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Hi, I'm Jessica Porter and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Thank you everybody for being here. Thank you to everyone who's given us feedback and suggestions and reviews. And just thanks for spreading the word in your life. You know, I've heard from a lot of people lately who've been using Sleep Magic for months or even years.
years. And it's so cool because when we start to do things consistently, that's when we begin to see these results that we couldn't have even expected. You know, like I've recommitted to my meditation practice. By meditating every day, just little things are shifting, little things, little things. So thank you for letting me know that all sorts of things are shifting for you guys. I love that.
Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible. Hey everyone, it's me, Jessica. I'm here to extend a warm welcome to any new listeners we might have here. This is where you can come after a long day, get a little selfish, and relax.
I'm also excited to let you know that we're offering a special one-month free trial of Sleep Magic Premium to celebrate our new listeners and thank those of you who've been with us for a while. If you're new here, Sleep Magic Premium is our exclusive feed where you can experience ad-free listening, two bonus episodes per month, and the extended version of our monthly mailbag episode where I answer your questions.
Or at least I try to. Plus, you'll have access to our huge vault of premium episodes that I've created over the last two and a half years. They include solution-focused pieces like addressing loneliness, making peace with change. There's a full-length body scan in there, an eight-hour episode, and the complete collection of my Get Sleepy series. And it doesn't take much. For about the price of...
one mochaccino or a single gallon of gas, depending on where you live, or just a decent sandwich, you can upgrade your sleep magic experience. Imagine falling asleep without interruptions and 50% more monthly content than what's available on the regular feed. I hope you'll take advantage of this free trial and hopefully you'll realize that investing in sleep magic premium is really investing in yourself.
Your sleep, your health, your peace of mind. I mean, come on. Can a mochaccino do all that? Start your subscription today for a free four-week trial, and you can cancel anytime if you're not happy with it. If you're listening to this on Apple Podcasts, you can get this offer in just two taps. Or if you're listening on other podcast players, go to the Supercast link in the show notes.
This offer ends August 19th. I'll see you over there at Sleep Magic Premium. So tonight, handling financial stress. Someone asked for this episode and I was really excited to think about it and write it. We all have a relationship to money. We live in a world where as an adult, you have to have some kind of relationship to money. There's no getting around it. And we all handle this relationship in different ways.
Some people get right in there and play directly with money, with pleasure. Others avoid the money issue, preferring to stay in a kind of denial. Still others have picked up negative feelings and belief systems about money, which make their relationships to it more difficult. Now, I can't solve anyone's money issues.
But there are very real answers to money problems as it all basically comes down to very real numbers like calories. And there are lots and lots of resources out there to help you find a way to remain or get into the black with money where you spend less than you earn and grow your money garden. But what I can help you with is how you feel about money.
Because when we get into trouble with money, our nervous systems tend to feel stress. And when there's a lack in the bank account, we start to feel lack in our beings, in our souls. And the larger the debt, the greater feeling of lack and the more stress and worry. Now, I know that a little bit of debt can be a fire under our butts reminding us like, hey, come on, you need to work overtime this month to pay for that toaster oven.
But chronic stress, about chronic lack, that's a vicious cycle that doesn't do anyone any good. And it only makes the problem worse. So I'm here to say, you are not your debt. You are not your bank account. You are allowed to feel full and abundant and happy, regardless of your financial situation. In fact, when we feel those things, I think we tend to make better financial decisions.
So let's practice feeling full and abundant. Let's practice realizing that you are not money, whether you're in debt or you've paid off your whole house. You get to feel psychologically and emotionally abundant, regardless of what's happening on some spreadsheet. Now, one last thing. Turning a financial boat around requires patience and support. Please get support if you need it.
Many of us grew up with little or no guidance on this issue, which is kind of crazy. But building financial security requires learning some things and focusing your awareness in different ways. That takes time and may require the examination of and breaking of old patterns in you. And that's okay. In fact, acknowledging that there's help out there
Whether it's a YouTube video, a financial planner, or a support group, or maybe even all three. That's abundant. So tonight we're going to practice feeling full and well and abundant and let ourselves make friends with money. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently and bring your awareness to your breathing.
