Podcast Commentary
This is a continuation of Natalie’s conversation with Gayle about incorporating the body in our money decisions.
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Do you feel confident in your own power? Do you wish you did more? If so, you might enjoy this episode where we dive deep into some of the things you can do to feel more at peace with your situation, whatever it may be. The only way to change a bad situation is to accept it first. Acceptance leads to peace of mind that gives space for creating a new reality.
“…my minds job is to question and go back, and to try to solve and figure out.
But when I give space to confusion, and I feel it in my belly, and I soften in my chest, and when I’m able to recognize that, ‘I’m going to be okay,’ that’s when the the contentment arises. The clarity gives our nervous system a place to reside and relax. It’s it is a visceral feeling…”
~Gayle Colman, WiF?
Here are some thoughts from our CFP® consultant, Dave Bowman, and Natalie Wagner Willis.
“It’s funny, the thing I keep thinking about after the fact is how the brain is simply a part of the body. It’s so obvious, yet somehow so buried. I’m someone who’s long been interested in the body and its wisdom, yet I really never thought about it like that. I think the financial planning profession could benefit from this perspective.” ~Natalie Wagner Willis
“Awareness. What we keep track of about our clients, if only mentally. This reminds me of Ed Jacobson’s suggestion to meditate on an ideal meeting before speaking with a client. It’s worth considering that OUR bodies are also part of the environment. Planners are usually stressed out, often feeling underprepared and projecting that feeling on to the client – that probably leads to worse outcomes for clients for many reasons, the somatic implications among them.
Another practical application is office design. What if you went to meet with your planner and they had a meeting room that felt a little more like an ashram and a little less like a hospital or WASPy lounge? Maybe the eastern influence isn’t your thing. I used to get my haircut by a guy who’s room was way in the back and was filled with sports memorabilia, cigars, man cave stuff. It set a whole tone and he was super comfortable in there. A completely different experience.
Some takeaways might include getting your own body right, and others’ through some intentional mood setting. The average planners’ goal for outward appearance is, “I’m not going to f@&$ this up. I am tidy and reliable. I don’t make mistakes and I am financially impeccable, personally, and professionally.” What if our meeting environment said, “This is who I really am. I’m comfortable in this environment and more dynamic than being just some investment lady. You can be yourself here too.” ~Dave Bowman CFP®
Join us in this second part of discovering the truth our bodies tell us.
Somatic Finance with Gayle Colman offers whole body practices for developing financial integrity in a world gone mad over money. Through courses, retreats, and coaching Gayle helps us connect with the brilliance of our minds, the integrity of our belly centers, and the compassion of our hearts, to create a balanced and clear relationship with money. Visit our website at somaticfinance.com to access guided practices and explore an embodied relationship with money.
Podcast Transcript
Natalie Wagner Willis
Gayle Colman, is our guest today on the What is by Finology? podcast. Gayle is one of our beloved Finology Fellows, in addition to being a longtime CFP.
On today’s show, we have invited her on to explore her expertise in Somatic Finance. Soma means body. And in addition to Gayle’s long-standing practice of exploring the body for the wisdom that it can bring to light, she is also married with her expertise in finance. Through using her unique loving touch and constant devotion. Gayle has become a leading expert in this groundbreaking and vital component of our money lives. Gayle defines her version of somatic finance as, “whole body practices for developing courageous joy, generosity, and Financial Integrity in a world gone mad over money.”
Thank you for being with us. Enjoy the episode,
Gayle Colman
I have to tell you, my body right now has got goosebumps all over my legs all over my arms, and in the back of my head.
Introduction
What is Finology? Here we explore our personal relationships with money, money's nature, and how we exchange value in daily life. Grounding ourselves in the liberal arts, we explore financial planning 3.0 from the inside out, addressing money as "the most powerful and pervasive secular force on the planet."
Mysterious money merits study.
Natalie Wagner Willis
Hello, and welcome to Finology I'm your host Natalie Wagner Willis. Today we have with us Gayle Colman. Hi, Gayle, how are you today?
Gayle Colman
To Hey, Natalie, I'm great, happy to be with you.
Natalie Wagner Willis
Appreciate you being here and being willing to share your powerful insights and wisdom around somatic finance with me and with our audience.
I will share with the audience just briefly that I did a one-day workshop with Gayle several years ago on somatic finance, and was a life-changing experience. It not only got me in touch with my body but also sent me on a path of continuing to get more in touch with my body that has been a very fruitful and deeply personally rewarding experience.
