Week 6 of “Seven Weeks of Winter Magic”
Week 6 of Seven Weeks of Winter Magic — a gentle tarot series to help you move through the holidays with intention. Each week brings one card for reflection, a simple grounding practice, and small inspirations for savoring the season on your own terms. A quiet companion for a bright, busy time.
What’s a “Resting Reset”?
January is culturally our time to reset our lives a bit and it’s a time when many of us make resolutions or goals for the year. I think this is great, and I’m also a fan of planning steps to achieve the goals, and scheduling in time in to do these steps later.
We’ve just had a busy holiday season and early burnout is a real possibility. Don’t sabotage your goals the first month by going full speed ahead into the year. Our culture is driven to work constantly. Many are afraid if they stop, they won’t start again. Or maybe rest means “laziness” or doing nothing.
Rest Isn’t Doing Nothing
But rest is not the same as doing nothing. Rest allows for the brain and body to relax, so you can dream and think and allow new ideas to come forth. Believe me, when you are finished resting, your body, mind, and heart will be excited to start the work. And you will have the energy to do it!
So keep these few weeks in January as resting time, musing time, dreaming time, no matter how excited you are to begin your projects. Go ahead and make your plans if you like (I usually can’t wait) but don’t begin too much actual activity (if anything) right away.
These last two weeks of our Winter Magic Series will give you five practices, including a Tarot spread, an event, and more that will help you get in a little rest this time of year, slow down your planning to a doable level, and ease you into the New Year joyously and confidently so you can accomplish all your goals with less effort.
xoxo
Kary
1.
10:30 AM Thursday, January 1, 2026
New Year’s Renewal: Restorative Yoga & Intention Setting
If you are in Petaluma on New Year’s Day, visit The Yoga Post for a relaxing hour of yoga and intention-setting using the SparkTarot® Deck and Guidebook! For the second year now, people have been starting their year with The Yoga Post and SparkTarot® to gently pbegin the year using intention and values as a starting point. I’d love to see you there!
2.
Tarot Spread for the New Year: Breathing Space
This Tarot spread for January gives you space to rest. Take a moment, become still, and draw three cards. Place them as shown and turn them over one by one, looking at each meaning below. Take a deep breath with each card.
CARD 1 WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW This card represents where you find yourself right now.
CARD 2 CENTRAL VALUE Here is what to keep central to your mind and heart this month, as you rest up for the year ahead.
CARD 3 HOW TO LET GO This card points the way as to how you will be able to approach important rest time this month.
3.
Card: 4 of Serpents—Rest
It’s time to rest and recover from your challenges and the activity of the holidays. There can be no progress until this has happened. Trees and plants don’t keep growing constantly—they rest every winter, recovering to emerge again in the Springtime. Whatever the difficult scenario you have encountered, the fourth golden serpent is at your side. When you are rested, you can call on that primordial energy to assist with any challenges ahead.
Activity: Physical Rest
Resting. Is. Important. Schedule it.
When you have faced a challenge or a busy time like the holiday season, you must rest to recover from the stress on your body. The body can power through many things but now is the time to take a break from that. Consider what’s restful for you and make a post-it note or a phone alert as a reminder to do these things. Schedule them on your calendar so that you remember to do them. Following are a few simple things to get you started.
4.
Hand Massage
A full professional massage is always great! But if you can’t do that, have a friend or family member massage your hands with lavender oil. This is unbelievably relaxing, and can even be done while watching a show if that is the only time you can find. These things might seem simple, but it is amazing how we often neglect to do them anyway! Schedule it in and enjoy your rest.
5.
Make Tea
Another thing that can be physically relaxing is to make some tea from scratch, not from a teabag. It is worth investing in a few items to make this ritual part of your winter months.
Procure some loose-leaf tea that you like, a favorite mug, and a tea ball to fill with loose-leaf tea.
Consciously boil your water on the stove.
Add your tea to the tea ball and steep the tea for as long as the directions indicate or to your taste. You can also steep it directly in the water and strain it into a mug when it’s ready.
Add a little milk or honey if you like.
Sip your tea outside or by a window. Rest.
Pine Needle Tea
One of my favorite memories is going to an abundant overflowing garden in Bolinas, California to learn about edible wild plants. When I arrived, it was cold and foggy and inside, on a table, was a hot container of Pine Needle Tea made from the needles of a local tree.
I poured myself some of the hot tea, and the piney steam rose up from my cup, delighting me, and then the warm flavor of pine delighted me again.
Pine Needle tea is something I don’t always remember to make, but when I do remember, I am rewarded with a festive nourishing sense of how humans are meant to live.
Directions
Pick some Pine needles from a tree in your area after asking permission from the landowner, the forest, and the tree. (Make sure you identify the tree properly and that it is an edible Pine. Some Pines may not be edible.)
Wash, chop and brew the needles in hot water to taste.
Sip and rest.
Inspirations
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.”
—Banksy“We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal.
—Thich Nhat Hanh