January 31, 2025 • 27 mins
Discover the transformative power of mindfulness with Lauren Loehning, a trailblazer in financial services and co-founder of Money Well. Lauren shares her inspiring journey of integrating meditation into her bustling career and family life, revealing how the practice has been a game-changer in managing stress and finding clarity. With nearly a decade of Vipassana meditation under her belt and a completed teacher training program, Lauren offers profound insights into the benefits of silent retreats and the serenity that mindfulness brings amid life's chaos. We're excited for you to hear how meditation has become a cornerstone in her life and how it can enrich yours too.
But that's not all—we explore how mindfulness and emotional awareness can significantly enhance financial resilience. Lauren delves into the intriguing connections between emotions, meditation, and financial well-being. You'll gain practical tips on understanding the parallels between maintaining consistent financial and mindfulness habits. This episode is your invitation to embrace meditation, not just as a tool for personal growth, but as an essential practice for a balanced and fulfilling life.
Guest Bio:
With over two decades in the financial services sector, Lauren K. Loehning is a
respected Partner at Retirement Impact, where her client-first approach has
earned her a reputation for excellence. As the Co-Founder of Moniwell, she
leads a pioneering initiative blending psychology, science, and technology to
redefine financial well-being.
Lauren's expertise, spanning financial planning, investment management, and
financial therapy, is bolstered by prestigious certifications, including Certified
Financial Planner® practitioner, Certified Investment Management Analyst®,
Certified in Financial Social Work, and Accredited Investment Fiduciary®
Her commitment to professional excellence has been recognized by the National
Association of Plan Advisors, with accolades including Top Advisor – All Star
(2021-2023) and Rising Star (2016-2020).
Connect with Lauren:
LinkedIn
Connect with Theresa and Ivana:
Theresa, True Strategy Consultants: tsc-consultants.com
LinkedIn @treeconti, Insta @tscconsultants
Ivana, Courageous Being: courageousbeing.com
LinkedIn @ivipol, Insta @courbeing
SITP team, Step Into The Pivot: stepintothepivot.com
LinkedIn @step-into-the-pivot, YouTube @StepIntoThePivot
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of
Step Into the Pivot.
We have a wonderful guest withus today, lauren Laning.
And Lauren you are such adelight to talk to.
You are full of really excitinginformation for us.
I can't wait for us to dive in.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you, lauren.
(00:22):
You are someone who is.
When people look at your bioand they look you up on LinkedIn
.
You have a big presence infinancial services.
This is how we met.
You work as a respected partnerat Retirement Impact and you've
also co-founded a reallybeautiful endeavor Money Well,
and we'll hear more about that.
(00:43):
And when I first noticed inyour professional you know
expressions out there, it wasimmediately clear that you are
very community focused, thatyou're very gender diversity
focused and that you also have areally big comfort level
teaching and talking aboutmindfulness, meditation and
(01:06):
bringing in that conversationand coupling it with the
discussion about money.
So we are so excited to haveyou here today and hear from the
perspective of your expertise,but also from your heart, about
all these different topics.
And again, you know, welcomingto the show and passing on to
(01:27):
Teresa to introduce you furtherand get us going with questions.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, I got to meet Lauren a few years ago and I and
my first experience when we metwe were at a conference and the
first day we were there youcame up and led us through
meditation and we did that againthis year and you know I was
very interested in that becauseI think your meditation and, as
we've gotten to know each otherbetter, your meditation and the
(01:54):
mindfulness piece of that andhow that goes forward with your
money well, really resonateswith me and even I talked about
that a little bit.
But let's kind of start bytalking about your meditation
practice, how that's impactedyou, why you started doing that,
because I think it's a I knowit's a really important part of
your life, so we'd love to hearthat.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Absolutely, and thank you both again for having me on
.
This is a real pleasure, andkudos to you for this podcast it
certainly.
I've listened to some of thepast episodes and always get a
little something every time.
So great work there.
So meditation has been part ofmy life in a very formal way for
about nine years, I would say.
Before that it was not on myradar in the sense that I know
(02:39):
it today.
I've been practicing yoga andsort of body awareness for over
two decades, close to 25 years.
It was something I started incollege, so that was kind of my
take on it for many, many years.
But about nine years ago I gotreally interested in more about
the mind-body relationshipversus just the body, you know,
being in movement.
(03:00):
And I got into it because lifewas getting hard.
I had a couple of little kids,I had a job where I was
traveling a lot and a lot ofpressure from work and just
trying to figure out how do youfit a family into this with a
marriage and everything kind ofjust felt uncomfortable,
stressful.
I was always just.
I just kept trying to run alittle bit faster and I wasn't
(03:22):
catching up.
So I ended up connecting with acoach who was a Zen master and
he really kind of laid thegroundwork for me in a
meditation practice and walkedme through it for about two
years, introduced me to it.
It was part of our weeklydiscussions and I'm one of those
learners that when I findsomething I'm interested in I go
(03:43):
real deep.
Like when I started thefinancial services, I was like,
okay, how many designations canI get?
And when I learned aboutmindfulness it's like how many
books can I read, how manyteachers can I get exposed to,
how many practices can I learnabout?
And I finally landed on thispractice of Vipassana and after
a couple of years of informalkind of training on my own with
this teacher, I signed up for atwo-year teacher training
(04:04):
program where I got to divereally deep for about a year and
a half and then spent sixmonths doing a practicum, a
teacher training in my community, spent some time on retreat
Notably the longest was about aseven-day silent retreat in
Western Mass at InsightMeditation Center.
So really ever since I got thatfirst taste of what this is and
(04:25):
how it can impact my life andthe freedom that I found in the
practice, it was just somethingthat I just kept wanting to
learn more about to the pointwhere it was.
So it changed my life in somany ways that it was something
that I felt passionately aboutsharing and teaching with
everyone in my community.
So it's been such a wonderfuljourney and if you think about
(04:47):
meditation and teachers, I am anewbie.