You don't need to do anything special with your breath, but just bring your awareness back to your breath. We're just reeling in the awareness, giving it a place to land. And let it feel good to come back to your body. Let it feel good to come back to your breath. If you've been doing this for a while, just the sound of my voice and these suggestions is causing a cascade of relaxation happening already.
in your body. So just let that happen. As you bring your awareness now up into your eyelids, imagine that the little muscles of your eyelids are feeling heavy and loose and limp and relaxed. And as your eyelids are getting heavier and heavier, I'd like you to accept the suggestion that your eyelids are in fact so relaxed that they simply will not open.
And now I'd like you to test your eyelids to make sure they won't open by wiggling your eyebrows while your eyes remain closed. And of course, this is just a little game. We're using your imagination, pretending. Good. Wiggle your eyebrows. Great. And this relaxation you have around your eyes is the same quality of relaxation that you will soon experience everywhere in your body.
as that wonderful warm relaxation around your eyes is spreading now into your head. Let it spread throughout your head, into your brain. Imagine that relaxation now is taking over every single cell of your brain. And your head is getting heavy on the pillow. Heavy like a bowling ball. Your face relaxing. As you imagine warm waves of relaxation
lapping up against the beach of your mind. Feel those warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind. As all mental tension disappears and as your mind is relaxing, your body is relaxing. And as your body is relaxing, your mind is relaxing. As you allow that warm energy to move down into your shoulders now,
your shoulders letting go and your arms becoming heavy. Feel your arms getting really, really relaxed and heavy, like they're made of marble. As that heaviness moves down into your hands and your fingers, your fingers are feeling full, heavy, and totally relaxed. Now as you relax tonight, you may remain aware of some of the sounds going on around you for a while.
But from this moment on, no sound that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way. In fact, from this moment on, any sound that you hear, like noises from the street, sounds within your bedroom, or from other parts of your house, those sounds are actually taking you deeper and deeper into relaxation. Bring your awareness to those sounds now and let them take you deeper. Good. Well done.
The only sound you're paying any real attention to is the sound of my voice. And the sound of my voice is taking you deeper and deeper as well. Good. As you imagine that warm relaxing feeling moving deep into your chest, softening your whole chest cavity, your rib cage relaxing. As that wonderful warm energy moves down deep into your belly and your pelvis is feeling heavy, heavy.
heavy on the bed. And as the relaxation moves down now into your legs, your legs too are feeling heavy, like they're made of marble. And allow that heaviness to move all the way down into your feet and your toes. And this heaviness feels so good. And of course you can move if you need to, but as your body finds a new position, it relaxes again, going deep into the heaviness.
easily and comfortably. And as your body is relaxing, your mind is relaxing. And as your mind is relaxing, your body is relaxing. As you go deeper and deeper. Imagine now that you are standing on the edge of a field. It's a warm summer day and the field is full of lush green grass. There's a soft blanket spread out on the grass in front of you.
So you lie down. As you close your eyes, you feel the warmth of the sun on your body. It's a soft, loving energy moving into your skin, into your muscles. This warmth begins to move through your bloodstream as it circulates through your whole being. The sun offers us its energy every day. Whether it's behind a cloud,
or beaming down on you directly. The sun is always there, giving off its light and energy. The sun is abundant. It has been shining steadily for billions and billions of years. And it will shine steadily for billions more. Really let the sun shine into your body and feel its steadiness, its energy.
It's abundance. Now take a nice deep breath of air. There is so much air around you. Air in every direction for thousands of miles to the north. Thousands of miles to the south. Air for thousands of miles to the east. And thousands of miles to the west. Air going up 20,000 feet.
into the sky. There is more than enough air as you take yourself deeper. As you imagine now the energy moving up from the center of the earth, coming up through your body. Energy is rising up from the core of the planet into the fertile energy of the soil itself. Beautiful full energy that supports you.
and the grass and the trees and the plants that grow in the soil and become food. Feel the energy of the planet moving up through your body, circulating within you as it meets the energy of the sun. Breathe them in together. This is the energy of life and it is unlimited energy from the sun, from the air,
from the planet itself. It is free and abundant and unlimited, circulating through your body. Let it take over and just feel this abundance. You are full of this energy. It is moving through you as thought, feeling, action, and inspiration. It is overflowing in you.
