March 17 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was eleven minutes long, and was one of the #DailyTrip sessions from the @Calm app. The topic of today’s session was about the benefits of stillness.  That is to say, the benefits that can be garnered by taking a moment when things feel loud or chaotic to just take a step back and breathe for a minute.  To feel the stillness within yourself in that moment, and then return to the world refreshed from visiting that momentary  sense of inner stillness.

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Today’s draw is the Eight of Swords atop the Judgement card.

• The Eight of Swords card is traditionally a representation of self-imposed limitations and beliefs, closed mindedness, inflexibility, self pity, and restrictive thinking.
• The Judgement card is traditionally a representation of looking back on one’s history and reflecting upon if they are happy with all that they have done and become in life, as well as getting in touch with one’s true calling, and themes to do with forgiveness and absolution.

When these cards are combined with the topic of today’s meditation,  there is a reminder here that although we are not always at our best?  We can be better by taking a moment to check in with ourselves and making sure we are still moving in the direction of our chosen path.

It’s easy sometimes to get sidetracked by thoughts of defeat or lack of confidence. Listening to our negative inner narratives can tear us down and make us blind to anything but the hard stuff and struggles.  In these cards is the reminder that when we realize we are struggling, it’s time to step back, pause, and re-orient ourselves.  Remember where we are wanting to go in life and the person we want to become, and make sure that our moment of struggle doesn’t draw us off that path and into the weeds.

DECK USED: FAERIE TAROT

March 18 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app. The topic for today’s session was about the boon of being wrong.

I am a fan of this session, and I’ve meditated to it before in the past.  The idea here is that it’s when we’re wrong that we learn and grow, as long as we’re willing to be open to being wrong and learning from the experience.

I know a lot of people who struggle to admit when they’re wrong, but this has never really been a problem for me personally.  I like learning new things, and if that means someone proves me wrong in order for me to learn them?  That’s fine with me. It means in being wrong I’ve now gained more knowledge and experience than I would have in not trying at all.

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Today’s draw is the Page of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive omega energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, logic, ambitions, and communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with learning new ways to communicate with others, beginning new educational pursuits, exploring new ideas. and seeking to sate one’s curiosity.

Combined with the topic of today’s meditation, the message I see in this card today is about the learner’s mind. The Pages, when you really boil down to it, are students.  You can’t be open to learning new things and experimentation with concepts and ideas if you’re mind is closed to being wrong. It just doesn’t work.

The card for today, therefore, is a reminder that it’s okay to be wrong. It’s part and parcel of the process of exploration and experimentation.  It’s nothing to be ashamed of or resistant to, just open up and absorb the new knowledge it provides… and keep going!

DECK USED: GREEN TRACE TAROT

March 19 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app.

The session for today explored a technique for dealing with difficult or intense emotions created by a man named Michael Stone, who used the French word “sain” (meaning healthy or wholesome) as an acronym for the practice.

S – Stop – Taking a moment to stop and identify that you are experiencing an emotion.

A – Allow – Allowing yourself to feel that emotion rather than trying to push it away or bury it.

I – Investigate – Explore how this emotion affect you physically? Where do you feel it in your body?

N – Non-Identification – “I am feeling frustration” rather than “I am frustrated” in order to keep yourself from becoming more deeply entrenched what you are feeling. This keeps us from being swept up in the emotion.

In using this method, the session indicates that we can better identify our emotions and deal with them rather than using unhealthy coping mechanisms, or getting so wrapped up in our emotions that they control us.

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Today’s draw is the Knight of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a projective and active “beta” energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, education, ambitions, and communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with pursuing one’s goals related to their education, actively seeking one’s goals, action and decisiveness, and at times can indicate impulsivity without thinking things through.

The combination of today’s meditation session with this card speaks of a need to stop and think rather than act.  It speaks of the dangers of being impulsive, when what we want to do is learn and understand ourselves better.  This is something that can’t be done in a hurry.  Learning about ourselves, familiarizing ourselves with our difficult emotions? It’s not something that can be rushed.

Introducing logic and an intellectual side to this learning process allows to slow down and examine rather than allowing our emotions to overtake us and take logic away.  It’s not like intuition, where logic gets in the way. Instead, logic helps us shift out of the grip of our emotions, and thus examine thing and process them with a calmer perspective.

DECK USED: THE CLOUD TOWER TAROT