Money Presence: Presence Trigger 9

Inner Frontier
Fourth Way Spiritual Practice

Inner Work

For week of February 15, 2016

Money Presence

Regardless of how much we make or have of it, and regardless of whether we need or want more of it, money plays a key role in our life. In its multiplicity of forms, we often deal with money. We tend to have inner and outer conflicts and tensions on issues around money. We tend to be attached to and identified with money. We tend to allow the amount of money we earn or have to define us, whether overtly and consciously or in subtle and unrecognized ways. All these factors make our money dealings a ripe target for presence.

The basic practice of money presence is to be present whenever we deal with money in any of its forms. When we make a purchase at a store, we come into body awareness, sensing our body as we dig into our wallet or purse, count out cash and hand it to the cashier, or pull out and swipe a card or put it into the reader, or tap our phone to complete the transaction. We are there, in our body, in that action, not just in our mind thinking about it. When we buy something online, we sense our body as we key in our credit card information and click the buy button. When we pay a bill, we sense our body as we write the check or click on a website to pay it. On pay day at work, when we review our direct deposit pay stub or receive and cash our check, we sense our body as we do so. Any time we pay or receive payment, we let that act trigger us into presence, an organic, in-that-moment presence.

Of course, true presence is much more than body awareness. But sensing our body is the foundation of presence and is concrete enough for us to know with relative clarity whether or not we are actually doing that bit of inner work. So we start with sensing as we deal with money and then add awareness of our thoughts and emotions in those moments, the tensions in our body, and then we add a sense of wholeness, a sense that I am here doing whatever it is I am doing with money. We are present.

We can also notice when we are just thinking or even obsessing about money and let that noticing trigger us to be present at such moments. We see our thoughts and we are in our thinking mind. We see our emotions and we are in our feeling mind. We are here, thinking and feeling about money.

To be clear, our intention and the purpose of money presence is to be present. This is not a magical way to create abundance. As our self-awareness around money grows, money presence may or may not heal our relationship with money. It may or may not help us find a way through our money problems. But whether or not we have issues with money, this practice can help us to be present in more situations than might otherwise be the case.

For this week, please practice money presence.

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