Growing up as the child of two Taiwanese immigrant parents,
I was taught from an early age the power of money and how good financial habits like being thoughtful about my spending could give me the freedom to design a life that I wanted.
Now,
As an adult who makes her own money,
I still think it's so important to slow down and make sure that I'm being intentional with the resources that I have.
In today's meditation,
We'll become aware of some of the messages that might lead us to overspend on things that we don't actually want or need.
We'll also go inside ourselves to identify the root cause of any shopping behaviors that are no longer serving us and what we can do when we feel that way.
If you're new here,
Hi,
Welcome.
My name is Amber.
At my day job,
I'm a consultant for a Fortune 100 tech company and this is where I teach meditation for people who live in the modern world.
To me,
The modern world is one where consumerism and actually overconsumption are promoted to a level that is actually detrimental to most people's financial well-being.
Don't get me wrong,
I love to buy beautiful,
Well-made things,
But I try to use mindfulness to stay grounded in reality and shop in a way that is in line with my values.
If that sounds like the kind of thing that you'd be interested in,
I hope you'll like,
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With that,
Let's jump into today's meditation.
So,
To start,
Come to a comfortable seated position,
Maybe with your legs crossed or with your feet flat on the ground.
You can place your hands in your lap or by your sides,
With the palms facing up or facing down.
And just take a moment here to arrive at your practice and settle in.
Check in with your breathing and the quality of your inhales and your exhales.
If you've ever felt stressed by money and frustrated because no matter how hard you tried,
You overspent your budget,
I just want to give you permission to give yourself a little bit of grace.
Because we do live in a world where overconsumption is encouraged.
You know,
Every day we're told that successful,
Happy people look like this,
Or they dress like this,
They live in houses that look like this.
They ride this stationary bike.
And they buy these supplements.
And the more we can become aware of these messages,
The better.
My guess is that you very likely already have insight into your own behavior and what kind of things cause you to be more vulnerable to these messages.
For example,
I know I do a lot of aspirational browsing online when I'm bored or when I feel like buying something that will help me be the person that I want to be.
Or at least look like her.
Maybe you tend to spend money when you feel anxious or when you want to escape reality.
So during today's practice,
You might choose to reflect on a recent purchase that you've made in the past or something that you're thinking about buying in the future.
And as you reflect on that purchase,
Get a sense of how the mind feels.
Take note of any thoughts,
Feelings,
Or sensations that you may be having,
Both the immediately obvious ones as well as the more subtle ones.
If your mind has gotten distracted at all,
Gently but firmly bring your attention back to observing what the mind and body feel like.
When you make the decision to buy something,
Not forcing anything,
But just being still and see what comes up for you.
So often we buy things because we're told that it will fill a need that we have.
The need to be respected,
To be loved,
To feel confident.
But the truth is that a consumer product can never meaningfully make you feel like something that you're not.
Not in the long term.
And when the high fades,
We're stuck with the credit card bill.
And the cycle continues.
But when we insert awareness into that cycle,
We can catch ourselves and interrupt our habits.
You know,
Just the other day I found myself wanting to buy this skincare product,
This serum.
And I was trying to figure out why I wanted this serum and why the serum I already had wasn't good enough.
And I realized that I had associated this brand with self-care.
And I had been craving that because work had been busier than usual.
So then once I realized that I was trying to make a serum fill a need that it could never fill,
I chose not to buy the serum.
And I found another way to show myself some love that actually gave me the result that I was looking for.
And even if I hadn't interrupted the cycle with a different behavior right away,
Even if I did end up buying the serum,
The simple act of being aware of what's driving my purchasing decisions is a great step in the right direction.
Because the next time that I feel the draw to buy something,
You know,
That I have to have it feeling,
I'll have more practice under my belt and I'll be more likely to make a different choice.
And I want to acknowledge that this exercise might not be easy,
Since what you're doing is essentially rewiring your brain from old habits and routines that you may have had for a long time.
Maybe you're also questioning some beliefs or ways of being that you learned when you were really young.
As we come to the end of today's meditation,
I want to emphasize again that being introspective about the way we consume is so important.
Because if you spend any amount of time at a job to earn money,
Where you spend that money is where you spend your life.
And I think your life is pretty precious.
You should spend it in a way that makes you truly happy.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
If you like today's meditation,
You might like to check out a recent one I did called Meditation for Economic Uncertainty.
In it,
We work on getting out of our heads so that we can focus on what we can control.
Don't forget to comment and leave me some feedback.
It's so appreciated.
I look forward to seeing you again next time.
