Tarot as a Life Coaching Tool: Simple Ways to Discover Your Blocks

While Hollywood may still show tarot cards as a sort of portal to the world of mysticism, the reality is so much different. Today, your deck serves as a wonderful, reliable, and powerful coaching tool. Whether you’re feeling lost after your breakup, unsure about your next career step, or repeating the same negative patterns over and over again, tarot may become your personal ‘Sherlock’ to uncover hidden emotional and mental blocks. How? Keep on reading.

Why Use Tarot as a Coach?

If you don’t like traditional coaches because they may tap into your subconscious, the good news is that tarot never does. It has nothing to do with your logical mind, but speaks in emotions, images, and intuitive hints. For that reason, you won’t find a better partner to discover your inner self than a good old deck of cards. The latter helps you detect what is really holding you back. When you ask the right questions, in-person or online tarot card readings can do the following:

- help you finally understand what you really want;
- show fears and beliefs that are limiting you;
- encourage you to be more compassionate to yourself;
- show all (or almost all) patterns in your behavior;
- show you creative ways to find the best solutions.

Mental and Emotional Blocks Tarot Can Detect

There’s no person on earth who can boast of not having mental or emotional blocks keeping them from reaching their 100% potential. They can be rooted in literally anything, from fear and past trauma to false beliefs and even habits that aren’t useful anymore. The most common blocks that cards can help you detect and combat include:

- insecurity and doubts about yourself;
- fear of failure or success (that you believe you aren’t worthy of achieving);
- procrastination and perfectionism;
- lack of personal boundaries and pleasing everyone around;
- confusions and inability to make decisions or choices, etc.

Strategies to Discover Blocks Using Tarot

You’ll be happy to hear that not only tarot gurus but also mere mortals can use cards as a self-coaching instrument. You’re welcome to begin with something simple to get an honest self-reflection. Here’s what you can do:

1. Have a clear intention. Before you shuffle the deck, take a moment to ask yourself, “What are the blocks that keep me from moving forward in my love life/career/life/friendship?” As you shuffle the cards, make sure to keep this question in mind.
2. Draw a card. If you’re at the beginning of your tarot readings, you can pull a single card or, if you think you are ready, use a simple spread. Keep in mind that starting small is OK. Everyone has been there. Plus, even a single card can do a lot! As for the 3-card spread, you can use card 1 as the answer to the what-is-the-block question while card 2 can go for where-did-the-block-come-from request. Finally, card 3 can be used to find out how you can overcome the block.
3. No need to react, just reflect. In other words, you have to be gentle when interpreting your cards. Do you see a card with a negative meaning? No need to panic! Consider it a mirror of what is going on inside of you. Ask yourself what kind of memories and feelings the card brings up and what challenges it is related to. Think about the story that this or that card might tell about your inner self. If possible, write down your responses. You’ll get back to your notes later to see if you missed anything along the way.
4. Do something. If you look at the deck as a final answer, we recommend you to use it as a guide. When you know what blocks you, it’s time to turn your intuition on to figure out what steps you have to take to move forward. For instance, if you pull the Eight of Swords (feeling trapped) card, chances are that this week you have to challenge one belief that limits you. If it’s the Devil, it’s time to finally give up a toxic habit.
5. Revisit your readings. Unfortunately, blocks do not seem to fade away in a moment. For that reason, you have to revisit your sessions on a regular basis, update your notes, and think of your progress. All this will help you see new perspectives and signs of growth.

Tarot Cards That Usually Signal Blocks

When there’s an inner block or unresolved issue, some cards from the deck tend to show up again and again. Make sure to pay attention to them:

- Nine of Wands. It indicates emotional burnout, fear of being overly guarded because of the wounds you had in the past.
- The Devil. The card typically ‘talks’ about addiction, beliefs that limit you, and being trapped in repeated patterns.
- The Moon. Consider this card the sign that the time to explore fears and illusions has finally come.
- The Hanged Man (when reversed). Pay attention to this card as a sign that you resist letting go or changing your current perspective.

When you see any of these cards in a spread, use them as your motivation to do deeper explorations of your blocks.

Get in Touch with Your Inner Coach

The best thing about the tarot reading séances is that they enable you to initiate an honest and compassionate conversation with, well, you. Instead of trying to figure it all out here and right now, tarot encourages you to get curious and explore what’s hidden beneath the surface. Not only will you finally see your darkest parts tête-à-tête, but you’ll also learn to face who you really are without shame.

Making tarot part of your life coaching journey is easy. As a result, you get a faithful ‘friend’ that is always there with a shoulder to cry on and finally move from being confused to clarity. Remember that even the smallest steps can help you start breaking down blocks in a gentle yet powerful way.