Sisters of the Light

Travel has a way of bringing special people into our lives.

If you are lucky, travel lets you meet people who feel like sisters of the light.

This year, I experienced just that.

Michelle Fiset Joseph and Carla Rowlings, both talented Reiki Masters, reached out and offered me a Reiki session. They expected nothing in return. It was simply a generous gift of healing and care.

Carla is well known in Tamarindo as a talented musician and the person behind Tama Jam every Sunday evening. I often say she is one of the most inclusive and kind Nova Scotians I have met. She truly lives the spirit of Pura Vida, and just being around her is grounding.

This year, I also met another sister of the light. Michelle is from Ontario but has deep roots in Cheticamp. She brings a calm strength and an intuitive wisdom you notice as soon as you sit with her.

Together, these women made a special space for me.

What Is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese energy-healing practice that originated in the early 1900s. The name comes from two Japanese words: Rei, meaning universal, and Ki, meaning life force energy.

Reiki is based on the idea that we are made of energy. When our energy is low, blocked, or disrupted by stress, illness, grief, or just daily life, we can feel out of balance both physically and emotionally.

In a Reiki session, practitioners place their hands lightly on or just above your body, letting energy flow where it is needed most. The process is gentle, noninvasive, and very calming.

For me, Reiki supports my overall health by:

• Reducing stress and calming the nervous system

• Supporting emotional processing

• Encouraging energetic balance

• Complementing my medical treatments with restorative rest

A Sacred Hour

The hour-long session allowed me receive the combined energy from both of these gifted women.

Along with Reiki, they included a Chakra alignment and a Qigong cleanse. These practices help clear stuck energy and restore flow in the body.

I felt held.

I felt peaceful.

I felt aligned.

These days, when the world feels uncertain and divided, I am deeply grateful to be around people who choose to live with love, compassion, inclusion, and generosity.

Energy matters.

Who we sit beside matters.

Who we allow to hold space for us matters.

Thank you to these two women for holding space for me.

Betty Jean

Happy Heritage Day 2026

Today in Nova Scotia, we honour Joseph William Comeau. He was a proud Acadian, a former MLA for Digby County, and a Senator. His life’s work helped preserve and celebrate Acadian history and culture in our province.

His leadership went beyond politics. It was cultural and protective. He worked to make sure Acadian stories, language, and identity would last for generations.

Heritage is important because our memories are important.

Culture is important because it shapes who we are.

Since marrying into an Acadian family, I have come to admire their strength and resilience.

The Acadian story is not one of ease. It is about displacement, perseverance, faith, and rebuilding. It is a story of holding tightly to language, tradition, and family even when circumstances tried to take them away.

Above all, family is at the heart of Acadian culture.

I feel blessed to have my husband Raymond’s steady support and the care of his extended family as I face life with cancer. Their presence, quiet strength, prayers, and steady love show a heritage built on standing together.

I see this same legacy living on in the next generation.

My grandson will grow up proudly as an Aucoin, rooted in a culture that values language, land, community, and faith. He is blessed with a mother, a Landry, who honours her Acadian heritage daily through her work teaching at our local Acadian school, passing on not only knowledge and language but also identity.

Resilience is a key part of this culture. And resilience is something I have leaned on in my own journey.

On this Heritage Day, I celebrate Joseph William Comeau and everyone who protected Acadian history. I also celebrate the strength of the Acadian people. I am grateful for the family I married into. They remind me every day that we are stronger when we stand together.

Happy Heritage Day 2026. 💙

Cortisol, Stress, and our Inner Terrain.

I recently listened to a discussion on hormones on Zonia, Stefan Apostolov’s Cancer Unravelled Series. The episode featured medical experts like Dr. Vincent and Dr. Tina Peers.

They spoke about the internal environment and the role hormones play in regulating the body.

In today’s complex world, many of us live with a stress response that is constantly activated. When cortisol remains elevated for prolonged periods, it can disrupt hormonal balance and affect the systems that support immune health, sleep, metabolism, and overall well-being.

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Cortisol is a survival hormone. It rises to protect us in moments of danger. That is healthy. But when stress becomes chronic, such as during diagnosis, uncertainty, trauma, caregiving, or overwork, the body can stay on constant alert.

Over time, chronic stress may influence:

• Immune regulation

• Inflammation

• Blood sugar balance

• Sleep

• Hormonal harmony

As discussed, when the stress response stays activated, the immune system may not function as optimally as it could. The focus is on fight or flight.

This is not blame.

It is physiology.

Acute stress helps us survive.

Chronic stress slowly exhausts us.

Many of us know the feeling: wired but tired. We experience energy crashes, poor sleep, and heightened reactivity.

If you are living with cancer, you understand this intimately. But the internal environment matters.

I follow my oncology plan. I trust the science. And I also tend to my inner environment.

That means:

• Stabilizing blood sugar with protein

• Gentle movement

• Breath and quiet

• Community

• Boundaries

• Rest without guilt

Self-care is the new Health Care.

Not indulgence. Regulation for optimal health.

And perhaps this is especially important as you wind down from a week of work, responsibilities, caregiving, or even navigating snow storms and life’s unexpected demands.

Transitioning from constant alert to intentional rest is not weakness.It is wisdom.

So I want to leave you with this thought: Where in your life can you move from always being on alert to finding gentle balance, especially as you close out a full week?

That, too, is RISING.