mental health

Morning Bonus Read – Mental Health Check In

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Mental Health Tarot Spread - Minute Lenormand

1. Card to represent my current mental health

Key – Empowered. I am feeling better and better with each day that passes, the dark shadows lifting their cloying grip from my climbing form, and I am starting to feel the light dappling over my skin. The climb has been slow, but each day I feel that I’m making it a bit higher up, and it is in my control to make it the rest of the way.

2. An emotion that’s clouding my perception of reality.

Man – Speaking of control… what is clouding my perception of reality at this time is the fact that I am too focused upon that control.  I need to remember that it’s important to let things go and allow them to move at their own pace.  Don’t push.

3a. How to improve my perception of reality.

Dog – Allow others that I love and trust to step in and help me, and make sure when I speak to my therapist next week that I am entirely honest both about what’s happened and where I am now.  I’m not upset about not having been able to get an appointment when I was in the deep darkness at the bottom of the pit, but that doesn’t mean I can just put this experience behind me and pretend it didn’t happen.  I still need to talk to her about it, even if it’s nearly at the end of that particular journey.

3b. How to gain clarity.

Mountain – Depression and the climb out of that deep dark pit is a challenge that takes time, effort, and a great deal of focus to accomplish. The depression clouds  judgement and shifts perceptions, which is a hurdle that will only lift as I get closer to the surface.  Keep climbing this particular mountain, be patient, and I’ll eventually find myself back on level ground again… and in a place of greater clarity as a result.

4. How to change circumstances around me to elevate my mood.

Child – I need to remember to savor the newness of finding the light again and the joy that comes with each new sensation as I emerge a little at a time out of the pit I’ve been lost in for so long. Take this newness as a new beginning and embrace that budding energy like a rebirth.

5. How I can be happier day-to-day.

Woman – Be kinder and more compassionate to myself and my needs.  Allow that softer side of myself more room to grow and flourish instead of muffling it and pushing it aside for the hard willed determination  to always push forward harder and harder.  Allow myself to walk a little slower and pause to smell the roses along the way.

6. How I can deepen my connection with myself.

Anchor – I need to make sure that I am grounding myself well and often. One of the key themes of the Anchor card is “mellowing out” or “settling down”, and the card in response to this question is telling me to stop worrying so damn much about where I’m going and pay more attention to where I am now.

DECK USED:  MINUTE LENORMAND

Impact of One’s Path

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So… I think that Pagan Perspective is taking a week off this week, as there’s no new question to work with.   Due to this, I decided to snag a question from one of the pagan/witchy type groups I’m a member of on Discord and use that instead.

sun

Topic for the Week of 12/16: How has your religion impacted your overall well-being? Has it changed how you see the world and other people?

The first part of this question is immeasurable for me. I get a great sense of peace and overall well being from connecting with nature, and the communion of that practice. It is a part of me at my very core, a part of not just who I am but of my internal makeup and my soul.  Because of that, it’s impossible for me to differentiate myself from that enough to really clearly delineate my path from myself and my well-being.  They are simply too integrated to be able to separate them.

I also can’t really say if my path has changed my outlook on the world or other people, as I’ve been (essentially) on the same path my entire life.  Yes, I transitioned from Wicca to a non-theistic Paganism when I left my parent’s home, but not a lot of my inner beliefs really changed in that shift, as I never really connected with deity in the first place.

What I can say is that the deeper I go into my spirituality, the healthier my emotional and mental health become… which in turn improves my outlook on just about everything.

 

What Seeds Take Root

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Today’s meditation was 10 minutes and 10 seconds and focused on transforming negative emotions into positive ones. More specifically, it dealt with irritation, but I really do feel that this could be applied to any negative emotions.

The example used in the meditation explained how you can use your meditation practice, mindfulness, and breathing exercises to transform such emotions as irritation into a more positive light.  This is done by taking a minute and a “step back”, just to take a couple of deep breaths and seek a bit of perspective outside yourself.

The meditation itself included a breathing exercise where you rhythmically count your breaths in, then hold, then breaths out.  I found it so relaxing that I had a hard time getting up after the meditation was done.  I just wanted to lie there and dawdle the day away.   Of course, my stomach and metabolism had other ideas.

Today’s draw is yet another duo, which again had no jumper but came out together. That would be the 14th card of the Major Arcana, the Temperance card, and the Nine of Swords. The keyword on the temperance card is “balance”, and the keyword on the Nine of Swords card is “sorrow”.

To be honest?  I’m not even going to bother defining the traditional meaning for these two cards today, because my intuition is working overtime on this deck, to the point it seems to be almost “mentally blocking” the more analytical, educated side of things.