I am overflowing with energy. I am overflowing with ideas, intuitions, and creativity. I have more energy than I need, and it feels great. You feel, and you can also fill yourself up with this abundant, unlimited energy. No matter what's happening around you,
You feel full. No matter what's happening around you, you feel full. No matter what's happening around you, you feel full. And as you bring this energy to the world, you create. You create thought and action and ideas that are valuable in the world. Now, as you go deeper and deeper, I'd like you to imagine
that your right hand is open, your palm soft and receptive. And now I'd like you to imagine that there's a hundred dollars in your hand or whatever the equivalent is in your currency. Notice how that feels. Notice what comes up for you as you feel this money in your hand. Notice your initial impulse
Your initial thoughts and feelings. Simply notice them. And now you relax. Going deeper and deeper. As the money remains in your hand. And all the thoughts and feelings that first came up. They move through you and evaporate. And now the money is still in your hand. You feel full and abundant from the energy of life. And you have money in your hand.
Good. Now imagine that the money is melting and moving inside of you, spreading its energy up into your heart, into your body, and into your brain, lighting up inside your brain. How does it feel to let money inside of you? Up until now, you've seen yourself as apart from money. It may feel strange.
to mix with it. But money is simply a symbol. It's a symbol of your energy and time, labor. It's a symbol of your ideas and attention. It's even a symbol of things. It's a symbol of value. And your energy, time, labor, ideas, they're valuable. Good.
Now imagine that there's a thousand dollars in your hand or whatever your local equivalent is. Notice what happens in your body, in your nervous system with a thousand dollars in your hand. Notice the impulses that come up. Many of us have been taught to have a negative reaction to money. Perhaps you were told that focusing on money is greedy or selfish. But you exist in a world of energy.
of continual growth and expansion and possibility. You are constantly creating value. So you are constantly creating money. And money is good. Money gives you choices. Money is your partner in expanding into the world. Now you relax, going deeper and deeper.
and all the thoughts and feelings that came up with the thousand dollars they're passing now and you allow yourself to relax with this money in your hand you are full of life force energy from the sun the earth and the air and your hand has money in it now imagine that money melting and moving inside of you spreading its energy throughout your body and up into your brain
Money is energy, just as you are energy. And you work together. Imagine now you have enough money in your hand to pay your expenses for a month. Just imagine how much that would be and place it in the palm of your hand. This money represents all the food, the rent, the entertainment, transportation,
everything you need for you and your dependents for a month. That's a substantial amount of money. It symbolizes a lot of energy and a lot of value. Just hold it in your hand and notice how it feels. Notice your initial impulses and feelings and thoughts with this money in your hand. As you relax and allow all those impulses
You are full of natural energy and life force. And your hand has money in it. Let this be the new reality. And now imagine that money melting into you. Spreading its energy up into your heart, throughout your body, and up into your brain. Money is simply a symbol of energy. Just as you are.
energy and you work together. And just as nature's energy is abundant, money is abundant. Just as air circulates, money circulates. Just as plants grow, money grows. Just as you are full of energy, you are full of value, which turns into money.
Now you have more than you need. And that's okay. Nature makes more than we need. More sunshine. More energy from the earth. There's more than we need. It's okay to have more than you need. It's okay to have more than you need. As you overflow with energy and value. You can handle more than you need.
As you overflow with energy and value. It's okay to have more than you need. As you overflow with energy and value. Just as nature makes more than we need, you have more than you need. Imagine now that you have a sea in your hand. This is your extra money, extra value.
You will invest this seed in something. Maybe a project of your own or someone else's or an education or an asset. You plant the seed in the soil, pushing it down in the ground and covering it with the dirt. I plant my extra seeds in my money garden. I invest in ideas and projects.
and things that will grow. Just as I am growing, I invest in other things and people growing. As you relax, taking yourself deeper, you feel full with the air and the earth and the sun. It's okay to feel full. It's okay to have enough. It's okay to have that enough. Nature makes more than enough. You notice that the seed
is sprouting now, poking its sprout up above the soil. And you relax as you watch it grow. And now your money seed is growing leaves, becoming taller, growing all by itself. Because money grows. Because value grows. Like plants grow. Like you are growing. And as you relax, going deeper and deeper, you notice
a garden growing around you. Feel the energy of tiny money seeds growing things slowly, peacefully, naturally. The sun has gone down now the horizon as it shines on the other side of the earth and your blanket has turned into a bed. You snuggle under the covers as you look up to the stars.
as they shine down on your money cart, as you drift and float and dream.