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MONEY matters

Mark Zaifman's thoughts on money, global economic trends and politics
Attracting Abundance into Your Life
Mark Zaifman   |    Wed, Jul 08, 2009 @ 03:06 PM

I was back on the East Coast for a couple of weeks. The humidity was on full display. Who needs a sauna when you have 90% humidity? But allow me to digress.

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Staying Calm in Stressful Times
Mark Zaifman   |    Thu, Mar 05, 2009 @ 04:35 PM

Another day, another 300 points or so the stock market drops. As we listen to hourly reports about the growing global financial crisis and read the daily columns about the huge debts we face as a nation, it’s challenging to stay calm in the midst of all this anxiety provoking news. One strategy to cope in times of high anxiety is to avoid listening to the news and not watching the stock market ticker on an hourly basis. But there are other self-care strategies that can help us stay centered, lower our stress and improve our outlook, even in tough times.

The first strategy is to remember to breathe. Breathing equals life and it’s one of the words that define the Latin word - Spiritus. We breathe all the time, of course, but probably not as fully or consciously as we should. Take a few minutes every day to sit in a quiet, comfortable place, close your eyes and take several long, deep breaths way down in your belly. Yawn, sigh, or let out any other sounds you’ve been holding inside. A session of mindful breathing will slow down your heart rate, increase the oxygen to every cell in your body and improve your mood. It’s a simple but powerful tool. And it feels so good you could easily make it a habit!

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The Economic Meltdown and The Seven Stages of Grief
Mark Zaifman   |    Fri, Feb 20, 2009 @ 05:26 PM

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to be on KGO radio in San Francisco for an hour with Joanne Greene, as part of the book tour for Your Money or Your Life, of which I was a contributor to. The topic du jour of course was money. We discussed money and spirituality as well as your relationship with money and then moved to discussing the current economic meltdown. That’s when things got interesting.

As soon as we started talking about the stimulus plan, specifically the mortgage proposal President Obama spoke about last week , that’s when I heard the anger so many people are feeling right now come roaring out of the gate. With right wing talk radio fanning the flames of anger and stoking the fear so many people feel, we’re going backwards, not forwards in solving the serious problems our country is facing. Joanne’s show is progressive and she is one smart cookie. Yet even with her listeners that I sense tend to be more moderate and left of center, the vibe of anger and blaming other people for getting us into this mess was present.

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