What I see in these cards is, first and foremost, that Sorrow is at the back.   When I read, the rear card in a double jump is always the subject, and the overlaying card is the commentary.

What the cards are telling me is that, although depression is often a brain chemistry thing for me, in order to assist myself and my meds in keeping myself afloat and out of the mess of a deep pit that my depression is prone to throwing me into… I need to make sure I continue to focus on balance.

I’ve been very tempted lately to up my hours on my part time jobs, because things have been slow with the business.  Not surprising, things are always slow this time of year.  Still, I push myself so hard that the temptation is there even if I don’t really NEED to struggle and strive and push for more.

I need to make sure I remember that this time of year is a time for rest for me.  Next month I have to start gearing up and preparing for the busy holiday season ahead.  June, July, and August are the only months all year that I have to essentially “slack off”.

I need to stop feeling guilt over that “slacking” and see it as what it is.   A time for healing.  A time for restoration.   A time to refill my cup for what’s coming, and repair the damage (emotional, spiritual, physical) that I’ve done to myself over the past year when things were so busy I couldn’t barely breathe.

If I do not give myself that balance?   I will pay for it later in not just my mood, but in my energy levels, creativity, and enthusiasm as well. Which would create a prime set-up for a bit of darkness to creep in and root into the soil.

Deck Used: The Visions of Life Tarot

 

Appreciating The Now

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes, and focused on fostering awareness within the present moment.

They titled this guided meditation as “awakening”, with the perspective that one awakes from their internal focus to the awareness of the world around them. This is a take on mindfulness that I had not heard of before and was interesting to incorporate into my meditation today.

Today’s draw is the Ten of Cups, which is a representation of completion, transcendence, and possible excess in the area of emotions, relationships, intuition, and creativity.

The Ten of Cups is all about emotional fulfillment and contentment, and its appearance today is a reminder to be aware of just how good Things are in my life right now.

I have so much…. a truly bountiful life. I have people that love me, a comfortable home, the opportunity in my life for creativity and self expression.

As is often the case, my focus is usually pushing towards the future, my goals, and what’s next. A visit from the Ten of Cups this morning is a reminder to pay attention to, and appreciate , all of the blessings currently in my life and to not focus solely on what lies ahead.

Mindful Gratitude

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and twenty eight seconds, and focused on listening. The kind of listening that engages more than just your ears, but also the mind and the heart. Often, people “hear” what others are saying, not just in passing but even in conversations, but they’re too busy plotting their next words or with their minds on something else to actually -listen-. This ability to focus and truly listen is important and even I am guilty of neglecting to do this from time to time.

Today’s draw is the Nine of Cups, which is a card of within the suit of emotions, relationships, imagination, and creativity. The ninth card in this suit represents. fruition, gratitude, contentment, and the consequences that are involved with finding yourself at the end of a journey.

The Ten of Cups speaks to looking back upon the path that you have traveled, and being grateful for where it has brought you.

This is a theme that I have been working on in my life lately. Gratitude and self-care. I have to admit that there’s a bit of a struggle involved. Or… maybe struggle isn’t the right word. It’s more like trying to develop a new habit. You need to remember to mindfully rinse and repeat again and again until it becomes a habit over time.

For me, self-care and being mindfully grateful for the present are the habits that I am trying to instill. I see this card as an encouragement to keep at it, even when I feel frustrated or uninspired.

Intellectual Inspiration

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Today’s meditation was eleven minutes and twenty two seconds, and focused on worry and discerning the differences between productive worry, and non-productive worry.  It also outlined the “pause and take a breath” method of centering yourself when your worries try to run away with you.

Today’s draw is the Ace of Swords. This card is a representation of potential and the seed of new beginnings in the areas of thought, logic, and communication.

The appearance of the Ace of Swords in today’s draw is an encouragement for me too do the studying and research needed to finish catching up on my tarot journal.

Starting my journal late in the year created a couple of hurdles I wasn’t expecting to come across. I managed to get quite a bit done with putting the journal together and the visual side of things, but then I stalled out when it came to filling in the pages with my writing.

This card is telling me that today is a good day to “fresh start” the intellectual part of this process.

[Update from later in the day, since I did my meditation this evening instead of in the morning. I spent a good chunk of my day working on my journal.  I changed a few of the organizational factors and did a good deal of research for my writing.  I then sat down and got some writing done and I am now about 3/4 of the way through catching things up.  If I can find some time to dedicate to it tomorrow I might be able to get it completely caught up.