Monday Mettā
A new + beautiful way to experience Mondays.
My body is here, now. My mind is here, now. I am here, now.
I often begin my own yoga and meditation practice with the words: “I am here now to bring loving attention to this body, heart, and mind…” (words inspired by Sarah Powers at Insight Yoga). The saying goes on, but the sentiment is captured in that first sentence. A commitment to lovingly attend to myself, just for a moment.
We are almost always not here now. Thinking about the future, reflecting on a memory, imagining a fantasy. Let today’s mettā bring you to loving awareness of you, now.
May you be here, now, just for a moment.
✨
So glad you’re here.
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: Botswana Agate Choose this card for a message about balance.
Card 2: Yellow Jasper Choose this card for some light.
Card 3: Peach Quartz Choose this card for a little something about intentions.
Wait to scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter until you’ve chosen your card!
🌼Spring Ephemerals
A few weeks ago I was on a walk with a friend (to be clear, she was on the other end of the phone- we walk together from different sides of Massachusetts). It was a full week before the spring equinox, and I cut her off in the middle of a sentence by gasping. I had stumbled upon a corridor of tiny yellow flowers, poking up through the dead leaves and branches that had recently fallen from a winter windstorm.
Spring ephemerals had arrived.
“The first ephemeral,” Asia Suler writes in her book Mirrors in the Earth, “always catches you by surprise.” Before reading her work, I had never heard of the term before, and though I reminded myself to be on the lookout for them this spring I was, as she wrote, utterly surprised to find them. They were sprinkled parallel to the rarely-trod trail I was on, bookending a tiny stream of mud. Daily sunlight hits this hill first, but the woods are dense here, and I wasn’t expecting this to be the place where I noticed my first ephemeral. So far, they were living up to their name.
“For most of the year, woodland ephemerals live underground, but as soon as the soil warms, they begin their quick ascent to supply some of the first food, nectar, pollen, and medicine of spring.”
These gorgeous little creatures aren’t tall enough to survive late spring and summer, when trees become leafy again and larger flowers bloom. They get cut off from sunlight. But as the first warm rays of light sift through the still-bare treetops, the spring ephemerals wake up, and come forward to say hello.
“They are akin to the dawn chorus, rooted songbirds that celebrate the reawakening of a rich hardwood cove.”
Spring ephemerals are delicate. Some bloom for only a day, some sleep for years before blooming their short season. The ice storm we received last week and the snow storm we’re about to get make their little lives precarious. Even with the dangers, these tiny flowers are here for a greater purpose, and they show us what it looks like to be vulnerable, strong, and of service.
You may feel like an ephemeral. Just as they sleep for almost a full year (and some, more), perhaps your energy needs routine conservation. As they bloom for short periods of time, maybe the way you work requires short burst of focus and empowerment. Perhaps you are highly sensitive to your atmosphere—sunlight makes you grow, surprise storms shake you, and time off is imperative.
We can take great pride in the way we reflect nature. Some of us are high-energy and dynamic, some are rooted and sway but never break, some bloom all summer long. If you are an ephemeral, we all so appreciate the chance to see you, your place in this world, and the gifts you bring. 🌼
With Gratitude,
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Thank you thank you!
Much love and gratitude,
Rachel xo
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Your Tarot Reading, Revealed!
Card 1: Botswana Agate // Eight of Wands
Two messages here. The first is to go faster! If there’s something in your life that you’ve been sitting on, go forward with it. That will provide balance from lethargy and even overwhelm, especially if it’s a creative endeavor. The second message is a message in the 8… turn it on its side and you’ll see a symbol for phases and cycles. Another way to balance is to remember that whatever you’re going through is a phase. Change is inevitable.
Card 2: Yellow Jasper // Four of Cups
The message here is very simple. You aren’t opening your eyes to gifts that are already in front of you. If you desire lightness, don’t look far. It’s already around you.
Card 3: Peach Quartz // Seven of Cups
Set seven intentions this week—one for each day. Let them be eclectic, varied, silly, meaningful, action-oriented, reflective, or even in tandem with someone else’s. Wake up each morning with the intention to find something new about the day. Set up a “not to do list!” Your intentions can range from the tiny (I intend to make a great cup of coffee today) to the holistic (I intend to breathe with purpose at least once an hour). Let the intention-setting be fun :)
Rachel Barker's role as writer and intuitive is to facilitate the reader’s introspection, awareness, and reflection. Whether to make a particular choice or take a particular action is entirely the responsibility of the reader.