PalCare

Seven Ways to Raise Your Energy

Feeling drained or stuck? Try one of these simple ways to shift your energy and reconnect with yourself.

1. Breathe: Try breathwork to help calm the sympathetic nervous system and move out of stress mode.
2. Go Outside: Nature can help you recenter, reconnect, and feel grounded.
3. Give: Pay it forward. Offer kindness, help someone, or donate to a cause you care about.
4. Meditate: Even 10 minutes can create space to pause, breathe, and reset.
5. Move: Exercise or simply move your body each day. Movement can help shift your energy and mood.
6. Sing: Sing like no one is listening! Let your voice out and enjoy the moment.
7. Tap: Tapping can be a simple practice to help calm the body's stress response and create a sense of grounding.

Small shifts can make a big difference. Which one will you try today?

PALCARE ANNUAL GRIEF & BEREAVEMENT SYMPOSIUM

📅 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

Meeting People Where They’re At: Compassionate, Equitable Care for All

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Naheed Dosani, MSc, MD, CCFP(PC), FCFP, BSc
Living & Dying on the Streets: Advancing Health Justice in Our Communities

Featuring presentations from:
• Central Regional Indigenous Cancer Program
• LOFT Community Services
• Association for Community Living
• York Region Community Paramedicine

We’ll also hear from a psychotherapist and speaker who will share reflections on grief literacy, personal perspectives, and carrying this important work forward. Learn more about the programs and services supporting individuals, families, and communities, and the impact of this important work.

Registration includes:
Breakfast, lunch, refreshments, a full day of presentations and discussions, and opportunities to connect with allied health professionals, community partners, volunteers, and service providers.

REGISTRATION FEES
Volunteer: $75
Professional: $125
Table of 8: $800

Register today and join us for this meaningful day of learning, connection, and conversation.

📚 Book of the Week
As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve
by J.S. Park

Grief doesn’t follow a timeline—and there is no “right” way to grieve.
As a veteran hospital chaplain who has supported people through illness, dying, and loss, J.S. Park offers a compassionate reminder that we don’t have to rush our grief, “move on,” or simply let go.

As Long As You Need explores the spiritual, mental, physical, and relational sides of grief, offering permission to acknowledge loss and move through it at your own pace.
For those who are grieving, and for those who support them, this book offers empathy, understanding, and hope.

“Take as long as you need.”

Deepen Your Reiki Practice ✨

Ready to take the next step in your Reiki journey?

Join Reiki Master Carrie Chilcott for Reiki Level 2, where you'll:
• Receive your Reiki Level 2 attunement
• Learn the three Reiki symbols and how to use them
• Explore working with Reiki within the aura and chakras
• Practise beaming, scanning, and distance healing (past, present, and future)
• Experience a Reiki guides meditation
• Gain hands-on practice using the Reiki symbols
• Receive your Reiki Level 2 Practitioner Certificate

Saturday, September 12, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (EST)
Margaret Bahen Hospice – Multipurpose Room
Fee: $175
Prerequisite: Participants must have completed Reiki Level 1 before registering.

“If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we are apart, I’ll always be with you.”

Self-esteem asks: “How am I doing compared to others?”
Self-compassion asks: “How can I care for myself through this moment?”
Self-esteem can rise and fall with our achievements, successes, and how we see ourselves in comparison to others.
Self-compassion offers kindness and understanding — especially when life feels difficult, when we make mistakes, or when we are grieving.

As psychologist Kristin Neff reminds us:
"With self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we would give to a good friend."

In times of grief, change, or uncertainty, compassion for ourselves can be just as important as compassion for others.

Core 1: Introduction to Core Concepts in Hospice Palliative Care
Join us this fall for our IN-PERSON Core 1 program!

This 24-hour introductory course is designed for professionals, volunteers, and caregivers who want to build a strong foundation in hospice palliative care through interactive learning, meaningful discussion, and shared experiences.

Throughout the program, you'll explore communication, grief and bereavement, spirituality, caregiver care, pain and symptom management, family dynamics, culture, ethics, advance care planning, and more—all in a supportive learning environment that encourages reflection and connection.

📍 Fall Location:
York Cemetery and Funeral Centre
160 Beecroft Road, North York, ON M2N 5Z5

📅 Thursdays, September 10 – October 29, 2026
🕕 6:00–9:00 PM (EST)
Registration Fees:
$50 – Volunteers
$125 – Professionals

Learning together in person offers the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, and connect with others who are passionate about providing compassionate care.
Register today to reserve your spot!

The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise
by Martín Prechtel

In this powerful and poetic book, Martín Prechtel invites us to rethink our understanding of grief. Rather than seeing grief as something to overcome, he reminds us that grief is the natural expression of love.

Drawing on the wisdom of the Tzutujil Maya tradition, Prechtel explores how expressing grief openly and within community can help us heal. He suggests that when grief goes unspoken or unsupported, it can echo across generations. Yet when we honour our losses, we also honour the love that remains.

Filled with stories, wisdom, and gentle encouragement, this inspiring book offers hope, solace, and a compassionate perspective for anyone navigating loss or supporting others through grief.
"Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses."

🌿 The Gratitude Address: Learning from the Land 🌿

Take time to pause, reflect, and reconnect through an ancient Indigenous practice of gratitude.
Join Anita Nakou, who will share her life experience and ancestral knowledge as a Mohawk woman, exploring the Indigenous tradition of the Gratitude Address—a practice of recognizing all that has been freely given to us. Through reflection and discussion, you'll create your own personal message of gratitude to carry into your daily life.

Dates: Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Margaret Bahen Hospice
635 Queen Street, Newmarket
Fee: $20.00

Anita holds a B.A. in Indigenous Studies and a B.Ed. from Lakehead University. She is passionate about sharing practices of gratitude, tending gardens, Indigenous traditions, and our interconnected relationship with the natural world.
Come with an open heart and leave inspired by the wisdom of gratitude.

May comfort find you in the moments you need it most.

May you find strength in the care of others, peace in the midst of uncertainty, and hope in the smallest acts of kindness.

And may you always be reminded that compassion has the power to lighten even the heaviest days.