Arriving at a tarot reading can be stressful. You’re usually booking because something already feels unclear, heavy, or stuck, and you want help making sense of it. Then life piles on, rushing, parking, getting lost, or turning up after a day that’s already taken a lot out of you. If it’s a Zoom session, you might have spent five minutes arguing with your microphone before we’ve even said hello.
It can be the same for me too. I might be coming straight from another reading, or switching gears after admin and messages, with my brain still half in “reply to emails” mode. I don’t want either of us to start the session half-present, because it makes everything feel harder than it needs to be. So I (almost) always begin with a grounding meditation before a tarot reading.
It’s short, usually a couple of minutes. It’s optional, and I always ask first. It helps you settle, helps me focus, and gets us on the same page before we touch the cards.
You Don’t Arrive Calm
You’re Allowed To Show Up As You Are
People sometimes worry they need to turn up calm, clear, and ready with the perfect question. That’s not realistic, and it’s not required. Most of the time, you arrive mid life, with your brain still in whatever happened five minutes ago.
You might be thinking, “I’m late, I’m sweaty, I can’t believe I forgot my water, why is my phone on 2%.” You might be thinking, “I don’t even know what I’m asking, I just know I’m fed up.” I’ve had clients walk in and immediately apologise for being flustered, and I’m always like, babes, same.
The Start Sets The Tone
The first couple of minutes decide how the rest of the session feels. If you’re tense, distracted, or trying to speedrun your story, the reading can feel noisy. You might chase certainty instead of clarity, and you might miss the point that was right there.
Grounding gives us a clean start. It’s not a grand spiritual moment, it’s a reset. You don’t have to be calm, you just have to be here.
Why I Start With Grounding
It Helps You Hear What You Need To Hear
A grounding meditation before a tarot reading creates a pause between your stress and your choices. That pause is where honesty shows up, and it often arrives quietly. You start to notice what you actually want, what you’re avoiding, and what you’ve been trying to talk yourself out of.
It also changes how you receive the reading. You’re more likely to notice what lands, instead of scrambling for the next question. You’re less likely to chase reassurance and more likely to hear something useful.
It Helps Me Focus And Read Clearly
I read best when I’m fully present. If I’m still mentally in the last conversation, the session can feel scattered. Two minutes of breathing helps me reset, slow down, and connect the cards into something coherent.
I’m not here to throw random meanings at you. I’m here to help you see what’s happening, what you’re avoiding, and what you can do next. Grounding helps me do that cleanly, especially when the day has been busy.
It Makes The Session Feel Like A Session
This sounds obvious, but it matters. If we jump straight in, it can feel like you’ve walked in with your coat still on and your brain still outside. Grounding is the moment when we both step into the space properly.
A lot of people finish the meditation and say, “That was lovely.” Some people say they feel refreshed, or calmer, or like they can finally breathe. I’m not claiming it fixes everything, but it subtly changes the vibe of the room, and that helps.
What Actually Happens In Those Two Minutes
The Consent Check
I always start by saying, “I usually start with a short meditation to help us both get in the zone. Is that something you’re comfortable doing?” I ask because consent matters, and because I don’t want you to feel trapped in something that doesn’t work for you. If you say no, we skip it, and we still have a solid reading.
To be clear, I’m not precious about it. I’m not going to sit there offended because you don’t fancy closing your eyes. I’d rather you be honest than force yourself through something you hate.
The Actual Steps
If you’re up for it, I’ll invite you to close your eyes. If you’d rather not, you can keep them open with a soft gaze. We keep it simple and comfortable, because the point is settling, not performing.
Then we breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, a few steady rounds. I guide you to set aside thoughts, worries, and distractions, then I invite you to open your heart, mind, and spirit to hear what you need to hear. We finish with a few more slow breaths, then we go straight into the cards.
What Does “Set It Aside” Mean?
It doesn’t mean your worries vanish. I often say, “They’ll still be there at the end of the session”. It means you stop wrestling them for a moment, so they don’t run the room. You’re creating a bit of space so the cards can actually land.
If you’ve been rushing, your body gets a chance to catch up to your mind. If your head’s loud, you get a small gap between thoughts. That gap is often enough to get the session moving.
If You’re Sceptical, Here’s What I Mean
You Don’t Have To Believe Anything
When I say “open your heart, mind, and spirit”, I’m not asking you to adopt a belief system. I’m asking you to be receptive. I’m asking you to let the reading land, instead of fighting it before it’s even started.
If the word spirit makes you roll your eyes, I get it. Swap it out. Call it intuition, gut, self-honesty, or pattern recognition.
The Plain English Version
Heart means you’re willing to feel what’s true, even if it’s uncomfortable. Mind means you’re willing to think honestly and consider a new angle. Spirit means you’re willing to listen to the deeper part of you that knows when you’re avoiding the truth.
This isn’t about being “spiritual enough.” It’s about being open enough to hear something you might not have planned for. That’s often where the useful bit lives.
Why Short Meditations Work
They Interrupt Your Default Loop
A lot of people avoid meditation because they think it has to be long, intense, or full of pressure. This isn’t that. This is a short reset that interrupts your usual loop.
Your loop might be overthinking. It might be bracing for bad news. It might be trying to control the outcome so you don’t have to feel uncertainty. Two minutes won’t fix your whole life, but it can change the starting conditions.
A Two Minute Reset In Real Life
I used to work for Apple in the Trafford Centre, and it was busy as fuck. Between customers, I’d go out the back and use the Breath app on my Apple Watch, just to clear my head. Sometimes, I’d even do it during an interaction if a customer was particularly stressful. I’d tell them I needed to get something from the stock room and slip into the back for a couple of minutes, quietly, just breathing.
It helped me calm down and refocus. It didn’t change the customer; it changed how I showed up. That’s the exact reason I start with a grounding meditation before a tarot reading.
If Meditation Feels Awkward
You Can Keep It Simple
You don’t have to do it perfectly. You don’t even have to close your eyes. If closing your eyes feels weird, keep them open and pick a fixed spot (just not my massive forehead, please).
If you feel self-conscious, tell me, and we’ll keep it even simpler. The goal is arriving in the session, so the reading can land.
You Can Opt Out
You can opt out completely. We’ll start in another calm way, even if it’s just one slow breath and then straight into your question. The reading still happens.
I’d rather you say no than push yourself into something that doesn’t feel right. Consent matters here, too.
Ready To Book?
So if you want a reading that’s clear, grounded, and actually useful, book a session with me. I’ll start with a grounding meditation before a tarot reading, and it’ll take a couple of minutes. It’s optional, obviously, but it’s there to help you settle and help me focus.
Then we’ll pull cards and figure out what’s going on, what you’re avoiding, and what you can do next.
