Saturday, November 8, 2014

Two of Pentacles - How Juggling Made Me Feel Balanced




 The Two of Pentacles is about juggling and keeping things balanced, without loosing site of other areas in your life. This requires learning to find ways to reduce your stress, learning how to relax, and to not take on more than you can handle. There is really nothing easy about this, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes, and it eventually gets to be a habit.

Many years ago, I went to study Mime, ( Commedia dellarte) where among other skills, I took up juggling.
It really became a discipline, a skill I could adapt to my life, as a reminder, to take one day one, one step at a time, and to breath. Juggling requires that you master one task time, before you move on to the next. You have to learn to breath, especially diaphragmatic breathing, which helps you to relax, which is necessary to directly effect your ability to concentrate.

Juggling helped me when I was feeling overwhelmed. It taught me to put first things first, and to break things down in order to lessen my stress, and it helped me to not take on too many things at once. The physical, and psychological benefits enabled me to gain control of my ability to relax, through my breathing, and I could concentrate on the task at had, and go from there, doing what I needed to do next.

Like all of the Twos of the Minor Arcana, our drive for material goals must be grounded and channeled, if we are to master the skills required to achieve our objectives via the flow of creative energy.
We must be flexible, and willing to do whatever is necessary to receive the reward for our efforts made.


Juggling is a truly portable workout.
It makes you smarter.
It sharpens focus & concentration.
Juggling is the ultimate in stress relief.
It’s an exercise that doesn’t ‘feel’ like exercise.
You can juggle where you are, no travel required!
Juggling maintains and increases range of motion in the arms and shoulders.
It is one of the best ways to improve coordination.
Juggling is beneficial for all age groups and body types.
Helps ward off cravings.
Juggling makes exercising with family and friends easy.


8 comments:

Neopagan Priestess said...

I tried juggling a few times, but never got very far. For me, I think I got the same kinds of benefits from yoga, instead - definitely relaxation and balance there :) It reminds me that all roads lead to Rome… :D

Unknown said...

It all starts with one ball. Once you get that one down you can move on up to two. Most I ever reached was five. Could never do that now!

Any way, there are certainly different things we get to juggle in this life besides balls!

Yes there are lots of roads that we can derive so many benefits.

Keep your balls in the air Kerry! ;)

Neopagan Priestess said...

I certainly try :D

Ellen said...

I used to be able to hold up three balls in the air. it does require a certain amount of focus and stability. I wish I could juggle metaphorically a bit better. Still trying to find balance. :)

Unknown said...

Me too! :)

Unknown said...

Once you get the basics down, your don't forget, kind of like riding a bike, just a little rusty!

Yes the metaphoric juggle, now that's hard! :) Hugs <3

thesycamoretree said...

I can see how juggling would be sort of a meditation in motion. You've definitely got to be able to hold a focus and not get too distracted!

Unknown said...

That's true Bev. But your focus goes all on to those balls! That is, if you are relaxed enough to concentrate.