Hello, friends!
Today, I’m doing something I haven’t done in a really long time: writing about my life.
I’ve kept the domain yogaleona.com for as long as I can remember, mainly to chronicle my yoga journey from the early days of my practice in 2013. Somewhere along the way, motherhood and entrepreneurship demanded more of my time. I happily obliged the quiet requests of my young daughter and the evolving needs of my business. In the process, I lost time for writing and kept the stories of my practice mostly in pictures on my phone—or in the stories I tell my teacher training students.
I’m writing today because I want to share a new practice I’ve adopted: intuitive tarot reflection. While guided meditation grounded me during the most turbulent moments of my life and led me toward emotional healing, tarot reading is something I chanced upon during my more upbeat days as an island yoga girl in Siargao. I’ve probably done a few dozen readings for myself in the past year, and a couple more for friends and family.
But today, I held a special reading that I’d like to publish for posterity—not only because it resonates to my very core, but also because of the profound delight I felt in the spread’s imagery and meaning.
This is my first self-reflective read that truly spoke to every fiber of my being—my business, my motherhood.
The Reading
For this self-reflective reading, I didn’t prepare a specific template or spread. Instead, I set an intention (this was a reading for my business, Bodhi Yoga Center) and let the cards guide me intuitively on a journey inward, spending as much time with each card as possible to connect fully.
The Intention: How do I recalibrate my business—and myself as a businesswoman?
The First Card: Queen of Pentacles
My intention for this reading was to gain clarity on the direction of my business. As you may not know, I’ve taken a hiatus from running my business after a particularly tumultuous final quarter last year.
I’ve done very little in what could be considered actual hard work. But in my quiet moments, I have been constantly reflecting, working on my shadows, burning residual emotions. Now I have slowly started contemplating on my next moves. I’m still taking things slowly. But I know that I will eventually be ready to take that next fateful step in the evolution of my business.
As I shuffled, the first card that chose me was the Queen of Pentacles. It fell on its own from the deck I was holding. Usually, the cards whisper their meanings softly. But this card SCREAMED at me. It practically yelled, “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.”
For what it’s worth—for all the woes, challenges, and victories that have come with this journey—I am the Queen of Pentacles. I carry my weight in gold and use that same gold to nourish the garden entrusted to my keeping. The fruits are abundant in my proverbial vineyard, and flowers bloom at my feet all year round. This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been. And I’m so grateful for this reminder.
The Queen of Pentacles is also the ultimate working parent. And it feels especially affirming because just today my daughter asked me, “When are you going back to work?” I replied, “Maybe never. I want to stay here and spend more time with you.” My answer probably confused her, because she replied, “But why? You should go back.”
My child has grown up around a family that’s constantly working yet still truly present. She sees the value of work and knows that time at work doesn’t take away time from the family—it can increase the quality of time we get to spend together, and the quality of life we build together.
The Second Card: The Lovers
After the solid reminder of the first card, I felt drawn to the theme of remembering. The second card was a call to remember why I started my business in the first place: the community and soul connections I’ve had the privilege of forming through my yoga journey.
From the moment I began practicing until this day, the most meaningful connections I’ve had outside my family have been the ones I made through yoga. Whether it was the yoga buddy I met at the first studio I attended; the teachers and peers I practiced with during my pilgrimages to Rishikesh; the new yogis I taught during their first few classes; the aspiring teachers who entrusted me to guide them on the path; the friends who became family; and the connections that felt so deep in the moment but would later live on as a memory and a lesson.
I hold each of these connections so dearly. This is why Bodhi exists the way that it does—and why its future life forms will always fit the same mold.
The Third Card: Knight of Pentacles Reversed
This reversed card called me to reflect on the challenges I’ve encountered along the way. Part of recalibration is being honest about where systems may be failing, so something better can be put in place.
Just because Bodhi is a passion project doesn’t mean it isn’t a legitimate, breathing, thriving business. But as I’ve learned (sometimes harshly), passion and profit require very different parts of the brain to sustain—and that may be where I’ve exhausted myself.
In my reflection, I’ve realized my passion is for teaching and community—not spending my days on spreadsheets, answering emails, or troubleshooting a faulty CMS. I thrive when I can fully identify as the creator and yoga teacher, not as the accountant or customer service representative. And now that I’ve had the opportunity to be all of those things in a growing, thriving, mildly successful business environment, I want nothing more than to never do that to myself again.
The Knight of Pentacles Reversed calls for establishing routines that support disciplined action. I’ll keep that in mind as I continue to reflect on how I can restructure and improve my business model.
The Fourth Card: Four of Pentacles
After reflecting on the challenges, the next card felt like an opportune moment to take stock of my strengths—my capabilities and resources for overcoming them.
The Four of Pentacles is another firm reminder of who I am and what I already have: someone grounded in finance and attuned to the economics of a purpose-filled business. It affirms the way I’ve handled Bodhi’s finances from the beginning—that money works best when it’s flowing and exchanged, not when it’s hoarded or left stagnant.
Money, regardless of the drama we attach to it, is one of the most important resources in any business—second only to its people. And while many of our yoga teacher peers wrestle with the idea of putting a “price” on their service, this exchange of energy is essential to sustaining the community we’re building.
The incomes generated within the business go directly to the people who offer their time and service to our students. It also helps us maintain the space where we practice. And the management systems that allow us to serve and reach our people.
The Four of Pentacles is a firm reminder that knowing how to manage our resources well is actually a strength that will allow the business to thrive, and I would do well to lean into that.
The Fifth Card: The Star
This final card calls me back to vision.
The Star shows a young woman kneeling beneath a wide, quiet sky, pouring from her cup back into the universe. It’s as if to say: “what you’ve been given is meant to be returned, offered, circulated, shared”. And that, to me, has always been Bodhi.
My vision has always been to inspire a more mindful population of self-aware, community-oriented people—humans who can pause, breathe, soften, and listen, even when life is loud. I believed that by sharing the practice of yoga—by holding space with consistency and care—people might begin to look within themselves and meet the world with more kindness and compassion.
The Star reminds me that we’re not quite there yet. Not even close.
We have a long way to go to fully live this vision—but we are already walking it. The model is here. The heart is proven. And that’s why we’re remembering who we are, celebrating what has been built, and recalibrating what needs to be furthered.
My final reflection
Through the Queen of Pentacles, I remember my true nature of material and maternal abundance. My passion for my business does not take away the love that I have for my family and my home. With the vivid imagery of this card, I am reassured that should I decide to resume my work at Bodhi, it will never be at the expense of my responsibilities as a mother or a daughter or a life partner.
Through The Lovers, I am reminded of the reasons why Bodhi exists: for community, for soul connections, and for friends that become family.
Through the Knight of Pentacles Reversed, I am reminded of the lessons from woes and challenges of the past. I move forward with clearly structured routines that support disciplined action.
Through the Four of Pentacles, I am reassured that financial stability does not work against purpose, but largely for it. With our material resources, we can push forward, and everyone in the community benefits.
And finally, through The Star, I am reminded that what has been entrusted to my keeping was meant to be returned to the universe. What fills my cup was meant to be shared. And that’s how I know I’m meant to keep Bodhi alive.
I am so grateful for everything that I remembered about myself and about Bodhi during this reading.
Yoga with Leona 