The Art of Surrendering
Let go, let flow, and discover freedom beyond resistance
“Allowed doesn’t mean agreed with. It means seen, without rushing to oppose, judge, deny, rushing to tell a story about.” —Jan Frazier
Welcome to our fourth step to spaciousness:
surrendering.
If you are mystified by this one, you are not alone. The concept of surrender is one of the most difficult for us humans to get intellectually because it is not intellectual. Unlike the word implies, it is not about giving up.
Surrendering is more about stepping up (your game) by stepping back and allowing things to be as they are.
It means being more of a compassionate observer of your experience as it plays out, instead of an attached observer.
To the degree that you are willing to be fully present and open your heart, the practice of surrendering will stretch you big time.
It will help you to let go, lighten up, and transcend anything that holds you back. In our work with clearing, it’s a game changer.
The one caveat is that you won’t be able to think your way through this one. Surrendering is a way of being. As Eckhart Tolle so wisely reminds us in his book A New Earth, “Being must be felt. It can’t be thought.”
How convenient that we’ve already had ten weeks of practice with sensing!1
And…how convenient that
beginning next week we get 10 weeks to practice surrendering.
…
Wonder what surrender means in practical terms? Keep reading.
Ahhh ✌🏼🎈
What surrender might look like, practically speaking
Consider these ways:
1. Less chasing, fighting, hiding
“There is a Tibetan story of a monk who retreats to meditate in a cave only to be plagued by demons. He tries everything — chasing, fighting, hiding — to get the demons out of his cave, but the thing that finally works is surrender. He simply lets them have their way and only then do they disappear.”
—DailyOM, “The Wisdom of Surrender”
2. Letting go
“That’s a cliché from the movies. Dangling from a railroad bridge, only determination and firm grip can save the hero.
In our modern world, we often end up holding on to ideas, to grievances or to our view of the world.
Ironically, the harder we hold on to the things we’re hiding from, the less dear our life becomes.
Perhaps we could let go for dear life instead.”
—Seth Godin, “Holding on for dear life"
3. Not identifying
"How do you let go of attachments to things?
Don’t even try. It’s impossible. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them."
—Eckhart Tolle
Experience less chasing, less identifying…and more gentle letting go over the next 10 weeks…
As we begin our practice series in Surrender.
…
This 10-week clearing journey — the fourth segment this year — with additional new material (not found in the book), full access to this community and all previous challenges you may have missed — is being made available to paid subscribers.
All for less than $1.15 a week.
…
Series begins Tuesday August 12. Look for it in your email inbox.
Learn more about this ongoing clearing series here…
The Spacious Way to a Lighter You
Imagine going on a sabbatical where you don’t have to pack a bag or leave home. This is an ongoing journey that starts when you do. Join us and come home to your spacious self.
Excerpted from Part 4, “Surrendering,” A Year For You: Release the Clutter, Reduce the Stress, Reclaim Your Life by Stephanie Bennett Vogt © Hierophant Publishing, 2019.
What a beautiful mediation this morning as I sit here outside in this delicious weather in our northern California mountain home of 32 years enjoying some quiet time before a day of sorting packing and tossing. Moves bring up all sorts of old ways of doing things.
This quote is working in my life in real time “How do you let go of attachments to things?
Don’t even try. It’s impossible. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them."
—Eckhart Tolle
My husband and I have been talking lately about old things that we held on to that once were what we identified with. It’s been a huge letting go. Freedom is our goal is what he often tells me as we wonder if we should hold on to something. We aren’t a museum I say. We are a good team. We know who we are now and we don’t need to remind ourselves or others who we once were. We want to be spacious for new ideas. Your work here compliments my life so well in this season and that’s why I love reading your work.