Why Somatic Healing Is the Missing Piece in Every Money Mindset Practice

This is Part 3 of a three-part series on money. Don’t skip Part 1 and Part 2.

How Your Body Is the Missing Piece in Your Money Story

In a past life, I was a flight attendant for 5 years. You may not know this but as a flight attendant, you do not get paid for every hour you are actually on duty. You report for duty, you prepare the aircraft, you board the passengers, and none of that time counts. The clock starts when the door closes and the plane is moving. The moment that door opens at the destination, the clock stops. Twelve hours on your feet, working, helping people, in front of the public. Paid for six.

Now add the physical reality of the job. Recycled air, radiation exposure at altitude, irregular sleep, constantly on your feet, managing the energy of hundreds of stressed people in a pressurized metal tube. For a sensitive body, and mine is extremely sensitive, this was not just tiring. It was depleting my being at a cellular level.

And I did it anyway. For years. Because I believed that this was what earning money looked like. My belief underneath it all was that money required that level of physical output. That I had to give everything my body had to justify what I received in return. The cruel irony of it was this: in order to afford to enjoy my life, I had to destroy my capacity to enjoy it. I was so exhausted and so sick that by the time I had a day off, there was nothing left. I was living out my money belief in my body every single day. I do not just receive things. I have to work really hard for everything I want. And even then, I might not get it.

That belief was not just a thought. It was a physical reality I had built my entire working life around. And one that was living out through my body. I had to completely reframe my body’s experience of making money before I could truly be in my flow. If you want to manifest money and actually hold it, the body cannot be bypassed. And that is what Part 3 of this 3-part series is about: building calm, centered resilience so that you can hold change in your physical body. If you missed Part 1, and Part 2, go back and read them because they all build on a concept that is meant to be consumed in order.

You Cannot Think Your Way Out of a Belief If Your Body Is Not Onboard

You can know exactly where a belief came from, you can write the counter thought, you can do the daily practice, and still find yourself cycling back to the same patterns. Energy moves quickly. The body moves slower. It has its own intelligence, its own memory, its own timeline. And if the body is still holding the old belief, it will keep pulling you back to it no matter how much conscious effort you are putting in at the level of thought.

Here is why. The brain and the body are designed to survive in this third dimensional reality. And the way they do that is by recognizing patterns and using them to predict the future. If the body can predict what is coming next, it can keep you safe. From an evolutionary standpoint, this is really helpful. The challenge is that the same mechanism that kept you safe as a child, the one that learned what money meant, what you were worth, what was available to people like you, is still running. And it will resist anything that does not match the pattern it already knows. None of this is “bad” or “wrong”; we just have never really been taught to think of the whole system in this way. Our society teaches us to persevere beyond the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle communications of the body.

It is not just the difficult challenges in life that can be resisted. Even positive change, calling in more money, a new opportunity, a life that looks different from the one your body has always known, can send your nervous system into alert mode. We have all seen the stories of people who win the lottery and lose every dollar of it within a few years. That is not just a story about financial mismanagement. That is a story about a body and a belief system that were not an energetic match for a certain level of change. The outer reality shifted, but the inner one did not. And the body pulled everything back to what it knew.

You can decide today that you are worthy of abundance. You can feel it, affirm it, visualize it. And then you check your bank account and something in you contracts. Or someone offers you an opportunity, and you self-sabotage. That contraction, that resistance, is your body speaking. It is information.

Your Nervous System Is Running an Old Program

When we talk about the nervous system, we are talking about the body’s command center. It is constantly scanning your environment, assessing potential threat, and deciding how much new information to let in. And when it has been shaped by stress, by survival, by years of being in environments that required it to stay on high alert, it develops a kind of armor. The challenge is that it does not distinguish between a genuinely dangerous situation and a new financial opportunity that simply feels unfamiliar.

