Published by Kerry Meath-Sinkin
If you look at your friends, family, and colleagues, and those around you it becomes clear that no two people are the same. You have your own unique shape, size, temperament and characteristics that make you uniquely you. The more you understand your own unique characteristics, and tendencies, the more you can understand what helps you feel thrive on all levels.
In Ayurveda, if you have too much “earth” emotionally you may notice yourself feeling sticky, overly attached to the past, or unable to let go of emotions that no longer serve you. When it comes to money you may notice that you feel overly attached to your money. You may have a hard time spending money, which in moderation can be okay, but becomes less productive when it starts holding you back from making positive decisions in your life. You may find yourself needing permission to spend money on yourself, or you may need permission to go on vacation.
Feeling stuck or overly attached to money is something we often associate with a mental state that has a lot of stickiness, cloudiness, and sluggishness. You may notice that these feelings of attachment are moving into other areas of your life as well and may even being affecting your physical health. This is because the mind affects our overall health and well-being. According to ancient healing systems, you can’t view any aspect of your life in isolation, but instead take in the whole of who we are – mind, body, and spirit.
So, if you are feeling sluggish, greedy, and overly attached to your finances, possessions, or other areas of your life, what can you do?
Financial Tips:
- Develop a Detailed Financial Plan – You may be great at preserving your money but need to develop a strong plan to help you both save and spend your money with the right balance. You don’t want to save everything at the expense of living your life today, but you also don’t want to spend it all now. This may involve reviewing retirement and cash flow projections and developing a roadmap for yourself. The more planning you do upfront, the more you can remove emotions from the picture.
- Automate – Develop a structure that makes it easy to make the right choices.
- Develop an “Envelope” Approach to Budgeting – Another type of plan that can be helpful for those who have a difficult time spending money is the “envelope plan.” With an envelope plan you allocate money for certain categories like eating out, shopping, rent etc. You can do this figuratively through tools like mint, excel, or the M Guidance portal we use with clients.
- Journal – Sometimes journaling and writing about your own journey can be extremely helpful in releasing constriction.
Lifestyle Tips: Address the other layers of your whole being that may be influencing these emotions.
- Plenty of Exercise/Keep Active – Even when it is tough, remember to move your body this is key in helping things move.
- Avoid Heavy Foods (Processed sugar, dairy, white flour, oily, fried foods, etc.) – Heavy foods can weigh us down, leaving us feeling sluggish and slow.
- Change-Up Your Routine – While a routine can be beneficial in relaxing the nervous system, sometimes we need to “spice” things up a bit to refresh our system.
- Avoid excess sleep or daytime naps
- Add a Little Spice to Keep Your Fire Strong – Incorporate spices such as pepper, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, or cayenne
Getting started can be a challenge but trying one thing can start the change ball rolling. Commit to trying one thing listed above and see if you start to notice a change. You can do it! And remember to have fun along the way!
Love and blessings,
Kerry
Photo by Aubrey Odom on Unsplash
