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WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY HONEY?
A few months back when we were hosting the Global Mala Project in San Diego, raising money (ironically) and awareness for several charities and community programs, I had a lil 'chat with the audience.
I facilitated a self assessment exercise and had them answer a series of questions on an oversized post card that would have been delivered to them in 3 months' time. The words on the card were carefully designed to hit their hot buttons, to get them thinking and taking more responsibility for what shows up in their lives. They were designed to wake them up, shake them up, and stop the old blame game patterns if they had any. (Most of us do).
The questions were provocative, almost to a point of agitation. This is sometimes what it takes to put a fire underneath us humans and put some pep in our step.
Yogis are good people. We're genuine, light-hearted, hard workers, intuitive. Often times making an impact is more important than making money.
Is not that great?
Is not it?
Or not? Let's peel away a layer or two here. I want to really dig into this for a second because, although it's not a ba d trait to have, my whole intent is to convey to you that a slightly different perspective could yield infinitely greater opportunities to impact even MORE lives in the long run. WAY MORE, as in hundreds or thousands more.
BACK TO THE STORY …
So we're at the Mala fundraiser event.
Realizing that at least a quarter of the audience were yoga teachers and the teacher, yoga students, I figured it was appropriate to speak directly to them about certain yogic tendencies – sometimes MONEY – and the old belief that to be "spiritual" one has to be meek, mild, and moneyless .
Where'd we get that from? Wherever it came from it's not valid anymore ! It's 10 times easier to get 10 times the work done and reach 10 times the people if you have resources, ie money.
Now just to be clear, money is not the end all. I mean, it's paper. But it can feed people. It can clothe them. It can educate, empower, and enrich lives.
If you're reading this, you're probably aware of this bizarre thing too. Yogis seem to think money does not deserve their attention or desire, that it's unimportant, and that focusing on making it is selfish and greedy. I know this because I operated from that same paradigm for the first 25 years of my life.
And you know where it got me? Broke. As a joke. Only it was not funny anymore by the time my husband and I were $ 40K in debt.
But that's a whole other story for another time. (Do not worry … we're in the high positive now. With money and mindset. Debt-free and deeply aware of our ability (and describability ) to allow / create abundance. )
I can see I was not alone. Fact is, a lot of yoga teachers are not doing very well financially . They can not pay their bills, and often have to hold down another job (AKA 9-5 working for the man) in order to make ends meet … so they can teach yoga – the job they really love.
And whenever I bring this up to them, I always get the same answer – that money is not their focus or priority. They even squench up their face and roll their eyes when they talk about money like it's their enemy … or beneath them in some way. Definite issues here, it's obvious.
And I'm not saying this to point fingers. I'm saying it because I like what it felt like to stand in their shoes, and I ALSO know that for as long as I held that perspective, I got money away from me – it avoided me like the plague. And it was not MONEY's fault. It was my own. I was not letting it in.
If I ever did get money, some unexpected expense would come out of now and every penny of it would be spoken for within minutes. It did not matter whether it was a sick family member to take care of, a wedding to fly to, or a flat tire … I attended the need for money as soon as I deposited the check. It was a vicious cycle.
Just ask yourself, have you ever said that your child or your pet or your best friend was not that important? If you did, would they be around for very long?
No way José.
And you know what else will not stay around if it's not "important"?
You guessed it … the money honey!
If you did not think that having a hybrid car in your driveway was important, would you have one? 'Fraid not. If you did not think having a pet monkey was important, would you have one? Of course not. If you do not think money is real important, will you have it readily available? No way, no how.
The people I know that talk about the insignificance of money are … flat broke. Just like I was. It's no coincidence, I can assure you. It's actually Law … The Law of Attraction in action again! What you focus on … expands. Thoughts become things. What you believe to be true will show itself to you (I made that one up myself: O). This is what we discussed that night at the Mala and a lot of yogis went home agitated and frustrated … but more aware, more self-responsible, and more motivated. Even if I had to be the bad guy, my work was done.
We yoga teachers have to examine our beliefs about money. It is these beliefs that keep us spinning our wheels like a hamster in a cage.
If you look at things objectively, you'll note that the most well-known yoga teachers are in no way struggling with money or paying their bills. Does this mean that they are not "spiritual" or honoring their yamas or niyamas? Or does it mean that they are living their truth, aware of their worth, and utilizing their full potential in yoga AND in business? I'm guess the latter. But that's just my opinion.
Robin Sharma, International speaker and author, taught me that greater awareness leads to better choices, and better choices lead to better results. It's as simple as that.
I hope you'll digest this information and use your defect awareness to choose wisely and look through new, abundant eyes.
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Source by Kris Ward
