If you’ve ever struggled with financial anxiety, you’re not alone—

I’ve been there too.

Money worries have been a recurring theme in my life, but over the years, I’ve learned tools to help me navigate those moments of fear and overwhelm.

In this post, I’m sharing three tips that have been game-changers for me. They’re simple, effective, and have made a big difference in how I approach financial matters.

I hope they help you too.

Tip 1: Get Physical to Reset Your Nervous System

One of the first things I learned about managing financial anxiety is the importance of movement. There have been so many times I’ve felt paralyzed at the thought of looking at my finances or tackling something like a negotiation. What I’ve discovered is that moving my body—even just a short walk around the block or a quick set of squats—helps shift that frozen, overwhelmed feeling.

Here’s why: movement triggers the release of mood-boosting hormones like serotonin. It also helps calm the “fight or flight” response in your nervous system, making it easier to think clearly. For me, getting my heart rate up even a little before diving into financial tasks creates space for calm and focus.

So next time you’re gearing up to look at your bank statements or tackle financial planning, try a few minutes of intentional movement first. You might be surprised at how much it helps.

Tip 2: Set the Initial Conditions for Success

I’ve also learned how much my environment impacts my ability to approach financial tasks without feeling overwhelmed. If I’m hungry, tired, or just not in a good headspace, even the simplest financial task feels impossible. Over time, I realized that setting myself up for success starts with creating the right initial conditions.

For me, this might look like:

Putting on my favorite fuzzy sweater to feel safe and grounded.
Making a cup of licorice tea (it’s like a hug in a mug).
Using orange essential oil because the scent instantly lifts my spirits and makes me feel abundant.

These little rituals help me feel more relaxed and remind my nervous system that I’m safe. When I’m in a state of comfort and ease, it’s so much easier to focus, stay on task, and approach money with patience and curiosity.

What makes you feel safe, warm, and ready?

Try creating your own “goldilocks conditions” before diving into financial matters—it can make a huge difference.

Tip 3: Seek Support to Decrease Shame and Increase Discernment

This was the hardest lesson for me to learn, but also the most transformative: it’s okay to ask for help. For years, I believed I had to figure out money stuff on my own — but all that did was deepen my anxiety and shame. Reaching out for support was a game-changer.

When I started talking to trusted people—friends who love spreadsheets, my coach, and even communities of like-minded folks—I noticed two things:

My shame began to melt away.
My ability to make thoughtful, discerning financial decisions improved.

We’re not meant to handle everything alone.

If financial anxiety is weighing on you, think about who in your life might be a good source of support. It could be a friend who geeks out on investing, a therapist who can help normalize your feelings, or a coach who offers practical tools. The most important thing is to recognize that you’re not alone.

If you’re looking for a supportive community, consider joining the upcoming Embodied Money Trauma Reset (EMTR) 101.

Over six weeks, starting January 28, 2025, we’ll explore how the nervous system impacts your relationship with money, why earning more isn’t always the answer, and how to approach financial well-being from a trauma-informed, somatic perspective.

Final Thoughts

These tips—moving your body, creating the right conditions, and seeking support—have been so helpful to me as I’ve worked through my own financial anxiety. They’re simple, but they’ve made a world of difference.

If you’re feeling stuck, start small. Even one intentional action can begin to shift how you feel about money. And remember: you don’t have to face this alone.

(EMTR) 101: Embodied Money Trauma Reset is now open for enrollment for a limited time. Class begins January 28th, 2025. Get the details and save your spot.

Research and anecdotal evidence both suggest yoga is beneficial for all kinds of things: physical strength, balance and flexibility, relief of neck and back pain, better sleep, and more.

What fewer people realize, is that yoga can also be a powerful ally in the healing of relational, shock and systemic trauma.

Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD, is a clinical psychiatrist whose work attempts to integrate mind, brain, body, and social connections to understand and treat trauma. He is the author of The New York Times bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score and writes:

When people think about trauma, they generally think of it as a historical event that happened some time ago. Trauma is actually the residue from the past as it settles into your body. It’s located inside your own skin. When people are traumatized, they become afraid of their physical sensations; their breathing becomes shallow, and they become uptight and frightened about what they’re feeling inside. When you slow down your breathing with yoga, you can increase your heart rate variability, and that decreases stress. Yoga opens you up to feeling every aspect of your body’s sensations. It’s a gentle, safe way for people to befriend their bodies, where the trauma of the past is stored.

In this video, I share just a few of the many ways yoga helps the healing of trauma.

4 Ways Yoga Helps Trauma Healing

Yoga can alleviate pain and discomfort in the body.

For many people, emotional pain can also be physically painful.

As Nikki Myers says, “Our issues live in our tissues.” Yoga can be extremely helpful to relieve some of that pain, especially if you are doing a gentle, trauma-informed yoga practice.

If you’re in severe grief or emotional pain – whether because of the death of a loved one, a break up, or the latest mass shooting – those 15-30 minutes on the yoga mat can be a blessing of (non-addictive) pain-relief.

2. Yoga can reduce the physical tension in the body which often causes us to be reactive.

Trauma is anything that overwhelms our capacity to cope, and leaves us feeling helpless, hopeless or unable to respond. When we experience difficult events, our bodies produce a series of chemicals. If we are lucky enough to process the event and our big emotions in the moment, it often passes without leaving a long-term residue on our nervous system.

But if there’s no time to process those big feelings - and discharge those chemicals - they often end up turning into the tension we experience in our bodies. Yoga helps us let go of the physical tension and the old emotions that can cause us to be reactive in our relationships, at work and in our public lives.

Feeling the feelings isn’t always fun, but for our long-term health and well-being it’s a must.

3. Practicing yoga can be a chance to learn about, cultivate and use boundaries.

When I went to my first yoga classes many years ago, I was definitely not a fan.

I was comparing myself to everyone in the room and couldn’t keep up. I felt so awkward. It took me many years to find yoga that was my jam …

And what a teacher taught me was that, if i was in yoga thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow or next week, I wasn’t practicing good boundaries. That really got me curious.

The invitation was to keep my focus on what was actually happening on my yoga mat. So I started to actually notice when something was causing me to take my attention from what was happening right there in the room.

This is so important because folks who experience stress, anxiety and trauma (and especially folks in the helping professions or people who are givers), often have boundaries that aren’t necessarily strong and healthy. Maybe we over give or over share and then feel ashamed we did that. Or we have difficulty saying no.

That’s certainly been part of my journey.

So on the yoga mat (or chair), it’s a great chance to practice boundaries and keep coming back to what’s actually happening right here in the moment. As we practice bringing our awareness to our sensations, breath, thoughts and emotions that are on the mat, we are learning to cultivate boundaries. This is important because if our boundaries are intact, we can respond to the challenges of life in a much more proactive way and avoid becoming victimized again.

4. When practiced with mindfulness, it can be a way of learning about and accepting yourself exactly the way you are.

If you compare yourself to other people - and are either the best in the room or the worst - you’re probably also lacking in self-compassion. Learning mindful self-acceptance is a huge game changer - especially if you are looking to change.

Why?

Because shame (a tool many of us use to whip ourselves into shape) never causes anyone to make sustainable long-term healthy changes. Let’s face it - if it worked, you wouldn’t be here reading this looking for another approach.

So when we bring a spirit of non-judgmental acceptance of ourselves exactly the way we are, and truly practice self-compassion and self-acceptance, we can also be much more accepting and inclusive of others.

And a BONUS ….

If you want to see the world become a place where there’s greater justice, equality, opportunity for all regardless of race, religion, gender, ability, class, sexual orientation, or any other element of identity, then you know compassion and acceptance of yourself is the beginning of compassion and acceptance for others. Among the best ways you can contribute to making the world a better place, is with self-acceptance and self-compassion. You’ve heard it said again and again but we truly must be the change we want to see in the world!

If you’re looking to transform stress, anxiety and trauma into resilience, I hope these four ways yoga can help will inspire you to take the self-care actions you need to thrive. After all, you deserve it!