Practical Releasing

INTRODUCTION

The excerpt, below, is from the new book, "The SedonaMethod," by Hale Dwoskin. The book describes an emotionalreleasing technique that has been perfected over the past25 years and is used by thousands of people on a dailybasis.

The Sedona Method employs a simple set of questions thathelp people relax and focus on the present. Itseffectiveness at reducing stress was shown in a studyconducted by Harvard psychologist David C. McClelland.While some Sedona Method users report amazing improvementsin health, wealth, and relationships, most show progress onthe little things: sleeping better, more harmony at home,less turmoil at work, less shy in front of an audience,greater ease in quitting smoking or losing weight.

The excerpt begins with a description of the Sedona Method,followed by the case history of a computer programmer whohas used the method off and on since 1983. His results aretypical, not phenomenal. Among other things, he uses thereleasing technique to help stop feeling superior toothers, resulting in greater job satisfaction, performance,and compensation.

More information about the book, "The Sedona Method," andauthor Hale Dwoskin follows the excerpt. Relax and enjoy.
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PRACTICAL RELEASING

There are three ways to approach the process of releasing,and they all lead to the same result: liberating yournatural ability to let go of any unwanted emotion on thespot and allowing some of the suppressed energy in yoursubconscious to dissipate. The first way is by choosing tolet go of the unwanted feeling. The second way is towelcome the feeling, to allow the emotion just to be. Thethird way is to dive into the very core of the emotion.

Let me explain by asking you to participate in a simpleexercise. Pick up a pen, a pencil, or some small objectthat you would be willing to drop without giving it asecond thought. Now, hold it in front of you and reallygrip it tightly. Pretend this is one of your limitingfeelings and that your hand represents your gut or yourconsciousness. If you held the object long enough, thiswould start to feel uncomfortable yet familiar.

Now, open your hand and roll the object around in it.Notice that you are the one holding on to it; it is notattached to your hand. The same is true with your feelings,too. Your feelings are as attached to you as this object isattached to your hand.

We hold on to our feelings and forget that we are holdingon to them -- it's even in our language. When we feel angryor sad, we don't usually say, "I feel angry," or, "I feelsad." We say, "I am angry," or, "I am sad." Withoutrealizing it, we are misidentifying that we are thefeeling. Often, we believe a feeling is holding on to us.This is not true. We are always in control and just don'tknow it.

Now, let the object go.

What happened? You let go of the object, and it dropped tothe floor. Was that hard? Of course not. That's what wemean when we say "let go."

You can do the same thing with any emotion - choose to letit go.

Sticking with this same analogy: If you walked around withyour hand open, wouldn't it be very difficult to hold on tothe pen or other object you're holding? Likewise, when youallow or welcome a feeling, you are opening yourconsciousness, and this enables the feeling to drop awayall by itself - like the clouds passing in the sky or smokepassing up a chimney with the flue open. It is as thoughyou are removing the lid from a pressure cooker.

Now, if you took the same object - a pencil, pen, or pebble- and magnified it large enough, it would appear more andmore like empty space. You would be looking into the gapsbetween the molecules and atoms. When you dive into thevery core of a feeling, you will observe a comparablephenomenon: Nothing is really there.

As you master the process of releasing, you will discoverthat even your deepest feelings are just on the surface. Atthe core you are empty, silent, and at peace, not in thepain and darkness that most of us would assume. In fact,even our most extreme feelings have only as much substanceas a soap bubble. And you know what happens when you pokeyour finger into a soap bubble - it pops. That's exactlywhat happens when you dive into the core of a feeling.

Please keep these three analogies in mind as we go throughthe releasing process together. Releasing will help you tofree yourself from all of your unwanted patterns ofbehavior, thought, and feeling. All that is required fromyou is being as open as you can be to the process.Releasing will free you to access clearer thinking, yet itis not a thinking process. Although it will help you toaccess heightened creativity, you don't need to beparticularly creative to be effective at doing it.

You will get the most out of the process of releasing themore you allow yourself to see, hear, and feel it working,rather than by thinking about how and why it works. Lead,as best you can, with your heart, not your head. If youfind yourself getting a little stuck in trying to figure itout, you can use the identical process to let go of"wanting to figure it out." Guaranteed, as you work withthis process, you will understand it more fully by havingthe direct experience of doing it.

