The Body of Money

In a world gone mad with money The Body of Money: A Self-Help Guide to Create Sustainable Wealth through Innate Intelligence is a comprehensive guide to building and sustaining wealth by using the incredible intelligence of the human body.

The story you’ve been told about money is all wrong. Spreadsheets, PNL’s, money markets, and index funds only touch the surface. The Body of Money provides a completely unique and effective approach to personal finance like nothing you’ve experienced before.

By demystifying money psychology and behavior economics Certified Financial Planner^® and Master Integral Coach^™ Gayle Colman shows you exactly how to use your innate wisdom to heal old money patterns, tend to wounds created by generational financial trauma and create sustainable wealth that is aligned with your deepest values. Integrating cutting-edge research, laugh-out-loud storytelling and body-centered practices, Gayle puts the power of individual wealth–building squarely back in your own hands.

You will learn:

• How body practices can have a transformative effect on your money habits.
• Where your personal money manager lives in your body and how to access its true wisdom.
• Why investing in a way that matches your personal values can actually be better for your health.
• How to use your body to gain true financial agency, reduce debt, invest in real estate and make the most important money decisions of your life.

The Body of Money is an indispensable approach to personal finance, perfect for any person seeking relief from money struggles and all individuals and families who want to create a robust and healthy money legacy for their lives.

Preface xiii

Introduction xix

Part I: Landscape 1

Part IA: Introduction 3

Chapter 1: Diving In 5

Chapter 2: The Head 11

Chapter 3: The Belly 25

Chapter 4: The Heart 43

Chapter 5: The Trilogy of Archetypes: the Academic, the Philanthropist, the Capitalist 55

Chapter 6: The Virtuous Flow 69

Chapter 6 a: Love Letter Invitation 81

Part IB: Subtleties Of The Landscape 83

Chapter 7: The Trilogy of Nutrients—Safety, Connection, and Dignity 85

Chapter 8: Our Heart—We Space 93

Chapter 9: Greed 97

Chapter 10: Shame… Subtle, Seductive, and Searing 105

Part IC: Science Of The Landscape 113

Chapter 11: Basic Body—Body, Emotions, Sensations 115

Chapter 12: More Geeking Out with Somatic Markers 121

Chapter 13: Our Nervous System 125

Chapter 14: Measurements: Money and Body 131

Part ID: Skillful Response In The Landscape 137

Chapter 15: Productive Rest and Productive Action 139

Chapter 16: Masculine and Feminine, Focused and Spacious 149

Chapter 17: Wider Masculine and Deeper Feminine 157

Chapter 18: Money Madness Made Mindful 165

Chapter 19: Wants, Aspirations, Goals—What Are Mine? 171

Chapter 20: Trust 177

Chapter 21: Feedback 183

Chapter 21a: Transition Points: An Opportunity to Pause or Go Directly to Practice 187

Part II: Fruition: The Fruition Introduction 197

Part IIA: Fruition In Action 201

Chapter 22: Money Moving through the Heart 203

Chapter 23: Humor and Humility on the Virtuous Flow 209

Chapter 24: Money Mastery 215

Chapter 25: Integrity Is a Direct Experience 219

Part IIB: Heads Up 225

Chapter 26: The Three Toxic Myths 227

Chapter 27: Unrealistic Expectations 235

Chapter 28: There Is No “Right” Number 239

Chapter 29: Love Your Victim 245

Chapter 30: The Virtues 251

Chapter 31: Grief, Loss, Betrayal 257

Chapter 32: Sometimes We Need to Get Angry 261

Part IIC: A New World 265

Chapter 33: Consumption, Generosity, and Generativity 267

Chapter 34: Justice and Equity 277

Chapter 35: Generosity: Our Essential Survival Skill 283

Chapter 36: The Fruition of the Virtuous Flow 287

Chapter 36a: My Last Love Letter to You 291

About the Website 293

Acknowledgments 295

About the Author 297

Index 299

GAYLE COLMAN is a Certified Financial Planner^® and Master Integral Coach^™ with 40 years of experience in the world of money as an advisor to individuals, families and entrepreneurs. She is a co-founder of Colman Knight Advisory Group, LLC, providing Integral Wealth Services in a nourishing environment committed to generous listening, high integrity, and expert care.

The stories you’ve been told about money are all wrong. Spreadsheets, P&Ls, market swings, Index Funds, and personal budgets barely scratch the surface. The Body of Money: A Self-Help Guide to Creating Sustainable Wealth through Innate Intelligence gives you a comprehensive guide to building and sustaining wealth—by using the incredible intelligence of the human body.

Certified Financial Planner^® and Master Integral Coach^™ Gayle Colman delivers an inspiring and unique discussion of money that shows you how to unpack the “why” inside destructive money behaviors and heal the wounds inside them. You’ll learn to use your innate wisdom to change old money patterns, work through generational financial trauma, and create sustainable wealth aligned with your deepest values. With cutting-edge research, laugh-out-loud storytelling, and body-centered practices, Gayle puts the power of individual wealth-building back into your hands.

No money management book has ever before tapped the power of body intelligence. In The Body of Money, you’ll finally understand how the body can have a transformative effect on your money habits. You’ll learn where your personal money manager lives in your body and how to access its wisdom to gain true financial agency, reduce debt, manage investments, and make the most important money decisions of your life.

The Body of Money is an indispensable approach to personal finance, perfect for any person seeking relief from money struggles and longing to create a robust and healthy money legacy for their lives.

PRAISE FOR the body of money

“Gayle’s work in Somatic Finance^® is at the forefront of the next evolution of personal finance. Her book, The Body of Money, provides a better understanding of the integral, yet often ignored, connection between our money and our body, which in turn helps strengthen our awareness, feelings and relationship with money.”
—JAKE NORTHRUP, CFP^®, CFA, CSLP^®, Founder and CEO of Experience Your Wealth

“When I first heard Gayle Colman connect money wisdom with body wisdom, my heart stood at attention. This work is a gift when you’re ready to unpack and heal the dysfunctional way we learn to work with money. You’ll finally realize that wise confident embodied financial decisions were right inside you all along.”
—PATTY LENNON, Founder of the Receiving School^®, Author of Make Space for Magic

“Thirty years ago, the humane side of money was a faint whisper sensed by a small number of financial planners beginning to feel there was more to their work with individuals and families than just money. Gayle felt that inner pull and immersed herself in somatic practices steeped in ancient wisdom through the lens of financial planning. The result is a body of work, and her book, The Body of Money, that will continue to enrich the profession and those they serve for lifetimes to come.”
—SUSAN BRADLEY, CFP^®, CeFT^®, Founder of Sudden Money Institute

“Unlike many personal finance offerings, Gayle speaks WITH us evoking the image and power of money, leading us to the possibility of peace with timeless wisdom. Through her gentle guidance we can navigate the depths of our own money beliefs and behaviors with an open heart and mind, emerging with understanding, power and most importantly, purpose.”
—SAUNDRA DAVIS, MS, FCC^®, FBS^® Financial Coach, Certified Mindfulness Teacher

“The Body of Money will engage you right away by bringing breath and YOUR body to engage with money and all its tendrils in a new way. You’ll journey with a deeply friendly and, dare I say, fun (what! money can be fun?!) guide, Gayle, who will weave new possibilities and new inherent resources to generate and enjoy a new money script and new relationship with inner and outer resources. I’m excited for your adventure with this enormously useful book.”
—KATHLYN HENDRICKS, PhD, BC-DMT, Bestselling Author of Conscious Loving and At the Speed of Life