Even though I'm nine years in,it may seem like a long time.
I have nothing on some of thesepeople that I'm out there
training with.
They've been doing this fordecades, which is interesting
because the practice is alwaysevolving and changing and you're
always learning something new,there's another layer or
something, and as a human being,we're just we're constantly
(05:09):
forgetting stuff.
Right, we have to be reminded,which is why this practice is so
beautiful.
So when you sit down into ameditation practice, it is like
almost a constant reminder ofgetting yourself back on track,
into that place of reallycenteredness where you can see
things clearly and have clearexperiences without all of the
noise of the outside world.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I love hearing from you about it, lauren, because I
really welcome a sideconversation about you know like
geeking out.
I'd love to know all thedetails of what you do and how
you do it.
I practice meditation on aregular basis too, and similarly
you do it.
I practice meditation on aregular basis too, and similarly
, the reason I startedconsistently was because it felt
(05:50):
awful.
That's why you know a longhistory of you know dabbling
with it being inconsistent,practicing yoga 20 plus years of
you know regular.
You know openness to what isout there, what is out there.
But when it comes to consistent,regular meditative practice,
that started because I wasn'tfeeling good and I love that you
(06:11):
own that and that you broughtin the complexities.
You know that there were thesepressures from a variety of
different areas of your life andthen you, you know, went, you
know went under in the practicethat I do.
We talk about dropping to thebottom of the ocean and
experiencing a sense of peaceand calm, even though at the
(06:34):
surface of it there might be somuch noise and so many waves and
a lot of cacophony and birdsand wind.
But if you allow yourself sometime to settle, you know you can
experience on a regular basis,a sense of like wait okay,
peaceful, calm, and it's not.
I know you weren't, that's notwhat you were suggesting, but
(06:56):
it's not a competition.
It's not like hey, I meditatedmore than you when you talked
about yourself being a newbie.
I just want to say for ourlisteners you're not talking
about it being a competition ofany kind, like I'll get better
at it than you.
It's not like that at all.
So I would love to hear moreabout the integration of your
(07:16):
meditative practice into yourdaily life and talk about those
areas of life that you've, thatyou've, you know, presenced in
the beginning.
Is this now helping, really,when you think about your
relationships, your work?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it it's.
It's helped in a positive wayin every relationship that I
have in my life.
And, and because it was sopowerful, I knew that there was
a place for it in financialservices.
I knew that there was this typeof wisdom that has been around
for thousands of years, had aplace in modern society.
(07:56):
It had a place in financial asI said, financial services and
especially a place with thepeople that I work with on a
daily basis.
I have a retirement planpractice.
I work with many companies youknow higher ed, nonprofit, a lot
of manufacturing companies outthere.
This is the everyday personwho's out there sitting on the
factory floor dealing with thestress and pressures of life,
(08:17):
and this wisdom I felt could beso invaluable for those people.
So when I first started out onthis venture, it was I'm going
to teach mindfulness to all ofthe participants that I work
with.
It's going to be great,everyone's going to sit down and
we're going to learn together.
But lo and behold, I realizedafter I kind of created a course
and offered this up to some ofthe HR folks that people would
take me up on it once.
(08:38):
Right, but nobody wanted methere every week.
I didn't know that I was goingto be there every week, but I
was holding some online sessionson a weekly basis and it just I
just realized that people haveto really be ready to take that
step right, not everyone's readyto just dive into a meditation
or mindfulness practice.
They're just trying to get foodon the table and they don't
have the time in their day to dothat.
But I knew that there was aplace and which was kind of this
(09:02):
kind of integrating.
My MoneyWell opportunity is whenI realized that, okay, not
everyone's going to do this orsign up for a class or sit down
and meditate with me on a weeklybasis.
How else can we integrate thisinto people's lives?
And that's about the time I metJennifer Rayner, who founded
MoneyWell, back in 2020.
(09:22):
Jennifer Rayner, who foundedMoneyWell back in 2020.
I met her in 2022 and learnedwhat she was doing with kind of
text-based messages, short,emotive, really tackling that
emotional side of money, sharingnew perspectives, sharing
awareness about yourrelationship with money, talking
about things like values-basedspending and integrating many of
(09:43):
the wisdom that you get, muchof the wisdom you get from
mindfulness, but doing it in away that people can consume
today, right In a way thatthey're willing to accept it.
So that's why I'm reallyexcited about the work that
we're doing at MoneyWell,because it's taking bits and
pieces of this wisdom that Ifeel is so powerful for
individuals and putting it intoa format that people are
(10:05):
accepting of in today's world,that fits into their lifestyle.
We're not trying to say, hey,come over here.
We're meeting them wherethey're at, you know, and that's
why I find it to be reallypowerful.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Before Teresa asks you our next question I needed
to jump in here because I'm likeI can just hear our listeners
Like so asking on behalf of themcan you give us an example?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It's really this simple.
It's this idea of you're notalone, right, you're not alone
in your financial stress.
You're not alone in yourstruggles.
Most Americans you knowstruggle with financial stress.
But if you ask the averageperson, they feel very much
alone on that journey.
They feel like they made thewrong decisions or they didn't
do the right thing at the righttime or save enough money and
that it's all on them.
(10:47):
So it's this idea of you're notalone, like many people
struggle with this and we haveways to get out of that.
Right.
Let having people reallyunderstand and accept those
emotions that come up andrealizing that it's not
necessarily their fault andempowering them with new
messages.
And realizing that it's notnecessarily their fault and
empowering them with newmessages, new perspectives on
(11:08):
how they can get on a path tofeeling better.
Just because you're feelingthis feeling of fear when you
think about your retirement inthe future.
That doesn't have to be.
That fear can be transformedinto empowerment, right?
You doesn't have to justovertake you.
You turn away.
I can't do that.
That's too hard.
We can really work with that,those feelings, and get people
to a place where you're startingwith You're not alone.
