🌜 ways i'm resting this month

Hi First name / love,

How is June treating you? I feel like my mind has been on overdrive ever since Gemini season started, and it's been more challenging than usual to slow down and rest. Maybe you can relate?

When I feel overwhelmed or overworked, my first instinct is often to grab my phone, crawl under my weighted blanket, cue up some reality tv, and numb out. This is how I've managed to watch … a lot of tv (see all the recs below), even amidst everything else I have going on.

And honestly, I don't have any judgment about this behavior. It's how I cope with being a human alive in hard times, and we all have to cope!

But lately, I've also noticed that while an hour of coping might feel nourishing and restorative … any more than that leaves me feeling tired, dull, and honestly even more overwhelmed than I was when I crawled under the blanket to begin with.

So lately, I've been trying to make my rest practices more restorative — meaning I've been seeking out ways to rest that actually help me feel more interconnected and vibrantly alive — rather than leaning into my coping mechanisms that make me feel dull and disconnected.

I'm still very much in process with these experiments, but here are a few rest practices that I've found really nourishing lately—

Taking “luxury naps” — Pillows fluffed, candles lit, phone away, binaural beats on, basically I treat myself like the fussiest baby I've ever met and put myself down for the softest, sweetest nap I can imagine.
Reading poetry collections — I love poems in all forms, but I can't believe how different it feels to spend time with an entire collection rather than reading random poem-screenshots online. Two of my recent faves have been Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan and Survival Takes a Wild Imagination by Fariha Róisín.
Tending to my plants — Watering them, refreshing their soil, and pruning their leaves helps me feel connected to the earth. Plants are also kind reminders that slow growth results in beautiful blooms, and one bloom is more than enough.
Going on a “podcast walk” — This is what I call it when I drive to the lake near my house to walk around it while listening to a podcast. And I have rule about the podcasts for the walks. They need to be at least an hour long (to keep me walking), and they cannot be about business, work, or anything “productive.” Lately I've been walking with Skyline Drive, Green Dreamer, and One More Chapter.
Reading fantasy series — When I need an escape, I've found that reading otherworldly books tends to feel more restorative for me than dopamine-inducing television. Two of my recent faves have been Fable and Hunt on Dark Waters (apparently I'm on a pirate kick). Up next I'm planning to start An Ember in the Ashes.
Making space for spiritual practices — For me this has meant a return to making my tarot podcast, tending my altars, and planning a summer solstice ritual.

Speaking of my tarot podcast, I do want to invite you to tune in + subscribe to my tiny tarot practice. I've been quietly making this show for the past two years, and I just started the fifth and final season, all about the major arcana.

This project started from a desire to deepen my own study of the tarot, and it's brought some wonderful internet magic into my life as folks have found and appreciated the show.

This season is also sponsored by an amazing book, Tarot for Creative Spirits by Cecily Sailer, which I have been LOVING working through as I spend more time with every card. If you're interested in deepening your own tarot practice, you can get your copy with the code MAGIC12. Cecily's amazing, and I think you'll love it.

listen to my tiny tarot practice

I shared my book and podcast recs above, but I did promise to tell you about the TV I've been watching, so here's a recent list of shows I've enjoyed:

All the nonsense happening on Love Undercover
The 2010s werewolves of Bitten
The new season of Couples Therapy
The Gossip-Girl-vibes of Maxton Hall
Some unsavory British humor on Such Brave Girls
The Alison Brie of it all on Apples Never Fall
The just-in-time-for-Pride forever fave Nightgowns

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