Are you tired of worrying about money? If so, why not take the time and make an effort to get your money-related life in order and achieve financial peace of mind? Wouldn’t it be nice to say goodbye to worrying about high-interest credit cards, multiple student loans you’ve been paying on for years, and monthly budgets that leave little room for personal spending? Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to deal with the challenge of getting to the finish line. In addition to refinancing school debt, explore the possibility of setting up an automated savings account, removing budget holes that devour income, investing on a regular basis, and assisting local charitable causes at the same time. Here’s how to get started on the road to monetary peace of mind.

Refinance Your Student Loans

If you want to give a major boost to your money-related mental health status, consider refinancing education loans that are lingering on your monthly budget. The best thing about this technique is that it’s an effective way to take control of your spending and beat the interest rate crunch by locking in a single monthly payment at a rate you can live with. Plus, by refinancing school loans, it’s usually possible to get more favorable repayment times, terms, and other conditions. The refinanced loan comes with a once-per-month payment and a fresh contract. Applying is done entirely online and takes little time. There’s a good reason that many working adults opt to refinance student loans as it saves them money in the long run.

Save And Invest

Consider saving 5% or more of your income. It might take a while to work up to that amount, but most people can get there after trying. Ideally, you want to aim for about 10%, but in the beginning, focus on building the habit of saving and not focusing on the amount. Along with traditional savings, set up an investment account with a reliable online broker. Doing so is an ideal way to put your money to work. Of course, there are no guarantees that investments like stocks, commodities and real estate shares will appreciate in value, but it makes good financial sense to invest at least a small percentage of your monthly income.

Eliminate Budget Holes

Do an in-depth scan of the monthly budget and try to find expenses and spending categories that you can easily eliminate. For many working adults, it’s simple to cut out fast food, convenience store purchases, and a few of the meals they eat out each month. Explore making weekly menus and eating at home more often as a way to slice the grocery bill.

Donate Time To A Local Charity

It costs nothing out of pocket to help local charities. Finding one you believe in and giving your time once or twice per week is a good way to increase self-improvement efforts as well as a great way of contributing to community betterment without spending needed funds. Most working adults appreciate what they have in terms of financial resources, a decent job, and a good life. Additionally, there’s a very human need to help others. Taking the time to work at a food bank, help low-income families file tax forms, or contribute in other ways to your neighbors goes a long way toward building financial peace of mind.

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By Shanti Kaur Khalsa

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the world far more uncertain. It’s impacted our work and finances, our relationships, and of course, our physical and mental health. Finding the sense of surety we all crave is almost impossible, which leads to stress, anxiety, and powerlessness that drains us emotionally. These feelings of helplessness can be traumatic, putting our body and mind in a constant “flight or fight” state. Staying in this tense state for too long not only hurts our quality of life but makes our immune systems more vulnerable. 

It’s important to recognize that this stress is a natural response to what’s happening in the world. After being gentle with ourselves, we also need to find a self-care routine that treats both the body and the mind, helping us to break the cycle of endless “what-ifs” about tomorrow’s challenges. 

There are plenty of ways to cope with anxiety from uncertainty. Exercise, meditation, and breathing techniques have all been proven to mitigate stress. Recently however, health care professionals, researchers, and practitioners are finding consensus around an activity that combines these three techniques into a powerful tool for regulating emotions and managing stress – Kundalini Yoga. 

How Kundalini Yoga Can Help

Kundalini Yoga is an ancient practice that incorporates movement, dynamic breathing techniques, meditation, and mantras to channel your body’s energy. While most forms of exercise produce the endorphins that make you feel better, Kundalini Yoga also releases the tension and anxiety that builds up over time in your body’s glands and nerves. It resets your stress response so that you can achieve an internal biochemistry of calm, balance, and depth of self.

This is supported by a growing body of evidence indicating that contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation are effective at treating anxiety. In one recent study, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston University and the Sundari Satnam Kundalini Yoga Center compared Kundalini Yoga with common cognitive treatments in reducing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Those who were treated with yoga had lower relative levels of anxiety and had a decrease in physical symptoms compared to traditional treatments (Visit JAMA Psychiatry to read the study).

Start Your Practice at Home

One of the many beautiful aspects of yoga is that it requires no special equipment – though a yoga mat is helpful — so there’s nothing to stop you from practicing Kundalini Yoga in your living room. Training with a qualified Kundalini instructor will eventually be necessary to learn proper form, but there are plenty of techniques you can easily perform on your own that will help to cope with the uncertainty of the pandemic. 

Try this Kundalini mediation at home whenever you feel worried or anxious. Choose a peaceful surrounding, inside or outside.  You can have soft music playing to enhance your sense of peace.

1. Sit in Easy Pose.
   • Sit on the floor. You can use a pillow or cushion for comfort.
   • Cross your legs in front of you in a comfortable and relaxed way.
   • If you are uncomfortable sitting on floor you can sit in a chair with your legs uncrossed and your feet flat on the ground.
   • Place your hands on your knees, palms down, close your eyes and observe the sensations of your body and mind.
2. Place your hands on the center of your chest at heart level. 
   • Begin by resting the back of your left hand in the palm of your right hand. 
   • Gently grab your left hand with your right, so that your right thumb is nestled in your left palm.
   • Cross your left thumb over your right. 
   • Curve the fingers of your right hand around the outside of your left hand and hold it gently with the four fingers of the left hand remaining straight. 
   • Bring your hands to your heart center, resting them against your chest. 
3. With eyes closed, inhale deeply and relax. Breath slowly for 10–30 minutes. 
   • In daily life we typically breathe 15 times a minute. Try slowing down to 4 breaths per minute by inhaling to the count of 10 and exhaling to the count of 10.  A slow breath will slow your heartbeat, reduce your stress response, and give you a peaceful, secure feeling. 
   • Your mind will begin with a lot of “chatter” and anxiety.  That is normal!  Don’t try to suppress your thoughts, let them come and go until your mind is peaceful.  If you have a particularly persistent thought, try naming it.  Say to yourself, “This is my worry about my son,” for example.  And let it go.
   • It is difficult at first, but if you do this breathing technique regularly you will find that your mind will welcome the silence and will start to relax. Soon, you will build the habit and the capacity to keep your mind calm in challenging environments.

For more ways to reduce stress through Kundalini Yoga, visit: https://www.3ho.org/

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Shanti Kaur Khalsa, a yoga teacher and business consultant who brings spiritual values to every aspect of life.  She is an engaging Sikh teacher and her involvement with Sikh youth has led to mentoring young people around the world. She is a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher who has traveled widely teaching and giving inspirational kirtan and lecture programs.  Shanti is a published historian and regularly contributes articles on both current events and Sikh history.  

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