donations only please...

I've had a difficult time accepting money for my body/energy work 'services' over the years. This manifests practically as feeling uncomfortable when people ask me how much I charge. I feel apologetic. I don't think that I feel this way because of a sense that what I offer is not good enough, it's more just that I don't feel comfortable charging a set fee of money for that kind of work. I feel better about the work if I am doing a more informal trade or a free treatment for a friend.

I've been trying to work through why it is that I am not attracting an abundance of interest in my work?

'Clients'... I think that on a subtle level it is largely due to a resistance I have to doing this for a living, even though I thought for a long time that to have a busy
practice would be my ideal work situation. As I become more fulfilled in the other work I am doing, in my studies and in my home life, I realize I have rented office space to practice out of this whole time because it was a way of being positive - look! I do this! I have an office! I will become fulfilled! (some day in the future...)

So, what a great relief it is to realize all of a sudden that I don't even need an office. I can still practice as and when there is interest, and do home visits. Here is where the change comes in though - I've decided that from now on I will not charge a fee for Bowen work. I want to be able to provide this to as many people as are interested in it and I have long been troubled by the fact that only people with money can afford $50 a session. I can't, lots of other people can't, and lots of people can afford it but feel guilty spending money on something so 'indulgent'. Even having a sliding scale excludes some, and means that people have to ask about it. Some people feel guilty about not being able to pay the full price, so having to ask for a reduced rate can create anxiety.

I haven't really followed through all my initial thoughts on how this will all work, but I'm thinking donations. Simply free doesn't work for a lot of people because it's hard to believe that something that you don't pay for is 'worth' anything.

Donation can be monetary if people feel they can afford it, and whatever feels comfortable to them, not too much money, not too little - both of these often evoke guilt and anxiety! Here's the fun bit though! People who do not feel they can afford to give monetary payment can bring something else. It could be a trade of services that they could offer. It could be something they have made, or a flower from their garden, an old book they'd like to share. The important thing is that from the very start they are aware that I am not attached to getting money. Receiving something beautiful, heartfelt, useful would be a rich experience in true community.

I'm loving this idea and I feel a huge freedom from even contemplating how much more at ease I will feel about my work, and my life in general. These are my true ideals and I am slowly working out little ways to live them fully.