Helping with anxiety spread

Hello,

This week I came up with a spread to help me cope with life while my anxiety levels are high, and hoped it might be helpful if I shared it here.

Disclaimer; anxiety is different for everyone, in its cause & its effects, and talking to others/medical professionals is important. I've done that, and I know what medication works for me, & if anyone's suffering then, please, seek out support.

What I wanted from a spread was clarification on what I could do to improve my reaction to things while I know that anxiety is affecting me. I knew that my instincts weren't in the optimum state while I felt so panicky, and I know that in the past I've leant heavily on caffeine and obsessing which only made things worse!

I decided on three cards, laid out L-R,

1) What can I do more of - what thoughts or actions could I amplify to help myself?
2) What could I do less of - what isn't helping me or is making things worse?
3) What could I try out - what new element could I add to my handling of the situation?

It's been a really useful grounding exercise for me to quickly do before I leave for work, to remind me that I'm in control of how my day goes, and I would be thrilled if it helped anyone else.

realramona said:

Hello,

This week I came up with a spread to help me cope with life while my anxiety levels are high, and hoped it might be helpful if I shared it here.

Disclaimer; anxiety is different for everyone, in its cause & its effects, and talking to others/medical professionals is important. I've done that, and I know what medication works for me, & if anyone's suffering then, please, seek out support.

What I wanted from a spread was clarification on what I could do to improve my reaction to things while I know that anxiety is affecting me. I knew that my instincts weren't in the optimum state while I felt so panicky, and I know that in the past I've leant heavily on caffeine and obsessing which only made things worse!

I decided on three cards, laid out L-R,

1) What can I do more of - what thoughts or actions could I amplify to help myself?
2) What could I do less of - what isn't helping me or is making things worse?
3) What could I try out - what new element could I add to my handling of the situation?

It's been a really useful grounding exercise for me to quickly do before I leave for work, to remind me that I'm in control of how my day goes, and I would be thrilled if it helped anyone else.

Click to expand...

First I want to say good for you for helping yourself. As someone who suffers from anxiety, it's one of the world's hardest things to cope with. I think as anxiety sufferers we don't hear this enough, but it is nice to be able to see someone on here trying to help themselves through the tarot as well.

I've tried a few spreads and created others to help me cope with my own anxiety and I just find that keeping the spread simple and clear helps a lot. I would also try a single card a day. For example, it could be a card that sets the tone for your day, a guidepost in other words when you feel you are about to have a panic attack, etc. It can also be a card that suggests an action or a thought during times when your anxiety is a problem (which you've done with the above). I think your spread asks some very good questions about the tarot, but I also think that the tarot guides us in more simpler ways, then it is up to us on what the specifics actually are. This is just my opinion and how I've come to feel the tarot can help. If being more specific works for you, then follow that way.

For spreads, I recommend trying different kinds but also keeping them small and simple, which you seem to have done already. When dealing with anxiety on a daily basis, I have found that I can also expect too much from myself too soon. I think we forget that we're human and that we should allow ourselves some room for failure.

I do have one suggestion for a spread, one that may be able to help in a much more simpler way. It's basically a spread in paragraph form. I have found it to be a little time-consuming but often quite therapeutic. You write out a paragraph giving you guidance that you fill in with the cards you draw. It's nothing new but they are also great for affirmations and visualizing as well. I do suggest using it for the week or for the month, which works for you if you decide to try it. Of course, you have the option of modifying it. I think for me shortening it was the best way to go, as the one I created had 3 parts and 6 cards, which was way too long for my week. Below is only the first part of the original spread I created but if you'd like to see the rest, I can certainly PM me.

My challenge this week with [stress management, finding love, having more time for myself] is ___________ ; however, in order to overcome this challenge, I must ___________. In order to accomplish this, I must start with ___________.

Great spread, Realramona! I did one for driving anxiety, but it is well suited for most any type of anxiety. What do you think? http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=143078&highlight=driving+anxiety

responsive

nice ramona!! i love it...

i do something similar as well with 3 cards. but the other day a four card spread happened:

-my greatest challenge (well currently)
-advice for this challenge
-what i have to look forward to
-something i am missing

it worked wonderfully. i actually found the 7 of swords reversed in the "look forward to" location which was curious as well. (i love how cards happen- i mean- a card you don't expect to communicate something that you need to see/hear & how it shows itself...does that make sense? perhaps not! ha!) but communication (clarification/discussion/seeking advice) seems to be something that i needed!
espearite is correct for me too in that i feel keeping it simple is what helps focus the energy.

well. lovely card reading experiences to you both...

love the anxiety spread ideas, copying them down to try them out as quite a severe anxiety sufferer. thanks for posting them

I don't suffer from clinical anxiety, but I am an over-thinker. The wheels--or rather, the blades (as in Swords)--of my head are always clicking and ticking, long after the initial troublesome event has occurred.

Analyzing and deconstructing are my stock and trade--literally, my trade--but they are not comfortable feelings to live with all the time, without ceasing.

The original poster's spread is a good idea and useful.

I also took note of this:

espearite said:

I do have one suggestion for a spread, one that may be able to help in a much more simpler way. It's basically a spread in paragraph form. I have found it to be a little time-consuming but often quite therapeutic. You write out a paragraph giving you guidance that you fill in with the cards you draw. It's nothing new but they are also great for affirmations and visualizing as well. I do suggest using it for the week or for the month, which works for you if you decide to try it. Of course, you have the option of modifying it. I think for me shortening it was the best way to go, as the one I created had 3 parts and 6 cards, which was way too long for my week. Below is only the first part of the original spread I created but if you'd like to see the rest, I can certainly PM me.

My challenge this week with [stress management, finding love, having more time for myself] is ___________ ; however, in order to overcome this challenge, I must ___________. In order to accomplish this, I must start with ___________.

Click to expand...

I did this yesterday on a commute, with a few modifications in wording.


My challenge this week is: _________ I Can Overcome This Challenge by: __________
The first step I can take toward overcoming this challenge is: __________.

Will post in Your Readings and provide the link to that thread here.

Cheers.

Thank you all for your replies! I am very grateful for your positivity and for the suggestions for other spreads. I'm not surprised to see the Swords appear in a few replies there - the first time I did this spread, my 'do less of card' was the 8 of Swords, which was exactly the advice I needed!
Big smiles (& seratonin) to you all,
Realramona.