“Stop. Now. Whether you know it or not, you are at the end of your search for relief, peace, and meaning in your life. No more seeking. No more wandering. No more waiting. The peace you seek is hiding in plain sight. An open secret…Everything you need is already here, unfolding in every instant. Right here, right now.”–Josh Baran, The Tao of Now.
Almost a year ago to the day I launched a new course on DailyOM.
A Year to Clear What’s Holding You Back! was an audacious idea that began as a series of wonder questions:
- Is a year-long approach to clearing (our stress and our stuff) too long?
- Will participants be open to the concept of clearing as a journey, like a hero’s journey or a pilgrimage, that guides them through the peaks and valleys of their homes and hearts?
- Is it possible to make a difference in the interior space of human being in just sixty seconds?
In a culture of short attention spans and quick fixes, I had no idea if a 365-day course would, or could succeed. Would my “slow drip” methods be too light to create significant and discernible traction? Would readers lose focus, peter out, and wonder where the there there was?
At this writing over 1,700 people* have signed up to go on this journey with me. Yes, I participated as well.
As the year progressed, I was encouraged by what people were sharing in the comment thread. Unsolicited postings like these made me think that my idea wasn’t so crazy after all:
“I have stuck with this for 40 days and, for once, have not burned myself out with gogogo. Just drip-drip-drip. Nice!”
“Not a whole lot…YET…has changed in the house, but OMG !!! I so know stuff has changed INSIDE ME! I can feel it, sense it, realize all that I am doing that I’ve not done before… Not frantically, but steadily moving in a FLOW.”
“Some place along in the 80s lessons, I started to clear and things are just flying out of my house.
“Am I still resisting? God, yes! But the attitude about clearing has noticeably changed from ‘I HAVE to clear this ALL up or I’ll feel lousy’ to ‘I DESERVE to live in a peaceful place’ to ‘Hey, I think I’ll create a delicious feeling of calm and order for myself.’ … The Joy is in the Journey!”
“Interesting thought: I have been charting my blood pressure for some time and was concerned because it was often higher than 130. The last two weeks it has been around 120. Am I clearing the Stuff? I know that I am going more slowly…”
“…[This] has blown to smithereens the cliché: ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!’ I feel the walls of my OLD self crumbling down in a new way.”
“I’d say that at the beginning of the experience, I didn’t know how this could work.I am about 10 lbs lighter. Is it all this course? I can’t say… The lessons made it easier for me to try small changes that let me slide into new ways of being… I’d never have remembered all those feelings and thoughts without the journal.”
“I’m looking around my apartment and seeing the physical changes I’ve made during this year and it’s so satisfying. Inside I am less fearful, less depressed, less overwhelmed at everything and even a bit kinder.”
“Stephanie, I have gained so much from this over the past 11 months that I am going to be lost without you in the New Year. I’ve loved your Slow Drip method that has actually worn its way into my consciousness day-by-day.”
“I am starting this over not because I didn’t get it. I totally did…I can’t imagine a life without checking in. This can’t be the end!!!”
Needless to say, testimonials like these put to rest any question that nourishing ourselves on a daily basis is powerful stuff – with unexpected benefits continuing to reveal themselves in wonderous ways!
* Update from Stephanie: Since this post was written over two years ago, the enrollment has soared to over 30,000 participants! If you’d like to read a full testimonial from someone who just completed the year, click here.
And p.s. there is no need to wait until January 1st to start a program like this. Every day is the beginning of a new year. Every day offers a new opportunity to release what’s holding you back, and nourish what’s calling you forward.
Happy New YOU!
Check out this course here on DailyOM.
Learn more about the companion book A Year to Clear
