SURVIVAL, SAFETY & YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

Breaking Up With the Bullsh*t Blog Seriese: Post 1 of 4

You Are Not Behind.

What Your Body Already Knows About Money -- and Why Nobody Taught You This

Before we talk about budgets, abundance, or any of the practical stuff, I need to say something I wish someone had said to me a long time ago.

There is a difference between needing some coaching with money mindset and legitimately being in survival mode. And our financial wellness culture -- for all the empowering language it loves to use -- almost never actually addresses that gap.

This post is for the people in that gap.

If You Are in Survival Mode Right Now

I want to hold space for you. Not in a performative way -- in a real, I-see-you way. Because the reality for too many people is that the idea of "growing abundance" feels like being handed a recipe while your kitchen is on fire.

If you are presently in survival mode, you are safe here. I see you.

And if you are finding your way out of survival mode -- if you have clawed and scraped your way through a period that was chock full of cortisol and adrenaline, wondering if you were going to be able to pay your next bill, contacting creditors, making it work somehow -- I see you too. Congratulations. I am so freaking proud of you for getting here!

You are winning. It doesn't matter if you aren't the definition of your own success yet, because every success matters.

If you have money left in your bank account before your next paycheck -- and I don't care if it's $2 -- that is a surplus. That is success. Please, recognize that!

You Are Allowed to Have Surviving Be Your Only Job Right Now

I realized something the other day: as long as we are alive, there is still work to be done. The house will always need to be cleaned. The dishes will always need to be done. We will always need to go to the dentist, balance the checkbook, go to the store. These things don't end because they are part of our existence here in this 3D reality.

We are here to do a job. And sometimes, all that job entails is surviving. You are allowed to have that be your only job right now. If that is the reality you are in at this moment -- you are doing your job. Celebrate that.

You are here. You're surviving. I mean really, I see you! And your doing a damn good job!

And for those of you who are pulling, climbing, scraping or clawing yourselves out of survival mode; finding any kind of surplus after bills, after groceries, after putting food on the table and shoes on little feet, or food in your own mouth, (even if it was girl dinner). If you are making it to the point where you have anything left over: excellent work! There are things you can do with that money to make your life more abundant. Let us find gratitude for what we have right now.

Why Looking at Your Bank Account Feels Like a Threat

Here is something I want you to really take in -- because our society has done a real number on us by not saying it plainly:

The part of our brain that lights up when we see food is the same part that lights up when we receive love or affection from our community. And it is also the same part that lights up when we see money.

Dealing with finances, for our nervous system and our evolutionary wiring, is dealing with our survival.

This is why so many people have such a hard time even just sitting down and looking at their bank account. It is not laziness. It is not irresponsibility. It is a nervous system doing exactly what it was built to do when something survival-adjacent shows up.

And then our culture makes it worse. Instead of treating avoidance of something that legitimately triggers fight or flight as a symptom of dysregulation in someone who needs support -- our society plugs in shame. "Why can't you just take care of it?" That is some of the bullsh*t I am here to call out.

Dysregulation Is Sometimes by Design

Here's the other piece. When we are dysregulated -- when things are too heavy, too overwhelming, too much -- our problem-solving functions go offline. Our critical thinking disappears. Our brain and body switch to survival mode: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

For some systems in our world right now, that dysregulation is intentional. By design. Because a dysregulated person cannot strategize, cannot organize, cannot collectively resist.

If you have been feeling like you cannot think straight about money lately -- that is not a personal failing. That is a nervous system doing its job in response to real, ongoing threats. It is not your fault. And it is not a character flaw.

The first step is not a spreadsheet. The first step is safety. The first step is compassion -- for yourself, for your body, for how hard you have been working just to be here.

Some of the tools we'll work with together are designed specifically with this in mind. Even if you are in survival mode right now, they can still meet you where you are. I built them that way on purpose. You deserve better than a preset, restrictive program that was never built with you in mind. And you deserve so, so much more.

Are you ready to go deeper?

If this resonated with you, Awakened Wealth is an 8-week virtual group coaching program combining chakra healing, somatic work, and practical financial strategy -- starting April 27th. Sliding scale and scholarship options are available, because this work belongs to everyone who needs it. Learn more and save your spot at the link below. Or, if you're ready to take the next step with 1:1 coaching, schedule your fee connection & consultation call here!

With warmth, love and abundance always,

Jenni