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Sunday, April 24, 2022

Making Peace with Money

Special thanks to Mandy Starling for another great guest post in her 3-part series!


A few years ago I decided to get out of debt. With the determination and perseverance of an Ironman, I poured all my energy into this goal. I fretted, I worried, I sacrificed. One day when I was out running errands, I debated whether to use a coupon for a few dollars off a Great Harvest sandwich.

I weighed the pros and cons, and after an hour or more of stressing over it, I ultimately decided the $5 should go towards debt instead. I felt guilty for even entertaining the thought of spending money on something I didn’t absolutely need, and angry at money for even existing in the first place. Can you imagine what I went through when I bought a new tri bike?!

This past January, I was again out running errands and started thinking about the debt we had from getting a new car after my accident and buying harmonic lights. My next thought was, it’s going to be so fun and exciting to find new ways to pay this off! I stopped and thought, whoa! Where did that come from!? I’d never had a positive thought like that about money before. Ever.

I’d lived my whole life thinking money was always scarce, that it was bad to want money in excess of paying the bills, and that I had to struggle and suffer to make enough of it. But that positive, automatic thought was proof that I was changing my limiting beliefs and finally making peace with money.




Wouldn’t you like to feel confident knowing your needs and wants are always met, that bringing in lots of money is okay, and that it’s not necessary to always struggle and suffer to earn money? I felt uncomfortable and thought this sounded too good to be true when I first heard these ideas, but I’ve since learned - and experienced - it’s absolutely possible.

Most of the tips I’ll share came from working with a mentor and reading two books, which I highly recommend: “Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity - A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance” by Edwene Gaines, and “The Science of Getting Rich”, by Wallace D. Wattles.


Dear money,

Doing this activity completely changed my feelings towards money. I thought of money as a person, and wrote a letter to it. I apologized for trying to control and hoard it when it came to me, and curse it when it wasn’t coming to me (how would a real person feel if I treated them that way? They wouldn’t want to hang out with me anymore, that’s for sure!).

I admitted to not showing enough gratitude for the abundance of money that constantly ebbed and flowed to me, through me, and from me.

I asked it to forgive me for looking to it as my source of security rather than God. Then I expressed tons of gratitude for all it had done for me over the years - fund amazing trips and experiences, pay for surgeries that helped my family and I, purchase food to keep me fed during training and racing, and more.

All my negative feelings towards money slipped away as if I were leaving it behind in the Snake River during Spudman, and were replaced with gratitude and joy.

Money mindset

The law of attraction 100% works in relation to our thoughts. The more we think and believe something is true, the more we’ll attract it to us. If we think positive thoughts about money, we’ll attract more of it our way. We do this by owning these new thoughts, and thinking them as if they were already true. Then, per the universal law, if you believe it to be true, it soon will be!

The key to success with this is to remember to feel positive feelings while thinking the thoughts. How will you feel when x comes to pass? Focus on that and feel it while thinking the new thoughts over and over again throughout your day. Here are some of the thoughts I regularly had before I started working to improve my relationship with money, and what I think now.



Four laws

I loved reading Edwene Gaines’ book and wanted to share some of her thoughts that helped me. Whether you’re religious or not, she found that when her clients followed these four laws, they didn’t just eek out enough to pay the bills at the last minute - they received more abundance and prosperity than they could imagine.

Law One: Tithe. This can also be thought of as your step one. She invites all her clients to acknowledge God as their Source (rather than money as source), and return 10 percent of all they receive to a person, place, or institution from which they have received spiritual food.

Law Two: Set Goals. Set a concrete goal and then take the first step towards that goal. We’ve been taught to save up the money first, then spend it, but money doesn’t like to just sit around with no purpose. It likes to be put to use. This doesn’t mean rack up a ton of credit card debt - it means when you feel a nudge to set a crazy high goal involving investing in yourself, leveling up, improving yourself so you can help others, go for it.


Law Three: Forgive. What we feel, we bring more of to us. If we stubbornly refuse to let go of self-defeating feelings such as guilt, shame, blame, hurt, and resentment, we cannot feel worthy of receiving more abundance and wealth. If we are open and feeling love and gratitude for ourselves and others, that will bring more abundance to us.

Law Four: Find and fulfill your purpose. Because each of us has lived a unique set of experiences, we each have a unique perspective. Couple that with our talents and strengths, and every single one of us has something awesome and amazing to offer others. Yes, I’m talking to you! Get curious, and seek to learn what your purpose is. Then follow the nudges and ACT.


Feb 28th, 2022, I left my job of 8 years. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do next, and didn’t have anything lined up. It was a huge leap into the darkness, a butt-clenching moment. But after getting the nudge over and over, I decided to go for it.