Natalie Wagner Willis
With that, Gayle, you sent me some talking notes. And I would love to just start at the top.
You talked about space. What do you mean, when you say space in this context of Somatic Finance?
Gayle Colman
Well, but I wanted to respond to your sharing of your experience with the workshop, somatic finance, and just emphasize how this was your commitment to practicing and practicing leading to the embodiment of the teachings and so you've appreciated me and what I love about this work and does lead us in to say the statement of space, is that this is our own personal development that affects others and affects all of the space around us.
So what I want to say is that somatic finances coming into form, not as something that is giving out is directed from outside of you like more information that you need to feel like you need to get from our financial systems or from knowledge in a cognitive way. But it is a compliment to the knowledge that is existing, that is within you. And you are the one that is invited to access that somatic wisdom.
Natalie Wagner Willis
Each and every person personally,
Gayle Colman
Yes. And so you, you just spoke about your experience, and how you continue to develop and grow and gain more wisdom over time. And that is the invitation and the journey of somatic finance. So I wanted to highlight that since you've already had a direct experience, and I really appreciate you sharing that with listeners.
So back to space. What I mean by space is in the context of life, which includes somatic finance is that whenever we are experiencing anything as a human being, there's going to be a felt sense of this space around us. And, and we may or may not be aware of it, but it exists.
So an example might be, and let's, let's just try to stay in the context of money and finance going into a bank or a financial institution that that is very strict or formal. It may give us a sense of importance, it may feel like a very strong structure, it may feel safe, or it may even feel constricting and sterile. But there'll be some kind of felt sense around the space. I want to help our listeners to understand or, or if we put it in a personal setting, you know, have you ever visited a family member or friend where you go into the home. And there's always this felt sense of either warmth and welcoming or perhaps, confusion and kind of a discomfort?
[Break]
Natalie Wagner Willis
Hi, I'm Natalie Wagner Willis. As a Finologist, I think it's important to point out that where our money comes from, and how it comes to us is part of what our money means to us.
Whether you create your money through traditional employment, some sort of familial family support, or if you live off of investments, if you feel personally empowered, and connected to the money that comes in, that integrity, will exist on every dollar, and has the power to touch your life, every time you interact with your money.
If, on the other hand, you feel the source of your money is unethical, or if it exploits or demeans what you have to offer. That negativity will exist on every dollar that comes in and has the power to touch your life, every time you interact with money.
This is true for both individuals and societies. What this means is that in order to have good relationships with money, we must have good relationships with money creation, on both personal and collective levels.
Jacob Wagner
Hi, This is Jake Wagner, co-founder of the What is Finology? Project. If you're new here, we highly encourage you to listen to Episode Zero https://whatisfinology.org/2020/01/20/ep-0-defining-finology-podcast/, in which we share where the project started, where we're going, and some of the intellectual basis that we've used to build our body of work.
We are grateful that you are a part of the conversation, please visit www.whatisfinology.org to share your comments and questions.
Now, back to the episode.
[End Break]
Natalie Wagner Willis
I do know what you're saying. And I have a vision of walking into a large bank with tall ceilings, big wooden desks, and austere lighting. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly makes an impression. It certainly sets a tone.
Gayle Colman
Yeah, and that tone affects us both cognitively, with whatever beliefs we have about this bank or this institution, it also affects our body, our Soma. We're going to feel some kind of imprint.
And typically with money, there's going to be some kind of fear. Fear is the underbelly of money for us, and it's part of our journey related to somatic finance.
Natalie Wagner Willis
When you say us Do you mean Americans? Do you mean people in general? What do you mean by that?
Gayle Colman
In terms of fear, I'd say for everybody Every person walking this earth in some form or fashion, money generates fear.
[Break]
Natalie Wagner Willis
Did you hear that listeners, that fear that you most likely sense inside of yourself when it comes to money, find some comfort and knowing that we ALL have that? And maybe, with some recognition, a little love and care, we can release some fear and increase the health of our individual and collective relationships with money.
[End Break]
Gayle Colman
And so, if we go back to them, the banker and you're walking in the fear may generate feelings also of shame, of, I'm not good enough, I don't know what I'm doing. These beliefs that we carry, related to what I should know about money, or, and I don't, things like that, and that I'm looking at some of the things that I had sent you. And that is the energy that begins to happen in that particular space.
