Self-Care Archives - Page 3 of 4

Can Oracle & Tarot Readings be Wrong?

May 12, 2020 | Learn Tarot

I frequently get asked by newbie tarot readers if I’ve ever had someone tell me their reading was completely incorrect. The answer is no, nobody has ever said that their reading was wrong and here’s why.

For my personal readings, tarot is a guidance tool. I don’t claim to be able to tell them what is going to happen to them in the future, instead, I offer possibilities and outcomes and a path to show how my client can get there.

The cards represent the most common lessons in life

The tarot cards are designed to represent the main core lessons in life, each card can be used to represent something you’ve been through in your life. Whether it’s addiction with The Devil, big life changes with Death or complete joy and success with The Sun.

These themes are things that every human goes through at some point, what a tarot reading does is highlight which of those lessons we are currently learning, have learned or have yet to learn. The Major Arcana (The Fool, Magician, High Priestess etc.) are the big life lessons, the lessons only the universe can throw our way. The Minor Arcana (the suits of cups, pentacles, swords and wands) are the smaller, daily obstacles and challenges we face in our normal waking lives.

Is the reading wrong? Or are you reluctant to accept the answers?

One of the most common reasons people perceive a reading to be incorrect is because the cards are telling them something they don’t want to hear. I find this can happen a lot in love readings (I speak from personal experience and doing my own love readings).

People will ask about a crush or their ex and when they are told the answers the cards are giving, they don’t want to hear anything other than “yes of course you’ll get (back)together“. This is because they are coming from a place where they want to be told their irrational or emotionally charged beliefs are fact. The problem is, when our perspective is clouded by intense emotion, we can’t see the reality of our situation.

If you want to get a completely accurate reading, there are a few things you can do as a client, to help the reader find the answers for you.

Get clear about what your problems or obstacles are
Think about what came before your obstacle and how it might be influencing your present
Try the most logical of solutions before contacting a reader – e.g. if you’re having trouble telling someone how you feel, have you actually attempted to tell them before getting a reading?
Enter into a reading with an open mind and the space to accept whatever comes up in the cards

Tarot reading should never be used as a way to support or backup irrational thoughts or damaging behaviours. Use tarot as a tool to find emotional and spiritual wisdom and guidance on how to move forward in a healthy and positive way. Use it to gain a different and more unbiased opinion on your current situation. Tarot is neutral, it is Switzerland, it doesn’t side for or against you, it simply tells it like it is.

If you’re interested in booking a tarot reading, why not drop me a message and we can work together to find answers and gain clarity!

7 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way

Apr 21, 2020 | Soul Purpose

The more tarot readings I do, the more I understand how we are all our own worst enemy. On more times than I can count, the answer to why someone is finding it hard to progress forward, is that there is something internally that is keeping them anchored to that spot.

We are constantly getting in our own way and it stops us from reaching our true potential. There is always a practical way to get something done, but a mental block can leave you feeling completely helpless and at a loss of what plans to put in place.

The good news is that there are ways for you to get out of your own way, and all it takes is a little patience, self-love and determination.

Acknowledge your strengths

One of the first things to go when faced with a tricky challenge is our self-confidence. Our mind wants to protect us from the hurt of failure, so it makes up ‘facts’ about us to stop us from taking risks. These ‘facts’ often revolve around not being good enough, qualified enough or experienced enough.

In order to clap back at your own fake news, you need to remind yourself what your strengths are and back them up with real life evidence.

For example:

Even though I’ve done more then my fair share of tarot readings, I still have moments of wondering whether I really am skilled as a reader. I start to doubt my abilities and this can sometimes stop me from offering to read for others.

To combat that, I have to remind myself that I’ve done multiple tarot reading courses, that I have passed with flying colours. That I have done loads of readings for clients with exceptional feedback, plus a lot of my clients have been referred to me based on the way I read and the aftercare I provide.

All of this is real world evidence that I am skilled in this area and that I am more than qualified to offer this service. By acknowledging this, I’m rewiring my brain to see just how capable I am and reassuring it that I can handle anything that comes from my risk taking.

Identify what failure looks like to you and challenge those beliefs

What does it mean to you to fail? What things have to happen for you to think “well, that’s it, I’ve failed“? One of the biggest roadblocks in any entrepreneurs journey, is coming face to face with failure. Nobody wants to fail at something, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil.

