A Practice To Diffuse Financial Stress

Let’s start with an awareness of our cultural conditioning around money: that is, we tend to want more and to expect all things measurable (like money) to increase. Although we’re taught that these expectations are normal and reasonable, obviously, it isn’t so. This is our momentous opportunity to examine these beliefs and let them go. Instead of pining for more, perhaps we can feel that we have enough. I’ve often said “enough” is the dirtiest word in the English language. Have you ever said that you have enough money, time, etc? And yet, we’re already experiencing it: Those of us who are still healthy and able to take a (socially distanced) sunset walk feel, perhaps, more grateful than we ever have for life’s simple, and free, pleasures. Besides, we’re all reflecting on how much we used to spend on things that no longer seem important. Why did I eat out or travel so much? Why did I buy all those clothes I don’t wear? Why wasn’t I more generous? This is a time for embracing what we have. In the former, pre-COVID world of “More is always better,” this wasn’t permissible. When asked how much is enough, John Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire, answered “just a little bit more”. But enough brings us into this moment, this breath. It’s not about enough in the past or future; it’s sensing enough now. Call me crazy, but I am grateful for the lessons I’m learning during this pandemic. The conditions are as perfect as they will ever be to take on the practice of “enough.” Sheltering in place allows us to more easily turn our attention inward, away from the outward sources of security, such as clothes, cars, and vacations (material things and goals that have habitually stimulated our wanting mind). FOMO (fear of missing out), thankfully, has decreased significantly. With fewer spending options, and less social exposure to our “wanting” culture, I’m finding it easier to say the word “enough,” and really feel that I might actually have enough, that I am enough. Here’s a 12-minute practice that acts as the antidote and vaccine for current money stress. It’s a timeless practice, but experience it now, while the conditions are ripest. You’ll probably want to spend about one minute on each step of the practice.