After running for almost 11 years and doing triathlons for almost 10 years, I’ve started looking for opportunities to share what I’ve learned with others. I’m done suffering through workouts and races - I want to do it all with a beautiful mindset and enjoy it!

I created a new dream and I’ve been following all the steps above and in my two previous posts (Mastering Time and Overcoming Injury and Illness) and I now own my new reality: I am a coach and mentor for athletes and future athletes to achieve their goals - by mastering time; stopping the cycle of pain, illness, and poor health; and helping them heal their relationship with money.

I teach my athletes how to train intuitively for an event, rather than following a vanilla training plan that doesn’t actually work for them and puts them in a miserable, stressed out state.

I live each day as if this dream is already here, and I know it’s coming… I’ve visualized it! I challenge you to try all the things I’ve shared to reach new heights with your goals too!

If you’d like to learn more about my intuitive mentoring/coaching program, reach out to me on Instagram (mandyj_tris), Facebook, or send me an email at MandyStarCoaching@gmail.com. Have an awesome race season everyone!


*****Below is the 2022 UTCS - the only update we're aware of from the below is that Brineman will be a unique Friday race on Sep 9th. Check out this post if you need a refresher on how the UTCS works.*****

show up at 3+ races to qualify for a slew of season awards!


Below are links to all the 2022 Championship Series races:

Ice Breaker - Sprint
Sand Hollow - Olympic
Daybreak - Olympic
Jordanelle - Olympic
East Canyon - Olympic
Brineman **Now SEP 9th - Half (70.3)


POPULAR LINKS

UTAH TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022 --> HERE
LATEST AGE GROUP RANKINGS --> HERE
CHAMPIONSHIP BELT HOLDERS --> HERE
MOST IMPROVED TRIATHLETES --> HERE
TOP LOCAL RACER AWARDS --> HERE
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2020 --> HERE
IMSG "COUNTY COMPETITION" (MAY BE REVIVED) --> HERE

UTAH TRIATHLON HISTORY 101 --> HERE


HISTORICAL U.T.B.
"BELT HOLDERS"






Thinking about Lasik or have other eye health needs?
Dr. Brice Williams is offering some incredible
deals for fellow Utah Tri Buzz readers




Local triathlete Steve Monson has a stellar reputation
as one of Utah's finest financial advisors






We started a Patreon account (link below) with the hope of raising a few bucks towards awards & swag for athletes of all abilities in our tri community. We've given out a lot over the past 6 years, but would like to continue to expand our offerings & the volume we can do.

If you enjoy Utah Tri Buzz and would like to pitch in, any amount would be greatly appreciated... (there may be something in it for you as well!)


We're also always grateful for talented people who contribute in terms of time... let us know if you'd like to be part of the Utah Tri Buzz team.



Interview Archives:







































Monday, April 4, 2022

Overcoming Every Athlete's Nightmare: Injury and Illness

Special thanks to Mandy Starling for another great guest post in this 3-part series!


NOOOOOOOOO! Not again!!!! I shouted in my head about 8 miles into the Deseret News half marathon last July. The all-to-familiar IT band pain returned to the outside of my right knee. I’ve struggled with this since I started training for my first half marathon in 2012.

Over the years, it switched knees and varied in intensity. It cost me some really stellar PRs and podium finishes. It sent my emotions nose-diving, taking days to recover. I still achieved a PR at last year’s race, but the last three miles were so slow. I’ve often wondered just how fast I could go if I could only get my IT bands healthy and happy.


This 2nd post in our series covers the 2nd biggest roadblock to achieving triathlon and fitness goals: recurring illness, injury and overall lack of good health. Plantar fasciitis just won’t leave you alone no matter what you’ve tried? Suffering from your 4th cold in 4 months? Can’t seem to let go of that 20 extra pounds and muster the energy to exercise more than 10 minutes? Keep reading.

I’m going to share a few things I’ve discovered that are helping me heal and prevent serious recurring illness and injury from happening in the future. AND each of these options cause 0 to very little pain!

Harmonic Light Therapy

I already know sunlight makes me happy, and I’ve heard of light therapy. Harmonic light therapy is even better. Different colors of light pulsed at different frequencies allow our bodies to get out of fight, flight, or freeze so they can heal tons faster.

Last November, I was sandwiched in between two cars on I-15 during rush hour. I walked away with two cracked ribs, a hematoma in my arm, bruising and swelling in several areas, C1-C6 out of alignment in my neck, and some pretty serious PTSD.

