May My Heart...
May My Heart...
The Whole Earth is Medicine // 1.24.22
Monday Mettā
A new + beautiful way to experience Mondays.
May my heart be at ease. May my body be at ease. May I feel at ease. May all beings be at ease.
A wish and a prayer for all. This mettā works well when you can gently place your hands on your heart. Physical touch, even your own, feels good. If you’ve ever come to a yoga class of mine, there’s a strong possibility you’ll hear me tell you to “hug yourself” or “give yourself a kiss” or the like. I believe in it! Wrap your arms around you.
With hands on your heart, you can repeat these words. A release for the body, a release for the spirit, and a gift for others. When you send mettā out in the world, it reaches people. I promise.
So glad you’re here.
Fun 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.
Wait to scroll down to the bottom until you’ve chosen your card!
Reading today from The Star Tarot deck.
Card 1: Selenite. Choose this card if you’d like a clear and honest look at your current state of mind.
Card 2: Rose Quartz. Choose this card for information about your heart (not literally, emotionally!) :)
Card 3: Blue Lace Agate. Choose this card for a confidence boost!
Class Schedule This Week:
Online:
Tuesday: Noon // 1 hour flow
Tuesday: 5:45pm // 45 minutes Yin Yoga
Thursday: Noon // gentle flow
Friday: 7:30am // 45 minute flow
Zoom link to all classes at themobiyogi.com and DM/email Rachel for the password. All times in Eastern.
New Offering: Join me for a Tarot Reading Workshop on Sunday, February 13th from 3-4:30
Reading Tarot is a fun way to use symbols and archetypes, which have been passed down for centuries, to better understand the world and your place in it. It’s not necessarily predictive, but can be used to sort through decisions, questions, and even as a daily guide.
No prior Tarot experience necessary. If you don’t already own a deck, you can purchase one from your local bookstore, metaphysical store, or on… Amazon. I’ll be working with the Rider-Waite deck to teach, a great deck for beginning Tarot learners, and would suggest you work with the same.
You’ll learn basic ways to interpret the cards based on:
color
number
suit
minor and major arcana
You’ll also get to practice the classic three card spread and the five card spread.
Cost is $36 for the workshop (connect with me for equitable pricing options).
WOUNDS ARE OUR TEACHERS
The following is from a blog post about koans that I wrote a year ago. A few weeks ago, I finally finished Henry Shukman’s koan lessons on the Waking Up app (yes, it took me a whole year), a slow experience that I really appreciated. I can’t say I was awakened by them… yet…, but those little sayings bored a hole in my soul in all the good ways:
I've been dipping my toe into koans lately. Koans are tiny paradoxical riddles from the Zen Buddhist tradition, and they are so thought-provoking and complex to me that dipping my toe is enough. Perhaps in my next life I'll jump in all the way, but for now I am content to read them, learn a little, and let them dissolve.
Today's koan was about medicine, disease, and the self:
"Medicine and disease correspond to each other.
The whole Earth is medicine.
What is self? (Or what are you?)"
Of course, this is particularly poignant in the time of Covid-19, but to me (and anyone else who has ever been injured, ill, or sad for a prolonged period of time), this koan encouraged me to think about wounds as teachers.
"The whole Earth is medicine."
If you've never had a major illness or injury, at some point, you probably will. Every-body does. And there are a few ways to adjust to illness and injury. One way is to fight against it, rage against the injustice, push through the pain, control what you can. I have done this, of course. I have hated my body, hated my mind, struggled through pain just to prove something. Even in small ways: in yoga class, I have stayed in a pose even while my injured parts were screaming at me to get out, just because I could.
Another way to adjust to illness and injury is to listen. To sit back, soften, open awareness, and love. Love the parts that hurt. Through this love and listening, our pain becomes our teacher. Just like heartbreak helps us learn who we want to be with and how we want to be with ourselves, illness and injury helps us learn how to hold ourselves, how to be gentle, how to show compassion to our bodies and minds.
If the whole Earth is medicine, then we are medicine. If medicine and dis-ease correspond to each other, we have both inside of us.
A yoga teacher of mine once said, "teach from scars, not from wounds." Teach from a place of healing, not from a place of pain. I agree with her, but I will add that in order to teach from scars, we must learn from wounds.
I am still working on this! Yesterday as I was teaching, I found myself in eagle pose with nerve pain running down my leg, and I didn't listen. I noticed the pain and kept on standing, left leg planted, right leg wrapped around. And then, suddenly, I remembered that I didn't have to do anything. I didn't have to push through. I can teach eagle pose without demonstrating it. I can walk my body out of a pose any time I like. I can relax my idea of perfection by simply listening to myself. And so can you.
Injury and illness provide us with an amazing opportunity to listen and change, in ways large and small.
The whole Earth is medicine. What are you?
We Support Each Other
There are three beautiful ways you can support my work writing and teaching!
Show your support by making a micro-donation, either monthly through Patreon, once through Buy Me a Coffee, or after you’ve listened to one of my meditations on Insight Timer.
Come to one of my online yoga classes or schedule a private class, tarot reading, or reiki energy session.
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 let me know what comes up from your card reading this week! 🔮
Your Tarot Reading, Revealed!
Card 1: Selenite // The Tower: Get ready! You’re in for a sudden awakening. Don’t be afraid of the imagery. It’s expressive, sure, but it’s here to wake you up! It’s a lightning bolt of inspiration that forces you into action. Have you been sitting on a project, a conversation, a move forward? Have you been caught up in a loop of ego-feeding thoughts that don’t actually help you? Sometimes, spinning our wheels makes us feel safe, because we don’t actually need to go anywhere or do anything. Use this card as an excuse to get off the wheel and begin again. Now is the time to dive deep and begin to listen to what you really need, or should be doing. And then, act.
Card 2: Rose Quartz // Ace of Wands: You might be feeling like the driving force in your relationships right now, like you’re carrying the “emotional load” of the partnership, family, or friendship. This can feel restricting, all that responsibility, and is depleting. This card is a pointed reminder to focus your actions in ways that also feed YOU. I wrote about this last week, but it’s coming up again: Perhaps you need to divvy up the childcare/housework/shopping in a way that feels more equitable (not equal, equitable- divide your work so that each person can play to their strengths). Insist on time that is your own, or on play and joy in your relationship. This card is clear: direct your energy towards your passions and creations. Let go of some of the load for the time being.
Card 3: Blue Lace Agate // King of Pentacles: If this card doesn’t shine a light on your beauty, your growth, your abundant spirit, I don’t know what does. The King of Pentacles is a manifestation of you today! Use this brilliant, awake, prosperous figure to guide you through your day and your week. Be the King of Pentacles! This card reminds you to find balance (note the black and white circle in the center), to find focus and inner guidance (note the crown), and to connect with nature (note the… entire card). This will help you harmonize with life around you and ultimately remind you of your inner confidence. I don’t know about you, but whenever I take time to connect with nature, I feel more at home, more at peace. That’s your action item this week: repot a plant, take a walk, breathe outside air, and remember your magnificence!
✨intuitive tarot inspired by Sarah Greenman, who was in turn inspired by Chris Corsini, because inspiration is contagious✨