In order to be afraid of failure, we need to know what failure looks like to us. Once you’ve identified what your idea of failure looks like, you can start to pull it apart and question whether you really would have ‘failed’ if those things actually happened.

Are there other avenues open to you if one path doesn’t work out? Are there ways that you can adjust, pick yourself up and continue on if something happens? Once you’ve failed, that’s never the end of the road. If we all stopped doing anything every time we failed, we’d all be sat around doing nothing. The only way is up when you’ve failed at something, so it can be the best thing to ever happen to you.

Stop second guessing yourself

When you’re running your own business, you have to heavily rely on your own ideas, smarts and intuition. It can be tricky to learn to trust yourself enough to act on your own instincts, but this is something you need to be able to do if you want to be able to build something spectacular.

Be more mindful of the way you talk to yourself, ask yourself if you were your own employee, would you speak to you the same way? Would you be so quick to dismiss that employees ideas and decisions? Many of you may be solopreneurs, so treating yourself as both employee and employer could really help in making your entrepreneur brain work with your emotional gut.

Remove unnecessary pressure

We are our own worst critic and we can often put way too much pressure on ourselves. Whether it’s too tight of a deadline or an outlandish goal, too much pressure can be an instant roadblock on the journey to success.

Really evaluate the goals you’ve set for yourself and break them down month by month, week by week or even day by day. This will help you figure out if your overall goal is something that is not only achievable but also allows you time to take care of your mental and spiritual wellbeing. You may even realise that some of your goals don’t require you to sprint and you can push things back a lot more than you had initially thought.

Identify why you are self-sabotaging

If we are getting in our own way, it may be for some deeper, subconscious reason that we haven’t uncovered yet. It might be that we just aren’t ready to take a certain step, or it’s something we only think we want and not something we actually need.

There are so many different reasons why we may be putting up obstacles for ourselves and if things really aren’t going the way you thought they would, it may be time to dig a little deeper. To uncover these subconscious feelings, the best tools are:

Meditation – at least 10-20 minutes a day
Daily journaling (it only works if you’re brutally honest with yourself!)
Daily oracle card pulls
Monthly tarot readings

Our subconscious is the keeper of truth and our minds keep these things from us because we are happier not knowing. Ignorance is bliss as they say. However, if we are getting frustrated with our own progress, it may be time to face the darker sides of ourselves in order to move forward.

Even if you’re not 100% sure that you are the one stopping yourself from moving forward, it’s worth checking in and making sure there’s nothing else going on underneath the surface. You may find that a bit of inner work is the key to unlocking everything you have to offer and finally being able to reach that mega goal you’ve always wanted to reach.

If you’d like to book a tarot reading with me, to uncover why you are getting in your own way, just click the button below and drop me an email!

How Powerful is the Subconscious Mind?

Mar 18, 2020 | Soul Purpose

As humans, we have two different minds, the conscious and the subconscious mind. Our conscious mind is the little voice that speaks to us throughout the day, it is the thing that can also tell us we’re not good enough or that we are failing at something. It’s not always kind!

The subconscious is buried a little deeper. It holds all our beliefs, the root of our fears, our likes and dislikes. It is the part of our brain that makes us truly who we are, but it can also create the biggest obstacles for us.

What control does the subconscious mind have?

We tend to underestimate the subconscious mind, because it lurks in the background, like a puppet master. It can cause not just the creation of thoughts and feelings, but it can also influence our physical wellbeing.

A lot of common mental health problems stem from the subconscious mind, from anxiety and depression to irrational fears. All of these start their lives in the subconscious, which is why it is so tricky to battle them head on.

I like to think of the mind as a tree, the roots are the subconscious mind and the branches are the conscious thoughts. Everything that grows on the tree does so because of the roots (subconscious mind), it feeds these thoughts and beliefs and helps them thrive and grow. How you stop these feelings and thoughts, is by dealing with the roots.

Some examples of the subconscious mind at work are:

Believing that you have nothing to contribute in a group conversation
Thinking you can’t do something you’ve always wanted because you’re not good enough or because someone can do it better
Procrastinating from taking action because you fear the outcome
Feeling and thinking that you are not wanted or loved

All of these things have their roots in the subconscious. Something buried deep within is feeding these thoughts and by giving our subconscious some TLC, we are better equipped to stop this negativity in its tracks.

