How to get the most out of your Tarot reading: Self-awareness
Having your Tarot cards read by a respected Tarot reader can really open you up to the possibilities in your life. As well as showing you where your current path is heading, opportunities on the horizon and the important people in your life, it can also signpost you to any limiting behaviours – in yourself or others - that may be having a negative impact. Once you become aware of what is happening around you, with you, to you, and why, you are then able to take practical steps to move through any challenging circumstances towards a brighter future.
When a client with a strong sense of self-awareness has their Tarot cards read, they can access this deeper level of understanding earlier on in a reading. Self-awareness may be second nature to them. Specifically, they realise that any discomfort they feel, possibly triggered by an aspect of the reading, is something that needs to be acknowledged and worked through in order to progress forward.
Here are some pointers to raising your own self-awareness.
1. Consider how a Tarot reading can benefit you
Tarot is not a fortune-telling tool. Yes, you will receive cards about your future, based on your current path, but you have the ability to change that future with every active decision made that leads you there. Approaching a Tarot reading from a self-improvement and empowerment perspective can help you to understand the messages and guidance you receive and how to work with it to improve your current circumstances.
2. Have understanding of your past
Have a think about your life so far. Do you recognise any repeating patterns? Have you experienced hard knocks, challenges, been exposed to lots of heartache? If you feel that this is a recurrent theme in your life now, it may be that those challenges are your main lessons in this lifetime. If you have chosen to avoid the issues or difficulties that have been placed in your path, rather than facing them head on, these negative life patterns or experiences will keep replaying and you find yourself falling into the same situations repeatedly. It’s like Groundhog Day. That is, until you deal with them.
3. Embrace your shadow self
Tarot can often reveal parts of ourselves that we aren’t aware of, things we don’t like that we hide, from ourselves and others, or that we deny. Now, I’m not trying to put you off Tarot readings here! And no one knows you quite like you do. But the side of yourself that you push down, deny or ignore is called your Shadow self. It is the darker part of you, but it is still you.
When we are in denial about aspects of our personality, we don’t progress; we ignore the signs that anything is wrong, and then repeat the same mistakes, over and over. So, for example, if you have a tendency to become jealous in relationships, you might justify this behaviour as an automatic response to a partner who isn’t paying you enough attention, or no longer makes you feel special. Suddenly their interactions with others fill you with suspicion. It is extremely uncomfortable to acknowledge that your own low self-esteem may be at the root of these insecurities. In this situation, you are simply projecting your insecurities onto others, rather than looking inwards to the source.
But if you work with your shadow, become its friend and really get to know this part of you, you will begin to understand where these less than favourable aspects of yourself originate from, and work at overcoming them once and for all.
4. Get comfortable with change
Change, of any kind, can be stressful, scary and uncomfortable, even something that is welcome. Often, the easier option is to remain the same, and continue doing what we’ve always done. But life isn’t supposed to be stagnant. When we fail to alter what needs improving, or to put an end to things that we have outgrown, we limit our access to and receptiveness of the opportunities that can result from making those changes, and this prevents us from moving forward to a brighter future. Change can bring refreshing new beginnings and exciting journeys, even if they are initially caused by challenging events.
So, we already know that Tarot can help us to identify those repeated patterns and issues. It can provide guidance to move us onwards with our journey. It can empower us to take the necessary actions and open us up to countless opportunities and possibilities. If we begin a Tarot reading from a place of awareness, of ourselves and of our situation, then we will be able to get more out of it. We will be able to access this deeper knowing that will guide us in making the right choices.
Journaling
Journaling can really help you to sort out any conflicting thoughts and feelings. Just write them down and keep writing!
Regular mindfulness and meditation practices can help you to access this awareness. Taking 5 or 10 minutes to yourself out of your busy day can give you that head-start to increasing self-awareness.
Journaling. Get it all out of your head and onto paper. If I am feeling emotional or overwhelmed, I reach for my journal. Often, my intuitive self takes over and my mindset through my writing alters with each turn of the page. Essentially, I am discussing my issues and my inner self responds. The concerns I had at the start are lessened or no longer relevant, and I have a clearer idea of what I need to do. Journaling can really help you to sort out your conflicting thoughts and feelings. Just write them down and keep writing!
Mindfulness. A very simple way to begin to increase your awareness is to practice mindfulness. There are lots of guided apps to help with this, but all you need to do is take yourself away for 5 minutes to a quiet room, or even a walk in nature, absorbing the sights, sounds and smells around you. Your immediate aim is to focus on your breathing, thereby becoming fully aware in the moment. You focus on whatever senses come first; smells from the kitchen; birds singing, the people chatting outside, the rain lashing against the window, the wind rustling leaves; an itch on your leg. Anything and everything that is natural and organic. You are focusing on creating the space within you, to breathe fully and deeply, to notice bodily sensations, such as itches, without needing to react to them, just allowing them to be.
Mindfulness can also be brought into your everyday activities, such as eating or cleaning your teeth. Rather than allowing your mind to wander, perhaps stressing about your endless to-do list, you can recognise where your mind is going, and refocus on what you are doing instead, giving it your full attention. This has the knock-on effect of limiting our reactions to the stressors in our life, which are magnified by our overactive minds. Give yourself a mental break!
Meditation. Again, all you need is 5 or 10 minutes, and you can choose from many guided or unguided meditation programmes, with or without visualisation. It can be done in the morning, in the evening before bed, or whenever you need it or can fit it in. You just need to ensure that you will be undisturbed for a while. Regular meditation opens up communication with your inner self. This is when you can really feel into your intuition. It allows you to tune in to how you are feeling. If there is some discomfort - maybe a situation is playing on your mind - you can sit through it and will feel all the stronger for it.
Simple, everyday practices can make all the difference to your life. These acts of practicing awareness require a certain amount of peace and space, around you and within you. It is that peace and space that then gives you a chance to notice, recognise and understand your inner voice, your Higher Self, who is just desperate to guide you on the right path! I’m no expert, but these practices are those that I do daily and they work for me. Hopefully they will work for you too!