(11:30):
You're sharing new perspectives.
You're talking about differenttools or techniques they might
be able to do that they weren'taware of to start saving, maybe
an emergency savings account orwhatever it is.
So it's really integrating thisinto these, not only the
emotional aspect, but reallyfunctional tools to get them on
that path.
So it's really integrating both, just the feelings and the
(11:52):
empowerment, and then okay, well, what's next?
I think you're exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I think people sometimes don't know where to
start.
They don't.
They think they're alone intheir journey.
They think you know all thesethings, or maybe they you know
and you see a couple ofdifferent things to see, like
young adults who maybe mom anddad always kind of paid for
everything and help them and nowthey're on their own, or vice
versa.
I have some friends who areyounger and their parents never
really had money and now theyhave a pretty good job and now
(12:18):
they're bringing home more moneythan they kind of ever expected
, and they don't also don't knowhow to deal with that.
So now they think they shouldjust spend all of that right,
like and not thinking about thefuture.
So I think there is a definiteconnection there.
And you know, I think my my nextquestion to you right, we went
from meditation to money, but Ithink that meditation and
(12:44):
mindfulness go together and tome, you know, whether you
meditate or not, mindfulness ispart, kind of a part, of
meditation, right, I would tellyou I don't meditate, but I am
very mindful and and that maymean different things to
different people.
So I'd love for you to talkabout that and I'd love for you
to talk about how thattransitions to money, because
(13:06):
and that doesn't only transitionmy meditation and mindfulness
don't only transition to money.
They transition to so manythings that are like.
They transition to health, theytransition to, you know,
overall feelings, theytransition to family and time
spent and work, and but I'dreally love for you to kind of
bring that full circle for ourlisteners.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Sure, when I think of meditation and mindfulness, I
like to think of it, as you know, kind of the meditation pieces,
that is, the going to the gympiece, right, you go to the gym,
you work out so that you canhave a healthy life, right?
So the mind meditation is theactual practice, the sitting,
the working with the busy mind,the working with the emotions,
(13:47):
the working with just thedifferent feelings that are
coming through.
And the mindfulness is thatmoment to moment experience of
paying attention and beingpresent without judgment in your
day to day life.
Right, how am I integratingthis into our conversation right
now?
Or that you know harddiscussion I'm going to have
with one of my associates?
Or a fight I had with myhusband, right?
(14:09):
How am I going to integratethat into those moments?
Right?
Or my kids?
Right, it is such a powerfultool to integrate into your
day-to-day life but so very hardto remember, because we're
human and our brains are notwired to be present.
They're wired to be lookingahead, to be protecting
ourselves from looking back, tomake sure we don't do anything
(14:30):
again for the second time,because we want to be safe, we
want to be protected, right, andour brains have been doing this
and trying to protect us forthousands and thousands of years
and we really need to kind ofstep out of that, knowing that
we're safe and really bringingin this present moment awareness
, and knowing that you know, wedon't have to listen to all the
noise, to all the stories, tothose random thoughts of we're
(14:52):
not enough or we can't do thisor you know judgment or fear
that pop in and we can justreally.
Meditation gives us the toolsto tune that out Right, and
mindfulness would be thepractice day to day.
So that's really how I like tothink about it and delineate the
two.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I like that a lot and it resonates.
And you just helped me thinkabout something a little
differently than I've everthought about it before.
You know how you said it's hardto remember to do it.
It is helpful to be remindedthat it is like going to the gym
.
So then, when you describe that, I'm thinking about it in terms
(15:32):
of, you know, important torealize that it's cumulative
benefit.
So when I sit down to meditate,you know, sometimes it's an
amazing experience.
Sometimes it really will feel inreal time like wow, this was a
really good use of 20 minutes.
Most of the time no, most ofthe time it's not anything
(15:53):
special.
Sometimes it's veryuncomfortable.
Sometimes things will come upthat I don't want to look at or
see.
That's not why I do it.
I don't do it for those 20minutes two times a day.
We do it because of thecumulative benefit.
That's the gym workout piecethat you were talking about
deeper, bigger, you'll do abigger retreat.
But would you agree with methat the consistency is really
(16:27):
important?
And so here's where I had theaha moment about like wow, this
is so cool for our listeners whodo work with retirement plans.
That's like the cumulativebenefit, you know like saving a
little bit.
Putting away for retirement isnot a one-time, it's a process.
Putting away for retirement isnot a one-time process.
So, thank you for that.
(16:48):
I just had a parallel?
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, no, absolutely it's definitely.
Your muscles get stronger themore you work them, and that's
just like your brain the moreyou work that muscle, the
stronger it's going to become,the less caught you'll get.
And so you're still going toget caught all the time with
different things.
But what I've noticed over timeis that I bounce back a lot
faster, right, Things don't takeme down for long, right, I'm
(17:12):
much more quick to realize whenI am acting out of line or have
a bad, false perspective or arethinking about something in a
way that you know might not,someone else might not agree
with.
So that's what's reallypowerful about it.
And I would say one of myfavorite things and and my one
of my biggest growing edgesprobably, you know, five years
(17:34):
ago was this idea ofself-compassion really being
able to be compassionate withyourself when you have a hard
meditation or you have a hardday at work.
Knowing that, like when youhave a hard meditation or you
have a hard day at work, knowingthat, like that is okay, you
know, and it got me tuning intothis kind of inner critic that
we all have in our head, thelittle judge who likes to sit
(17:56):
there and tell you all thethings that you're doing wrong
and really befriending that partof me and really being
compassionate with myself.
I would say that has been oneof the most powerful things that
has benefited me, not only tobuild resilience as I'm working
with this startup, but to buildresilience in my relationships
and build resilience, you know,just in general in life, and
that's something that I think isvery much a part of the
(18:18):
mindfulness and meditationpractice, that self-compassion
piece.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, and I really love that.
