SpaceClear Reflections

It’s Only Weather

Posted on07. Sep, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” –Pema Chodron
I often use the metaphor of the weather to teach a key principle of letting go I call spacious detachment. It tickled me to see it being used in the very same way by a world-renown Buddhist teacher.
Enjoy this beauty of a message:

How to [...]

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The Spacious Ways of Lincoln and Einstein

Posted on24. Aug, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“Once we change the very way we see, we may begin to experience the connections that tie us all together.” –Lynne McTaggart
What do Albert Einstein, Aldous Huxley, William James,Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Schweitzer have in common?
Lynne McTaggart, author of The Field answers this question in a blog post entitled “Transcending the [...]

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Making Friends with Food & Eating (= Clearing)

Posted on17. Aug, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“It’s the desire—not its fulfillment—that nourishes you, because it’s the language of your heart. When you listen to that language, you hear your self.”–Geneen Roth
If you saw my little One-Minute Clearing video clip, you might recall my saying this:
“Here’s the thing about clearing: It is really not about the “doing” at all. It is [...]

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Self-Storage or Storage of Self?

Posted on23. Jul, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Dan Pink, best-selling author of A Whole New Mind, confirmed this staggering statistic I’d heard some years ago as part of my research for Your Spacious Self:
“The self-storage industry is bigger than McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s combined.”*
Ouch.
Whether this fact is still true or not (I wouldn’t be surprised if it were), it still shocks me.
Then [...]

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Airing Out The Heirlooms

Posted on20. Jul, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Just read a terrific New York Times article about the effect heirlooms have on on our lives entitled “How to Lose a Legacy” by Ellen Lupton. Humorous, colorful, timely – this article does a good job of naming the behaviors and beliefs that keep us holding on to dusty relics of our past.
Some of my favorite lines:

An [...]

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Taking the High Road

Posted on01. Jun, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Here’s what I’m wondering today: What helps you move from that place I call “Not-knowing”… to…
Knowing…?
You know… that crossroad-y place we find ourselves in sometimes, where we don’t know what to do next? Or the even messier, not-knowing place that makes us squirm for answers to be delivered now!… That place where nothing makes sense or [...]

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Making a Difference

Posted on09. Mar, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

One of my favorite out-of-the box thinkers and bloggers, Seth Godin, wrote this:

You Rock
This is deceptive.
You don’t rock all the time. No one does. No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it’s a self-defeating goal. You can’t do it.
No, but you might rock five minutes a day.
Five minutes [...]

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Peace is Possible

Posted on16. Feb, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Peace is Possible
A group spent days visiting with the Dalai Lama focusing upon what they believe are five most important questions to be considered.
The five questions were:
1. How do we address the widening gap between rich and poor?
2. How do we protect the earth?
3. How do we educate our children?
4. How do we help Tibet [...]

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Enough

Posted on05. Feb, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Enough?  Not enough?
There’s a series of phrases in my book I call softening attitudes. One set in particular is designed to ease the mind’s tight grip on the idea of  “having” and “lacking.”
Three simple phrases that don’t look like much on paper, but have magic powers when you drip them – with awareness – into [...]

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Perception

Posted on02. Feb, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.” –Anais Nin

In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

These three questions were part of a study conducted some years ago.
I learned about it in an [...]

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Making Friends with Resistance

Posted on29. Jan, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Seth Godin calls it quieting the lizard brain.
I call it slowing down. Softening resistance. Reduce and Repeat (R & R) . Cultivating ease.
Every time you feel overwhelmed (stressed out, unable to move forward, paralyzed, fearful, buttons getting pressed, resistant, recalcitrant, stuck in a rut…) you can bet that a switch just went off in the ancient [...]

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Creating a Spacious Calendar

Posted on26. Jan, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

No matter how hard I try, it seems I’m always racing out the door – squeezing into five minutes about 30 things I need to do before I hit the road. My whirling headspace looks something like this:
“OMG [expletive]…It’s late!…Gotta… put the laundry in the dryer, wash out the coffeepot, put the food away, fill [...]

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One Part Love, Two Parts Gratitude

Posted on29. Dec, 2009 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

One part O, two parts H = H2O. One part Love, two parts Gratitude = Peace on Earth.
For optimal effect, according to Dr. Masaru Emoto, the ratio is key. In this interview excerpt, the pioneering Japanese scientist and author of the Hidden Messages in Water explains the importance of this balance as the basis of [...]

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Ease

Posted on16. Dec, 2009 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

If ease does not come easily to you (and even if it does), you might appreciate this short piece by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. I discovered it in a free e-book compiled by Seth Godin called What Matters Now.
Enjoy.

Ease
“We are the strivingest people who have ever lived. We are ambitious, [...]

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Walking Through Fear

Posted on15. Dec, 2009 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

What does it take to move through fear? Why is it so hard to say no? Why is fear of embarrassment so paralyzing? How do we move through the dark places in our lives and come out the other side – more whole?
I came across a thoughtful interview with Frances Moore Lappé , author of [...]

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Forecast for Our Times: Opportunity to Let Go

Posted on08. Dec, 2009 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

I’m not an astrologer, forecaster, or an diviner of the future. But readings which offer perspective and practical insight about the times in which we live get my attention.
Based on what I’m seeing out in the world right now – from climate changes and financial uncertainty, to longtime marriages breaking up – I think we [...]

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Are You Feeling Heard?

Posted on13. Nov, 2009 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

If you want to press my button, just start zoning out while I’m bearing my soul. Or interrupt me with Call Waiting while I’m sharing the best part of my story.
This is not just a pet peeve that I’m disclosing. It hits at the core of something much deeper. Like my self-worth; the feeling of [...]

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