How do you unlock the subconscious mind?

There are two main ways that will effectively give you a window to the subconscious mind. They are:

Meditation
Divination

Meditation allows you the time and space, to notice what is a conscious thought and what is a subconscious thought. When you meditate for 20+ minutes, your mind starts to calm down, your conscious thoughts begin to run out and your subconscious starts to become clearer. I’ve had a number of experiences where I’ve meditated for long periods and come to a sudden realisation about a problem or obstacle. Patience is key of course and a great deal of mindfulness is needed to ensure it works.

Divination is a something that can be used by most people and includes tools such as pendulums, oracle cards, tarot cards, spirit boards, runes and scrying. These tools create a mirror that reflects the subconscious mind in our physical world. It allows us to see our subconscious in front of us and helps us to better understand and process subconscious thoughts.

This is where tarot reading and oracle card reading come into play, and why I love to use them both for my own wellbeing and for clients. I personally love divination, because I’m a very visual person, I need to see things to be able to make sense of them. These tools give me a visual to grasp hold of and create a narrative with, whether it is using the illustrations on the cards, the direction of a pendulum or the shapes whilst scrying.

How to take care of your subconscious mind

We should always put some time aside to take care of our subconscious mind. When you are thinking about your self care routine, make sure to add in something that allows you to unlock and sort through your subconscious.

This could be adding in 10-minutes of meditation every day or every other day, having regular tarot readings or picking a few oracle cards to help you think and dig a little deeper. Make sure to challenge negative thoughts and expand on them to uncover why they were created in the first place.

Create a tarot journal or oracle card journal, where you write down the cards you pick and what they mean to you. Write about how they make you feel and what they make you think about. Get specific and don’t hold back. The more we write the clearer things often become.

How to Use a Pendulum + Free Pendulum Board Printout

Mar 4, 2020 | Blog

Pendulums are one of the most beginner friendly divination tools out there and they can be used with or without a pendulum board for guidance. They can be made from a crystal, a crystal cage or just a simple weighted pendulum.

Crystal pendulums are by far my favourite type, as you can use different pendulums depending on the type of question you’re asking. For example, if you have a question about love, then a Rose Quartz pendulum is preferred. If confidence is an issue and you have a few decisions that need a definitive answer, then a Tiger’s Eye pendulum is ideal.

How do pendulums work?

Pendulums, like other divination tools, tap into our subconscious minds, to help us unlock the answers hidden deep within. When asking our pendulums a question, what we are actually doing is asking our subconscious mind, the pendulum is just a vehicle that the mind is driving.

The movements made by the pendulum are tiny, minute movements, that are being made by our hand, which is being controlled by our subconscious mind. That’s why we can never tell that our hand is moving, it looks like the pendulum has a mind of its own.

How to use a crystal pendulum

Now that you’ve invested in a crystal pendulum of your choice, it’s time to put it to use. There are a few ways you can use the pendulum, you can use it free hand or with a pendulum board.

Free hand means that you ask the pendulum simple yes or no questions and pay close attention to the direction and patterns it creates. If you use your pendulum this way, make sure to set the directions for yes, no and maybe before asking your final question. This allows you to see which direction means what answer.

Pendulum boards can be really helpful and offer a more detailed and direct answer. You can get printouts like the one I’ve made for you guys below, or there are some stunning wooden pendulum boards on Etsy.

How to use the pendulum board print out

I’ve created a simple pendulum board that you can print out and use for your own divination. It’s pretty basic, so it’s perfect for beginners.

You can either stick with the simple yes, no, maybe or unknown answers, or if you’re feeling a little more confident, then you can start to incorporate the meanings of the moon phases into your answers.

Incorporating the moon phases

You’ll notice that there are two of each answer, and each one is linked with a different moon phase. Here’s how you can interpret each with their associated phase:

Yes – New Moon = This is a new path that you must go down // Full Moon = Time to push forward with this

No – First Quarter = Have strength and don’t give up // Third Quarter = It’s time to let go, it no longer serves you

Maybe – Waxing Gibbous = It’s time to try some manifestation to make things happen // Waning Gibbous = Practice gratitude and review lessons previously learned

Unknown – Waxing Crescent = Only you can inspire action and create options // Waning Crescent = More needs to be released in order to find clarity

What questions should you ask your pendulum?

