to die.

The wisdom our people carried allowed them to give their inner flame what it needed to thrive long-term.
A bit of kindling.
A fresh log.
Time.

Exhaustion is not the end of the fire.
It is the moment the hearth asks to be tended.

You are not weak because you are tired.
You are human.

A modern Celtic inspired practice for exhaustion

When your body feels heavy and your mind feels worn thin, treat yourself as you would a hearth that needs care.

Find a quiet place.
Sit comfortably or stand with your feet planted.
Light a candle or sit near a soft, steady light.

You can combine this with a simple, grounding body practice. Breathe slowly and gently as you do it. Begin by making tight fists with your hands. Hold for five seconds. Then relax.

Next, make tight fists and tense your arms. Five seconds. Relax.

Then add your toes, curling them and tightening your hands and arms. Five seconds. Relax.

Now include your calves along with hands, arms, and feet. Five seconds. Relax.

Next, tense your whole hands, arms, feet, and legs. Five seconds. Relax.

Add your stomach muscles to the mix. Five seconds. Relax.

Finally, curl your whole body, tightening every muscle from head to toe. Ten seconds. Relax.

Move slowly, breathing in and out. Feel the tension flow out with each release. Imagine with every muscle tension, bellows have blown more life to your flame. Imagine that with every relaxation, the fire in your hearth grows steadier, warmer, and safer. Stronger. Each muscle you release is a kindling added back to your inner flame.

Now place one hand over your heart and one over your belly. Press firmly. Feel your breath move beneath your palms. Do not try to change it. Just notice it.

This is your hearth fire.
Your life force.
Your spirit.

If it feels dim, that is all right. Fires are meant to rise and fall.

Now, with each slow breath in, imagine placing a small piece of kindling onto those coals. Nothing heavy. Nothing overwhelming. Just a small, gentle offering.

With each breath out, imagine the coals glowing a little warmer. Not brighter than they should be. Just steadier. Safer. Enough to keep the hearth alive.

Sit this way for a few minutes. Let the warmth build slowly. There is no rush. A hearth is not restored in a single breath, and neither are you.

When you are ready, ask yourself one gentle question:

What is one small act of rest I can give myself today?

Not tomorrow.
Not next week.
Today.

It might be going to bed earlier.
Drinking a full glass of water.
Stepping outside for fresh air.
Sitting quietly for five minutes without your phone.
Letting something wait until morning.

Choose one. Just one.

This is your kindling.
This is how the fire returns.

Exhaustion is not a sign that your flame is gone.
It is only a sign that the hearth needs tending.

And a tended hearth can warm a home for a lifetime.

Suaimhneas agus neart duit.
Peace and strength to you.

02/08/2026

Bees and other pollinators aren’t just nice to have — they’re essential for so many of the foods we grow. 🍓🥒🍎
Without them, harvests drop and gardens become less productive.
Simple ways to help:
🌸 Plant more flowering herbs and natives
🚫 Avoid spraying pesticides during bloom
💧 Provide a shallow water source
🏡 Leave a few wild corners for habitat
Every garden, even a small one, can make a difference.

02/08/2026

This winter has been difficult for wild life… feed the birds!

01/13/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/15hdE3zb98/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Winter is brutal for backyard wildlife— but helping doesn’t cost a dime if you know what to keep. Here’s 10 things you’re probably tossing that they actually need.

12/31/2025

Thank you Rita, for sending this message!

12/17/2025

Nobody ever paused CPR to ask me what my GPA was. No dying man ever grabbed my wrist at 3:00 AM, looked me in the eye, and asked, "Did you graduate with honors?"

They only asked one thing: "Am I going to be okay?"

My name is Martha. I am 74 years old. I don’t have a LinkedIn profile. I don’t have a TED Talk. I drove a used sedan for twenty years and my retirement party was a sheet cake in the breakroom.

But for five decades, I was the last face people saw before they left this world, and the first face they saw when they came back to it. I was an ER nurse in a city that doesn't sleep, where the sirens never stop.

I remember the day I realized the world had gotten its priorities backwards.

It was Career Day at a local high school about five years ago. The gymnasium was packed. The air smelled of floor wax and teenage anxiety. I looked around at the other presenters. It was intimidating.

To my left was a tech entrepreneur, wearing a hoodie that probably cost more than my monthly mortgage, talking about "disrupting the market" and "scaling synergy." To my right was a corporate lawyer in a sharp Italian suit, handing out glossy brochures about intern programs. There was a financial planner flashing a laser pointer at a graph showing compound interest.

The kids were mesmerized. They were terrified of debt, hungry for status, and desperate to know the formula for being "Someone."

Then there was me.

I walked in wearing my old comfortable scrubs and my stethoscope around my neck. I didn't have a PowerPoint. I didn't have a "brand." I just had a badge that was scratched from years of use and hands that were dry from a thousand washings.

When it was my turn, the room went quiet. I didn't stand behind the podium. I walked right up to the bleachers.

