Hello gorgeous, hello handsome,
It’s been a month since The Body of Money arrived in the world and I’m blown away by the response, in a good way. Daily I am touched with surprises.
Mystery-surprises take me to my head where I try to understand the magic.
Jolt-of-inspiration-surprises ignite my belly for creative output.
Sweet-moment-of-connection surprises open my heart in spontaneous flow.
What do these different surprises look like? Glad you asked!
A sweet connection happened recently when I was on the phone with an IT support guy. Sensing my vulnerability and confusion, he said, “It’s fine, don’t worry, we will get it straightened out.”
I knew we would, my heart felt it, and then he said something that surprised me.
“What is Somatic Finance?”
I answered that Somatic Finance brings two areas of human experience, our body and money, together to support clear and confident financial decisions.
Then I asked, “What interests you about the subject?”
Our heart spaces opened, and our conversation flew for more than ten minutes as he described his passion, or perhaps addiction: collecting baseball cards. Our dialogue dove deep, especially for an IT help call. My writing on material consumption in the form of collections was cut from my book, but the wisdom was in my bones to share with him.
He listened, shared, received, and saved the name of my book to order. He thanked me for my time.
Sweet connection.
A mystery-surprise formed a week later at a training program when unintended buzz about The Body of Money moved through the retreat center. The attention was a new experience for me; I wanted to understand the magic.
On the last evening, I dined at a table of eight women ranging in ages from early 30s to early 70s. One by one they opened their phones to order the book. My head released my need to understand, simply trusting as tears of gratitude generated in my heart and pooled in my eyes.
Each week new connections arrive as jolts of inspiration to create. My belly sources new energy to collaborate as I participate in podcasts and interviews, sharing new ideas and ways of being with money. I feel unceasing joy and energy, knowing that listeners and watchers can personally benefit by engaging this new content. With each new inquiry, innovative energy surprises me.
Bringing this work, this way of being, into the world for the benefit of all people, is my motivation. To witness this happening is, blowing my head, heart, and belly wide open, in a good way.
How about you?
How does your head, heart and belly respond to surprise?
You can swap the word surprise with your choice of word: change, the unknown, feelings, connection, loss, celebration, lethargy, birdsong, and yes, bank failure.
Thank you for being on this journey with me. Your presence makes me so happy. Together, we can support each other in our embodied development of our head, heart, and belly.
Together we grow and become better humans.
Today let’s grow with surprises.
Welcoming surprises,
Tiny Body Practice
My Day, My Way
Preparation:
“Nothing is more highly to be prized than the value of each day.” ~ Goethe
Choice is liberation. Choice, the freedom to choose your actions, intentions, how you see and view the world, life, situations, and others, is priceless. Victor Frankl wrote about choice in his renown classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning. Well worth your read again or for the first time.
Choosing your way, every day is a tiny morning practice meant to engage before your day begins. Decide when in the morning you choose to engage this practice. Before you get out of bed, while getting ready, journaling with coffee, just before you open your computer. Choose a morning moment to engage this tiny practice. With clarity, choose to practice for a week.
The Practice
- Begin by visualizing what this practice looks like each day. For example, if you choose to engage before getting out of bed, visualize yourself waking and staying in bed (lying down or seated up?), and moving through the practice steps.
- Visualizing helps to prepare your head, heart and belly with clarity and understanding.
- Say to yourself: “Today is a fresh day. Anything is possible.”
- Smile.
- Bring your left had to your belly, right hand to your heart. (If you are moving, choose one hand on your heart.)
- Bring your breath down to your belly on an inhale with today is a fresh day.
- Move your breath up to your heart on an exhale with anything is possible.
- Imagine an infinity sign (figure 8) moving with your breath around your belly and heart.
- Move with this flowing figure 8 and statements or 4 breaths.
- Abiding in this flow, choose your day, your way using these sentence stems:
Today, I choose to feel __________.
Today, I want ______________ to happen.
Today, I choose to offer ____________.
Today, I choose to receive __________. - Close your practice is a smile of gratitude, repeat “Today is a fresh day. Anything is possible.”
- Notice how your belly and heart feel now and perhaps an end of the day check in.
Post Practice
At the end of the day, while getting ready for bed or just in bed, reflect on your day and how it went. How did your day go your way? What surprises arrived that supported you? What do you notice in your belly and your heart?
At the end of the week, choose to engage another week of My Day, My Way.
Deepening Practice
My Day, My Way
by Gayle | Mar 30, 2023
Hello my friend,
Earlier this month I offered a tiny practice about choice. The more I play with choice, the more powerful and imperative the way of choice becomes.
In my practice of choice, when I follow the thread of when I get cranky or experience an obstacle, the end result is choosing less than my whole body, meaning, I am giving preference to my cognitive rational mind. Even when my choice remains a good idea and a reasonable action to follow, if I ignore a subtle (or not subtle) twitch in my heart or belly, I am repeating a pattern.
Choosing – wholeheartedly – is a superpower.
Choice is liberation.
Choice, the freedom to choose your actions, intentions, how you see and view the world, life, situations, and others, is priceless.
Choice is our sovereign right.
How are you choosing? Try this tiny practice, adapted as you choose (wink), to gain strength in living your life your way.
Tiny Body Practice
My Day, My Way
Preparation:
Choosing your way, every day is a tiny morning practice meant to engage before your day begins. Decide when in the morning you choose to engage this practice. Before you get out of bed, while getting ready, journaling with coffee, just before you open your computer. Choose a morning moment to engage this tiny practice. With clarity, choose to practice for a week.
The Practice
- Begin by visualizing what this practice looks like each day. For example, if you choose to engage before getting out of bed, visualize yourself waking and staying in bed (lying down or seated up?), and moving through the practice steps.
- Visualizing helps to prepare your head, heart and belly with clarity and understanding.
- Say to yourself: “Today is a fresh day. Anything is possible.”
- Smile.
- Bring your left had to your belly, right hand to your heart. (If you are moving, choose one hand on your heart.)
- Bring your breath down to your belly on an inhale with today is a fresh day.
- Move your breath up to your heart on an exhale with anything is possible.
- Imagine an infinity sign (figure 8) moving with your breath around your belly and heart.
- Move with this flowing figure 8 and statements or 4 breaths.
- Abiding in this flow, choose your day, your way using these sentence stems:
Today, I choose to feel __________.
Today, I want ______________ to happen.
Today, I choose to offer ____________.
Today, I choose to receive __________. - Close your practice is a smile of gratitude, repeat “Today is a fresh day. Anything is possible.”
- Notice how your belly and heart feel now and perhaps an end of the day check in.
Post Practice
At the end of the day, while getting ready for bed or just in bed, reflect on your day and how it went. How did your day go your way? What surprises arrived that supported you? What do you notice in your belly and your heart?
At the end of the week, choose to engage another week of My Day, My Way.
To deepen your practice, reflect on these questions and inspirations.
- How does the power of choice feel in my body? Where is choice located and what sensations?
- In what situations is my ability to choose easy?
- Where do I hesitate and drift outside of myself in making a choice?
- When I follow my choice, what am I noticing about my life (relationships, work, health, vitality, well-being)?