What If You Traded the Shoulds for a Full-Body Yes?

I woke up at 3 a.m. today with a download and a reflection. So here’s my love offering for you.

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with

LaMakhosi (La Mar)

, and after that conversation, I found myself in deep reflection. Two things she said stayed with me: “Energy does not fucking lie,” and “If it’s not a full fuck yes, it’s a no.” Below is a clip from our conversation and you can watch the full video here.

And those two truths, paired with what’s happening in the world right now, made me realize that so many of us Black women are in a season of conservation. It feels like Spirit has benched a lot of us. Some of us have lost jobs, some of us have had projects slow down, some of us are expected to work for free right now, and most of us are just plain tired. And instead of running toward the next thing, we’re being asked to sit in this in-between space. To pay attention to what this quiet is trying to teach us. Because it’s not just about unemployment or transitions — it’s about unlearning the ways we’ve overextended ourselves.

For years, we’ve been conditioned to believe that our worth is tied to our output — that we have to keep proving, producing, showing up, no matter how thin we’re stretched. But this moment? This benching? It feels like divine intervention. A collective slowdown meant to correct some very old patterns. Spirit is saying, you’ve given enough. You’ve worked enough. You’ve carried enough. Now you have to learn what it means to receive.

And I don’t just mean money or opportunity. I mean rest. I mean stillness. I mean receiving help without guilt. I mean letting your body recalibrate and your nervous system exhale. Because when

LaMakhosi (La Mar)

said “energy will not be bullshitted,” it hit me — we can’t force things that drain us and expect Spirit to bless it. Everything that isn’t a full-body yes will start to feel heavy right now. That’s not punishment, that’s feedback.

This is a time to budget our energy like we budget money. To ask: what’s truly worth my investment? What’s giving me returns? What’s just draining me? And not just in work, but in relationships, routines, expectations. Because when we do show back up — in the workforce, in love, in community — Spirit wants us to do it differently. No more overextending. No more running on empty. No more trying to save everyone at the expense of ourselves.

It’s uncomfortable, this sitting still. But it’s necessary work. It’s correction. It’s recalibration. And maybe the real invitation of this season is to learn how to nurture ourselves the way we’ve always nurtured everyone else — to make our peace the priority and our yeses sacred.

And something is coming through strong: we have to pass this test. Spirit wants to know that this time, we’re really going to do it — that we’re really going to prioritize ourselves, for real. Let’s go to the cards now to deepen the message.

I pulled from the Afro Goddess Tarot Arcanas: Daughter of Cups. Ten of Wands. The Hanged Man (reversed). Nova (The Universe). Eight of Cups.

I think this is now in my top 3 of favorite decks! Look at this artwork. Its absolutely gorgeous.

The Daughter of Cups showed up first, affirming that this season—what looks like a slowdown, what feels like a setback—is actually an unusual opportunity. We’ve been benched in the physical, but Spirit has put us in the game in the spiritual. I’m hearing, “Put on your jersey.”

The Ten of Wands came next, a mirror of how long we’ve balanced and carried everything. The number ten here marks the completion of a cycle of burnout and overextension—the ending of the shoulds.

Then The Hanged Man (reversed) said what so many of us are feeling: we’ve sacrificed too much for too little return. We’re not stuck; we’re just being asked to cut ourselves loose. And when we do, we ascend into being the Nova (The Universe). The Nova is that moment when thought, action, and emotion line up. It’s confirmation that this recalibration is divine timing, not divine punishment. And that aligned action becomes a reward.

The Eight of Cups closed it out, reminding us that on this particular walk—turning our backs on old patterns and stepping toward something new—there will be resistance. The person in this card is walking through sand, and we all know the effort that takes. This season carries its own weight: the ground is soft, the steps are slow, yet each one builds the strength and resilience our destiny requires.

We’ve got our assignments. We’ve been benched from over-giving so we can learn how to receive. What looks like loss is actually the invitation. “Energy does not fucking lie.” “And if it’s not a full-body yes, it’s a sacred no.”

I will never stop being amazed by Spirit — the way the cards moved with my initial reflection download was chef’s kiss. Only from the Divine.

So now I’ll pass the reflection to you:

1. What does a full-body yes feel like for you? If you don’t know yet, start by saying no more often—and pay attention to how that no feels in your body. Notice the contrast in energy. We’ve overridden our own instincts for so long that it might feel confusing at first, and that’s okay. Write it down. Track it. Learn your own signals.

2. How are you being invited to conserve your energy right now? Where might Spirit be asking you to pause, receive, or simply rest—so that when you move again, it’s with power, not pressure?

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xoxo,

Goddess Thea