As mentioned in our previous blog, finances can be tricky and even heartbreaking as we go through awakening. If you have not read the earlier blog yet, please start there, and then return here.

Today I would like to explore some perspectives, tips and ideas that can be helpful to include in the ways you wrestle with your financial process at this time – including a few things not to do!

The topic of finances is massive. So please keep in mind that this blog makes no attempt to resolve long-term financial processes that are part of the journey of your life. It simply hones in on the specific intersection between financial challenges and needs, and awakening.

In writing this I want to both allay some fears and heal shame while allowing us to get more comfortable talking about finances and awakening. I also want to acknowledge that there is a cohort of people who find themselves in long-term financial strife and struggle, living very frugally without funds to access anything beyond bare-bones, essential needs. Some of this is a result of pre-existing struggle before Kundalini arrived or since it arrived, or difficult intersections between Kundalini trauma and health. Or it exists because of difficult social and political situations, colonization, slavery and patriarchy to name a few other significant roadblocks in today’s culture. This blog is not geared to address these big topics but to simply air issues that get hidden away, considered as taboo and therefore not discussed. My hope is that this blog allows you to be more loving toward yourself if you find yourself in this situation. I want to offer support and hope and give an additional perspective on the processes that I see people go through.

I acknowledge that there are always going to be outliers to what I am sharing, and if you find yourself there. I send you much love. 

One of the things that I feel is very important to share as someone who has been through this process and the accompanying financial stresses, (and having supported hundreds of people through Kundalini awakening) is that the majority of people do eventually return to work.

For those of you in this phase of financial stress, freaking out about whether it is ever going to change, I want you to know that the answer is overwhelmingly “Yes!”

This is, I think, the most supportive, soothing message that I can give you if you are in this part of the process. It can be very scary when a mysterious process affects your ability to earn income. Especially if you are deeply responsible for yourself and others, and don’t have a financial cushion or external resources. It can be terrifying, and stressful and can add extra panic to an awakening process that already makes you anxious. 

What I have seen over and over again, and I often work with very complex and acute cases of Kundalini crisis, is that giving care for what is needed with the Kundalini and stabilizing awakening means that people’s systems naturally restructure, reset and ground. Kundalini goes from being a primary, dominating and demanding experience which financially limits you, to a background process that allows everyday life and work life to be primary again. 

Usually, I see people return to work within a couple of months to a year on average. Of course, some people have much deeper or complex processes that require more time out to heal and resolve, and thus time off from work can be greater as a result. The most common time out I witness from income-earning usually is around 4-6 months – in generalization – even acute cases of Kundalini crisis are often back to work in a year whether full-time or an amended work schedule or in a simpler/adjusted role. Some choose a new career, return to one they have known, or find a part-time job that earns enough money to support the needs of their Awakening process because its needs are still somewhat primary. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this blog where I share stories and give context to this area of awakening that no one talks about. 

Here are some things that I have seen help clients through a financial freakout. These are practical tips, not fiscal advice. 

APPROACHES THAT CAN BE HELPFUL:

• Your loving attitude and acceptance of a period of not being able to work much, or even at all, can be a struggle to arrive at and yet is deeply supportive as it gives you space to flow with this difficult process. There is nothing “wrong” with you that this is happening as a part of awakening.
• This reduction in work and income might be because of three things. The intensity of the process, the need to stop and be solely with the process, or it might be because people are having an awakening where they need time out to return to care for the transformation of their system.
• It is important to honour that extremely important restructuring and healing takes place during this time, and respecting that this becomes the main focus of your life. This becomes the new foundation of your work life, whatever form it resurrects in.
• Your former function of providing for yourself and others recedes for a period of time. Your primary identity as a worker or career-driven person takes a back seat, temporarily.
• It is important to go with it. Over the decades I have spent supporting people through awakening, for the vast majority of people this phase is temporary. You will no doubt be scared that it will go on forever, that there will be no way out, and that you won’t be able to go back to work, but the vast majority of people I witness going through awakening do return to the workforce and generate an income.

• There is usually an underlying intuitive process that you can attune to that can give you confidence and reassurance that this is a temporary diversion
• Once the needs and demands of the high processing period of the awakening process are fulfilled you will most likely be able to return to the workforce. It is important at this time to become accepting of and patient with this high purification phase as much as possible. Everything in you will rail against it, will hate it, will fret wildly, but none of this will get you back into the workforce. The only thing that will get you back is following your process lovingly during this awakening time. Feed your process with what it needs, food, nutrients, rest, self-investigation, healing, therapy, creativity, time in nature, self-love, all of these are highly supportive. Live in close and quiet alignment with your awakening process. 
• Doing all of these things, as they are intuitively called for, allows the kundalini process to unfold, self-nourish and move you forward on your journey at the right pace. You cannot push it to go faster as it will create an adverse reaction in the system that means the whole thing takes longer
• Through this time it can be helpful to be part of a community, have friends nearby, so you can receive support and encouragement and affirmation about where you are in this phase. 

