Use this spread when you are caught in the brutal intensity of worry, anxiety, and shame. This spread is not for the little worries, small concerns, or general low-level sense of fear that we all live with.
Instead, this spread is for when you are obsessively, anxiously, illogically spiraling into your depths. Get help (from a professional, not your cards!) when you need it. But when you need a little bit of help reconnecting to the moment, use this spread when anxiety has hijacked your brain.
This spread is designed to be used when you’re in the middle of the storm, so it is purposefully simple – only two cards. But the magic is in the physical practice of re-connecting with your body, and teaching your brain to trust your mind.
Watch this video to guide you through the practice (it’s super helpful!) or read slowly through the post below for the step-by-step walk-through of this spread…
Reading the Tarot Spread for Anxiety
Begin by getting yourself to a safe & quiet space where you can spend about 10 minutes focusing on your cards. For the spread, shuffle the cards any way you’d like and lay out the two cards, face down.
STEP ONE: Get it on paper
Take a minute or two to write messy notes on the thoughts swirling in your brain. Get as honest as you’d like and identify the specific things you are fearing, imagining, dreading, regreting, wishing you could control, or ashamed of.
STEP TWO: Breathe
Force yourself to take eight slow and deep breaths. As you are slowly breathing in and out, do a body scan and identify where you are holding the tension. Release your tongue from the top of your mouth. Shrug your shoulders down and back. Keep breathing. Let your mind race, but focus on getting your eight breaths done, slowly and with care.
STEP THREE: Flip over the cards and let them give you advice
Read both cards as “[This card] is guiding me to focus on the benefits of…” This will be hard, but read ALL cards positively. Journal anything that comes to mind.
Some examples:
- The Ten of Swords is guiding me to focus on the benefits of hitting rock bottom.
- The Five of Cups is guiding me to focus on the benefits of grief.
- The Knight of Wands is guiding me to focus on the benefits of creative risk-taking.
STEP FOUR: Breathe some more
Close out the session by taking another eight slow and deep breaths. Again, focus on your body and on releasing your tension. After the eighth breath, give yourself a hug. Really! Wrap those arms around yourself and squeeze with love and acceptance. Your brain might be being an asshole, but you still have plenty to offer the world and yourself.
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