The doctor told me it would take at least 6 weeks for my ribs to heal. I had just started getting back into a regular exercise routine before the accident, and was devastated over a 6-week setback. I’d recently heard about harmonic lights at a conference and decided to give them a try.


Utilizing different harmonic frequencies, I used blue lights to help calm my body down, green lights to reduce inflammation and increase cell regeneration, and red/near infrared lights to speed up bone growth in my ribs. After only three weeks of using the lights 20-40 minutes a day, I was feeling almost back to normal and was exercising fairly regularly again. At 6 weeks, all the rib pain was completely gone.

In December, my husband got really sick. Once he combined the harmonic lights with other remedies, we noticed a quick uptick in his recovery. I was so happy with these results, I decided to buy the set. The lights have helped me get rid of headaches, sleep better, reduce pain after workouts, and uplift my mood. If you want to try them out, let me know and I’ll hook you up.

Osteopathic Therapy

An Osteopath is basically a masseuse, chiropractor, and orthopedic specialist wrapped into one. They are trained to adjust muscles, bones, ligaments, tissues, and internal organs, along with doing myofascial release and using trigger points to release stubborn areas. They work to return balance and order to the body.

Since I started visiting an Osteopath, I’ve had my psoas muscles unstuck from my ribs, improving my digestive system, hips and IT bands. My upper bladder was unstuck from under my pubic bone, eliminating the feeling like I had to pee all the time (see my last post for more on that struggle!).

My diaphragm was unstuck from my sternum and ribs and can now inflate fully, making it easier to breathe during exercise. It’s amazing that slight, easy movements and adjustments can make me feel so much better!



Here are two tips I’ve learned from the Osteopath:

1) Give crawling a try. I dare you to do it for 20 minutes (I still struggle to do it for 5). Get on your hands and feet, placing your hands into different positions while crawling (fists, finger tips, and flat palms). Crawling helps your body parts reset into their proper positions and can help digestion issues.

2) Go for a 20 minute walk after your meals. This triggers your digestive system to work better so you don’t feel bloated and gross (unless you just ate a big mac, large fry, and coke… no amount of walking can help that).

If you want some recommendations for an Osteopath, I’m happy to share!


Stuck emotions

My experience at Ironman Florida was 100% better than my experience at Ironman Western Australia because I took advice from many mental health coaches to shift my thoughts. There is so much info out there on this topic… the Rich Roll Podcast being one of my favorite sources (two of my favorite episodes this year are with Dr. Lisa Miller, PhD; Awaken Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Spirituality and Mastering Mindset: A Deep Dive on Mental Toughness.)

During Florida, I smiled a lot during the bike, broke down each discipline into smaller segments, and repeated a couple of positive mantras throughout the race. Yet, I still had IT band trouble halfway into the marathon (I was on pace for my fastest marathon ever and barely kept my disappointment at bay during the last half of the run). And I still had a major emotional slump post-race. Why was that? What was I missing? I felt like I was doing all the things!

The more I learn about emotions and the body, the more I’m convinced emotions are to blame for a lot of the chronic pain and illness I’ve experienced. Like light and sound, emotions have a frequency. MIT even developed a machine that measures emotional frequencies using radio waves. When I experience emotions, my brain sends out frequencies (energy) and chemicals into my body.

Over time, my body became addicted to these emotional/chemical cycles. This past year, I realized I didn’t know how to stop the cycles or release the negative energy from getting stuck in my body, which led to a lot of recurring pain, illness, and a general feeling of being unwell and having a lack of energy. Here are two of my favorite techniques for releasing stuck emotions.

Full Body Crunch

This is the awesomest crunch you will ever do, I promise, just stay with me!

1) Set a timer for 20 seconds if you’re by yourself, or if you feel comfortable, have someone coach you through and have them watch the timer. I’ve had better results when my husband coaches me through this exercise, so I recommend that if you can.

2) Once the timer starts, think of that emotion and the event(s), person/people that triggered that emotion and clench up every part of your body.

3) Bear down as if you were having a baby or going poop.

4) Close your eyes, clench every muscle, and imagine all the emotion collecting in every cell in every muscle. Shout, yell at the person or event, swear, growl, whatever you need to do.


5) During the last 5 seconds, give a final strong push, throwing everything you can into your crunched up body, and hold your breath. When time’s up, immediately release all your muscles, whoosh out your breath, and be mindful of the release of emotion you just had.

6) Imagine all that emotion disappearing down a drain or deep into the earth, or whatever you resonate with. Slow your breathing and return it to normal. Take a minute before getting up as you might feel a little woozy.

7) It’s normal to sweat, cry, and feel a little dizzy after the release. I recommend drinking plenty of water afterwards to further flush out any emotion or toxins the exercise stirred up.

