Love for All Beings

Also, We are Not Special // 1.23.23

Monday Mettā

A new + beautiful way to experience Mondays.

I breathe in love for myself. I breathe out love for all beings.

Let’s make our breath work for us this week by moving love around.

Placing your hands on your heart, breathe in love for yourself. Even if you don’t believe it, you’re still manifesting (through touch, breath, and a mantra) that you are worthy of love.

As you exhale, imagine you’re sending love out to all those in your vicinity and beyond. Sometimes, when I’m asked to send loving-kindness to “all beings,” I imagine myself in outer space, zoomed wayyyy out, looking at the world from above. All of those beings are worthy of love.

✨

So glad you’re here.

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Intuitive Tarot Card Reading

Use your intuition to guide you to a specific card below. Choose the card with the crystal on it that calls to you. At the end of this newsletter, you’ll see the cards flipped over, with a reading for each one. The card that you choose here will have your reading for the week.

Card 1: Citrine Choose this card if you’re thinking about your finances.

Card 2: Flint Choose this card if you need some productivity help.

Card 3: Botswana Agate Choose this card if you’ve been too dependent on others.

Wait to scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter until you’ve chosen your card!

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Yoga Classes:

I am on a retreat :) No online yoga this week!

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We Are Not Special

In Torbjørn Ekelund’s book A Year in the Woods: Twelve Small Journeys Into Nature, in which Ekelund takes one overnight camping trip a month in the forest near his home in Oslo, he ends his trip in December, with a final night in the woods. He writes about how, when people heard about his microadventure, they started to come to him for life-advice, wise words learned in nature, “a small pearl of wisdom hidden to all except those who wander alone in the woods.” I just love his answer (spoiler alert):

If there is any such wisdom to be had, it would have to be something like this:

Many of us live in a day and an age and in parts of the world where, now more than ever before, we are told that we are worthy, that we mean something, that we are special. The individual is elevated in every context: we are all supposed to realize our true selves, preferably to the sound of everyone else's applause.

In such a world, it is easy to lose perspective entirely, and I believe that the woods, for my part, or the mountains, or the ocean, or whatever kind of nature we have at our doorstep, beckons to us because it represents a point outside of this individual-centric culture that bombards us on every side. We need this nature, and it is our obligation to take care of it.

Our culture insists that each of us is unique. Nature tells us the opposite, and thus offers a necessary corrective. You are not so big after all. Everything does not depend on you We were here before you and we will be here after you, so stop making such a big deal out of it all.

…sometimes you have to be big enough to realize how very small you are.

As someone who, through this very newsletter, encourages each and every one of you to know yourselves as worthy, who is absolutely convinced that you are a unique, special being, I also believe Ekelund’s words. And here’s where I’ll add to them.

We are bombarded, not just by the elevation of the individual, but by the shame of the individual. By being not good enough, imperfect, cringy, unkind, clumsy. We are shown and told by others and by ourselves that we are not doing it right. In order to do it right, we need this car, this measure of success, this busy schedule, this degree, this body, these perfect words. Our worth feels like it comes from the influence and judgement of others. And when we, as Ekelund writes, “realize our true selves,” there is often still a measure of shame in it, because now we seem different, and exposed.

I propose his final sentence as your food for thought today: …sometimes you have to be big enough to realize how very small you are. I believe in mettā, in lovingkindness for yourself, for others, for the world. Mettā is the opposite of shame and influence, right, and wrong. In practicing mettā, and meditation in general, you are in fact downsizing. You recognize yourself as a tiny spark in this world, a spark among billions of others. Love and cherish that spark, while at the same time accepting your place among every being, every single being, also worthy of love, joy, delight, and connection.

Central Park (Helsingin keskuspuisto) in Helsinki, Finland, October 2022

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With Gratitude,

There are three beautiful ways you can support my work writing and teaching!

Make a micro-donation, either through Buy Me a Coffee (or in my case, a love note), or after you’ve listened to one of my meditations on Insight Timer.

Book a personalized yoga class or contact me for a Tarot or Akashic Records reading.

Forward this newsletter on to anyone who might want a little love! Ask them to subscribe! Tell them you love them!

Thank you thank you!

Much love and gratitude,

Rachel xo

PS- I love hearing about the cards you pick and your related experiences. Please email me or comment below to share what came up from your card reading this week🔮

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Your Tarot Reading, Revealed!

Card 1: Citrine // Strength

Your prosperity comes from your willpower and yes, your strength. This card, with the gentle interaction between being and beast, also points to patience and faith. Willpower, strength, patience, faith… each of these are at play as you weather the financial ups and downs of life. Currency is just that—a current— and it flows towards and away from you all the time. Let your meditation this week be around the flow of prosperity towards you. Literally visualize money coming in, without detailing out how or when, and remember to have willpower, strength, patience, and faith.

Card 2: Flint // Judgement

This is a card of renewal, rebirth, communion. It’s an honoring of your true self and all the ways you want to show it. As it relates to productivity, maybe this is a time to let go of busy work that doesn’t serve your skill set. Obviously we can’t get rid of all busy work, but some of it we can delegate to others. What are a few things you can pay someone else to do (or ask them nicely), to give you time and space to be productive in the ways that best fit your skills?

Card 3: Botswana Agate // Seven of Swords

Your dependency on others can teach you a lot of life lessons. The advice here is to grab what you’ve learned and try to break off on your own. Yes, you will have to leave a few things (or even parts of a relationship) behind, but in the long run this will benefit you and your ability to be independent. Independence doesn’t mean letting go of everyone in your life. Instead, think about how you can behave and think independently while still maintaining important relationships and communicating with others.

✨I use House of Intuition’s Crystal Encyclopedia and Judy Hall’s Crystal Bible to interpret the crystal meanings. Intuitive tarot inspired by Sarah Greenman, who was in turn inspired by Chris Corsini, because inspiration is contagious✨