And you know, for those of ourlisteners who maybe, you know,
don't meditate or maybe want toget into it Right, and I think
that there's there's other waysyou can meditate right.
Whether that's for me, it'slike I we've talked about before
.
I typically go out for a 20minute walk every morning.
(18:43):
It clears my mind, it gets mestarted.
So it's my form, probably, ofmeditation, right, I might
listen to a podcast, I mightjust listen to music, I might
just listen to the birds singing, depending on what time of year
it is, right, so there's allthose kind of things.
Can you talk, maybe for aminute before we ask our final
question?
Yeah, about how somebody couldget started, like just very
(19:05):
simply, since this is Januaryand new year, new you, you know,
maybe somebody wants to juststart and start simply.
Could you just spend a minute,maybe, talking about that?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
And Katie Milkman I don't knowif you're familiar with her.
She's a really she's got agreat book on behavior change
and how to change.
I think it's her most recentbook, but she always talks about
January is one of those freshstart moments.
Right, you have a fresh start.
It's a great opportunity topick up a new habit or something
that you want to integrate inyour life.
And so oftentimes when I'mteaching meditation, one of the
(19:38):
biggest things I hear from thefolks in my classes is that you
know, I've tried this before.
It's just not for me.
So and so dragged me here.
I'm doing it for her.
Like you know, I've tried thisbefore.
It's just not for me.
So-and-so dragged me here, I'mdoing it for her.
Like you know, I've just youknow I've been down this road,
but it's just not for me.
And what I always try to getpeople to really really think
about is that it the goal, atleast in Vipassana meditation is
(19:59):
not to sit there and clear yourbrain.
So be really open to the factthat that think meditation is.
What are you looking to get outof this?
Right, if you're looking toachieve some goal, some inner
peace, that's not the purpose ofnecessarily of a pasta, and a
practice, which is the type ofmeditation I teach.
It's really about just tuningin to those voices in your head,
(20:22):
those thoughts that you think,and noticing when they come up,
and then just going back to somesort of a focal point.
Maybe it's your breath, maybeit's your body, and that even
the smallest amount of time.
One of my students, I thinkthat she, started meditating by
looking, waiting for her tea toboil, so it was about I don't
know a minute, minute and a half, you know, and that was her
time.
Even if it's a couple of deepbreaths, it's a great start.
(20:45):
So, but I'm a big fan ofstructure and I do better with a
schedule.
So when I started my practice,I was it was the.
It's the first thing I do inthe morning, you know, I don't
do any if I do anything elsefirst.
I kind of get derailed, like Ialways know I have to.
This is the first thing I haveto do.
So I have to get up a littlebit earlier.
I have to make sure none of mykids are awake, you know, and
(21:05):
obviously things come up alongthe way.
But fit it into your lifehowever you can.
That makes sense for you.
So maybe you schedule fiveminutes before you start your
day on your calendar, right, andput it in there so you have an
accountability, you knowaccountability to actually do
that.
And just, you know, see whatworks Sitting in your chair
focusing on.
You know, see what works sittingin your chair focusing on a.
You know, uh, you know yourbreath or your body can be
(21:26):
really helpful, but there is nostrict definition of what
meditation or mindfulness is foryou.
You mentioned walking tree.
So that is a very powerful tool.
When, uh, when I go onmeditation retreats, that's part
of it.
You know you are doing awalking meditation, for you know
, follow every time you sit, youwalk after that, and that's
just the flow of that type of aretreat.
(21:47):
So there's so many differentways.
Even just being my, every timeyou get into your car, 30
seconds, right, just littlemicro steps throughout your day
can be a great place to start.
And don't make it anything.
It's not right.
It's not this big grandiosething, it's very small steps
that over.
You're not going to go to thegym and run 10 miles if you've
(22:09):
never run a mile.
Right, you're going to go.
You're going to get on thetreadmill, you're going to walk
a mile.
The next day maybe you'll walka little more, maybe you'll
start to jog right and you justhave this little build over time
and that's that's kind of thebest way, I think, to integrate
really anything new into yourlife, and especially mindfulness
.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
So when you look back on the experiences that you've
had that led you to startpracticing regularly, if you
consider those experiences asyour pivots, how would you say,
now that you have been doingthis regularly, nine years of
you know, incrementally, youknow making that change,
becoming more available toyourself and to life, how was
that pivot towards you know,regular meditative practice, a
(22:56):
step forward in your life?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Because it was.
It was the first time I hadactually turned inward.
You know, I had been outwardfocused my entire life.
You know how fast can I run,how high can I climb, what else
can I do?
And I had never really done theinner work, which is
interesting because I spent alot of time in our church going
on retreats, but I guess thatjust never really landed fully
(23:21):
with me.
I don't think they wereteaching those skills that
resonated with me at the time,but that was a big pivot to turn
inward and to really focus on.
Ok, well, what is important tome and what do I want to get out
of my life?
I don't want to be the you knowI'm not on this.
I didn't want to be on thecorporate ladder anymore.
I wanted to work for myself.
I wanted to have a real impactin the lives of the people that
(23:44):
I was serving through myretirement plan practice, and so
those were the things that werereally important to me and just
so, so grateful for the factthat I have this in my life,
because if I didn't, I would bein a very different place and I
would not be happy.
It would be a struggle.
It would be like a struggle,like it was before.
So I'm very grateful that Ihave this tool and which is why
(24:07):
I'm so passionate about sharingit with people in my life and
people in my community and, tothe extent that we can even
integrate it into the workplace,is going to be really exciting
to see.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
I love everything about what you just said,
because it's totally true, weneed to take that time.
It's so hard to take that timefor ourselves, but whatever that
looks like, I think that'sreally the important message
here, right, because you have tobe yourself before you can be
anything for anybody else and bethe best you can be.
So that's what I got from you,what you said, lauren, and I
(24:43):
think you gave us an amazingnumber of great tips today,
evena.