Visualization

I talked about visualization in the previous blog post, and it’s because this is such a powerful tool. This visualization will specifically help release stuck emotions out of the body that are causing pain or dis-ease. You can do this anytime and anywhere, as long as it’s safe to close your eyes.

1) Close your eyes and take several deep breaths.

2) Ground yourself by visualizing a tree trunk growing out of your spine and/or feet into the earth and say to yourself, I am grounded.

3) Connect yourself to your higher power by visualizing a brilliant white or golden light coming down and entering the top of your head.

4) Now focus on the part of your body experiencing pain or illness. Observe the space this is occupying in your body.

5) Ask your body to let you know what emotion is behind the pain or dis-ease. Whatever emotion comes to your mind first, go with that. There may be more than one, but focus on one at a time.

6) Next imagine the emotion turning into an object. For example, one time I turned fear into a giant, black, sticky, tar-like puddle coming towards me, growing in size as it got closer.

7) Does the object have a smell? How big is it? What color is it? Does it have a smooth or rough texture? Does it have a taste? What is it doing?


8) Ask the object what it wants. Once when I was working on grief, the object wanted me to be sad forever. You may find the object wants you to be happy or free from pain.

9) Now give it 100% of what it wants. If it wants you to be happy, give the object 100% love and joy from your heart.

10) Sometimes, when you give it everything it wants, the emotion is released and you can finish your visualization.

11) Sometimes the object gains more power. If so, determine how you’d like to get rid of it. I’ve used everything from flamethrowers to bulldozers and even asked God and angels to help me obliterate especially stubborn negative objects/emotions.

12) Once the object/emotion is completely gone, take some deep breaths and send gratitude to the area of your body the emotion was stuck in. I’ve thanked my body for letting me know about things from the past I could now let go of. I then send love and gratitude from my heart to that area for being strong and putting up with the pain or illness for so long. I’ve also asked that part of my body for forgiveness for being stubborn and not letting the past go.

For those who will be at the SLTC/SUTC tri camp, I’ll walk through these two techniques with participants Sunday morning. As you’ve heard before, emotions come off in layers. You may find yourself working on the same thing multiple times, but it’s just a new layer that is ready to be healed.

There are many different techniques for releasing emotions that get stuck. If you’d like me to walk you through a visualization or share some more ideas, send me a quick email at MandyStarCoaching@gmail.com.

Our final post in this series will cover the third biggest roadblock to achieving your triathlon and fitness goals: money. I have stressed many times about paying for a race, covering travel costs, buying tons of nutrition, upgrading my gear, massage and doctor appointments, and splurging on the latest tri kit.

This stress and scarcity/lack mindset lead to… more stuck emotions causing more pain and attracted more financial strain to me! I’ll share some techniques on how to have a healthy relationship with money so it doesn’t add more stress to race day. Or stop you from signing up for that race you’ve been longing to try. Or buy that new bike… you get the idea!


*****Below is the 2022 UTCS - the only update we're aware of from the below is that Brineman will be a unique Friday race on Sep 9th. Check out this post if you need a refresher on how the UTCS works.*****

show up at 3+ races to qualify for a slew of season awards!


Below are links to all the 2022 Championship Series races:

Ice Breaker - Sprint
Sand Hollow - Olympic
Daybreak - Olympic
Jordanelle - Olympic
East Canyon - Olympic
Brineman **Now SEP 9th - Half (70.3)


POPULAR LINKS

UTAH TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022 --> HERE
LATEST AGE GROUP RANKINGS --> HERE
CHAMPIONSHIP BELT HOLDERS --> HERE
MOST IMPROVED TRIATHLETES --> HERE
TOP LOCAL RACER AWARDS --> HERE
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2020 --> HERE
IMSG "COUNTY COMPETITION" (MAY BE REVIVED) --> HERE

UTAH TRIATHLON HISTORY 101 --> HERE


HISTORICAL U.T.B.
"BELT HOLDERS"






Thinking about Lasik or have other eye health needs?
Dr. Brice Williams is offering some incredible
deals for fellow Utah Tri Buzz readers




Local triathlete Steve Monson has a stellar reputation
as one of Utah's finest financial advisors






We started a Patreon account (link below) with the hope of raising a few bucks towards awards & swag for athletes of all abilities in our tri community. We've given out a lot over the past 6 years, but would like to continue to expand our offerings & the volume we can do.

If you enjoy Utah Tri Buzz and would like to pitch in, any amount would be greatly appreciated... (there may be something in it for you as well!)


We're also always grateful for talented people who contribute in terms of time... let us know if you'd like to be part of the Utah Tri Buzz team.



Interview Archives: