Welcome to Wellness Weekly coming to you every Wednesday. This will be a weekly series, sort of like a Letter from the Editors that will rotate between Morgan, Lara and Luigi with the occasional guest. We’ll hold space on the Dirt to check-in on our Sixth Sense: the term we use to refer to our spirit, our intuition, our inner power. And because while we exist in the world alongside our other Five Senses, we’ll do a check-in of those, too.
When I started my exploration into spiritual wellness, intention decks were probably the tool with which I was most familiar, but with which I felt the least expert at using. Tarot cards, to name one type of what we refer to as “intention decks,” felt particularly mystical and mysterious. As with most things in my practice, it took quite a bit of trial and error to get to a place where I felt comfortable using intention decks as an accelerator for my intuition and as a means to refine the purpose behind my action. But now that I have the hang of it, using intention decks have become second nature to me, especially when I am trying to plan out my goals and aspirations for the month.
Here are a few of my tips for getting the most out of your deck:
- Ignore the myth that somebody has to give you a deck -- Unquestionably, tarot decks make awesome gifts. However, don’t let the outdated belief that it’s bad luck to buy yourself one get in your way of getting started in using one. Smudge is all about personal empowerment, so it gives me great pleasure in telling you to treat yourself to your own damn deck!
- Use a deck that speaks to you -- There are so many cool options out there. Find the one that resonates with your unique energy. I personally gravitate towards decks designed by women and those that push me to interpret the cards and apply them to what’s going on in my life. I LOVE sourcing new decks for Smudge and discovering the stories behind them. (Exhibit A -- our new Hear Here and Prism Oracle decks.) But also, don’t limit yourself to one. Sometimes I need more instruction, in which case I reach for my Mystic Mondays deck with its relatable and thorough guidance.
- Working with an intention deck is a two-way street -- I get the most out of my intention deck when I engage in a dialogue with my cards about what is going on in my life. For me, that means spending some time shuffling the deck while articulating (out loud -- go ahead, it’s liberating!) what I’m asking of the cards. On tap this week? I am thinking a lot about our theme, CLEANSE, and how I can apply this to my life. When I asked the Hear Here deck to help via a three-card spread, the cards I pulled are guiding me to "Extend," "Expand," and “Adjust.” As we head into what I hope is the beginning of the end to the pandemic, I will be applying these card to my expectations about what life will look like, and giving myself (and others!) some grace as we shake off the rust and reestablish real-life connections.
Here's a little template you can use for your CLEANSING 3 card spread:
Here’s what’s going on with my other senses this week:
Sight --
Honestly, the best thing to hit my eyes this week are the rising vaccination numbers! I’ve never been so excited to receive a shot -- literally dreaming about it. Also so impressed to see the efforts to increase access to eligible but access-challenged populations here in California and tech-enabled solutions to ensuring doses don’t go to waste.
Sound --
From the mouth of babes… or at least from the mouth of my ten-year old. Last weekend, we took a road trip to Napa for her birthday and in the car we were blasting one of our favorite songs, Blood Orange’s You’re Not Good Enough. I asked her why she thought we loved it so much and her answer? “Serotonin.” Couldn’t agree more -- 10/10 recommend singing it in the car with the windows open if you need a happiness boost this week.
Smell --
This is cheating a little bit, since I didn’t actually smell it (probably for the best), but during a trip down the olfactory memory lane with Luigi this week, I waxed nostalgic about the fragrances that dominated my middle school years: Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth and Cody’s Exclamation. Ahh, the smell of saved-up babysitting money and acid-washed jeans!
Taste --
I’m beyond excited to try out the cocktails and Filipino food at San Francisco’s new Kona’s Street Market. How can you not love the optimism of people opening a bar deep into a global pandemic. Every sip will remind me of the resilient beauty of bouncing back and visions of better times ahead.
Touch --
The times when both of my children want to snuggle with their mom on the couch are fewer and farther in between these days (#teenlife), so I especially cherished this weekend’s session spent hugging my kids tight while catching up on Drag Race -- Symone was robbed -- and singing along to old music videos. Madonna’s VMA performance of Vogue for the eternal win.
