Posted by Annie Kaszina, Money Gym Coach

My twilight life as an Alexander Technique teacher holds many delights, not the least of which is delicately encompassing the head of a pupil (aka client) between my hands, as they lie semi-supine on my table; and enjoying a bird’s-eye view of their eyelashes.

Ok, so not everybody has eyelashes that would send a poet into raptures. Sharon, my all blogging, all philosophising Shih Tsu (now blogging, when the fancy takes her at www.lifemadesimple.typepad.com) has eyelashes so long and thick they’d make a supermodel weep. So too does S. (not his real initial) an all time favourite Alexander pupil.

Now S. is not only an all time favourite pupil simply because of his eyelashes. They’re just the icing on the cake, so to speak. S. is formidably bright, a high-flyer in a multi-national company, a negotiator whose skills are fast becoming legendary, someone who dazzles CEO’s all the way from South East Asia to South America. He’s majored in all the social graces. S. is an absolute delight to listen to; an incredibly tough-minded man who lives life in the fast lane, yet is learning about self-care, not least through the Alexander Technique.

During our last lesson when he began talking about …

…buying a second property, my Money Gym antennae started quivering. I enquired whether he was selling the first or buying Number 2 as an investment. He replied that initially he had planned on buying Number 2 as in investment, but he was now toying with the idea of having the bigger property for himself and letting out the one bedroom flat.

Then he said that he had bought his first flat (in a premium area of London) 5 years ago and had just found out that he could draw down significant cash from it to purchase Number 2. I murmured gently something to the effect that this was one of the most exciting discoveries a person can make.

Lying there, eyelashes fluttering gently, S. said repeatedly that he was amazed he hadn’t known about it before, but on the other hand, he was generally too consumed by work to have the time to find out about other opportunities. (Between jetting around the world and Russian supermodels clamouring ever more vociferously for his company, I guess there really isn’t that much time - the poor man has to contend with the fact that, since learning to undo tension more, he’s become significantly more handsome.)

But, S. being S., by now the cogs of his mind were whirring at full speed. He was buying Number 2 well below market value (you’d expect no less of someone like him) and perhaps he could refinance that one also. I murmured encouragingly that it was a bit like spinning plates…

As his mind spun on thinking into the future he said, “The only problem is 2 years down the line when the fixed interest rate ends”. “With thousands of mortgage products out there”, I replied, “you’ll find a better one.” You could almost hear another – key - piece of the puzzle fall into place.

I stopped, anticipating the moment when S. would ask the seemingly obvious question: “How do you know about these things?” I’d already formulated my reply: “Oh”, I was going to murmur self-effacingly, “it’s something I’ve been doing for the last couple of years, ever since I learned about it through The Money Gym.” (Albeit in the North, not in a glorious area of London; but the strategy is identical.)

But S. didn’t ask. He was still processing the idea that property, provided you choose it well and get your figures right, can be such an amazing way of leveraging money. Working out, do doubt, how long it would take him to own at least half of his leafy London area.

I meanwhile was processing, yet again, thoughts about the power of the Money Gym. Less than 3 years ago, when I had started working with S., I had been an alternative health practitioner whose sole income came from the hourly pittance she earned. The Money Gym revolutionized that. Thanks to the inimitable Nicola, I’ve learned things that even people like S., who have their finger, so to speak, on the financial pulse, only discover by chance.

Being in a position to accompany others along the journey into financial freedom is just one of the things that excites me about being a Money Gym coach.