The Cardcast

The Art of Self Regulation

• Natasha • Season 2 • Episode 8

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In today's episode, we explore the Conservation card as a mirror for burnout, boundaries, and the rhythms that sustain real growth. Through symbols of heart, roots, and branches, we connect self-regulation and emotional granularity to practical habits that keep purpose clear and effort sustainable.

Deck: The Eigengrau Oracle

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Thanks for listening!

SPEAKER_00:

Hi there, and welcome to the Cardcast. I'm Natasha, and I'm so glad you're here. Together, we explore the art of noticing, the symbols, stories, and quiet patterns that surround us every day, and how they connect to our mental health and well-being. I do this through the lens of Oracle cards, using the cards as a mirror for reflection and grounding. Each card becomes a step along that path, an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to anchor yourself more deeply in your own unfolding story. So take a deep breath, settle in, and let's see what today's card has to offer. Today's card is conservation from the Eigengrow Oracle. And this card is a study in balance and restraint and the quiet art of sustaining what sustains you. At first glance, this card looks alive. There's a heart, both organic and intricate, with roots or tendrils that are flowing downward and branches that are reaching upward. And if you turn the card upside down, the word changes from conservation to consumption, two sides of the same cycle. The inhale and exhale of life. Because the line between conservation and consumption is thin. We live in a world that just absolutely worships productivity, but the soul has its own rhythm. This inhale and exhale, create, rest, give, receive. This card is the breath between those two. The question it asks is simple, but very hard to answer. And that is am I sustaining myself or depleting myself? And this card really reminds me of the first time I realized I was experiencing burnout. I had all those symptoms, the fatigue, no interest in a role that I really liked, and a general inability to connect with others. But I told myself that because I was quote unquote resilient, that I couldn't be experiencing burnout. That was something that happened to other people, but I was just too resilient for that. But upon reflection, I was really giving more than I was receiving. And that season that I had of needing to work too many hours was no longer a season, but a regular way of life. I had other behaviors that put my consumption into overdrive as well, like way too much spending and probably way too much scrolling. And this was the first time I learned how to turn towards sustainment and conservation and lean away from depletion and consumption. On our card, we also have a heart at the center that's both organic and mechanical, almost like a mandala in motion. It's life, pattern, pulse. It reminds us that the heart is not just emotional, it's energetic. It measures out our vitality and rhythm. And around it, these branches rise, branches being a symbol of expansion and aspiration and contribution. We give, we grow, we reach. And below, roots descend, symbolizing grounding, nourishment, and rest. The visual tension between the top and the bottom, between growth and balancing, or growth and grounding, I should say, is the essence of conservation. To conserve doesn't mean to shrink, it means to channel energy wisely. So what you build is sustainable. In alchemical terms, the mandala represents wholeness, the integration of cycles. It's the knowing that consumption and conservation are not opposites, but they're dance partners. You inhale and you exhale. The tree gives oxygen, but only because its roots receive. And this makes me think also of my relationship with energy. My creative cycles have seasons of intensity and dormancy. And I've really had to come to learn to trust the quiet phases as much as the active ones. But I used to be afraid of the quiet dormancy stages and just kind of the quiet phases in general. So because of that fear, I would try to put other things into overdrive. Psychologically, this card really speaks to self-regulation. And self-regulation is our ability to monitor and manage our internal resources. So when we overconsume, whether it's through work or stimulation or worry or even care for others, we drain our own reserves. But when we turn around and conserve too tightly, withholding energy out of fear, we stagnate. So self-regulation is one of those mental health concepts that sounds technical, but it's actually something we're all doing or trying to do constantly. It's the ability to manage our internal reactions so they don't control our external behavior. It's not suppressing emotions, not pretending everything is fine. It's just steering the ship when the waves get choppy. At its core, self-regulation is what helps us pause before we say something we'll regret, cool off before sending the angry email, stay focused on priorities even when we're overwhelmed, and work through discomfort instead of avoiding everything that triggers it. It's the quiet, often invisible skill of staying within a window of tolerance where we can think clearly instead of operating from this pure survival mode. I say all that, but here's the tricky part. Self-regulation is easiest when we already feel okay. And it's hardest when we actually need it. It's simple to breathe deeply when we're calm, but it's a completely different challenge to remember that breathing is even an option when your heart is racing and everything feels urgent. And that's where mental health intersects with real life. Self-regulation