Any final thoughts before welet Lauren go.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I wanted to reflect on when you said that part about
you know, one of the statementsthat you communicate through
your Money Well initiative isyou're not alone, it is.
I would love to invite anybodywho's here, inspired by us, to
try meditating to see how youcan actually really get in touch
with this sensation, physicalsensation and emotional state of
(25:15):
you are physically alone.
That, for me, has been one ofthe most interesting revelations
about you know, meditativepractice.
That moment in the morning thatyou said, before anybody else
gets up, when I'm in my solopractice, I was like, oh, I'm
(25:37):
really not alone, it's not acliche, it's a, it's an actual
lived experience.
So thank you for thataffirmation, lauren.
Such a great reminder.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much andthank you for the work you're
doing here.
I think it's really fun tolisten to the different people
you bring on your show and theperspectives, and I think it's a
really fresh take and somethingthat I'm sure our industry is
appreciative.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So thank you Well thank you so much, lauren.
Thank you to everybody wholistened today.
Really great conversation.
So remember, whatever works foryou for that new year, new you
is amazing.
And also one final reminder isif you have a pivot step into it
, thanks everybody.
Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of
Step Into the Pivot.
We have a wonderful guest withus today, lauren Laning.
And Lauren you are such adelight to talk to.
You are full of really excitinginformation for us.
I can't wait for us to dive in.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you, lauren.
(00:22):
You are someone who is.
When people look at your bioand they look you up on LinkedIn
.
You have a big presence infinancial services.
This is how we met.
You work as a respected partnerat Retirement Impact and you've
also co-founded a reallybeautiful endeavor Money Well,
and we'll hear more about that.
(00:43):
And when I first noticed inyour professional you know
expressions out there, it wasimmediately clear that you are
very community focused, thatyou're very gender diversity
focused and that you also have areally big comfort level
teaching and talking aboutmindfulness, meditation and
(01:06):
bringing in that conversationand coupling it with the
discussion about money.
So we are so excited to haveyou here today and hear from the
perspective of your expertise,but also from your heart, about
all these different topics.
And again, you know, welcomingto the show and passing on to
(01:27):
Teresa to introduce you furtherand get us going with questions.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, I got to meet Lauren a few years ago and I and
my first experience when we metwe were at a conference and the
first day we were there youcame up and led us through
meditation and we did that againthis year and you know I was
very interested in that becauseI think your meditation and, as
we've gotten to know each otherbetter, your meditation and the
(01:54):
mindfulness piece of that andhow that goes forward with your
money well, really resonateswith me and even I talked about
that a little bit.
But let's kind of start bytalking about your meditation
practice, how that's impactedyou, why you started doing that,
because I think it's a I knowit's a really important part of
your life, so we'd love to hearthat.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Absolutely, and thank you both again for having me on
.
This is a real pleasure, andkudos to you for this podcast it
certainly.
I've listened to some of thepast episodes and always get a
little something every time.
So great work there.
So meditation has been part ofmy life in a very formal way for
about nine years, I would say.
Before that it was not on myradar in the sense that I know
(02:39):
it today.
I've been practicing yoga andsort of body awareness for over
two decades, close to 25 years.
It was something I started incollege, so that was kind of my
take on it for many, many years.
But about nine years ago I gotreally interested in more about
the mind-body relationshipversus just the body, you know,
being in movement.
(03:00):
And I got into it because lifewas getting hard.
I had a couple of little kids,I had a job where I was
traveling a lot and a lot ofpressure from work and just
trying to figure out how do youfit a family into this with a
marriage and everything kind ofjust felt uncomfortable,
stressful.
I was always just.
I just kept trying to run alittle bit faster and I wasn't
(03:22):
catching up.
So I ended up connecting with acoach who was a Zen master and
he really kind of laid thegroundwork for me in a
meditation practice and walkedme through it for about two
years, introduced me to it.
It was part of our weeklydiscussions and I'm one of those
learners that when I findsomething I'm interested in I go
(03:43):
real deep.
Like when I started thefinancial services, I was like,
okay, how many designations canI get?
And when I learned aboutmindfulness it's like how many
books can I read, how manyteachers can I get exposed to,
how many practices can I learnabout?
And I finally landed on thispractice of Vipassana and after
a couple of years of informalkind of training on my own with
this teacher, I signed up for atwo-year teacher training
(04:04):
program where I got to divereally deep for about a year and
a half and then spent sixmonths doing a practicum, a
teacher training in my community, spent some time on retreat
Notably the longest was about aseven-day silent retreat in
Western Mass at InsightMeditation Center.
So really ever since I got thatfirst taste of what this is and
(04:25):
how it can impact my life andthe freedom that I found in the
practice, it was just somethingthat I just kept wanting to
learn more about to the pointwhere it was.
So it changed my life in somany ways that it was something
that I felt passionately aboutsharing and teaching with
everyone in my community.
So it's been such a wonderfuljourney and if you think about
(04:47):
meditation and teachers, I am anewbie.
Even though I'm nine years in,it may seem like a long time.
I have nothing on some of thesepeople that I'm out there
training with.
They've been doing this fordecades, which is interesting
because the practice is alwaysevolving and changing and you're
always learning something new,there's another layer or
something, and as a human being,we're just we're constantly
(05:09):
forgetting stuff.
Right, we have to be reminded,which is why this practice is so
beautiful.
So when you sit down into ameditation practice, it is like
almost a constant reminder ofgetting yourself back on track,
into that place of reallycenteredness where you can see
things clearly and have clearexperiences without all of the
noise of the outside world.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I love hearing from you about it, lauren, because I
really welcome a sideconversation about you know like
geeking out.
I'd love to know all thedetails of what you do and how
you do it.
I practice meditation on aregular basis too, and similarly
you do it.
I practice meditation on aregular basis too, and similarly
, the reason I startedconsistently was because it felt
(05:50):
awful.
That's why you know a longhistory of you know dabbling
with it being inconsistent,practicing yoga 20 plus years of
you know regular.
