DailyOM: Tell us about your background as a space-clearing expert. How did you get into this field?
Stephanie: While I have been a dedicated teacher my entire adult life, my journey with space clearing only began in earnest when my life took a radical turn. In 1996 I walked away from teaching high school Spanish at one of Boston's preeminent schools at the height of a 20-year career. I was at the top of my game but burned out. I didn't know what I loved anymore or who I was.
As I recovered from major stress and exhaustion, I discovered to my shock and horror that this neat and tidy, super-organized woman had a lot of clutter squirreled everywhere! That's when I stumbled into space clearing. Or I should say, it stumbled into me when a friend dropped off a book about the subject on my doorstep. To be honest, I can't explain what made me dive so deeply into an area of study that was relatively unknown at the time.
It's a field that largely works with energetic disturbances in a space (what I call the "invisibles") that can unknowingly cause humans to feel stuck, overwhelmed, and out of balance. As someone with a passion for creating beauty and order in a home, the idea that we could harmonize and balance a space without lifting a finger was intriguing. I was hooked and sought out the best teachers I could find. Thus began my journey of working with subtle energies, mastering the art of dowsing among other modalities, completing two space-clearing practitioner certification programs, writing five books, and teaching again.
DailyOM: Is clearing our home space really that important to our happiness?
Stephanie: The short answer is yes. Without question. Think about it, have you ever noticed how good a house feels after things have been picked up, put away, or cleared? Or the lingering effects of a well-cooked meal, a bouquet of fresh flowers, or an evening spent with fun-loving friends? If you consider that every thing, thought, and deed is a form of energy — vibrating somewhere between stuck and spacious, chaotic and coherent — you can pretty much guess where a happy home shows up on the spectrum.
Our homes are not inert containers that we fill with collections of stuff, life experiences, and unique personalities. They are alive and dynamic, just like we are. They respond directly to our attentiveness and lack of it. There is no separation. Our homes affect us, reflect us, and depending on how we treat them and relate to them, they support us or oppress us.
Ultimately anything you do to "love up" a space with compassionate awareness will shift the energy and lift you higher. The trick is to just keep tending your home in ways that feel good. You'll discover over time that it feels so nourishing, you won't want to ever stop.
DailyOM: This course is very practical and you offer many kinds of quick clearing practices. Tell us about two of your favorite ones.
Stephanie: How to choose? I love them all! The beauty of the practices that I teach and do every day myself is how simple they are. These baby-step measures may not look like much on paper, but do not be fooled. They are designed that way on purpose to bypass fight-or-flight triggers in the brain and ease you into new habits that feel good and lead to lasting change. Here are a couple of clearing practices:
The first is to get yourself a nice broom and sweep a floor, a room, the front steps, or cobwebs that are hard to reach. You can use the practice of sweeping to invoke a fresh start, open a path to a solution, cultivate mindfulness, or calm the noisy mind. Sweep an area of your home every day and notice the effects it has on your nervous system and home.
The second is every time you feel yourself getting jangled, rattled, overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck, take a deep breath and repeat the phrase, "I choose ease." For a full minute, allow any discomfort to arise, flow through you, and simply be. Remember, it is all energy. Like a curious observer, watch what happens to this energy. Notice the quality of your breathing (is it shallow? is it full?) before, during, and after doing this exercise.
DailyOM: You teach a lot about the concept of spaciousness. Describe what spaciousness means to you.
Stephanie: You know that feeling of being in the flow? The feeling of gliding through the day, free of friction or resistance, where everything seems to work out without you having to try, like when all the green lights seem to sync up perfectly? Or the ability to sit through a difficult conversation or challenging situation without it ruffling your feathers, pressing a button, or throwing you off balance? Or that magic moment when a dragonfly lands on your shoulder and takes your breath away or the sweet fragrance of a flower in bloom makes you swoon?
These are just a few of the ways that spaciousness expresses itself for me. It is the ultimate equanimity. The ultimate breathing room. The ultimate palpable sense that all is very, very well and there is nothing I need to do, fix, or make happen. As you can probably gather from these descriptors, spaciousness is not something we do or get or study for, but rather a quality of being that we cultivate. The beauty of it is that, like any muscle, spaciousness grows with practice. It expands by simply being aware, fluid, and not attached.
DailyOM: Along with your clearing practices, you also offer other kinds of self-reflection homework, like journaling and meditations. Tell us about the spiritual side of this course.
Stephanie: Thank you for pointing this out. The self-reflective features that you'll find in all of my courses are at the heart of everything I teach and write about. As I see it, clearing clutter is ultimately an inside job. With a shift in perspective and a whole new approach that includes self-inquiry, we could be playing a much bigger, and longer, game than we are playing.
Allowing our clutter to show us where we hold on and why, what we are afraid of and why, gives us the best opportunity to release it, grow our spacious muscles, and practice that thing that challenges us the most: letting go. When we can see that clearing clutter is not a goal or a destination but a reflective pathway that can lead to personal transformation and freedom, the journey becomes so much more doable, enlivening, illuminating, and fun!
DailyOM: Thanks, Stephanie! If you're seeking to refresh your perspective on life, this course will steer you in the right direction. Until next time, be well.
No comments:
Post a Comment