Let’s get deeper into this idea. Your nervous system/body has been shaped by every experience you have ever had around money, around safety, around what is available to you. And when something new tries to come in that does not match the pattern it already knows, it triggers the chemical reaction that matches what the body thinks you need to survive. The chemical reaction is essentially a stress hormone response. And when it plays out in reality, sometimes that response translates into resistance. Sometimes it looks like exhaustion. Sometimes it looks like your body physically contracting when you think about making a financial decision. The nervous system adapts to signals the same way, regardless of their source. A stressful conversation with your boss can release the same chemicals in the body as an actual physical threat. The body does not always know the difference. And this happening repeatedly, over years, over a lifetime, creates a chemical state that does not want to let much new information in. Because the new is unpredictable. And unpredictable feels unsafe.

For some of us, the dysregulation runs deeper. If you have experienced chronic illness, prolonged stress, trauma, or spent years overriding what your body was asking for in order to keep up with the demands of your life, your nervous system baseline is going to be different from someone who has not. By the way, this is not a hierarchy of suffering. It is important to understand that the root cause of your nervous system being on high alert matters because it tells you how much attention this layer of work will require. The more your nervous system has had to brace over the course of your life, the harder it is going to work to keep new things out. And the more intentional you need to be about building safety in the body before you can expect it to hold change.

There is also something worth naming that is not discussed enough. For those of us operating on a female dominant hormonal cycle, we are running on a 28 day rhythm. Our energy, our capacity, our output, naturally fluctuates across that cycle. And yet the world we live and work in is largely structured around a 24 hour cycle, one that aligns more closely with a male dominant hormonal system. Many of us have been pushing our bodies past their natural rhythm for years, sometimes decades, just to keep up. And that chronic override is its own form of nervous system dysregulation. What this means for your money story specifically is that if your body is already at capacity just from the demand of daily life, it is going to have very little room left to hold new energy, new change, new levels of financial expansion. You cannot pour more into a system that is already full and already bracing.

So, then, how do we build capacity? I am so glad you asked.

The Body Speaks. Are You Listening?

The first step in building capacity is learning to sit with what is uncomfortable. Allowing what is there to actually be there. (Oh no – I am talking about feeling your feelings) 😂

When an uncomfortable feeling arises, we are conditioned to keep moving. To push through. To distract, to override, to perform. And so when an uncomfortable feeling or emotion arises, especially around money, the instinct is to run from it. To work more, to scroll more, to find something that makes it stop. And what happens when you do that consistently over time is the emotion does not “go away.” It gets stored. In the body. In the tissue, in the cells. And over time, it grows. It can develop as an ailment, a chronic pain, an inflammation, or an illness. The body will keep finding ways to get your attention until you listen.

This is also why parts one and two of this series matter before you go into the body. When you start doing body work without first having some clarity around what is an outdated belief and what you want to replace it with, you can inadvertently get lost in what comes up. The body holds a lot. And without a framework for understanding what is old information versus what is useful information, going in can feel overwhelming. The work in parts one and two gives you the foundation to observe what surfaces in the body without becoming it. Also, I am not suggesting you sit and get lost in feelings and become those feelings. Because you will literally create the reality that reaffirms those uncomfortable feelings!

There is a study, and I am paraphrasing here, that suggests that if you can sit with an uncomfortable feeling for at least 90 seconds without running from it, just allowing it to be present in your body, it begins to move through. Ninety seconds. The avoidance of the emotion is what keeps it lodged in the body. Sitting with it is what allows it to leave. We were not taught to just allow emotions, sit with them, and let them move through you. Move through you is the operative phrase because it implies you are not becoming the emotion, you are simply allowing it, and letting it go when the feeling begins to dissipate.

Here is what this looks like in practice. You check your bank account and something contracts in your chest. Instead of immediately closing the app and distracting yourself, you sit with it. You put your hand on your chest. You breathe. You ask the sensation what it wants you to know. You let it be there without making it mean something catastrophic about your future. You allow it to move through you. And then you let it go. Feelings have stories, and while it’s important to be inquisitive, DO NOT GET LOST IN THE STORY! Oh, do we humans LOVE a story! Be a curious observer, not a person who builds an identity around the emotions you are experiencing.