The  DO  NOT’S:

• Do not hate yourself for being in this position. It is usually not ‘your fault’ but as a result of the intersection of awakening, personal history and Kundalini plus any complexities Kundalini has met at ignition.
• Do not criticize yourself and put yourself down because you cannot participate in life and working life in ways you used to – usually, this is temporary and will adjust over time as your awakening process evolves. Your primary identity as a worker, income earner or career achiever is going to take a temporary ‘hit’. Everything in you will initially rail against this, and there can be a lot of grief, loss, despair and hopelessness. Grieve as needed, breathe, place that role on the back burner and allow yourself to use your awareness to support your process so you can be as effective as possible in this healing period. If you’re addicted to work or the role, you will find this phase initially very hard. 
• Social conditioning can be intensely minimizing and devastating to people when they cannot participate in work (or participate as much as usual) because many societies, particularly Western societies, value you primarily and ascribe you higher social status if you can work. There can be a lot of suffering and therefore an opportunity to examine very clearly what your true sense of worth is when you cannot rely on socially prescribed self-worth.
  You DO HAVE beauty and bounty but not necessarily the way/s to perform that you and society would like you to. 

The fundamental need in this phase of the temporary inability to participate in the workforce is trust in yourself, and the process you are in. To trust that you will return and be able to continue in your financial independence with more awakening, heartfulness, compassion and new well-being. I see people consistently flourish in a variety of new ways when they return to work.

FINANCIAL TIPS – NOTHING NEW, BUT WHAT PEOPLE OFTEN NEED:

• Reduce unnecessary expenses, be simple, and prioritize investment in your well-being healing and recovery – any therapeutic support you need, that is where your investment needs to be.
• If in acute, intense healing:  find support that honors your Kundalini process and healing, eliminating triggers to any exacerbating Kundalini symptoms as much as possible. This may be a period in your life where you invest more in healthcare, food, treatments, therapy, etc than any other time in your life. This may be the first time of such dedicated investment and some people find that they can continue to work with this investment in themselves
• Once the fundamental process is satisfied you can drop back into focusing on maintenance for the system, and over time the need for that maintenance may drop away completely.

• If you find yourself balking at the demands of the awakening it may be because some of us accumulate a lot of suffering and trauma over lifetimes. You may find that you have to continue to prioritize the quality of your food, the need to go for a nature walk regularly, monthly bodywork etc, that allows Kundalini to flow. Such investments will maintain your health and reliability to be in and return to the workforce.
• If all you can do is crawl along financially with a small amount of part-time work, acknowledge that this is a huge accomplishment. Well done you!!! We can feel bad that we can only work reduced hours or part-time or in a minimized role, please remember to appreciate yourself, and keep crawling along till things shift and more can be accomplished. Do not let that inner critic beat you up! Doing anything during this phase is something to be immensely proud of and more than quite a number of people can in this phase. Crawling along is such an important skill, and is sometimes incredibly hard taking all your capacity, and yet will keep you able to support yourself in some form. A lot of confidence can be kept alive through this way of proceeding. And remember, at some point, this will shift.

THE POWER OF ACCEPTING HELP!

Finally, one of the most important things you can do in this phase of financial restriction is to accept any help offered that feels aligned for you. Historically accepting support and generosity as you walked the awakening path was very normal, even encouraged. In the past, people would go through Kundalini awakening in a sacred and sustained environment, a temple, ashram or monastery, a more insulated place where working in the everyday world was not required. This gave much more space for the awakening process to unfold in a natural and unpressured manner. 

Here the community worked together to sustain the lives of those most vulnerable during awakening and only light or no duties would be ascribed to a person depending on where they were in the awakening path. The yogi in the cave would be offered regular meals prepared by nearby villagers while locals would donate food, money, cloth, labour and resources to their nearby monastery. It is a more modern experience that we are householders managing spontaneous and often unsought awakenings in the midst of worldly life and tasked with managing work/finances/income. Yet the need to accept aid is unchanged even though the support system is no longer present.

I encourage you to be open to available support systems. This can be receiving financial generosity from friends, family or your partner or using precious savings. This can all allow time off work to “heal” so you can more effectively return. This can make a huge difference if available. Resources could include accepting paid sick leave, using insurance to fund paid leave, taking a leave of absence rather than leaving a role permanently, accepting invitations to stay with family, and friends and offerings of accommodation.

It can involve reaching out and asking for assistance, going over edges and being vulnerable to seek external support. Sometimes our circumstances mean we have no choice but to be grounded, humble and reach out. Government benefits, disability support programs and pensions can be critical at times. Community and receiving the care of others can be very important factors in finding our way through financially impactful phases of awakening. It is very normal to both receive, reach out for and need this extraneous help and if you have the opportunity gifted to you – I encourage you to consider receiving it. 

It is my hope that in opening the doors and lovingly airing this topic you can feel more normal if you are having financial stress during your awakening. I would love to hear from you, your thoughts and experiences – feel free to share in the comments below especially if you have gone on this journey of having to take an enforced break of some kind from earning or limited earning, and then return successfully to work.  If you need further resources for your awakening you will find free videos and audios and more than 150 blogs on this website supporting your awakening and finding your way forward.

Please look out for our final, part three, offering in this series – coming soon.

Thank you for walking your awakening path! You are seen. And you are loved.