You know openness to what isout there, what is out there.
But when it comes to consistent,regular meditative practice,
that started because I wasn'tfeeling good and I love that you
(06:11):
own that and that you broughtin the complexities.
You know that there were thesepressures from a variety of
different areas of your life andthen you, you know, went, you
know went under in the practicethat I do.
We talk about dropping to thebottom of the ocean and
experiencing a sense of peaceand calm, even though at the
(06:34):
surface of it there might be somuch noise and so many waves and
a lot of cacophony and birdsand wind.
But if you allow yourself sometime to settle, you know you can
experience on a regular basis,a sense of like wait okay,
peaceful, calm, and it's not.
I know you weren't, that's notwhat you were suggesting, but
(06:56):
it's not a competition.
It's not like hey, I meditatedmore than you when you talked
about yourself being a newbie.
I just want to say for ourlisteners you're not talking
about it being a competition ofany kind, like I'll get better
at it than you.
It's not like that at all.
So I would love to hear moreabout the integration of your
(07:16):
meditative practice into yourdaily life and talk about those
areas of life that you've, thatyou've, you know, presenced in
the beginning.
Is this now helping, really,when you think about your
relationships, your work?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it it's.
It's helped in a positive wayin every relationship that I
have in my life.
And, and because it was sopowerful, I knew that there was
a place for it in financialservices.
I knew that there was this typeof wisdom that has been around
for thousands of years, had aplace in modern society.
(07:56):
It had a place in financial asI said, financial services and
especially a place with thepeople that I work with on a
daily basis.
I have a retirement planpractice.
I work with many companies youknow higher ed, nonprofit, a lot
of manufacturing companies outthere.
This is the everyday personwho's out there sitting on the
factory floor dealing with thestress and pressures of life,
(08:17):
and this wisdom I felt could beso invaluable for those people.
So when I first started out onthis venture, it was I'm going
to teach mindfulness to all ofthe participants that I work
with.
It's going to be great,everyone's going to sit down and
we're going to learn together.
But lo and behold, I realizedafter I kind of created a course
and offered this up to some ofthe HR folks that people would
take me up on it once.
(08:38):
Right, but nobody wanted methere every week.
I didn't know that I was goingto be there every week, but I
was holding some online sessionson a weekly basis and it just I
just realized that people haveto really be ready to take that
step right, not everyone's readyto just dive into a meditation
or mindfulness practice.
They're just trying to get foodon the table and they don't
have the time in their day to dothat.
But I knew that there was aplace and which was kind of this
(09:02):
kind of integrating.
My MoneyWell opportunity is whenI realized that, okay, not
everyone's going to do this orsign up for a class or sit down
and meditate with me on a weeklybasis.
How else can we integrate thisinto people's lives?
And that's about the time I metJennifer Rayner, who founded
MoneyWell, back in 2020.
(09:22):
Jennifer Rayner, who foundedMoneyWell back in 2020.
I met her in 2022 and learnedwhat she was doing with kind of
text-based messages, short,emotive, really tackling that
emotional side of money, sharingnew perspectives, sharing
awareness about yourrelationship with money, talking
about things like values-basedspending and integrating many of
(09:43):
the wisdom that you get, muchof the wisdom you get from
mindfulness, but doing it in away that people can consume
today, right In a way thatthey're willing to accept it.
So that's why I'm reallyexcited about the work that
we're doing at MoneyWell,because it's taking bits and
pieces of this wisdom that Ifeel is so powerful for
individuals and putting it intoa format that people are
(10:05):
accepting of in today's world,that fits into their lifestyle.
We're not trying to say, hey,come over here.
We're meeting them wherethey're at, you know, and that's
why I find it to be reallypowerful.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Before Teresa asks you our next question I needed
to jump in here because I'm likeI can just hear our listeners
Like so asking on behalf of themcan you give us an example?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It's really this simple.
It's this idea of you're notalone, right, you're not alone
in your financial stress.
You're not alone in yourstruggles.
Most Americans you knowstruggle with financial stress.
But if you ask the averageperson, they feel very much
alone on that journey.
They feel like they made thewrong decisions or they didn't
do the right thing at the righttime or save enough money and
that it's all on them.
(10:47):
So it's this idea of you're notalone, like many people
struggle with this and we haveways to get out of that.
Right.
Let having people reallyunderstand and accept those
emotions that come up andrealizing that it's not
necessarily their fault andempowering them with new
messages.
And realizing that it's notnecessarily their fault and
empowering them with newmessages, new perspectives on
(11:08):
how they can get on a path tofeeling better.
Just because you're feelingthis feeling of fear when you
think about your retirement inthe future.
That doesn't have to be.
That fear can be transformedinto empowerment, right?
You doesn't have to justovertake you.
You turn away.
I can't do that.
That's too hard.
We can really work with that,those feelings, and get people
to a place where you're startingwith You're not alone.
(11:30):
You're sharing new perspectives.
You're talking about differenttools or techniques they might
be able to do that they weren'taware of to start saving, maybe
an emergency savings account orwhatever it is.
So it's really integrating thisinto these, not only the
emotional aspect, but reallyfunctional tools to get them on
that path.
So it's really integrating both, just the feelings and the
(11:52):
empowerment, and then okay, well, what's next?
I think you're exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I think people sometimes don't know where to
start.
They don't.
They think they're alone intheir journey.
They think you know all thesethings, or maybe they you know
and you see a couple ofdifferent things to see, like
young adults who maybe mom anddad always kind of paid for
everything and help them and nowthey're on their own, or vice
versa.
I have some friends who areyounger and their parents never
really had money and now theyhave a pretty good job and now
(12:18):
they're bringing home more moneythan they kind of ever expected
, and they don't also don't knowhow to deal with that.
So now they think they shouldjust spend all of that right,
like and not thinking about thefuture.
So I think there is a definiteconnection there.
