simple and so enjoyable that it may even make you laugh. People do tend to laugh a lot in my workshops. Because the releasing process works on a very basic, internal level, even when you practice the Method with a partner—as you’ll learn how to do presently—you’ll find that you never need to share details of a personal nature in order to get the maximum results from this work. You can release with a partner and still maintain your privacy.
While participating in the explorations within this book, simply allow yourself to let go of your feelings as best you can. “As best you can” means “to the extent of your ability at that exact moment.” You never have to push for a feeling or a release that isn’t honestly there. You are also letting go only of what you are feeling in this moment. If you are working on anger, for instance, the releasing questions are not referring to all anger for all time. They are merely an invitation to let go of the anger you are feeling NOW. Please note that because of the relaxing nature of this process, as well as human nature in general, you may not always experience your feelings strongly. This doesn’t mean that you are not doing great work. In general, letting go is just as effective for light or strong feelings. In fact, if you make it a habit to let go as you go about your daily life—even of the “small stuff”—eventually everything will feel like small stuff. As you begin to let go of your internal tension and other stressful feelings, you’ll notice that you experience a sense of relief and heightened alertness. This is only one of the many benefits you can achieve through the Sedona Method.
I guarantee that you’ll make tremendous—and rapid—progress and experience many powerful, positive effects from releasing when you apply what you’ve learned. As we have already mentioned, at Sedona Training Associates we call these changes “gains.” Be aware, however, that there are sometimes surprises. These are pleasant ones, to be sure, but nonetheless unexpected outcomes. For instance, the specific
“As a Toastmaster, I had succeeded in giving prepared speeches but was never good at speaking impromptu. I felt tense and nervous whenever I was called up to speak without preparation. Since I started using the Sedona techniques, I’ve become much more relaxed and at ease when I speak impromptu. As a result, I’ve become a much more effective speaker. I have managed to let go of my stage fright.”
—Charles Stark, New York, NY
area of your life that you would like to change by applying the Sedona Method may not transform as quickly as you would like, while another area begins to shift right away. Your target area may actually be one of the last areas of your life to turn around. But it is more likely that changes will happen much faster than you’d ever have dreamed possible.
To explain another way, let’s imagine that a particular individual turns to the Sedona Method specifically to open herself to greater financial success. She reads the book attentively, dutifully works with the material it contains, and yet finds no immediate financial gain. Instead, she may initially find herself gaining superior health, and then perhaps discover improvements in her personal relationships. After that, she might develop heightened abilities in the workplace. And only then she may finally allow herself to achieve the financial success that she was originally seeking.
Please don’t misunderstand me. The Sedona Method will definitely bring about important changes in your life. It is only that on occasion those changes may not arrive in exactly the order you hoped for, or predicted. Change may also be gradual. Your friends, co-workers, and employees might notice the changes in you before you do.
“I’m able to have a good night’s sleep after many years of having difficulty sleeping all night. It feels great.”
—Rosella Schroeder
As you incorporate releasing into your life on a regular basis, you’ll soon notice that you are becoming more sensitized to your feelings. This is a sign of progress. It means that you are ready to become aware of, and let go of, many of the emotions that you have either been suppressing or avoiding. In my experience, people usually don’t experience feelings they’re not ready to face—although I’ve had a few students who experienced a restless night or two of sleep as their resistance to certain feelings began to dissipate. But they kept releasing and quickly let go of everything that was troubling them. Most people absolutely do not have their sleep affected, except in a positive way. The good news is that the more you use the releasing process, the easier you’ll find it to let go. And this is what creates the safety for you to experience all your feelings—both the painful and pleasurable ones—more deeply. By feeling all your feelings more fully, you’ll gain even more enjoyment and aliveness out of everything you do.
The following analogy is a little like using the Sedona Method. Have you ever eaten from a salad bar or at a cafeteria where they had plate or tray dispensers? If so, you probably noticed that after you took your plate or tray out of the dispenser another one popped up to take its place. The same is true of our emotions as we let them go. If there are more feelings related to a topic than the ones we began releasing, more will keep coming up until they are all gone about that particular topic, until the “dispenser” is empty. Unlike a plate dispenser, however, every feeling that you take out and release is gone for good. When exploring the processes in this book, most likely you will start by letting go of one feeling at a time, then groups of feelings, until you become so good at releasing that you are ultimately working at the deepest levels—on whole “stacks” of feelings at the same time about any given issue.
Often, it is when we are not looking for, or trying to accomplish, anything that the mind relaxes enough to allow for releases and realizations. While you’ll definitely experience releases, realizations, and gains as you consciously work with the Method, you may find that they come when you least expect them. So make room throughout your day for the possibility of gains, and stay open to the unexpected. As best you can, relax and accept that the timing of your greatest breakthroughs and realizations, including the ultimate realization of your true nature, may be totally out of your control.
Frequently Asked Questions
When people attend Sedona Method courses, they often ask the following questions. Review the answers as often as you need to as you work with the releasing process.
• How often should I release? Releasing is one good thing you can’t overdo. The more often you apply the Method throughout your day, the more benefits you’ll receive from it. Releasing can be done anywhere and at any time to immediately feel better, clearer, more confident, and alive. Simply allow yourself to remain open inside, while your feelings come up and move through you. Look at each upset in your life as an opportunity for greater freedom. Also remember to have fun. Avoid turning releasing into another “should.” As you get into the habit of letting go in the moment as feelings arise, you’ll develop a wonderful momentum that will support you when deeper feelings surface. You will find it easier to let them go as well.
• How long does it take to learn how to let go? That’s up to you. In Chapter 1, you learned some of the basics of the releasing technique. How quickly you’ll see results you can measure depends on how much you apply what you learned in your everyday life. Letting go gets easier to do the more you do it. Also, you may or may not feel big shifts right away. The results may start out subtly, or they may be extremely profound.
• How could something so simple be so powerful? The most powerful and useable tools in life are often the simplest. When processes are allowed to remain simple, they are easy to remember and duplicate. No one has to convince you how critical breathing is, for instance. Still, if I wanted to give you instructions about the procedure to follow for breathing, it would be: “Breathe in, breathe out … and repeat as needed.” What could be simpler? Yet there is little of more central importance to your life.
As
