Our unconscious beliefs and attitudes towards money have a tremendous impact on our quality of life. As our emotions drive 95% of our decisions and actions, it is important to have healthy attitudes towards our finances.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, my parents grew up during the Depression.  Their memories of poverty and struggle created a constant fear of lack.  Even though our family had plenty of money, there were major conflicts around money between the two of them.  It was awful hearing them fight about it.  It was no wonder I grew up to have a classic Grade A case of money avoidance/aversion! It took me years to break through it but I am blessed to now lead a truly abundant life.  I now have the good fortune to teach other people how to re-train their emotional mind to attract more wealth and abundance.

When we have negative programming surrounding money, we can begin to form emotional associations that create disharmony in our financial lives.   Here is a quick list of the most common unhealthy money patterns as well as an energy exercise that will help you begin to open to more financial freedom in  your life.

The most common unhealthy money patterns are:
1) Money avoidance:

What it is: Believing that money is bad or that you do not deserve money.

Signs and symptoms: For people with this personality, money can evoke feelings of fear, anxiety or disgust.

People most commonly affected: people with low -self esteem, strongly spiritually oriented people who dislike a materialistic approach to life.

2) Money worship:
What it is: Believing that an increase in income or financial windfall will solve your problems.

Signs and symptoms:  People with this attitude are likely to overspend and carry revolving debt.

People most commonly affected: The most common money attitude found in Americans, researchers suspect it could be a reaction by Baby Boomers to their parents’ extreme frugality, which was developed as a survival mechanism during the Great Depression.

3) Money status:

What it is: belief that money is a status symbol

Signs and symptoms: Tying your self-worth to your net worth.

People most commonly affected: Individuals who believe that money is a status symbol are more likely to be young, single, less educated, and less wealthy.

4) Money vigilance:
What it is: Being secretive about finances and overly wary of spending. In other words, the classic miser.

What it does: While people with this trait are often financially secure, they often do not allow themselves to enjoy the benefits of having money. In extreme cases, it can lead to hoarding and under-spending.

People most commonly affected:  Ironically, this most commonly affects those who are the most financially secure.

Do you recognize any of the above patterns in your life?  We probably all have one or two of these patterns to some degree when it comes to our finances. While being aware of your money pattern  is the first step to changing it, simply “understanding it” on an intellectual level may not be enough to completely release it.  These patterns reside in the subconscious emotional mind –they live in our body, our nervous system, and our energy field. Attempting to override patterns such as these purely with “mind power” is not always effective as the behavior is unconscious, like a knee jerk reflex.  A somewhat more direct route is to go beyond the intellect and release the energy block  at its root in the emotional body.

Do you have a challenging money pattern in your life you would like to change?  Here is a simple energy clearing exercise to help you start to release blocked emotional energy around money and  wealth.

a. Think of a financial situation in your life right now that you would like to change.  It could be  debt,  impending bills, lack of cash flow, fear of not enough retirement income– any financial situation that is causing you concern right now.

b. Take a moment to write it down.  For instance, “lack of cash flow.” This your challenge.

c. Then write what you would like to have instead.  For instance, if you are having a cash flow problem, you could simply write  “abundant cash flow” or  “x  dollars more month.” This is your goal.

d.  Now tune into how the money issue challenge feels in your body.  It might feel like tension, heaviness, pressure, or tightness.  It could be in your chest, head, stomach, or somewhere else in your body. Take a moment to connect to the feelings .

e.  Now visualize a window or door opening right in the center of the area where you feel the sensations.  Relax, breathe, and allow the energy to pass through the door or window and out of your body.

f.  Continue to do this until the sensations have changed to a feeling of relief or lightness.  This is a subtle shift and can take a few minutes.  Take as long as you need to allow the energy to release.

g.  Note what comes into your awareness.  You may notice you feel more at peace and less stressed about your current situation.  You may even get an insight about your issue and how you might begin to resolve it.

What we feel, we attract.  When we feel naturally positive and abundant we attract more of the same. Energy work changes our electromagnetic field in subtle beneficial ways so we become more naturally magnetic to harmonious and abundant circumstances.

I hope you found this blog post helpful.  Have you struggled with challenging money patterns ?  How did you overcome them?  I would love to hear about it. Please leave your comments below.