Let It Flow
In the last blog, Turn on your Physical GPS, I discussed how we hold anxiety in our bodies, and offered a few tips to alleviate our stress by becoming more mindful. Our body is our best indicator, so we need to become more aware of its messages to us.
I have spent years exploring money and mindfulness and observed how, when, where and why money flows into and out of my own life. When I am in a state of fear and constriction, my relationship with money gets stuck. When I can become at peace and act with conscious intention and action, it flows.
I’ve observed this in other’s lives, as well. I recently had lunch with an real estate colleague of mine who’d felt called to engage in creative projects, but at the same time felt constricted about how to free up his time by extracting himself from some of his existing commitments. He was happy his real estate holdings were generating a profit, but was not finding time to take care of himself, and in fact, was engaging in a pretty unhealthy lifestyle to relieve his money anxiety; drinking away his money anxiety at night, and awaking tired and achy every morning. He felt constrained by the obligations and commitments he had created for himself, however that consciousness had not raised itself to a place of awareness in his mind. His relationship with his money was not mindful.
During our lunch, I noticed that he was hunched over, eating quickly, and agitated. Over time, we discussed topics that brought us both to a more relaxed place and I noticed he slowed down and looked more peaceful, but still quite weary. However, when we talked about his dream of taking a sailing trip to the Caribbean, he lit up! It was beautiful to see the transition in my friend’s face. After we talked for a while, I told him I noticed a change in his energy and helped him realize that even taking just a few minutes to drop in to the fantasy of being the captain of his own ship—imagining that he could delegate his real estate responsibilities in order to go off on a sea adventure—provided a useful shift from doubt and fear, to joy and peace. He got it.
Similarly, in my work with prisoners, giving them the tools to pause and remember their dreams, experiences of happiness, and to hold the faith for the future as a way for the lights to come on in their lives. Now, I’m not saying that dreams alone will get us to our goals, but they will create a pattern in our thoughts. The patterns in our thought help us to create goals. And goals can lead us to make smarter choices. The key is to keep the lights on by constantly making an effort to remember to be mindful.
I encourage my clients to become more aware of the ‘issues in their tissues’ by taking time outs during the day to check in; do a quick body scan, breathe into the area of their body that feels restricted and tight, and re-center. By becoming mindful of how we hold stress in our bodies, we can bring consciousness to our thoughts. And this is the beginning of the change that will bring us to the lives we most desire.
In the midst of a money anxiety crisis, real or imagined, when we take the time to check in with our bodies, something will always shift. Always. Let it become a catalyst for awakening and opening your mind and heart to the new financial and spiritual reality you want to create—one based on trust, balance, and flow.