Hey there, honey bunnies! If you're like me, you've spent years and about a million dollars diving deep into mindset work, trying to shift your beliefs and rewire your thinking to achieve that elusive transformation, aka mo’ money. But here's the kicker: we've been focusing on the wrong thing all along. What if I told you that somatic work, which targets the body, is the missing piece of the puzzle? Spoiler alert: it is!
Mindset work is necessary, yes—it helps us understand our thoughts, beliefs, and the stories we tell ourselves. It's like the Band-Aid on a wound held in the body. It provides temporary relief and covers up the issue, but it doesn't actually heal what's beneath the surface. So, if you're tired of slapping Mindset Band-Aids on your emotional wounds and getting nowhere, it's time to consider a new approach.
The Body Holds the Key
Picture this: you have an emotional wound, a deep-seated pain or trauma from your past that you've tried to address through mindset work alone. You may have made some progress, but the wound persists - book after book, course after course, bounced check after bounced check. Why?
Because, more often than not, the root of these issues resides not in your mind but in your body.
Our bodies are remarkable - miraculous - vessels that store memories, emotions, and experiences. When we go through difficult or traumatic events, our bodies often react by tensing up, storing the emotional pain as physical tension, or even developing chronic ailments - hello, lipedema, and chronic fatigue for me. This stored tension and pain can lead to a host of issues, including anxiety, depression, and a general sense of why bother-itis.
So, why do we keep trying to fix these deeply rooted problems with mindset work alone? Well, because it's what we've been taught for years. Society has drilled into us that changing our thoughts and beliefs will solve everything. But if that were the case, why are so many of us still struggling with money despite all the positive affirmations, visualization, and journaling?
Repeat after me: Stubborn money blocks aren't in your mindset - they're in your nervous system - your flesh, blood, and bone!
The Protective Function of Limiting Beliefs
Let's take a moment to talk about those pesky limiting beliefs that Byron Katie has managed to build an entire empire on ( I love-hate her lol!). These are the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and our capabilities. We learned them from our caregivers, peers, and culture. They're at the forefront of our mindset work because, theoretically, changing them should lead to a happier, more fulfilling life. But there's more to these beliefs than meets the eye.
Limiting beliefs aren't just random thoughts we picked up along the way. They serve as a protective mechanism. They shield us from confronting the emotional pain and trauma that's stored in our bodies. It's as if these beliefs are standing guard, saying, "Don't go there; it's too painful."
So, “I never get what I want.” and “Other people can raise their income, but no matter what I do, nothing changes.” and “Why can’t I figure out this money thing when everyone else seems to be able to do it.” feels like pure and uncut shit but that’s better than being overwhelmed by early - sometimes pre-verbal kind of early - physical sensations that feel so much worse.
Limiting mental beliefs have kept you alive and functioning, but it’s time to wake up now!
So once again, imagine you've experienced a traumatic event in your past, and it left you feeling vulnerable and hurt. To protect yourself, your mind creates limiting beliefs like "I'm not worthy" or "I'm not good enough." These beliefs become a shield against facing the pain stored in your body. They act as a Band-Aid over the wound, keeping it hidden and protected. Mindset work is an attempt to put medicine on top of the Band-Aid and continue ignoring the painful memories underneath your My Little Pony bandage. What? You don’t buy kid Band-Aids, just me? Pfffttt!
Why Somatic Work Beats Mindset Work
Somatic work is the game-changer you've been waiting for. Somatic work, in simple terms, is about addressing and releasing the stored tension and emotions in your body. It's like peeling back the layers of that Band-Aid and getting to the root of the wound.
When you engage in somatic work - EFT, EMDR, flower essences, essential oils, massage, meditation, and staying present to deep feeling- you acknowledge that your body holds the key to your money healing. This could involve practices like yoga, deep breathing, or even working with a somatic therapist or exploring Polyvagal Theory.
The goal is to release the physical tension and pain that have been holding you back. The goal is to go to the body first and belief second!
By addressing the physical aspect of emotions, you're growing your capacity to tolerate discomfort. As you release the tension in your body, you create space for those buried emotions to surface and be processed. It's like giving your body permission to finally let go of what it's been holding onto for so long.
The Power of Embodied Healing and Money
One of the beautiful aspects of somatic work is that you are not just a mind but a whole being—a mind, a body, and a spirit. When you use these practices to unwind around money - money flows more easily and faster.
Example: keeping money in your bank account. If you’re constantly “riding the ragged edge of chaos” (Roger Zelazny) with your bank account, no doubt you’ve had more than your fair share of overdraft fees. Learning to hold a buffer in there and NOT SPEND IT is a portal for profound healing.
Notice the tension in trying to keep $100 in there and how, as soon as you commit to it, something happens that makes you think you have to spend it. Or you quickly make a mistake that eats up your $100 in stupid fees and lands you in negative numbers.
When you get another $100 back in there (ASAP!), notice how itchy and scratchy it can make you feel. How you really want to blow it on beer and burgers or whatever is in the ads on Instagram. All of sudden, you have to have two gigantic hoodies in tie-dye-colored fleece. Instantly, you can’t live without a new pair of shoes or worse - a new money course! You buy the nonsense, forgetting about the electric bill, and boom - you wake up again and see your $100 is gone.
You can fall into your Familiar Bad Feeling Place, or you can recognize that a mechanism is in place to ensure you stay riding that ragged edge of barely getting by.
Now, we employ compassionate curiosity. Why is this pattern in place? How does some part of you find this helpful, even preferable, to keeping a money buffer in your account to end overdraft patterns?
How are you controlling the pattern and making sure it continues? What feeling are you sidestepping, and where is it felt in the body?
As you work with and stay present to the actual sensations, release the tension and stored emotions in the pattern, you'll likely find that your mindset naturally begins to shift on its own. Those limiting beliefs that once seemed so powerful and entrenched may start to lose their grip on you. Why? Because they were tied to the emotional pain in your body. As that pain is released, the beliefs lose their power. No more Justice League Band-Aids needed.
Body first - then belief. Pretty soon, you can hold a $1,000 buffer in your account with ease! It took me over a year to pull this off, but slowly slowly slowly I dealt with my nervous system’s reactions to holding money in the bank, and now a $1,000 buffer is always there for me.
In essence, somatic work and mindset work are not in opposition to each other; they're complementary. But somatic work needs to come first. It's like preparing the soil before planting seeds. Once your body is more relaxed and free from the emotional burdens it's been carrying, your mindset work becomes more effective and sustainable.
Embrace the Somatic Shift by Embracing the Suck of Feeling All The Feels
So, if you've been on the mindset work treadmill for years with little to no lasting results, as most of us have, it's time to consider a somatic shift before buying another book. Start exploring practices that connect you to your body and help you release the tension and stored emotions squirred away in your belly. This might for sure WILL feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you've been avoiding your body's signals for a long time, but trust me, it's worth it. And by worth it, I mean literally having more money showing up for you.
By doing money this way, body first, you'll not only experience lasting change but also a newfound sense of freedom and authenticity. And if you were money, wouldn’t you prefer hanging out in that energy?
So, here's to more money and less mindset—the key to unlocking the true potential of your body, mind, and spirit is to start with the body. Your body knows the way; all you have to do is listen.
XO,
LMW
Train Your Body to Wealth is open for enrollment now for a November start!