A Closer Look At Why Many In the Yoga Community Have No Money.

Growing up, I had a hard time with money. My parents were divorced and I was left with my mom, who could barely figure things out and had very little education. My grandparents were always stressed about money. All I’d heard my entire life was how we could never do or buy anything because we didn’t have the money. It was an eerie mantra that my entire family was obsessed with saying over and over again: “I don’t have any money.” Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, no?

Fast-forward a few years and in my early teens, I became quite the entrepreneur. OK, to be clear, I sold pot. But I was really good at it and I took the money I made (I never dipped!) and invested it into events — and later, a magazine. Long story short, I swore to myself that I didn’t want to be broke anymore; I made the magic happen, took myself out of the self-fulfilling prophecy and perpetual state of financial fear, while doing what I loved.

This had nothing to do with world domination or filling some void in my life with money. I’ve definitely avoided the “more disease” that plagues most of the people on this planet. Mainly, I just wanted the freedom to come and go as I pleased. If I wanted some sushi, I wanted to buy it and not stress that I just threw down $30 – $40. If I got invited to go snowboarding or on a vacation, I wanted to be able to do that and not worry about money.

Fortunately, as I established myself and learned how to hustle in this world, I was able to transmute this fear of “lack of money” that my family passed onto me. After leaving the DJ music scene, I started to work in the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) and in the yoga community. What I noticed right away was that many conscious yoga peeps have this same belief structure or approach to their finances that my family has.

I think most of us would agree that we don’t need a lot of money. In fact, most of my friends would say a solid $40,000 – $50,000 after taxes would be plenty to live a good life. Yet so many are barely getting by; so many wonderful people with amazing ideas and intentions barely have enough to eat, let alone fork over cash for a monthly yoga membership. I have a friend who will trade eating properly on a regular basis for taking yoga. Is this the way we should be living?

It saddens me that so many wonderful people who would do positive things with their money have none. It became clear to me that the reason why so many in the LOHAS movement have no money is because most of us grew up equating people with money as total assholes. We see people who are financially rich on the outside — but poor on the inside — and they use their money in negative ways. We grew up seeing this and subconsciously created a negative belief system around money. We saw having money as being a bad person.

For many, to be conscious means to renounce all material things and be poor. I say screw that; you can be conscious and spiritual and still have money. It’s not about the “what”, it’s more about the “how”. From my perspective, how one uses their money determines their outcome. You can still be conscious, live simply, tread lightly and still have money.

If you are one of these people who have established a negative belief system around money, then you’re doing everyone a huge disservice. For the time being, until we can get our act together as a planet and live on a more resource-based economy or some alternative/sustainable exchange system, money is the way the world turns. By instituting a belief system that says “money is bad”, it doesn’t do anyone any good. 

Let’s look at this closely:

A. If you have lots of money, then you’ll buy sustainable products, support charities, buy a membership to elephant journal and support projects that will create more joy and positive outcomes in the world.

OR

B. By having a negative belief system around money and not having any, you allow others to have more access to it to fund wars, build more yachts and private jets and spend it on totally frivolous items or services. Even worse, you come to elephant journal for your three free articles and then have to wait until the next day because you can’t afford a few bucks a month.

In many ways, we’re at war. That war is no longer just being fought with weaponry. It’s being fought with money that is a symbol for energy. Take a close look at your belief systems and ask yourself this very important question: what must I believe to be true about money and abundance that keeps me from obtaining what I want and deserve in life?

Please leave your response in the comments area, as I would love to know what belief you have about money that is holding you back from creating true abundance.

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As the founder of Yoga Training Guide, the most comprehensive guide to yoga teacher training, Sergio DiazGranados is dedicated to supporting students along their path of becoming a yoga teacher.  He recently launched an annual yoga teacher training scholarship program, where you can win one free teacher training.