"I’m not here to tell you how to make your first million," I said. My voice shook a little, then steadied. "I’m here to tell you what it feels like to be the only person awake in a terrifyingly quiet hallway, listening to the rhythm of a ventilator, praying for a stranger’s lungs to expand just one more time."

The kids stopped scrolling on their phones.

"I’m here to tell you about the smell of fear," I continued. "And I’m here to tell you about the specific, holy silence that falls over a room when a doctor calls the time of death. I want to tell you what it’s like to hold a mother as she screams, and what it’s like to wash the body of a homeless veteran with the same tenderness you’d give a king, simply because he was a human being and he deserved dignity."

I looked them in the eyes.

"It isn't glamorous. You won’t get a corner office with a view of the skyline. You will come home with aching feet and a broken heart more often than you’d like. But I promise you this: You will never, ever wonder if your work mattered."

The shift in the room was palpable. The questions they asked the tech guy were about stocks and salaries. The questions they asked me were different.

"Do you ever get scared?" a boy in a varsity jacket asked. "Every single shift," I said.

"Do you cry?" a girl in the front row asked. "I cry in the car. I cry in the shower. I cry because I care," I answered.

After the bell rang and the gym cleared out, a skinny boy with messy hair lingered behind. He looked down at his worn-out sneakers, kicking at a scuff mark on the floor.

"My dad is a janitor," he whispered, almost like it was a secret he was ashamed of. "At a big office building downtown. People walk past him like he’s invisible. Like he’s part of the furniture."

He looked up at me, his eyes wet. "He comes home so tired. But he says he keeps the place safe. He says he stops the germs so the business people don't get sick."

I reached out and took that young man’s hand. "Son, listen to me. Your dad is a hero. The world stops spinning without people like your dad. We have enough 'visionaries' in corner offices. We don't have enough people willing to do the hard, invisible work that actually keeps civilization running. Taking care of people? Cleaning up the messes? That is everything."

We live in a culture that is obsessed with titles. We teach our children that success looks like a verified checkmark next to their name or a salary that creates envy. We praise the disruptors and the influencers.

But let me tell you something about the real world.

When the power grid fails in a winter storm, a résumé won’t save you. An electrician will. When the pipe bursts and floods your basement, a diploma won’t save you. A plumber will. When your child burns up with a fever at midnight, your stock portfolio won’t save you. A nurse will.

We have forgotten the nobility of service. We have forgotten the sacredness of the "essential."

Last winter, I received a letter. It was from that boy with the messy hair. He’s not a boy anymore.

“Dear Martha,” it read. “I almost dropped out. I thought I wasn't smart enough for college, and I didn't want to be invisible like I thought my dad was. But I remembered what you said about dignity. I’m an EMT now. Last week, I saved a guy who had a heart attack on the subway platform. Nobody asked me for my business card. I just did the work. Thank you for telling me it mattered.”

I sat at my kitchen table, reading that letter over a cup of lukewarm coffee, and I wept.

I wept because he got it. He understood the secret that so many chasing the "American Dream" miss completely.

Success isn't about how many people serve you. Success is about how many people you serve.

So, here is my plea to you.

The next time you talk to a teenager, please, for the love of God, stop asking them, "Where are you going to college?" or "What do you want to be?"

Ask them: "Who do you want to help?"

Change the metric.

And if they say, "I want to be a welder," or "I want to work with the elderly," or "I want to drive a truck," don’t just give them a polite, pitying nod.

Look them in the eye. Tell them you are proud. Tell them that their hands are going to build the world and heal the broken. Tell them that when the night gets dark—and it always does—we aren't looking for a CEO. We are looking for someone who decided to show up.

We need them. We need them more than they will ever know.

12/17/2025

It’s official. Signed at 2:17pm. It was even on TV. Mine really turned blue. Don't forget that tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka... new name, META) where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!!!
Hold your finger anywhere in this message and “copy” will appear. Click “copy”. Then go to your page, create a new post and place your finger anywhere in the empty field. “Paste” will appear and click Paste.
This will bypass the system….
He who does nothing consents

According to the show 60 Minutes:
Just in case you missed it: a lawyer advised us to post this. The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook Meta is now a public entity. Every member must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.

I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF of my photos or personal data.

12/02/2025

10/20/2025

Integrative Wellness &energy Therapies LLC had a wonderful experience at the Evansville holistic expo!
Thank you to the committee and all those who made it possible. We met so many kind and inquisitive people , who were genuinely interested in what we offer.
Congratulations on a successful event!!
Sincerely ,Geraldine Kerns Hartmayer RN

10/03/2025

Thank you for the abundance of birthday wishes, cards, videos, laughter, and joy you shared… My heart is full!🩷
Sincerely, Geraldine ✨✨✨

09/16/2025

Healing can be fun! happy birthday to our Viking goddess… 83 never looks so good!

09/16/2025

Healing Beyond Border international conference
This year was an extraordinary success! Bonnie Johnson and I presented “ Standing in our power to heal viral illnesses”. It was well attended, standing room only!(no pun intended):)
I will be teaching the lecture and techniques that we taught to all those who are interested in the upcoming future!