And you know, I think my my nextquestion to you right, we went
from meditation to money, but Ithink that meditation and
(12:44):
mindfulness go together and tome, you know, whether you
meditate or not, mindfulness ispart, kind of a part, of
meditation, right, I would tellyou I don't meditate, but I am
very mindful and and that maymean different things to
different people.
So I'd love for you to talkabout that and I'd love for you
to talk about how thattransitions to money, because
(13:06):
and that doesn't only transitionmy meditation and mindfulness
don't only transition to money.
They transition to so manythings that are like.
They transition to health, theytransition to, you know,
overall feelings, theytransition to family and time
spent and work, and but I'dreally love for you to kind of
bring that full circle for ourlisteners.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Sure, when I think of meditation and mindfulness, I
like to think of it, as you know, kind of the meditation pieces,
that is, the going to the gympiece, right, you go to the gym,
you work out so that you canhave a healthy life, right?
So the mind meditation is theactual practice, the sitting,
the working with the busy mind,the working with the emotions,
(13:47):
the working with just thedifferent feelings that are
coming through.
And the mindfulness is thatmoment to moment experience of
paying attention and beingpresent without judgment in your
day to day life.
Right, how am I integratingthis into our conversation right
now?
Or that you know harddiscussion I'm going to have
with one of my associates?
Or a fight I had with myhusband, right?
(14:09):
How am I going to integratethat into those moments?
Right?
Or my kids?
Right, it is such a powerfultool to integrate into your
day-to-day life but so very hardto remember, because we're
human and our brains are notwired to be present.
They're wired to be lookingahead, to be protecting
ourselves from looking back, tomake sure we don't do anything
(14:30):
again for the second time,because we want to be safe, we
want to be protected, right, andour brains have been doing this
and trying to protect us forthousands and thousands of years
and we really need to kind ofstep out of that, knowing that
we're safe and really bringingin this present moment awareness
, and knowing that you know, wedon't have to listen to all the
noise, to all the stories, tothose random thoughts of we're
(14:52):
not enough or we can't do thisor you know judgment or fear
that pop in and we can justreally.
Meditation gives us the toolsto tune that out Right, and
mindfulness would be thepractice day to day.
So that's really how I like tothink about it and delineate the
two.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I like that a lot and it resonates.
And you just helped me thinkabout something a little
differently than I've everthought about it before.
You know how you said it's hardto remember to do it.
It is helpful to be remindedthat it is like going to the gym
.
So then, when you describe that, I'm thinking about it in terms
(15:32):
of, you know, important torealize that it's cumulative
benefit.
So when I sit down to meditate,you know, sometimes it's an
amazing experience.
Sometimes it really will feel inreal time like wow, this was a
really good use of 20 minutes.
Most of the time no, most ofthe time it's not anything
(15:53):
special.
Sometimes it's veryuncomfortable.
Sometimes things will come upthat I don't want to look at or
see.
That's not why I do it.
I don't do it for those 20minutes two times a day.
We do it because of thecumulative benefit.
That's the gym workout piecethat you were talking about
deeper, bigger, you'll do abigger retreat.
But would you agree with methat the consistency is really
(16:27):
important?
And so here's where I had theaha moment about like wow, this
is so cool for our listeners whodo work with retirement plans.
That's like the cumulativebenefit, you know like saving a
little bit.
Putting away for retirement isnot a one-time, it's a process.
Putting away for retirement isnot a one-time process.
So, thank you for that.
(16:48):
I just had a parallel?
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, no, absolutely it's definitely.
Your muscles get stronger themore you work them, and that's
just like your brain the moreyou work that muscle, the
stronger it's going to become,the less caught you'll get.
And so you're still going toget caught all the time with
different things.
But what I've noticed over timeis that I bounce back a lot
faster, right, Things don't takeme down for long, right, I'm
(17:12):
much more quick to realize whenI am acting out of line or have
a bad, false perspective or arethinking about something in a
way that you know might not,someone else might not agree
with.
So that's what's reallypowerful about it.
And I would say one of myfavorite things and and my one
of my biggest growing edgesprobably, you know, five years
(17:34):
ago was this idea ofself-compassion really being
able to be compassionate withyourself when you have a hard
meditation or you have a hardday at work.
Knowing that, like when youhave a hard meditation or you
have a hard day at work, knowingthat, like that is okay, you
know, and it got me tuning intothis kind of inner critic that
we all have in our head, thelittle judge who likes to sit
(17:56):
there and tell you all thethings that you're doing wrong
and really befriending that partof me and really being
compassionate with myself.
I would say that has been oneof the most powerful things that
has benefited me, not only tobuild resilience as I'm working
with this startup, but to buildresilience in my relationships
and build resilience, you know,just in general in life, and
that's something that I think isvery much a part of the
(18:18):
mindfulness and meditationpractice, that self-compassion
piece.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, and I really love that.
And you know, for those of ourlisteners who maybe, you know,
don't meditate or maybe want toget into it Right, and I think
that there's there's other waysyou can meditate right.
Whether that's for me, it'slike I we've talked about before
.
I typically go out for a 20minute walk every morning.
(18:43):
It clears my mind, it gets mestarted.
So it's my form, probably, ofmeditation, right, I might
listen to a podcast, I mightjust listen to music, I might
just listen to the birds singing, depending on what time of year
it is, right, so there's allthose kind of things.
Can you talk, maybe for aminute before we ask our final
question?
Yeah, about how somebody couldget started, like just very
(19:05):
simply, since this is Januaryand new year, new you, you know,
maybe somebody wants to juststart and start simply.
Could you just spend a minute,maybe, talking about that?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
And Katie Milkman I don't knowif you're familiar with her.
She's a really she's got agreat book on behavior change
and how to change.
I think it's her most recentbook, but she always talks about
January is one of those freshstart moments.
Right, you have a fresh start.
It's a great opportunity topick up a new habit or something
that you want to integrate inyour life.
