Sometimes after a tarot reading, I find myself feeling drained with fatigue. I decided to do some research and find out: Why do I feel drained after a tarot reading?
A tarot reading is a social event involving a lot of concentration, analyzing, problem-solving, and communication. A study by the University of Helsinki showed that the fatigue from social activities depends on three factors:
- How many people you meet
- The intensity of the interaction
- Goal orientation of the conversation
Although the University of Helsinki study focuses on general social events, I think tarot reading falls into that category like anything else. While I was researching this topic, it is was interesting to find out how other factors like online meetings or online readings intensify fatigue rather than lessen it. Keep reading to find out more and learn some ways to combat fatigue.
Why are tarot readings exhausting?
If you are a tarot reader and found this article, I want to tell you first that feeling tired is very common. It is entirely reasonable to be exhausted after you have given your best to provide the best possible reading experience to your client.
What we do as readers involve several factors that contribute to fatigue. In the following, I have categorized the factors so that they are in line with the study conducted by the University of Helsinki.
Firstly, as we prepare for the reading, we might feel some pressure (Goal orientation) from the upcoming interaction. There is usually a goal in our minds, whether conscious or sub-conscious, which adds to the pressure.
We want to be helpful for the seeker and provide them with beautiful reading experience. How each feels this pressure depends a lot on personal attributes and how seriously we take the reading task at hand.
The amount of pressure we feel is also a factor that correlates strongly with the reader’s experience. If you are a beginner, it is natural to feel more anxious than a person with several years of tarot reading experience.
Secondly, social interaction can be draining by itself (Intensity of the interaction). The more intensity it has, the more draining it will be, and as many of you know, a tarot reading can be very intensive.
You are connecting with the person on a deeper level. You are feeling their energy, and especially if you are an empathetic person, you relate to the issues your client is going through actively through the whole reading.
The reading also involves a lot of concentration, analysis, problem-solving, and communication, which contribute to the intensity of the interaction, which naturally leads to feeling fatigued.
Once again, analyzing and problem-solving becomes more natural with experience, but when you are new to reading tarot cards for others, these tasks take a lot of energy.
Another factor that affects how intensively you feel the interaction is whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. Extrovert naturally feels energized by social interaction, while an introvert might feel overwhelmed by the human intercommunication.
The overabundance of signals that an introvert has to deal with can be very draining as introverts have to fight these feelings while they are giving readings. Some even call it an introvert hangover.
Then there are smaller factors like using our voices as we communicate the tarot message to our client. We also use a bit of muscle energy as we move our hands and keep our posture.
These things can strain our vocal cords and core muscles, but obviously, they are not the main contributors to feeling fatigued.
The third main factor that contributes to reading fatigue is naturally the number of readings that we do during the day (The number of people we meet). All of the above get multiplied by the number of readings we do, making it is obvious that the more readings you do, the more tired you will feel.
What about video call tarot readings?
It might be surprising to hear that online meetings are more exhausting than meetings in person. That is until you have given them a try.
The online meeting fatigue is something that many of us learned in the spring of 2020 as the infamous Covid-19 forced more and more people to Zoom, Skype, Teams, and other online meeting tools. Suddenly everyone was online having meetings that were previously done face to face.
The online meetings feel more draining because they require a lot more from our conscious capacity than traditional in-person meetings. It is surprising to notice how much of our communication is non-verbal signals.
They form a significant portion of our interaction. These are facial expressions, body language, voice, and even the distance from the person we are talking to.
While our subconscious mind typically processes these signals in online meetings, they are not so evident, and they cause our conscious mind to look for them and interpret them. It can be overwhelming as our brain can only process consciously so many things at once.
Another issue from online meetings is that we often have our image on display as we speak. According to many, looking at your picture takes a lot of our energy and concentration as we focus consciously on how we present ourselves to others.
We might find ourselves drained after video calls because we need to hold ourselves in one position while we sit in front of a camera. In more natural circumstances, we tend to move more and change our position when we get tired.
Then there are factors like staring at a computer screen for extended periods and concentrating on several people at once while all the participants are displayed in one screen. The latter doesn’t apply so much on tarot readings as there are commonly just two people present. But none the less it is an interesting contributor to fatigue in online meetings where there are several participants.
Ways to combat reading fatigue
It is vital that you feel energized when you are giving a tarot reading to a client. It is a significant contributor to your performance and, therefore, how your client will perceive the reading experience.
The more experience you have, the more comfortable and more effortless the readings become. Experienced readers don’t consume as much energy, and therefore, it will be easier to maintain stamina throughout a busy reading schedule. The only way to gain experience is by practicing and giving readings.
But there are also other things you can do that will help you feel more energized during your readings. Here are some of them.
If you are giving several readings a day, the number one thing to do is to buffer some time between readings to allow yourself rest and regain energy for the next reading. Having small meditation caps in your daily schedule can help you to relax and revitalize your energy levels.
Breaks also help you dust off the load of the previous reading and cleanse you to the next one. If you feel that some cleansing rituals, like using crystals to energize or using incenses to cleanse, help you, then you should use them.
Another important factor is a healthy and nutritious diet and keeping yourself hydrated during the day. Also walks outdoors in good clean air help you energize. Having some light movement, together with the air of the outdoors, is a great way to clear your mind.
If you are doing online readings, try hiding your image. This way, you won’t be so occupied by your image and concentrate more on your client.
Another handy way to lessen distractions on your computer is to silence all notifications that your computer or browser is sending you. It will be easier to give your attention to your client and the cards in front of you when no external factors are disrupting the flow of the reading.
I hope you learned something new from this article. To me, it was interesting reading and writing about this issue as I have felt drained after doing tarot readings myself. So, if you are feeling tired yourself, you are not alone.
Please share your thoughts on the comment sections below. It would be great to hear your experiences about reading fatigue and how you have battled it.