How to use GRADO affirmation cards.

GRADO card decks are the signature product within our range. Ignacio creates all the illustrations using the artistic process as a mindfulness practice itself.

The texts on the cards are a combination of affirmations, questions, reflections, and ideas created around the main topic of the deck. Each deck is a flexible tool that does not necessarily have a unique way of using it. Below are some possible ways you can enjoy using the cards

The texts on the cards are a combination of affirmations, questions, reflections, and ideas created around the main topic of the deck. Each deck is a flexible tool that does not necessarily have a unique way of using it. Below are some possible ways you can enjoy using the cards.

1 Use them as a book

While the decks are not a book, you can use them like one. By periodically reading them one by one until you finish the entire deck, you will gain a refreshed perspective on your life. 

The texts and content will make you more connected to the present, feel more engaged with reality, use your time more effectively, become more productive, and remind yourself of topics your ego often makes you forget. Our mind is constantly working, and if we don't nourish it with relevant content and mindfulness practices, our ego takes control and we become unbalanced, affecting our personal and working environments. 

Training the mind and our inner self is the same as training the body. If we don't practice, if we don't train, we become unfit. And in the case of our spiritual side, we become more disconnected, irritable, and have less inner peace.

2.  Pick a random card every day as a daily reminder.

Choosing a card every day is a good way to use the cards. Do it in a random way. Keep your mind open to the unexpected topic that may pop up when you pick a card. You may be surprised how often the topic of the card is fully connected to an issue that is going on inside you at that moment.

Once you have chosen a card from the deck, calmly read both the front and back, and then take heed of your reaction. Make a personal commitment to take action around the card's topic. Reflect on yourself and see how you can make the most of the content and apply it to make your day and life more fulfilled.

3.  Discuss topics with other people.

Our decks are an excellent tool for initiating mindfulness discussions with others and sharing opinions, feelings, and facts about your mindfulness practices. We humans are very diverse, and understanding what issues other people have helps us to better grasp the issues happening around us and how we can connect with others in a more balanced and mindful way. 

Ultimately, our lives make no sense without all the people around us, and the best way to make things better in this world is to influence others with our own actions.

4.  Use them as a mindfulness tool

Within our range, the Live a Fulfilled Life and Ojas decks are excellent tools to introduce mindfulness into your life. For example, reading the cards often will make your inner self more connected and prepared to meditate. The more we meditate, the more balanced and fulfilled our lives will be. 

Reading a few of the cards before a meditation session will prepare you to get the most out of your meditative moment. It will make you calmer, more present, and more ready to disconnect from your ego and travel in a mindfulness moment. Reading the cards also helps us maintain a proper mindfulness outlook, one that is focused on the present and not looking back too much. 

In the end, the purpose of life is nothing more than being present, enjoying the moment, and seeing life around us.

5.  Read a few selected cards about specific topics.

Our decks cover a variety of topics: Awakening your inner self, mindfulness, productivity, creativity, ecology, and healthy living. Some sets focus more specifically on one of these, while others include mixed content. 

If you want to focus on productivity, use the productivity cards. This is a set created to help you be more productive in your professional or personal life, avoid distractions, and take action. The need for effort, perseverance, and work is emphasized, and reminders are given in the form of affirmative cards, questions, and topics. 

 To become more conscious of our planet and healthy habits, read the Planet Earth and Healthy Living deck. This is an ideal tool to remind us about the importance of taking care of our planet and living a healthy life. This deck focuses on the idea that all change should begin within ourselves. 

We should influence others with our own actions, creating positive energy around us. 

To focus on awakening your real self, connecting with your inner self, and transforming yourself, the ideal decks are Live a Fulfilled Life and Ojas. These cards combine mindfulness handmade illustrations with quality mindfulness content to make your life better and more peaceful.

6.  Influence others around you

One of our mind's first reactions to fixing things around us is to correct the attitudes of others in our circle, for example, friends, family, sons, etc. Use the decks to reflect on yourself as a starting point for change, and be aware that nothing around you can be changed if you don't change first. 

We cannot positively influence others around us, nor bring about a change in their way of seeing or doing things, if we don't do it first. Often, our reactions to others are not on account of them but because of an imbalance within ourselves. 

Use the cards to improve your inner balance, change within yourself, and become more connected to your real self. Then, everything around you will improve.

7.  Use them to introduce art into your life.

At GRADO , we believe in the power of art as a transformative tool. When Ignacio makes the cards he paints, he always draws in a traditional non-computer-aided handmade process. He uses traditional tools, oils, temperas, watercolors, pencils, and also handwriting. We regard the process of creating our products as a mindfulness process in itself. 

 Practicing any art discipline is a fantastic mindfulness technique. Writing, painting, designing, and sculpting are just a few examples you can try your hand at. Use our cards with both text and visual content and find connections between the card content and the images. 

Use the images as inspiration. Pay attention to how shapes, colors, and contrasts influence you. Create your own drawings using topics from the cards. Connect deeply with the decks' content.

8.  Place one or more cards next to you to boost your productivity.

It may be useful for you to place a few cards next to your computer screen or in your workspace as a daily reminder of something that affects you. Having the message in your visual field ensures that you are present and focused on that particular message, helping you to become more focused, aware, and productive. 

You can also use the cards for your company or team, as a reminder of a certain attitude can help with your performance and team relationships.

9.  For coaching

Our cards are an excellent tool to include in coaching or any other kind of personal growth course. 

The productivity cards can be used as foundational coaching material for teamwork exercises and reconnecting with productive ways of working. The content of some of the cards may encourage more productive ways of working in some team members. 

 Ojas or Live a Fulfilled Life are great for mindfulness or personal growth courses, often introducing topics to the course audience that they are not familiar with and that can help develop new ways of looking at things from a mindfulness present-moment point of view. 

 Planet Earth cards are excellent for education, even for kids and teenagers, as a visual and fun way to introduce sustainable education to younger people.  

10.  Improve your awareness

A key concept in mindfulness is becoming aware - paying attention to what is around you without judging, just witnessing reality. Being an observer with awareness of your breathing will bring you into a deeper state of balance and calmness. 

GRADO cards are an effective reading tool to make you more aware and mindful by directing more attention to the present moment and less to the past and future. 

 We hope you will enjoy our decks, and that some of the ways to use them described above will be beneficial to you. We will continue to create more decks based on our personal experiences and topics of possible interest for our audience. 

 You can check out all of our card decks here.