Every time you do this, you are building something. Think of it like a weightlifting exercise for your body, for your soma. You are allowing yourself to expand and contract energetically and physically, in ways that, over time, allow you to hold more. More change. More energy. More of what you are calling in. The body begins to understand there is safety in these moments, and it builds your capacity to hold space for more.

This Is What Building Somatic Resilience Looks Like

Now that you understand why the body holds on and how to begin allowing emotions to move through, we can talk about building additional capacity to hold change. This is somatic resilience.

When you go to the gym for the first time after a long break, you do not walk in and lift the heaviest weight in the room. You start where you are. You build gradually. You give your muscles time to adapt. And over time, what once felt impossible becomes your baseline. Your soma works the same way. You are training your body to hold higher and higher levels of energy, of change, of expansion, without contracting back down to the old familiar ceiling.

Here is what that looks like in practice. You sit quietly, and you feel into the most optimal version of your life. The version where the money is there, the work is aligned, the freedom is real. You hold that feeling in your body for a minute or two. You notice what comes up. Maybe resistance. Maybe excitement. Maybe both. And then you dial it back down. You come back to where you are right now. And then you turn it back up again, maybe go halfway this time, and then back. Each time you do this, you are showing your body that it can hold a level of expansion and return safely.

This is some of the work I do with clients. We build this slowly and intentionally. Pacing matters here. If too much surfaces too quickly the body will go back into protection mode. And the person will feel like they have failed when really they just didn’t address the body layer of the work.

Calling in more money can sometimes feel destabilizing, even when everything is working. Your outer reality starts to shift. Things change. The universe removes familiarity from your life as it begins to make space for new things. And change triggers the nervous system regardless of whether it is welcome or not. Every time you build your capacity to sit in that discomfort and stay, rather than contract back to what is familiar, you are expanding what your body can hold.

Daily Practices and Resources That Help Your Body Hold the Change

Building somatic resilience via the aforementioned practices could be a daily practice. But let’s be realistic – most of us won’t be doing that level of work every single day. While it’s ok if you do, most people will need space for the body to integrate the experiences. But there are things you can do every day that will help hold the practice for your body. The goal here is to live differently in your day-to-day tasks. There are so many ways to do this, and here is what I do and what I recommend. Take what resonates and leave what does not. You know your body better than anyone.

Before we go into the resources, it’s worth noting that when you start slowing down and doing these practices, you are probably going to feel an almost unbearable urge to be “productive” instead. To justify your time. To do something. That is not ambition. That is your body addicted to the stress hormones it has been running on. And that addiction is part of the money program. The belief that you have to be in constant motion to deserve what you receive. Slowing down is not laziness. It is a detox from the toxicity we were taught to endure. And it is one of the most important things you can do to start shifting your relationship with money at the body level.

Daily Practices:

• Morning sunlight. Before you check your phone, before you open your laptop, go outside. Natural sunlight before 10 am, not through a window but actually outside. The signals in your brain that produce the hormones you need to wake up and create energy for the day are encoded in light. Studies show it supports your mitochondria and helps regulate your hormones. Drink water. Eat something. Let your nervous system come online before you ask anything of it. Read my morning sunlight routine here for some tips on how to integrate a few of these practices together.
• Daily movement. There are a lot of people out there who will tell you exactly how you have to do it. Here is what I say: if you are so in touch with your body that you know what it needs, do that. Dance. Walk. Work out. Just move consciously, with your attention on your body and what it is telling you.
• Body scanning. Sit with your body for five minutes. Close your eyes. What do your feet feel like? Your knees? Your thighs? Your stomach? You are not looking for anything. You are not trying to fix anything. You are just checking in and telling your body you are paying attention.
• Journaling. Write about your experience in your body during the day. What tightened, what opened, what surfaced when you sat quietly? The goal is to observe it, not to analyze it to death. Don’t create a story – yes, I know the irony of telling you this when I just told you to journal 😂 Getting it out of your body and onto the page is how you start to understand what your body has been holding.
• Be with nature. Spend time outside, connect with nature, put your bare feet on the ground. Touch plants, trees, and flowers. Listen to the birds. Take in the awe of an entire ecosystem of consciousness that can survive OUTSIDE without a bottle of water or a grocery store. That is remarkable, isn’t it?
• Breath-work. In my opinion, this is a more advanced practice, but a great one nonetheless. Start with beginner practices, and if you like it, keep doing it.
• Meditation. We talked about this option in Part 2. While some meditations literally take you outside of your body, I still consider this taking the time to connect without distractions. You can do this with your body in mind.
• Voo breath. This helps stimulate your vagus nerve, calming your nervous system. Google this practice for some videos and pick one you like.
• Eye exercises for the Vagus nerve. Same as above.