isn't a personality trait, it's a practice. It requires daily maintenance. That's getting enough sleep to keep emotions from tipping over, and food at intervals that prevent every small inconvenience from feeling catastrophic and breaks before the brain forces them upon you. And supportive habits that keep stress from piling up unnoticed. And I say all that, and it's not glamorous, it's not a high performance strategy. It's body basics that really allow our minds to function. But the benefits will show up just as quietly. I wish I could say the benefits would be like more glamorous than the work, but you'll notice fewer emotional spirals and more thoughtful decision making and less conflict with others and a greater sense of control and unpredictable moments. We begin to trust ourselves, and not because we never get upset, but because we know we can recover, we can adjust, we can choose differently. Self-regulation doesn't stop stress or frustration from happening, but it stops those feelings from deciding who we are in the moment. Instead of reacting automatically, we build this tiny pocket of space just enough to choose a response that aligns with how we want to show up. That pocket of space is where growth happens. It's the difference between I'm angry, so I'm going to explode, and I'm angry and I can express it without causing damage. It's the difference between this is stressful, so I quit, to this is stressful, and I think I can break this into one next step. Self-regulation really supports our mental health by giving us a sense of stability even when life is unstable. And I think we can all pretty much agree that life is hardly ever stable. We can certainly find moments of stability, some micro-stability, if you will, but there are many things that could cause us to feel unstable. And this practice is not about perfection, but about direction. Because every time we practice it, even in the smallest way, we reinforce a belief that is truly life-changing. And that's that I can handle what I feel. Not avoid it, not numb it, handle it. Self-regulation is simply the ongoing work of staying on our own side. And the balance is dynamic. So it's not about perfection, like I said, it's about this attunement. In neuroscience, conservation really aligns with the parasympathetic system. And that's where the state of rest, digest, and repair come into play. So it's the physiological recovery mode that allows your brain to integrate experiences and heal stress and restore emotional stability. And consumption, by contrast, engages the sympathetic system, the energy that mobilizes you, that gets things done. And both of these systems are incredibly necessary. But the problem arises when one dominates. For many of us, especially those who lead, create, or care deeply, consumption becomes the default. We keep outputting, we keep striving, we keep feeding the external world at the expense of the inner one. But here's the paradox. Without conservation, consumption loses meaning. And without stillness, action becomes noise. I think that I've only recently, like in the last five years or so, learned how to draw strong boundaries and rest without guilt. I saw in myself a pattern where I would start something with a lot of passion and vigor, and I would lean on the gas pedal with all my might. And then when I wasn't getting the traction or the results I was looking for, which I'll be honest, I also had unrealistic timelines for, I would just feel like overly annoyed with other people, with my progress. And what I wasn't doing was taking the time to cycle in that rest, that conservation. But in learning about conservation in my own life, it really helped me to mitigate a lot of these frustrations and actually care for myself and my work in a meaningful way. And that has extended to caring for my team and my peers and other people within the organizations that I work with in a different way as well. In psychology, there's a concept called emotional granularity. And it's our ability to notice and name subtle differences and feeling. The more precise we are, the more effectively we can regulate. If we look at a whole chunk of time, or we look around and notice that we have felt off for a period of time, it can be difficult to pinpoint the moments of change. The truth is also that emotions are as contagious as the flu. I love to say that because it's true. And they also change quickly. In fact, our emotions can change every few minutes. So this card invites that same nuance, not label ever not labeling everything as on or off, but understanding the shades in between. So ask yourself, what kind of tired am I? Is it mental, emotional, physical, spiritual? Because only when we know the source can we choose the right form of restoration. The conservation card reminds us that wholeness doesn't come from constant expansion, it comes from reciprocity, giving and receiving, exhaling and inhaling, consuming and conserving. Because sometimes the most radical act of creation is rest. And sometimes the most courageous act of leadership is restraint. When you honor your own seasons, you teach the world to do the same. So even here in the quiet pulse between breath and next breath, you are alive even when you rest. You're growing, even when you pause. You're conserving, not because you're weak, but because you're wise enough to know your worth. Thank you for spending this time with me today. For more reflections and a closer look at the cards themselves, you can find me on Instagram at the underscore cardcast or novel Natasha on Substack. I'll see you in the next episode.

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Natasha

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