So here we go.

JAMES: RELEASING FOR WORKPLACE SUCCESS

James has been using the Sedona Method since 1983. Here isthe story of how the method has contributed to thetrajectory of his career, as told in his own words:

"When I first took the Sedona Method live seminar, I wasangry with a lot of things in my life. I was a computerprogrammer in Silicon Valley and only earned about $25,000a year. I was mad at my boss because I didn't like the wayhe defined my job, and I felt constrained. Among otherthings, he wanted me to work nine-to-five, and I wantedflexible hours. After I started releasing, the first thingI noticed was that I was free of my anger. Once I was donewith that -- no longer a victim -- I began looking forother jobs.

"I ended up moving to Pacifica, southwest of San Francisco,and went from $25,000 to $35,000 in my next job. The coursewas in April and that was in June. Then I made job contactsand an agency called me about a position in New Jersey anda position in Seattle both paying $75,000. As they seemedto need me more in Seattle, I took that job. This was inOctober of the same year. Other things in my life werechanging, too. I met and fell in love with my wife. Myhealth was improving. Change came rapidly.

"Several years later, after going to graduate school andworking overseas, I returned to Seattle and took a big paycut to work at one of the giant computer softwarecompanies. I really wanted to work there. But now ourfamily had three kids in diapers and my wife and I werefaced with the financial issues of paying off a mortgage, acar, and student loans. There was a temptation to rely oncredit cards. My new manager wasn't supportive, butcombative. She attacked me in every conversation, oftenwith a smile on her face. Work wasn't going properly, and Iwanted approval and control. But I didn't feel as though Icould stand up to my boss, because of my financialinsecurity.

"I was reminded of the value of releasing when I purchasedthe Sedona Method Course audio program explaining theprocess of letting go of the sense of wanting security. Istayed up all night releasing energy for safety. I let goof feelings about monetary issues and feelings about verbalattacks. From then on, I no longer cowered when my manageryelled at me, and I stood my ground in the next couple ofmeetings. After that she stopped meeting with me, and Ihardly saw her anymore. The good part of this was that shewasn't interfering with my work, and I could do itproperly. The bad part was that there was no communication.We even did my performance review by email. For a while, Iwanted to quit; then I tried to transfer within thecompany, and she blocked it. But, ultimately, she promotedme to be the director of a software testing team.

"As a manager, I spent a lot of time thinking about how toapply the Method to work situations. I looked at my historywith it. Initially, all I'd wanted was to get rid of myanger and move up to a state of pride. I aimed there beforebeing a group leader, because it made me feel happier.Although this was good so long as I was an individualcontributor, it wasn't great for management. People are putoff by the emotional energy of superiority. I knew I neededto move into courage.

"From then on, when I noticed that I was feeling 'betterthan' others, I'd let go of wanting to put them down untilI felt like we were equals, both members of a team,children of God working towards a common goal. Whenever Inoticed that I was thinking someone was being 'stupid,' I'dlet go on the spot. I could do it while we were conversing.I could listen and release. I didn't want to put artificiallimits on what people would do.

"By letting go, I'd get upside surprises. They'd provethemselves more capable, or, if they were on another teamand we were at loggerheads, they'd be more amenable to mysuggestions or come up with a compromise. There never was awar in my department, even though the corporate culture wasoften adversarial. As an outcome of my ability to get teamstogether, I ended up being the top test manager in thecompany for a few years. The people who worked for me feltat ease and therefore used more creative out-of-the-boxthinking than others did. We got the job done. I owe thissuccess to the Method.

"I love the feeling of releasing. Typically, it's as thoughenergy is directly leaving the midsection of my body, myabdomen and thorax. It feels like plods of dirt are fallingaway from me, and something that's been trapped by them isrushing out. When I let go, I usually feel a tingling orcrunching sensation, and sometimes hear an auditoryexplosion. I know there are emotions imprisoned inside ofme, and these are signs that the blocks of the prison wallsare moving."