And so oftentimes when I'mteaching meditation, one of the
(19:38):
biggest things I hear from thefolks in my classes is that you
know, I've tried this before.
It's just not for me.
So and so dragged me here.
I'm doing it for her.
Like you know, I've tried thisbefore.
It's just not for me.
So-and-so dragged me here, I'mdoing it for her.
Like you know, I've just youknow I've been down this road,
but it's just not for me.
And what I always try to getpeople to really really think
about is that it the goal, atleast in Vipassana meditation is
(19:59):
not to sit there and clear yourbrain.
So be really open to the factthat that think meditation is.
What are you looking to get outof this?
Right, if you're looking toachieve some goal, some inner
peace, that's not the purpose ofnecessarily of a pasta, and a
practice, which is the type ofmeditation I teach.
It's really about just tuningin to those voices in your head,
(20:22):
those thoughts that you think,and noticing when they come up,
and then just going back to somesort of a focal point.
Maybe it's your breath, maybeit's your body, and that even
the smallest amount of time.
One of my students, I thinkthat she, started meditating by
looking, waiting for her tea toboil, so it was about I don't
know a minute, minute and a half, you know, and that was her
time.
Even if it's a couple of deepbreaths, it's a great start.
(20:45):
So, but I'm a big fan ofstructure and I do better with a
schedule.
So when I started my practice,I was it was the.
It's the first thing I do inthe morning, you know, I don't
do any if I do anything elsefirst.
I kind of get derailed, like Ialways know I have to.
This is the first thing I haveto do.
So I have to get up a littlebit earlier.
I have to make sure none of mykids are awake, you know, and
(21:05):
obviously things come up alongthe way.
But fit it into your lifehowever you can.
That makes sense for you.
So maybe you schedule fiveminutes before you start your
day on your calendar, right, andput it in there so you have an
accountability, you knowaccountability to actually do
that.
And just, you know, see whatworks Sitting in your chair
focusing on.
You know, see what works sittingin your chair focusing on a.
You know, uh, you know yourbreath or your body can be
(21:26):
really helpful, but there is nostrict definition of what
meditation or mindfulness is foryou.
You mentioned walking tree.
So that is a very powerful tool.
When, uh, when I go onmeditation retreats, that's part
of it.
You know you are doing awalking meditation, for you know
, follow every time you sit, youwalk after that, and that's
just the flow of that type of aretreat.
(21:47):
So there's so many differentways.
Even just being my, every timeyou get into your car, 30
seconds, right, just littlemicro steps throughout your day
can be a great place to start.
And don't make it anything.
It's not right.
It's not this big grandiosething, it's very small steps
that over.
You're not going to go to thegym and run 10 miles if you've
(22:09):
never run a mile.
Right, you're going to go.
You're going to get on thetreadmill, you're going to walk
a mile.
The next day maybe you'll walka little more, maybe you'll
start to jog right and you justhave this little build over time
and that's that's kind of thebest way, I think, to integrate
really anything new into yourlife, and especially mindfulness
.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
So when you look back on the experiences that you've
had that led you to startpracticing regularly, if you
consider those experiences asyour pivots, how would you say,
now that you have been doingthis regularly, nine years of
you know, incrementally, youknow making that change,
becoming more available toyourself and to life, how was
that pivot towards you know,regular meditative practice, a
(22:56):
step forward in your life?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Because it was.
It was the first time I hadactually turned inward.
You know, I had been outwardfocused my entire life.
You know how fast can I run,how high can I climb, what else
can I do?
And I had never really done theinner work, which is
interesting because I spent alot of time in our church going
on retreats, but I guess thatjust never really landed fully
(23:21):
with me.
I don't think they wereteaching those skills that
resonated with me at the time,but that was a big pivot to turn
inward and to really focus on.
Ok, well, what is important tome and what do I want to get out
of my life?
I don't want to be the you knowI'm not on this.
I didn't want to be on thecorporate ladder anymore.
I wanted to work for myself.
I wanted to have a real impactin the lives of the people that
(23:44):
I was serving through myretirement plan practice, and so
those were the things that werereally important to me and just
so, so grateful for the factthat I have this in my life,
because if I didn't, I would bein a very different place and I
would not be happy.
It would be a struggle.
It would be like a struggle,like it was before.
So I'm very grateful that Ihave this tool and which is why
(24:07):
I'm so passionate about sharingit with people in my life and
people in my community and, tothe extent that we can even
integrate it into the workplace,is going to be really exciting
to see.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
I love everything about what you just said,
because it's totally true, weneed to take that time.
It's so hard to take that timefor ourselves, but whatever that
looks like, I think that'sreally the important message
here, right, because you have tobe yourself before you can be
anything for anybody else and bethe best you can be.
So that's what I got from you,what you said, lauren, and I
(24:43):
think you gave us an amazingnumber of great tips today,
evena.
Any final thoughts before welet Lauren go.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I wanted to reflect on when you said that part about
you know, one of the statementsthat you communicate through
your Money Well initiative isyou're not alone, it is.
I would love to invite anybodywho's here, inspired by us, to
try meditating to see how youcan actually really get in touch
with this sensation, physicalsensation and emotional state of
(25:15):
you are physically alone.
That, for me, has been one ofthe most interesting revelations
about you know, meditativepractice.
That moment in the morning thatyou said, before anybody else
gets up, when I'm in my solopractice, I was like, oh, I'm
(25:37):
really not alone, it's not acliche, it's a, it's an actual
lived experience.
So thank you for thataffirmation, lauren.
Such a great reminder.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much andthank you for the work you're
doing here.
I think it's really fun tolisten to the different people
you bring on your show and theperspectives, and I think it's a
really fresh take and somethingthat I'm sure our industry is
appreciative.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So thank you Well thank you so much, lauren.
Thank you to everybody wholistened today.
Really great conversation.
So remember, whatever works foryou for that new year, new you
is amazing.
And also one final reminder isif you have a pivot step into it
, thanks everybody.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.