All of us since we were very little children, started developing a relationship around money. Unless you were born in the top 1 percent, that relationship has probably had some degree of stress and anxiety. It's only normal. We need it and there never seems to be enough of it.
Obviously we can't eat money, but it can certainly buy food, and so, we treat money like we used to treat food. The problem is, in the very olden days we'd go hunting or foraging for food. Today, we can't just go looking for money. And so, we stress extra.
But does stress help our money situation? If not, why are we clinging to our money anxiety? How can we let go of it? How can we both handle our finances better, AND deal with our money anxiety? In today's podcast, I explore these questions and more.
Please enjoy other episodes where Todd shares meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.
*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.
Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/
Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.
All of us since we were very little children, started developing a relationship around money. Unless you were born in the top 1 percent, that relationship has probably had some degree of stress and anxiety. It's only normal. We need it and there never seems to be enough of it.
Obviously we can't eat money, but it can certainly buy food, and so, we treat money like we used to treat food. The problem is, in the very olden days we'd go hunting or foraging for food. Today, we can't just go looking for money. And so, we stress extra.
But does stress help our money situation? If not, why are we clinging to our money anxiety? How can we let go of it? How can we both handle our finances better, AND deal with our money anxiety? In today's podcast, I explore these questions and more.
Please enjoy other episodes where Todd shares meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.
*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.
Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/
Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.
0:02
Welcome to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host, Todd Perelmuter our world is a projection of our collective consciousness, the more peace we bring into our lives, the more peace we bring into this world. So let the transformation begin.
0:24
Today, the question is, what to do when the savings go down, and the anxiety creeps in.
0:35
And this is always such an important question. Because we still live in a world where certain people don't have enough to get by. And especially lately, we are living in very uncertain terms and uncertain times.
1:01
I just saw that Google is laying off 12,000 workers, Amazon is laying 1000s of workers off. And that all adds to the anxiety and uncertainty that people are feeling, and very rightfully so.
1:20
And while we are talking about this mental pain and suffering, I want to talk about physical pain and suffering, because it's where we can look at pain and suffering, the most visually and viscerally. That's when pain is its most literal, and real. And we can really start to unravel how that physical reality affects our internal mental state.
2:02
And this phrase that I want to leave you with, is really applicable to all pain and suffering. And that is to say that when we have a physical ailment, or an injury, or some kind of condition, that leads to immense pain.
2:29
That pain only becomes suffering, when our mindset becomes negative, critical and complaining.
2:42
When that mental story turns negative, we suddenly feel the emotional weight of suffering, there is no emotion that comes with physical pain. The emotions are a response to those electrical signals that just identify some issue in the body. They are a communication mechanism, from one part of the body to the brain, to say something is imbalanced.
3:19
And when we go down that mental story of why me, this shouldn't be happening to me, this is the worst, this isn't fair. That is where the suffering, emotions come into play.
3:40
On its own pain, doesn't cause suffering. Only to our comparative mindset to when we were healthy and feeling good. Do we register that pain as something that we should suffer through?
4:01
And financial stress and anxiety, mental stress and anxiety of all kinds are similarly responses to some kind of external pain?
4:16
External meaning that it is a response to a situation or circumstance we find ourselves in. If our response to everything was, this is amazing, what a blessing. I am so grateful that that happened. And I learned this and I overcame that. There you can see would be clearly no negative emotional reaction, no internal negativity or resistance. There would just be a constant embrace with reality and a flow with time. That doesn't stop it.
4:59
To criticize, judge or condemn, and financial stress in worry is no different. Emotionally, unconsciously. If we look at our financial stress, we can absorb that stress, we can develop anxiety, we can worry day and night sleep lessly.
5:25
Or we can use it, we can use that situation, to learn, to motivate ourselves, to think out of the box creatively and to lift our spirits, so that we can
5:48
rise above these circumstances, we can think the money problems, and the stress and anxiety for even simply existing, and giving us the push to build our dreams to rededicate ourselves to recommit ourselves, and to work our best, smartest and most creative way possible.
6:22
And the other way we can deal with financial stress, if we so choose that unconscious response to money worries, is to become depressed, and lethargic and terrified, and totally internalize that stress until we're screaming at friends and family because it needs an outlet. We can panic and make rash decisions, sell stocks when they're down instead of waiting for them to come back up.
6:56
And all of those fear based decisions that cloud our judgment are impulsive. And in the big picture, long term, we see that those are where most financial mistakes lie. That's why they literally call stock market crashes the panic on Wall Street, because everyone sells when it's at the bottom, and tries to buy back when it's at the top.
7:24
And so, when we look rationally, at those two responses, we can clearly see that one serves us serves our interests, creates a space of calm and peace so that we can think clearly, creatively and rationally. And the other leads to compounding, the devastation the financial loss by making costly mistakes. And when on earth has panic, or stress, or fear, helped any situation improve.
