Cards for the Day: Procrastination brewing just when it is needed least. Solution: adjust your body’s symmetry.

Are you having trouble getting to work today? What many of us need right now is some peace and quiet, but though our productivity goals are crying out for us to have some solitude, preferably including time for meditation, reflection and regrouping — today is the day when we aren’t getting any time alone. We will have to create peace amidst chaos — a challenge.

Some of the chaos today, though, is internal — it’s being caused by our busy minds. We are experiencing information overload, or simply have a lot on our minds, including a choice that must be made quite soon and that we don’t even want to look at directly just yet (Two of Swords).

Mercury going retrograde on Sunday isn’t going to help with this. So what’s the solution?

Well, when life turns you upside down and doesn’t give you time to meditate — try meditating upside down. Seriously — lie on your back with your legs up the wall, or on a chair or couch. Getting some blood flowing to your brain may help with caffeine cravings. Or try the old martial arts trick, meditating under a freezing waterfall (okay, in the shower, if you must). Or try Thich Nhat Han’s trick of turning everyday sounds or events, such as ringing phones or traffic lights, into bells of mindfulness. There are ways to bring stillness into everyday life, even amidst chaos.

Also, notice how these cards show yogis with energy that is not symmetrical — at least the colors of the energy being depicted are not symmetrical. Think about your own energy in your own body. Is it symmetrical at the moment? I promise, it’s not that I’m so obsessed with orderliness that I demand symmetry in all things, I don’t. But when your energy is asymmetrical it can cause problems, such as a disordered mind, depression, anxiety, and other negative mental afflictions. That’s why meditation teachers typically stress keeping your back straight, fixing  your eyes on a certain point, having a stable base — it’s not so that you can look beautiful if we put your picture on a tarot card. It’s so that you can be symmetrical and allow your body’s energy, and the energy of each chakra, to flow symmetrically from one side of your body to the other and back again.

Do you see how my last paragraph, and the one before it, are really saying the same thing? Both paragraphs say this: balance. Keep your balance and your mind will become calm, like a pendulum. Bringing your body and your priorities into balance does not entail making them static and rigid, but letting your energy and attention swing back and forth, from one side to the other. Again and again. Look for ways to do this, and if you have time, please list them in the comments section below.