How To Embody Abundance
Last week, I was talking to one of my clients. Let’s call her Jo. She’s an amazing coach, and she was super frustrated.
"It's happening again, Katy. I landed that dream client—the one I've been manifesting for months—and now they're ghosting me. Every. Single. Time. I get close to real success, something goes wrong."
I nodded, because I knew exactly what she was experiencing. I’ve seen it over and over again… not just with creative entrepreneurs, but also with actors who always get pinned but never quite land the role.
When Your Body Betrays Your Bank Account
I’ve ALSO seen this with clients who get the role, the clients and the money…
In fact, a client received a $5,000 check for a documentary project—the largest payment she’d ever received at that point in her career. Within 48 hours, her car's transmission failed ($2,300), her laptop died ($1,800), and her dog swallowed something and the vet cost was about $800.
At the end of it all, she had $100 left.
Was it bad luck? Poor planning? The universe testing her?
Well, maybe.
However, through the somatic trauma-informed training I’ve done, I had to tell her that our nervous systems are programmed to maintain financial homeostasis. We have an unconscious "set point" for money, and anything above that feels dangerous to our bodies.
The Science of Safety and Abundance
Our bodies are magnificent survival machines. They learn patterns early—really early. If you grew up hearing arguments about money, watching financial struggle, or absorbing subtle messages that wealth equals greed, your nervous system took notes.
These notes become your operating system. When opportunities arise that challenge these deeply-held patterns, your body might sabotage them—not because you're broken, but because it's trying to protect you.
Think about it this way: If you grew up believing (even unconsciously) that money leads to conflict, abandonment or in the case of my client Jo (her father had died while at work), your body will resist prosperity as a (in Jo’s case a literal) survival mechanism.
A book by Bessel van der Kolk, says it all in the title: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
Breaking Free From The Pattern
With Jo, we started approaching her financial blocks differently. Instead of just setting more ambitious goals or working harder, I actually asked her to REST and PLAY, and had her ask this question:
"What would it feel like in my body if this amount of money felt completely safe to receive?"
She practiced sitting with uncomfortable sensations that arose when visualizing bringing in money. She brought awareness to where tension lived in her body when discussing rates with clients.
Gradually, her "window of tolerance" for abundance expanded. She made more money. She was able to raise her rates. Clients stopped ghosting her. Money started to stay. Opportunities completed rather than disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
A Simple Practice You Can Try Today
Here's a brief exercise that's been transformative for my clients:
Find a quiet moment and comfortable seat
Place one hand on your heart, one on your belly
Imagine talking to the potential client or getting pinned for a role (or whatever situation that feels like there’s a possibility of it going either way)
Notice—without judgment—what happens in your body
Where do you feel tension?
Does your breathing change?
Do you feel excitement, anxiety, or both?
Simply observe these sensations with curiosity, telling your body: "You're safe. It's safe for us to receive the client, the role, the gig, and the money."
Do this for just 2-3 minutes daily. You might be surprised how quickly your nervous system begins to expand its capacity for abundance.
Deepening This Work Together
If anything above resonates with you...
I'm hosting an in-person retreat in Pasadena in September! The Embody Abundance Retreat is where we'll dive deeply into creating nervous system safety around money and success.
I am creating an experience that really gets diminished over zoom. We'll use movement, physical experiences, a sound bath and community to release financial stuckness and to embody what we truly desire.
Pascale, a musician who attended my New Year's retreat, wrote to me: "Two hours after writing my goals in present tense—something I never believed would work—I received notification that our performance grant was approved!"
The reason I share the above?
She didn’t even believe it could work, and it still worked! That’s how powerful Embodiment work really is! It goes beyond affirmations and mindset work because when your body feels safe enough to do the thing or receive the abundance, then what you desire comes easily!
If you're curious about joining us on September 27-28, you can [learn more here]. Space is limited, and although the price went up by $100, it’s still a very, very low price compared to the full price of $988!
I hope to see you in Pasadena, where I live! I would love to share with you my beautiful town. We are so close to the Eaton wildfires, but luckily most of Pasadena has survived and the parts that have burned, there’s a real sense of community and commitment to help us rebuild.
Remember, your body's resistance to abundance isn't a character flaw—it's a protection mechanism that has outlived its usefulness. And it can change.
With Love & Gratitude,
P.S. Embodying abundance starts with feeling that possibility within yourself. Not just knowing it in your mind, but feeling it in your body, and that’s what we’re doing in person in Pasadena in September! Check out the Embody Abundance Retreat below before the prices go up again at the end of this month!