8:10
We can take the martial arts masters of Asia, who maintain a slow, steady heartbeat while fighting because they know that if they get angry, they've lost themselves, and they are not present enough aware enough of what the other combatant is doing. And they are more likely to lose a battle.
8:42
So we know that it's to our advantage to stay calm through any storm to keep a calm, clear, collected head about us, even when the world around us is burning.
8:56
So how do we do that?
8:58
The first thing we need to do is self awareness. We need to be aware of our emotional state, which is that rising anxiety and stress. We need to be aware of our mental state and the mental story that is coming into our head.
9:22
And instead of feeling those thoughts, believing those thoughts of impending doom, we simply watch them and allow them to be we are like the private investigator of our thoughts, watching from a distance, not involved in any way, just gaining intel on this story that is going through our minds. And then our higher wisdom, our highest consciousness can determine if our mindset is hell Seeing a situation or hurting a situation. And if it's hurting, we just come, take deep breaths.
10:11
We just witnessed them, and how they come and go, and how it is not the most important story in our life. And we can say thank you to that emotion, which triggered those thoughts that tell us that our lives are not as planned out and organized as we need to be to navigate the storm. This opens up a new doorway, to the emotion of gratitude, which is the most essential emotion at opening ourselves to the world, at trusting in the universe, shifting our focus to fear of not having towards gratitude of what we do have, including our mental capacity, to think through our problems, to come up with solutions in our lives.
11:17
And this opens up so many more infinite doors to possibilities of new financial ventures, new opportunities to earn income.
11:35
But fear is the killer of creativity. And it is the killer of long term strategic planning and thinking. And it is only going to lead to fear based impulsive decisions that are not well thought out.
11:55
Because we feel this rush this urge to solve this problem as soon as possible, instead of to take our time and be methodical. So we see those thoughts. And we just say thank you, thank you for telling me what I need to work on. Thank you for noticing that these finances can be better.
12:23
And you start to be able to see where cutbacks can be made, you start to look for a better job if that's the thing, or come up with new ideas for a business venture.
12:42
The funny thing about anxiety is that it is indistinguishable from excitement.
12:52
And the only difference between anxiety and excitement is the story in our heads. And this gets back to that whether pain is suffering, or whether pain is embraced. It all comes back to that mental story. And when we feel excited, like you can put two people on a roller coaster, one's excited.
13:21
One is anxious and terrified. The feeling is the same, the experience is the same in one person's mind. They're thinking, I cannot wait for this ride. I love this roller coaster. This is the best roller coaster at the best park this is gonna make my guts come out of my mouth and just spin me around like crazy.
13:46
Like I love that give me the best adrenaline rush. And then you've got the other person who maybe it's their first roller coaster. Maybe it's their first upside down roller coaster and their mental story is I'm gonna die I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. This is the worst day of my life. What am I thinking what a mistake I've made. And you know, they're losing it the whole time. But it's the exact same chemical reaction in the body, that pump of adrenaline that you know, rush of endorphins and all of those chemicals that go along with that super excited, high adrenaline high rush state.
14:30
And so we really just have to do everything we can to change that story. So step one, gratitude. Step two, shift your focus. So instead of doom and gloom, instead of how could I have been so stupid in the past? Instead of my life's not fair. We simply tackle the problem with our fullest faculties, our highest was To them, and we shift our focus to, what can I do now.
15:08
There is no regret about the past. There's not even any attachment to any outcome in the future. It is simply all of eternity, in this moment, this stream of presents, and we look to what can we do now, that will create the best future now.
15:35
We don't dwell on the past and feel shame or guilt.
15:42
If anybody made all the right, financial decisions, they would be making Warren Buffett look like a beggar on the street.
15:55
And so our brains are thinking machines. And they are really great for problem solving. And they are really great for telling us when something needs to be changed, because that is really all that it's ever done. It's tells us when we're in danger in the wild, and how to get to safety.
16:22
And it tells us how to build a hut, so that we can get out of the rain. And in modern society, that translates to a lot of anxiety, a lot of thinking that every moment of every day, we're in danger. You know, traffic, stress, is very similar to stress in the wild when food is low, or there's a tiger nearby. And that saved our lives. And it's why we're here.
16:54
And it is thankfully, the same mechanism that can help us innovate, and come up with new technologies and new solutions to old problems. So when we use it properly, we are focused on a specific problem. And we can see a solution when we're present and clear headed.
17:27
But when we are constantly under this subtle level of stress and fear, because we're disconnected from nature, because we live in these modern capitalistic times, this thinking machine in our brains, this fear machine, this fear detector is in overdrive, and it just does constant damage to the body.
17:57
And it completely wrecks our immune system, and depletes our energy levels, and turns us into these coffee meeting zombies who are barely conscious of what is happening, and always lost in repetitive negative thinking.