Because the pendulum can’t give you mega detailed answers to all of life’s questions, it’s best to stick with questions that require only a yes or no answer. Really think about how you word your questions and think about how you can get the most from your answers, by simply rewording or changing perspective.

A good tip is to use the following question starters such as:

Will I…
Can I…
Should I…

And avoid things like:

How can I…
When will…
How will…

Be direct with your wording, try and keep it personal and avoid asking questions about others. You’ll get much clearer and precise answers if you can stick to uncovering your own subconscious, rather than trying to psychically figure out other people.

The Art of Taking Things Slow When You’re Super Busy

Feb 18, 2020 | Soul Purpose

I know what it’s like to have a to do list as long as your arm, and be in full panic mode that you’ll never to be able to get it all done. When I think back to all those moments when I was running around shouting about how busy I was, I question whether I actually did have too much to do, or whether I was creating panic and stress with my perspective.

There is no doubt about it, when you are trying to run and build your own business, there is a never ending list of things that need doing. However, a lot of the time, stress and panic that we feel has been self-created. We haven’t been prioritising time for our brains to turn off and process everything from the day, so we keep piling more and more onto it, hoping it can carry the load.

*SPOILER ALERT* It can’t.

Are you creating your ‘busy’?

We desperately need to dispel this idea that you have to work yourself to death, in order to become successful at what you do. It is this mindset, that so many entrepreneurs have, that creates stress and poor mental and emotional wellbeing.

>
“it’s the journey that matters not the destination. ”

Most of the time, we don’t even realise that we are creating our own busyness, we convince ourselves that we have strict deadlines that simply do not exist in reality. Our subconscious becomes the back seat driver and starts encouraging us to panic over things that we actually have complete control over.

Identifying when you are actually busy and when you just think you’re busy is the first step in finding a slower rhythm to your daily life. It’s important to make this distinction early, in order to find the most effective solution to your busy problem.

Slowing things down and giving yourself a break

When we are in charge of our own workload, we can be so hard on ourselves. Discipline is of course important when you’re a solopreneur, but it’s important to be disciplined but not restrictive. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re a few hours late with a project, acknowledge why you were late and accept that you are only human.

Slowing things down or taking things slow doesn’t mean that you have to move at a snail’s pace, it’s a frame of mind. Slow living should be about mindfulness and experiencing things as fully as possible, as we all know, it’s the journey that matters not the destination.

>
“Remember that everything you do is for a reason.”

The first tip for slowing down your busy life is to schedule in time to do nothing. It doesn’t mean you have to do nothing, it just means that you have that time to do what ever your body and soul needs in that moment. If that is nothing at all, then great. If that is watching episodes on Netflix back to back, then that’s great too.

For example, I always give myself a lunch break that gives me enough time to eat a proper meal and give me some extra time to just sit and relax, read or go for a walk. I can rest easy knowing that I’ve blocked that time out for this purpose and I don’t have to feel guilty about not sitting at my desk.

Practice mindfulness and gratitude

I know that gratitude and mindfulness is something that is drilled into us, especially in the wellness community, but it is worth pushing that these two things can make a huge difference.

Instead of rushing through every task on your list, just so you can get to the next thing, practice paying attention to how you feel doing that job.

Are you happy doing the task?

Is there something specific that you really love about this task?

Is there something you hate about this task and is there a way you can make it more fun?

Remember that everything you do is for a reason. Remind yourself what that reason is and what benefits this will bring to your life. If it’s doing your tax return (nobody likes doing taxes), what does doing this mean for you? It might mean that you are a successful business owner that needs to do their taxes, it might mean that you’ve earned a specific amount in the tax year that you should be proud of.

Keeping a gratitude journal or an achievement journal is also a great idea to help slow things down. It doesn’t have to take forever, it could literally be five bullet points of things at the end of the day, that you are particularly proud of or grateful for. It could be that you do it once a week or once a month!

Start thinking of life a bit like being on a treadmill that you can’t stop, you can slow it down, you can choose the incline. You have more control over your life than you realise, even if you can’t stop it, there are ways to make it easier for yourself.

Shop Self-Care Tools

« Older Entries

Next Entries »