Natalie Wagner Willis
Say more about that,
Gayle Colman
Within space, that's going to have an impact on us. And that impact then begins to create the energy, the fear, the beliefs, those patterns related to money. So again, going back to the bank is it feels sterile. you use that word, it feels really solid, formal, which might then bring up my feelings of like inadequacy. I don't know what I'm doing, these people here know, and I don't... discomfort.
And so that's, that's the energy that begins to move, that's and then in conversation, more energy, and then the form is going to arise, which becomes the result of that energetic connection.
So if my energetic connection with this person and the bank and their systems hold that fear, then the results from that are going to also hold that fear. So it means that I might make decisions and I typically will make decisions that are not, I'm going to say clean, or they're filled with the fear and uncertainty and the doubt, and the confusion that I hold.
And so I might open up a bank account and a UTMA and a retirement account, that may or may not be aligned with who I am, and what I deeply value, but more aligned with the fears and the beliefs and the behaviors that I have conditioned myself in relationship to money.
Natalie Wagner Willis
And in response to that space, and that energy created. Exactly.
[Break]
Jacob Wagner
We are grateful and appreciative of our financial supporters. Your support warms our hearts and helps us share this budding and essential wisdom that is shaping the future of the financial planning profession and our collective relationships with money.
Thank you to our current patrons, especially the Financial Planning Association, Trustcore Financial, Richard Sincere, and The Kahler Financial Group.
Check out our Patreon to join this outstanding group of supporters. We encourage you to join the conversation. Click subscribe on your podcast app and sign up for announcements on whatisfinology.org.
[End Break]
Gayle Colman
And so this, you know, as I'm talking with you, I feel like the listeners are going to go, "What? This is really kind of weird." But what I want to just note is that this is typical for us in our life, and the more we can become aware of the space, and meaning just our environment, that we are engaged in life. And the more that we can become aware of the energy, which includes our emotions, our thoughts, our voices, then how we make decisions for ourselves related to money are going to be better, they're going to be better, and they're going to take us closer to the results and how we want money to be working for us personally and in the world,
Natalie Wagner Willis
Rather than a reactionary action. You're actually taking the information that's there, you're becoming aware of the information that's there, and using that to inform decisions rather than that reactionary place.
Gayle Colman
Exactly. Absolutely. And what I want to emphasize here and begin to include is that our body is a part of that space, and our body is typically ignored when it comes to money. Because we are steeped in money, world, and money systems that typically use our intellect, our strategic rational mind that studies and learns and retains information and that's beautiful. That's important and necessary. However, if we're not looking at and recognizing the wisdom that we hold in our body, we're missing a valuable source of personal information that's going to enable us to make the most satisfying, integrated, and optimal financial decisions.
Natalie Wagner Willis
So, one of my personal long-held beliefs is that awareness and understanding are key to humanity's thriving. We, although in the body, it has been self-awareness and awareness of the exterior world, and problem-solving that has allowed us to innovate and create the success that humanity is enjoying in the world. And my point here is that if we either push away or are just unaware of the information in our body, it really takes away from our ability to apply that awareness and that understanding to use in the actions that have allowed us to do really well in the world. But not always, you know, we are, we are thinking beings, and especially I think, in our American culture, today, there is a lot of pushing away from the body. As I have become more in tune with my body over the last few years, I have learned a great deal about not only myself but actually just simply my truth.
[Break]
Natalie Wagner Willis
Awareness, understanding, and the body. Let me recap that a little bit, clarify, pull out some important points. What Gayle and I are saying is that the information that we can gain from our bodies will give us more insight, more awareness and deepen our understanding of what's going on in any area of our lives. But in this conversation with regard to our money lives.
This is key because when we dismiss the information that's in our body, we are unable to use it and understanding what's going on. And if we don't understand what's going on, how on earth are we going to do well?
So the point here is to tune into the information in your body. Learn from it, gather it, and then take it into account as you navigate your life using money. It will only help you do well!
[Break]
Natalie Wagner Willis
[end credits]
Thank you, our listeners for joining us today on the What is Finology podcast. I'm Natalie Wagner Willis. Please join us for the second half of my conversation with Gayle. We dive deep into how to tune into the body when exploring your money life, how to release unsettled energy, and how to move forward with cultivated health, awareness, and understanding in your personal money life.
We invite you to find out more about Gayle and somatic finance at https://somaticfinance.com/subscribe/. Please join our conversation by commenting below or on Facebook. Thank you for being with us. Be well.