18:24
And especially in tough economic times, we need to conserve our mental energy and our physical energy, we need to really optimize our emotions, and energy levels, to a place where we can be fully present for dealing with these problems, bring our full brains and focus to these problems, because that is the only way we can really solve hard things. And that brings me back to the breath and why we slow our breathing down.
19:00
Because we are in fight or flight mode, when we are stressed and anxious. And in order to save that energy and let our bodies relax. We have to slow our breathing, which slows our heart rate, which even slows our mental activity and allows us a little rest without having to sleep. And we can just have more energy for all the things we want to do when we go about our day.
19:30
Most actors when they go on stage or go on camera, they have a little nervousness, which is that anxiety. Now they mostly embrace it and that's why they've gone into acting for them. It's a thrill. It forces them to be fully present. And one thing that they all will do that every acting teacher talks about is just breathe. Just become conscious of your breathing.
20:00
Notice if you're breathing really fast, but your character is supposed to just be hanging out and relaxed, you bring your breath level, to the level that you need to perform it. And this tells the brain and the whole body, exactly how to relax, and how to calm down when those heavy emotions start to take over. So after we have witnessed our thoughts, shifted our thoughts, slowed our breathing and calmed down our physical body.
20:43
The last thing we need to do is explore, we really need to explore those stories that we have been believing that we're doomed if we don't get a job right away, or our lives are over if some gig doesn't come through.
21:06
And we need to realize that we do not know the future, we need to recognize that we all have some idea of what kind of future we want. And that things almost never go to that plan.
21:26
Life is too interesting, to entertaining, and to unpack unpredictable for everything to go, the way we planned. And what the universe has planned versus what we have planned is way more exciting and interesting than if everything went the way we wanted it to.
21:49
And since we just don't know what's going to happen, then wallowing in anxiety, and depression, which are the human body's response, when we have a stress response, and fighting or fleeing are not appropriate. So we're stuck in traffic, and we're not going to fight anyone, and we can't flee the situation. And so we internalize that anger instead of using it to fight or run. And that is really what depression and anxiety come from.
22:31
And once we recognize that there is no clear future, there is no certain tomorrow, the universe will always throw kinks in our plans. And so panic, anxiety, stress are just never the correct response.
22:56
The intuition that maybe we need to rework our finances can motivate us to make more here, save more there, and do all the things we need to get our finances in order. And it is only our fear that makes us cling to that mental story that the world is ending, that we should panic.
23:27
And once we, on a deep level, recognize the self harm that comes from panic. The needless obstacle that anxiety, worry and depression creates for ourselves, the easier it is to let go of all of that worry, and to turn it into positive problem solving.
23:59
And to do that, we need a clear head, we need to do the opposite of what fear would tell us which is run around like a chicken with its head cut off and not going anywhere but just moving like a crazy person. And instead we need to take time, give our schedule, time to reflect and to think rationally and creatively about our situation.
24:32
Enough time where we don't feel rushed, and where we can really let ideas simmer and evolve where we are completely calm and relaxed. So that we are making the best decisions for ourselves now in in the future. And the best way to do that is to close your eyes.
24:56
Sit down and you can call it meta dictation, you can call it just allowing thoughts to come and go as they please. And if you can practice oscillating your thoughts between meditation or focusing on anything, whether it's your breath, your body, your mantra.
25:25
And you periodically switch between clearing your mind by focusing on the present moment. And then analytically, rationally exploring a problem that you have, in this case, a financial problem. And you keep going back and forth. And you create these moments of stillness, which may be for just one second, you know, 10 seconds.
25:52
And then you go back to your problem, and you then clear your mind. And then you go back to the problem. And what this does is it creates a space in our mind for insight, and creativity to come through. And it's how all art is really made, and how all scientific breakthrough comes about. We have so many stories of scientists who came up with an idea when they were going for a bike ride, or playing a musical instrument, or going for a walk or sitting under a tree.
26:33
And so they focused on a problem intently, and then they cleared their mind. And that's when the insight came in. And so, spend some time where you focus on the problem and creating space before in the middle, and after, where you clear the mind.
26:56
And then once you have done enough thinking for the day, once you have arranged a plan or you have organized your finances, then leave that task in the past, leave that at the moment. And continue on your day. Without that worry, where it won't serve you where it is only going to bring you down and trust yourself that you've you've done what's needed. Maybe new insights will come tomorrow. But only in this way.
27:41
Can we do what needs to be done? Can we do it with joy? And can we do it to the best of our ability?
27:50
Thank you so much for listening. This has been path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host Todd Perelmuter. Peace and love.
27:59
You've been listening to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. Being here and putting in this important and noble work is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and others. If you found this podcast even a little helpful. Please make sure to leave a review so it can reach others who may be in need. And remember, the path to peace starts with a single step.