Life Massage (In Person or Online)
What is Life Massage?
Life Massage is a chance to address the parts of our lives that feel tricky or stuck, in the same way traditional massage addresses body parts that are tense and knotted. It’s a conversation that uses images to both broaden how we contemplate our current situation, and limit — in a helpful way — how we consider our options. The pictures take us out of our normal patterns and allow for more possibilities as we problem-solve.
Of course many people associate tarot cards with fortune-telling or a connection to an external force. I like the empowerment, responsibility and courage that comes from seeing them as just pictures that we can use to detour our typical thought patterns and discover refreshing insights instead, from within our own well of wisdom.
We’ll talk about what’s important to you, and identify or design one to six useful, specific questions. Alternatively, we can use pre-determined sets of questions around specific topics or goals like, “Finding Love,” “Looking Ahead,” “Big Change Coming,” etc. Then, drawing one card per question, we’ll use the unexpected images to come up with relevant, practical, and empowering responses.
I believe tarot talks can feel most helpful when one is grappling with a decision, or struggling to handle a situation. Of course the cards don’t always lead to answers, but they can have a calming effect and help validate the complexity of the situation. Sometimes our conversation about them does highlight a solution or compromise we might not have thought of. Where we doubt our abilities, the cards can stimulate us to see our strengths and victories. Where we’ve made decisions we may question, they can allow us to voice why and how we made them — a place of power from which we can move forward with more confidence and understanding.
Resistance to Tarot:
“I don’t believe in tarot cards.”
“Tarot cards make me uncomfortable.”
“Tarot seems fake – don’t tarot card readers take advantage of people?”
“I don’t want anyone reading my mind.”
“The cards are just random.”
“It’s just generalized statements; the cards can’t be specific for me.”
“Why cards?”
“You say cards can help me ‘Find Love.’ How can cards do that?”
∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞
Introduction to Tarot Cards
For adults of any age, and children age 11 & up with their parents.
You’ll explore some decks and learn how to use the images, suits, and numbers to:
• quiet anxious or distracting thoughts
• identify your feelings, strengths, and options
• formulate a feasible, positive plan
Dori responds:
I don’t tell fortunes or read minds. Any inspiration you gain from looking at the cards derives from your desire to be inspired. The unexpected images help us slow down — if we let them — and they simultaneously constrain and expand how we think about a question or a problem, the way games (like Password or Pictionary) or the arts (poetry or music) limit and open how we communicate and express ourselves or experience understanding and feeling understood.
For me the cards are a way to forge a connection. They give us an opportunity to spend an hour together, talking about what matters to you and considering your next steps. I’m not a counselor or psychologist, so the cards create an avenue for me to meet with people and help them see familiar material with fresh eyes and a novel approach. There are no rules dictating how we use the cards. Most people find it fun to draw cards at random and then see how they fit the topic at hand, (and that’s a great mind-stretching exercise) but you might prefer to look through the deck and select the cards that you feel stimulate you to answer the questions best.
Why cards? When we doubt ourselves, hearing what we believe from someone else can feel like a huge relief. Sometimes we need a structured way to interrupt our usual thought patterns, to hear our own thoughts as if they’re coming from someone else – someone we see as wise, or at least different. The back and forth can help us know more firmly what we believe.
Pre-determined question arrays (or “spreads”) are designed to increase self-knowledge, clarify vague concepts and equip you with clear, positive next steps. “Find Love” for example, focuses on questions that help you know yourself better as a potential partner, identify realistic desires and expectations, and immerse yourself in activities you love. In answering these questions, you increase the likelihood of looking in the right places and in the right ways for suitable partners, and ideally you’ll learn things that make you more comfortable while you search, which can only help.
The decks I use have appealing, thoughtfully designed, relatable images. They either strike a chord, slow down racing or impatient thoughts, or redirect us to unexpected terrain. Working with them is fun and relaxing. They allow us to talk and think about ourselves in a new way, which can allow compassion and gentleness. Sometimes, that’s all we need.
Prices for Life Massage Using Image Cards:
I want my services to feel reasonably within your means so I encourage you to pay the amount that allows you to relax. My basic rates are below, along with a range of fees I’m comfortable with. Payment accepted by cash, check (made out to Dorianne Conn), Zelle (doriconn@yahoo.com), or Venmo (@SunnyPalms).
One Hour Private Session:
Illustrated write-up delivered within a week after we meet for additional $25.
- Custom options available.
Two-Hour Event:
- Up to 20 people. I just need a table and two chairs to provide fun, useful five-minute Tarot Talks.
I’ve known Dori for years, and have appreciated her deep, natural intuition for a very long time. Even so, I was amazed at just how incisive a tool these cards are in her hands. She has a wonderful sense of when to nudge and when to simply maintain a broad space for her client’s observations and insights to surface. Indeed, I was encouraged to see things come up that would be far less likely to appear in regular conversation, or even therapy.
I’ve been wrestling with a difficult, life-changing decision and found my session with Dori breaking open new paths for my own inner wisdom. The deck she used was visually pleasing and fruitful, and her strong familiarity with tarot works hand-in-hand with her innate gifts to bring out the best of both, inspiring comfort and confidence. Her post-session writeups are an excellent touch, faithful to the dialogue and surprisingly extensive. I’m still finding mine relevant months after our session.
A decidedly non-woo-woo person, I appreciate Dori’s letting the pictures just be pictures, catalysts for my own thoughts and feelings rather than some act of divination or discerning an externally determined fate. With Dori, I found the cards suggestive, open-ended, and powerful, and for this and her caring warmth, I am truly grateful.