Now for some resources that will take you deeper. Check these out, and whatever feels right for you, try it. I have done all of them and swear by them all. If you have questions about my personal experience with them – ask in the comments on Substack!

Resources:

• Primal Trust Nervous System and Brain Retraining Program. Developed by a doctor who understands the effect of chronic illness on the nervous system. The program walks you through nervous system education, the fight-or-flight response, and how to bring your body back into regulation in a realistic, sustainable way. If you have experienced chronic illness, burnout, or significant nervous system dysregulation, this is worth your time. I am not an affiliate. I just genuinely believe in it.
• The Tapping Solution app. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, involves tapping on specific points on the body while moving through thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The app is not expensive for a one-year subscription and has hundreds of sessions ranging from just a few minutes to longer practices. On the days I come back to tapping after not doing it for a while, I sometimes start crying the moment I begin. Because my body finally has its moment to be heard. This is such an amazing practice to have in your practice tool belt.
• Myofascial release therapy (Barnes method). The fascial system in the body has been shown to function as an information highway. It stores emotions and experiences. Something as simple as fascial release therapy can bring up and release stored memories and emotions that have been sitting in the tissue for years.
• Working with someone! There are practitioners who do 100% somatic work and will take you through a deep, multi-year process. If that is what you feel called to, do it. If you want to move a little faster and work across body, energy, and soul simultaneously, that is exactly what I do with clients.

Body. Energy. Soul. This Is Why All Three Have to Work Together.

Body, energy, soul. That is what this publication is about: The Whole Being approach, and it is the reason this series exists as three parts rather than one. You cannot do this work in just one layer and expect it to hold. All three have to work together. And when they do, we can master our reality and our lives.

But let’s be realistic, shall we? I still have moments of limiting thoughts and beliefs around money. So does every coach, every guru, every person who has done this work for years. The difference is not that those thoughts stop coming. The difference is that you stop becoming them. You develop the awareness to catch them, get curious about them, and excavate a little further without letting them run the show.

That is what I call divine honesty. Approaching yourself not from judgment, not from the perspective of someone doing something wrong, but from a place of genuine curiosity and love, while being honest with yourself. A divine perspective. Accepting yourself as worthy exactly as you are, in whatever state you show up, thinking whatever you are thinking. Because you are worthy of love and you are worthy of abundance. Always.

Three Part Money Series:

1. Want to Remove Money Blocks? Start With What Created Them (Part 1)
2. You Were Not Born to Live in Lack; How to Attract Money by Shifting Your Energy (Part 2)
3. How to Manifest Money While Holding the Change in Your Body (Part 3)

If you have followed this series from the beginning, you have moved through three layers of this work. The story your money beliefs came from. The energy you are holding around them now. And what it takes to let the body actually hold the change.

The next layer is your chart.

Your birth chart holds the specific energetic architecture underneath your relationship with money. The lineage patterns, the unconscious conclusions about worth and receiving, and the keys to recognizing your innate gifts. The Energetics of Abundance is a recorded astrology reading I create personally for you, dedicated entirely to that area of your chart. The current investment is $88 and will be increasing soon.

Begin your Initiation here.