Mindfulness, Meditation & Money (Part 2) with Genar, Joy and Kadri
In this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, we dive into a truly transformative discussion with hosts Joy, Genar, and Kadri – three Certified Financial Trainers at The Financial Gym. The trio will explore the connection between mindfulness, meditation, and financial health.
Have you considered how mindfulness and meditation can improve your financial health? In this conversation, we explore the benefits of incorporating mindfulness and meditation into your financial journey and help you understand how meditation cultivates a sense of clarity and focus that benefits your financial decision-making.
We'll also touch on the benefits of a gratitude practice and ideas to incorporate gratitude into your financial habits. Whether you're already financially fit or just starting the journey, get ready to learn how to apply these age-old principles to your money practice.
Podcast Notes
The Mayo Clinic has done studies to prove that a consistent meditation or mindful breathing practice has many positive physical and mental health benefits.
These include reduced stress, improved focus and clarity, emotional regulation, better sleep quality, strengthened resilience, lowered blood pressure, better communication skills, and heightened gratitude.
A lot of these positive benefits directly relate to financial health.
How can meditation improve financial health?
When faced with stressors, our bodies react in a few different ways. These are fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
'Fight' can look like making impulsive financial decisions or moving too quickly.
'Freeze' and 'flight' can look like avoidance or constantly procrastinating.
'Fawn' can look like people-pleasing behavior, buying everyone drinks, or overcommitting to plans out of your budget.
Our bodies are made to deal with stress, but we're not taught how to. The goal is not to be stress-free or constantly relaxed 100% of the time. In the same way exercising is good for us, stress is also good for us, even if it is uncomfortable in the moment.
Like catching your breath when working out, learning to regulate will help you get through stressful times effectively.
Being financially healthy is a lifelong journey with ups and downs.
Breathing allows you space and time to really check in with yourself. Meditation helps us tune in with our body and emotional state. It helps us really listen.
We can learn how to regulate our systems in the moment through meditation. This helps you pause and ground if something feels stressful or you want to avoid a task.
Most of our thoughts daily are negative because our brains are constantly trying to problem-solve. We can learn how to separate ourselves from the chatter in our minds, which is what meditation helps us do.
How can we complete the stress cycle?
Though meditation: Start small. If ten minutes feels intimidating, start with one minute or just thirty seconds. Make space and time in your day for your practice and embrace the idea of consistency over perfection.
Physical movement is helpful. Put on some good music, do a full-body shake, and hop around. Moving activates your system and drains stress from your body. On an energetic level, you can shake off the energy picked up from the day.
Water is healing and cleansing. Take a shower, bath, or spend time in the water.
These things don't have to be super complicated or cost a lot of money. Explore the free ways to take care of our human selves.
Incorporating Gratitude
What you focus on becomes your reality. Wherever you are on the path, start practicing gratitude. It will help you shift the situation and shift into something positive.
The amount of money you have will not give you happiness or gratitude. You have to learn to find gratitude wherever you are right now.
A lot of the time in modern life, you aren't in present danger, though our thoughts can put us in a state where we feel like we are. Gratitude is an antidote for this.
There is always something to be grateful for. Find small ways to say thank you throughout the day. When you have a negative thought, pause and return to it with gratitude.
Weave in gratitude when you track your spending. When you make a transaction, say thank you in the moment. When we send thanks to the universe, it returns to us.
Review your spending from the last week, and instead of feeling guilty, reflect on what your money was able to provide for you. Highlight what makes you feel extra good. Even if you need to go into problem-solving mode, the moment of gratitude can center you, which helps with better decision-making.
A huge part of gratitude is taking the time to celebrate yourself. So remember to celebrate the wins along the way, both big and small.
If you want to work with a Certified Financial Trainer to help navigate your finances, schedule a free warm-up call today! If you have any ideas or questions for the show, send an email to trainerpodcast@fingyms.com.
Resources
Meet The Trainers
Meet Joy Liu, Level 3 Certified Financial Trainer
Meet Kadri Augustin, Level 3 Certified Financial Trainer
Meet Genar Mendez, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer