Hootless Is the Only Goal Freedom equals, you are free from everything. There is only one goal really, the goal of Hootlessness itself. A common place where people get stuck when attempting to realize a goal is the habit we all have of placing an inordinate amount of attention on the results. Most significantly, they use the results as a means of judging their success at releasing. They think "If I haven't received my goal then I must not have released". When you truly let go you will not be concerned at all as to whether you get the goal or not. In other words you will not need to go back and check up on the results for confirmation. The impulse to do the check up thing is a very subtle attachment to the thing you want to manifest. Lester's famous statement is quoted often "Even the most impossible becomes possible when you are completely released on it" and here comes the kicker. "You will know you are completely released when you just don't give a hoot". Notice he didn't say you will know when you have gotten your goal. He said you will know when you just don't give a hoot. That is, when it ceases to be important to you whether you get it or not. You have achieved something much greater; emotional balance and equanimity. You have achieved freedom. Be forewarned, the habit of relying on the evidence of results for confirmation of your releasing is a subtle and tenacious trap. It takes an equal amount of tenacity and constant diligence to remind yourself that any looking to results for confirmation of your freedom is itself a denial of that very freedom that you already have. Once you do you will notice that the goals that have remained unrealized not because you don't know how to release them but because you didn't trust your releasing and needed outside confirmation. So now simply release that, and then release it again, and then again and again, as many times as it takes to break the habit and finally arrive at the realization that freedom lies in you, not in the results. Give yourself mountains of love and acceptance while you are releasing.
Being Hootless Now, Imagining/feeling Having the goal now This experience of 'having the goal now' is not so much a thing you imagine but rather a feeling, mood, mental state - along with all the shifts in physiology that come with it. One way to get there is to "imagine having it now" and entering into this imagined experienced vividly. There is no need to be good at imagining things or making mental pictures in the mind. Another perfectly effective way to achieve this is simply by asking a few specific questions: First, you simply imagine having it - as best you can - and do this with all five senses... imagine seeing what you would see... feeling what you would feel... hearing what you would hear... and then "step into the picture" and see, hear, and feel all these things through your own eyes (as opposed to seeing a picture of yourself experiencing all that). Look out through your own eyes, and see what you would see if you had your goal now...
And now imagine that you've had your goal for an entire 24 hours, and again notice what you would notice if you were IN the picture. See, hear, and feel what you would after having experienced having the goal for a whole day... Now that you have the goal - and you've had it for a whole 24 hours now what is new and different? Now that you have the goal - and you've had it for a whole 24 hours now what do you see? Now that you have the goal - and you've had it for a whole 24 hours now how do you feel? Now that you have the goal - and you've had it for a whole 24 hours now who else is there? What are they saying? What are you saying back to them?
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How do you sit, stand, and walk - now that you've reached your goal? How do these things look different - even if only slightly? How has your posture shifted? How does it feel to be in your body? What are the emotions? What changes can you notice in your breathing? In terms of peace, bliss, and confidence - how have your levels of these changed? Have they gone up, down, or stayed the same? Dive in or Triple Welcome whatever comes up.
Releasing on positive emotions It is very useful to release on positive emotions also, not just the negative ones. I suggest you do the releasing right when you feel the excitement.
So, could you welcome the excitement? Could you also welcome any wanting to change it, increase it, decrease it, own it, disown it, or, do anything about it? What want would it be satisfying? Could you welcome that? Could you also welcome any sense of this being personal? And, could you, just for now, let go of all that? One of the fastest ways to reach any goal is to become hootless about the goal itself. Most people are driven purely by emotions (chasing after good feelings and avoiding uncomfortable ones) - so they're often afraid of becoming hootless. They actually resist it. The fear is "once I become hootless, this means that I no longer care about the goal!" and therefore will drop any desire for it and thus stop pursuing it. They equate it to giving up on the goal. And they do have a point. If the whole reason for chasing after a goal is to get good feelings in your body, or to avoid bad ones - then yes - already HAVING GOOD FEELINGS
NOW - would indeed beg the question "why bother with all the work of chasing this goal?" Here's my answer from a practical standpoint. There is a massive amount of healing and/or personal power to be "gained" whenever you focus and move towards a goal. There is a sense of yourself as capable, confident, and powerful - which begins to build up inside you as you begin to achieve one goal after another. And this often requires facing fears and overcoming limiting beliefs about yourself in the process. Old feelings, pain, and doubts will often surface to be cleared away as you move closer and closer to the goal. This is the "work" of becoming hootless. At the end, you may indeed change your mind about the goal - now that you feel more whole and complete within yourself. The goal is often very easy to achieve at this point, but your worth and happiness no longer dependent upon any external factor at this point. You are fine if you have it, and fine if you don't. A few questions to help make the process more potent:
What feelings would achieving this goal help you to feel more fully? What is stopping you from allowing yourself to feel these feelings right now? How would you feel RIGHT NOW - if you had already achieved this goal? What feelings would achieving this goal help you to avoid experiencing? Could you - just for this moment - allow yourself to feel some of those feelings right now? And just for now - could you allow yourself to let those feelings go? In short, examining any goal often reveals two things: one, certain emotions or experiences of ourselves that we only allow ourselves to have at some future date - once we have attained the goal: "I'll be happy when I win the lotto, get the man, lose the weight, etc" (the good feeling is futurized, and made conditional, I will deserve to feel good only when I meet these conditions) And two, one can examine the goal for what it helps me avoid. When I date the handsome man, then I finally allow myself to feel worthy and can stop beating myself up, feeling unworthy, not good enough, etc. In short, the goal becomes a way of "giving myself permission to end the self-hate." The self-hate is often pushed out of awareness (suppressed) and the stopping of this punishment is conditional upon reaching the goal. Here is the newsflash. You can allow yourself to FEEL GOOD NOW. And you can also "because you decided to" - you can stop the self-hate. They are just old tapes. They are other people's conditions that we have bought into. And we can simply "notice the voices" and let them go. And please be clear. There is no need to do anything with the voices in your head. No need to change them or make them stop. All you need to do is notice them. Notice and choose to unplug. Just don't believe them anymore. That's it. That's all that's necessary to unplug yourself from the matrix. Stop believing the voices outside your head (tv, radio, internet, friends, family) and also stop believing the ones INSIDE your head. Don Miguel Ruiz said it very eloquently. "Just because you thought it, is no reason to believe it's true." The funny thing is that our brains are equally capable of producing pleasure and pain in the body. The whole reason people take drugs is to activate the brains natural ability to create certain states of being. The drug is just a way to access what your brain already knows how to do. It's a cheat. Normally, most people let their internal voices push and pull them around. They feel good when the voices are being gentle, and they feel lousy when the voices are beating them up. They allow thought - to direct their neurochemistry. Then they take drugs to numb the mind, and beef up certain feeling states. Seems a bit like hiring a bandit to destroy
your house, then hiring a maid to clean it up. A lot of extra work if you ask me. You wouldn't need a fix to clean up your feelings if you simply learned to question your thoughts in the first place. When we follow what is true, become discerning, and skilful in dropping what is untrue, then good feelings are the natural result. The mind becomes balanced and productive. Thoughts about self - about your worth as a person - these too become sorted - more gentle and balanced. Goals tend to fall easily into place when you no longer have to drag a thousand pound weight up the side of a mountain. This is a little of what it's like when you believe that you are basically no good and undeserving, and then try to get that person - the crappy image of yourself - you have to drag that up the mountain. The real you climbs the mountain with ease. The real you is already on top of the mountain. The real you IS the mountain. Of course, these are all just metaphors. The more you release, the more things begin to fall into place for you...
"Happiness is what we all want more than the goals we set." I would suggest that we are unconsciously using the image of the "goal achieved" as a place holder for our happiness. It's as if we have a filing cabinet in the mind and that's where we are keeping our happiness - stored away for later - if and when we achieve that particular goal. So, yes we DO want the goal, but we often chase it out of the mistaken belief that our happiness depends on achieving it - or that it will magically deliver an internal experience called satisfaction. We are clearly seeking happiness or to add to the self in some way - and using the goal as the means to get there. The irony is that allowing in the happiness now often brings in the goal a lot faster. Getting to hootlessness on that goal allows us a lot of power, freedom, and "emotional space" so we can think MUCH more clearly as it relates to the goal. The most common fear I find is that: If I allow myself to be happy now without having the goal first then: * I will/might lose my motivation to pursue the goal * I would just be this smaller (less important/unsuccessful/cool) person who has deluded himself into being happy "as is" with a less than optimal life With happiness/hootlessness in place FIRST the goal usually comes in a thousand times faster. Yet the risk is real for many people. **Some people really DO only motivate themselves from a sense of lack (feeling not good enough) or allow themselves to propelled into action through primarily negative emotions. The "real goal" in my opinion is to learn (and to practice) being led/drawn/propelled by what we love. It's a little like switching your energy system from "demon power" to angel power - or perhaps changing the kind of fuel your car operates on. It may be a little strange at first, as you begin to get used to operating in this new way. Sometimes it helps to take baby steps at first and just do one or two things each day that you really enjoy - just because you can. Then perhaps allowing yourself to BE HAPPY NOW (gasp!) will not seem so strange. In essence, it's about developing courage. More specifically, it's a matter of learning to "steer your life" intentionally as an act of will - making conscious choices towards what one really wants - as opposed to "away from what I don't want." It may seem like a small distinction, but it's really about taking back your power. Being happy now, choosing peace. Right now, instead of allowing myself to be happy in some projected future. The "happiness now" actually acts as a cleaner fuel that is much more self-motivating towards ANY goal.
The "beating myself up" as a fuel source to move toward an imagined better future DOES in fact work in many short-run scenarios. The part that "they don't tell you" is that after a good session of self-flagellation you usually feel so beat up that you reach for some addictive way to numb yourself at the end of the day - and then avoid/procrastinate the next "get up and go" session because every cell in your body knows it's inherently unpleasant. So lots of stop and go, have a beer, wait a week, mentally punish yourself for the beer & the week off, then when the self-hate gets big enough you finally get yourself moving again. Or the alarms, the deadlines, the fear of getting fired, fear of upsetting people... all these push you out of bed and pull you around all day. Now, forgive me for stating the obvious, but none of this sounds particularly fun. Being happy now and moving towards what you DO want seems a lot more healthy and empowering. You could also choose to see it as moving from "slave consciousness" to master-of-my-owndestiny... Regardless of the external level of material success. Dollars in the bank, or shiny toys in the garage. Regardless of all that, freedom is here, right now. Choosing it now allows us to move the pieces around in the material game much more easily. Allowing yourself to feel good later once you (maybe) achieve some goal - this seems like a setup for keeping suffering/hate/hopelessness circulating in the mind-body system. Again to state the obvious, we all become a hell of a lot more attractive to people and opportunities when we have joy-ease-confidence circulating through our biology and nervous system. And we can always spot the salesmen who learn to "project" these things, but are still angry or unhappy on the inside. There's a mismatch. We can sense it and feel inherently uncomfortable. When a person is congruent we tend to relax and feel a lot more comfortable around them. By "congruent" I mean the person is sad when they are sad, and happy when they are happy - as opposed to someone who is angry and pretending to be calm and peaceful. The mismatch can be sensed, and the congruency can also be sensed. Children and animals tend to notice this stuff right away... So the short answer is to get hootless about your goal - getting it - not getting it - and learn to radiate the joy of freedom in all the things you do. Start with the small annoyances, and build up from there. You can get hootless first on the tiny things. Often a goal will drop in - not after releasing for weeks on that particular goal - but rather when you finally face and clean up some OTHER part of your life that you have been avoiding. If we all made a Top Five list of major sources of grief/suffering/resentment in our lives - if we made a fresh, new top five list each month - and committed to cleaning up at least the top two as soon as possible. Getting hootless on them (as well as taking appropriate action) - then all our other goals would come in a thousand times faster. One of the best ways to really get a handle on releasing, how it works, the fine points, the in's and out's - is to first do a little examining of what releasing actually is. This can be tricky at times since most of the marketing seems (to me) to be geared directly to all the things the ego wants in life. Better body, better health, more money - as if the whole technique is some kind of magic button - that you can press any time you like - and make all the good things you crave suddenly appear - and all the things you label as bad suddenly go 'POOF!' and evaporate into thin air. It's a magic lamp! But damn, my lamp must be broken... or maybe the genie inside has gone on a bender... maybe I got one of those evil genie's... the bastard! In all seriousness, I'm poking a little fun at this idea, because that's exactly what it is: an idea. Nothing more, nothing less. You can have as many definitions of releasing as there are
people on the planet. The key thing is to find something that works for you. It's also important to become a student of the truth - both inside yourself and out there in the world. If there is someone whose physical fitness you admire, then definitely ask them for tips. Pay them to coach you! But just because they are in great shape, doesn't mean they have mastered any OTHER part of life. In short, get money advice from Donald Trump, but avoid his advice on hairstyles... (learn to be discerning) Separate what releasing IS from the image of how it's marketed. This is the first hurdle. The ego hurdle. The ego is both desperate to resolve it's problems and is simultaneously desperate to hold onto those same problems. And you're not allowed to say this. The untamed ego hates the truth. Tell the truth to someone who is stuck - and you are almost guaranteed to piss them off. So that's the first thing. The method is marketed to the ego. The marketing version of "what it is" is the hook. And it's a good thing too. Without this hook, no one would even bother. My own experience of what it is: Releasing is a potent means of transcending ego. It softens, and possibly dissolves the perception of a "separate me" that is experiencing these problems. And as this is accomplished, sometimes the problem goes away and sometimes it doesn't. That's the raw truth. The good news is that without a "separate me" for the problem to bump into (and grind against) - all the suffering drops away. There may still be pain, but little to no suffering. What I mean here is that you may still have a broken leg, which may still have swelling and achiness - but without a "you" to hate yourself, the leg, the swelling, the achiness, and whoever you're blaming - big difference. Now your brain is no longer flooding your system with stress chemicals. You tend to go into a meditative state. Endorphins are released. New ideas come into the picture. Now that may or may not be enough to move you out of the problem and into a new situation that is more to your liking. The danger is to just hang out in the meditative state and soak up the endorphins. Of course, this is fine. No judgment here. It's simply one of life's laws that one of the main determinants of your outcomes in life are the actions that you take particularly the ones that you habitually take. So if your habit, in those areas that you feel stuck, is simply to 'zone out' on endorphins and then take no action (or all the same actions that got you stuck in the first place) - then chances are that releasing will make you FEEL BETTER and not much else. The real trick is to train yourself to do something different in those areas of life that aren't working as well as you'd like. And ideally to take these actions WHILE in a released state. Every once in a while you can release the temptation to simply hang out in those good feelings. Allow yourself to daydream a bit while feeling good. And then move forward on one of those good ideas while you're still feeling good! Bottom line: "If you keep doing what you've always done, you've keep getting what you've always gotten." And again, the trick is to take action in the released state. When you are relaxed, calm, and clear minded. This way you are more likely to see what needs to be done, less resistant to doing it, and in a brain state that is more highly conducive to learning. Absorbing new patterns. Understanding the results of those patterns. (Otherwise the ego is likely to hijack the whole process. It waits until you're in a foul mood to try anything new, and you end up performing the new action without any positive awareness or clarity. The looks on your face, and the message you send out is one of: get the hell out of my way or "this tank is gonna run you over!" To be blunt, it's a little off-putting to your friends, neighbours and loved ones. All you're likely to accomplish is to prove to yourself "See! This doesn't work! Now I really HAVE tried everything, and it's official - nothing works!" This is the pattern of "I'm fed up, and I can't take it anymore!" When you mainly follow a routine in life, and only take new action from this state, then it's more like a temporary fit or a tantrum, isn't
it? Be honest. Just look and see what going on here. And the backlash from others (and guilt?) all make you regret the outburst - which leads right back to good old "business as usual." Basically, the ego is invested in you taking "new action" in a special way - designed to backfire - which only proves that taking new action is a "bad idea." Real positive change flows from courage and a calm mind. There is usually some fear at first. After all, you ARE taking a risk, but with a little practice these new actions begin to come from a place of exploration, play, adventure...) In short, you begin to have fun doing new stuff, because you are practicing having fun while doing new stuff. Being pissed off is great for things like cleaning the house, washing the car, going for a run, lifting weights, etc. It's not so good for learning new skills or breaking out of stuckness. In fact, the very same actions which could set you free - could very well ruin everything if you do them in agflap. And that's the clincher... When you're stuck, it can be SO painful. And the egoic mindset is to notice the moments of greatest pain and dwell on them, and ignore (go unconscious) when things are even slightly better. This way an entire identity can be built around: it's always been this way, I've always been this way, it will never change as long as I'm at this job, with this partner, in this situation, etc. To be blunt, it's what you might call ‘i'm-fucked-and-this-sucks" identity. And the ego learns to hate it and cling to it simultaneously. The identity is painful, but it also acts as a shield against further disappointment. It protects from the pain of "getting your hopes up... So the method comes along and messes up all those patterns - if you choose to allow any new and different changes to the old pattern. It's an act of courage. It's a bit of convincing the ego to suffer a bit - like with exercise - knowing that it will lead to strong muscles in the future. That's how it is with all positive change (which is nothing more than training yourself to do a few new patterns on a regular basis). The key is in what you do regularly, not once in a while or whenever you feel like it. Tiny habits, built up over time. And this is how releasing can change your life. The ego hates this though. It's like the skinny guy who wants to go to the gym and work out for 10 hours and expects to wake up looking like an athlete the very next day... That's the ego. It either wants to do nothing at all (nothing new that is) - or it wants to dive in head first and magically change your life overnight with tons of effort. And whether you overdo it at the gym, the bar, or the local restaurant, you always wake up feeling a bit like you just got mugged. Not the best plan for easy and effortless movement towards a goal. So my summary of how it works it as follows: * it dissolves your sense of ego/personal identity/attachment to the problem * it dissolves your attachment to the goal or solution * together this is a movement towards being hootless * and FROM this hootless state it allows you to move gracefully towards the goal There are a few primary misunderstandings here. First, it only does the above four things if you allow it. No one is going to force your ego to drink the koolaid. It's a choice for the ego to willingly dissolve itself, trusting that it won't die, but rather come out more sane on the other end. In short, it's an act of faith, and the more stuck you feel, the harder it feels to make that leap. It's not actually harder though. Just feels that way. Second, there is a common idea that giving up "wanting the goal" will lead to doing nothing. The goal and all hope of it's attainment will be lost. Yeah. Maybe. That's the chance you're taking. And if you like to hang out in endorphins and do nothing then you're right. You
probably won't ever walk up to that girl, and ask her for a date (or insert your own goal, dream, or desire). But you might also ask yourself how feeling stuck is advancing you towards your goal. If all you've got now is a fantasy and no forward movement - maybe doing something new WILL move you closer to the goal. And this reveals another layer of fear ("holy shit, I asked her out and she said "yes!" - so now what?) So the ego will often prefer hanging onto lack and living in fantasy land - because that involves very little perceived risk. The actual risk in remaining stuck is tremendous. Just staying stuck all your life. Your whole life. Lived at half-speed. Afraid to take any real action towards your dreams. Kinda dead already. Just going through the motions. Allow yourself to do an honest comparison of the two kinds of risk. And third, there is some self-training involved: It's a little bit like how some teenagers teach themselves to drive drunk. Not the best example, but it points to exactly that which is needed to make life work. Being in an altered state. Being released, you feel high. It can be mild, or a major endorphin rush. It may simply feel like relaxation, but this is the place where you must train yourself to generate ideas, make decisions, and take action. All three. And think about it. If most of your ideas, decisions, or actions are coming from numbness, autopilot, or agflap - then how the heck is releasing (or anything else) going to make your life better. Just be honest. No need to over-analyze. Just think about that a bit, and do your best to tell the truth... And to be fully honest, it may feel really weird at first. That first time you take one of those daydreams and "cash it in at the bank." You suddenly get inspired, and decide to take a new route home from work... you ask for a date... you write down some goals. Whatever it is. Doesn't matter. And let's get practical. You're risking something here. There you are feeling really good, or at least relaxed, and now you are "playing with fire" a bit. You are risking losing that good feeling, and potentially making an ass of yourself. You may get rejected, make mistakes, get lost. You are leaving that happy-little-nest-of-security and risking something new. You're breaking the trance. You're risking WAKING UP. And that bed was so comfy... And that's the bottom line. Releasing is marketed as a way to transform your moderately comfortable bed into a REALLY comfortable bed... wow... the ego loves that! And then there's what it actually is. It's you. On the edge of the diving board. Bouncing up and down. Thinking about it... getting really honest... and then jumping or not jumping. And when you're ready to jump, you don't die! You might get a little wet, but you don't die. The first time, you might do a belly flop. People might laugh and point. And with a little practice, eventually you become more and more fearless. More courageous. You become a person of action, and people start to become jealous. How come everything comes so easily for her? She doesn't do anything special... why does she get all the breaks? How come everyone seems to like her? The work is yours to do. Get everything by releasing only, but that doesn't mean put on a straight jacket and lock yourself in a closet. I don't think Lester was afraid to leave his house, and trying to avoid all actions. By releasing only. To me this means, don't use force or excessive action or doesn't mean avoid all action. It means grace. It means action while released. Practising this. Inspired Actions so relaxed and fine tuned in that it feels good. Smooth. Graceful. Effortless.
Hootless is beyond that "havingness". Hootless means having freedom about the goal - you are completely happy whether or not you have the goal. That’s freedom. The BEST WAY TO GET A HIGH....... everyday give yourself approval for minutes/hours. Set daily competitions. How much approval can you give yourself today? lets say you do 15 minutes today
lets beat that and give self approval for 30 minutes tomorrow. Give approval to everyone..... including the ones you hate...... giving approval is giving love. Love is what is divine. When you are in love you cannot have professional or monetary chaos..... so be in the wavelength of love..... Best way is giving approval to everyone daily..... Wake up..... give approval to the night... at sleep...... give approval to the day.... give approval to sleep.... give approval to every person you met in your life... give approval to EVERYTHING MONEY BUYS.... money is divine really.... this laptop you r on is bought by money.... does money create any feelings in you.... release on it..... Give as much approval to money to yourselves to whole world. When you release on a high feeling..... You release it for a even a better blissful feeling for diving in deeper.
If you want to create anything or consciously create, hootlessness is the most powerful place from which to create -- not super passion like a lot of people tell you. Passion is just lust. And lust is a feeling of “I want it, but I can’t have it;” “I want it but I shouldn’t have it;” “I want it but it’s not right to have.” There’s always a hold back in lust. There’s a craving, but there’s a hold back which is why just being passionate about your goal isn’t enough. And that’s why, often, you can be really passionate about a goal and still not attain it. What I recommend you do with all your goals, including weight loss, is release until you’re okay whether or not you get it. If you stay hootless about it, in my experience, one or two things will happen: you either get the goal or you simply let go of wanting it completely and move on to something else. The best way to do that is to keep releasing until you’re okay whether or not you get it. Sometimes, when you’re hootless about something, no action is required and it just simply happens. In my experience though, getting into action is often required. If you’re simply going to release to avoid taking action, it’s not going to work. If you’re going to keep releasing and be open to action if it’s required, and then take action towards the goal, you’re much more likely to get it. In addition, the actions themselves are useful for releasing. If you get into action, then all the other feelings you have about getting the goal or not getting the goal also arise. For example: if you’re working on losing weight and you want to just release and not have to exercise or eat less, then you’re probably not going to lose any weight, because you’re not dealing with the problem. That’s magical thinking. On the other hand, if you want to lose weight and you’re releasing on the goal, you’ll also release on the action steps… so you’ll feel okay about exercise, you’ll feel okay about modifying your eating habits. It’s a combination of releasing and action. Action also stirs up feelings. So, the actions themselves are incredibly useful because they bring up all your remaining attachments and aversions. In fact, sometimes you’ll take an action which has nothing to do with getting the goal. For instance, say you’re working on
making more money… if you just sit in your apartment and release on it and take no action, you’re probably avoiding something. However, when you combine it with action – say you go out and look for a job – in the process of looking for a job, you may decide that instead of working for a company, you want to start your own. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You could go looking for a job and pass a store and be motivated to go in and buy a lottery ticket, then win the lottery. It’s not necessarily a straight line. I highly recommend avoiding magical thinking and I also recommend that you work on the goal, release until you’re okay whether or not you get it, and then follow through with action and release on the actions as well.
All success begins with an inner decision to make it happen. This shows up in the real world in the form of a commitment. Without a commitment to "do whatever it takes" - nothing works. The best we can hope for is sporadic short-term gains and then "back to the drawing board." To clarify my above comment: it is more accurate to say that we are ALL highly committed already. The real clarity comes when we are able to bring these inner decisions and commitments into conscious awareness. Many people feel highly frustrated, highly motivated, and really "fed up" with their blocks and problems. This does in fact create a very particular kind of commitment. It tends to create the following patterns: Game A: 1. Frustrated, desperate search for "the solution" 2. Trying every product or technique you find that seems real, but with no results. 3. Hoping to find some REAL testimonials from real people, so you know you have a method that is effective for everyone - maybe even me! 4. Trying out the method - it doesn't work - and therefore become jaded about most testimonials. 5. Deciding that nothing works and everything is a scam. 6. Getting really worn out with this game. 7. Getting so desperate that you are willing to try ANYTHING! 8. Return to step one and repeat the whole sequence. This is the treadmill of failure - and it all begins with a desperate desire for resolution combined with a secret expectation of "nothing changes." These two inner forces often join forces to combine lots of effort with little to no result. The game is "seek but do not find." Lots of seeking. Very little finding. When you do find relief, it often seems "lucky" and the results are short-lived. On the other hand, the secrets to real and lasting change are in plain sight. They aren't really a secret. They are simply basic strategies for making life work. They don't offer the same glamorous claims. They don't appeal to the ego. The reason that the ego seems to support "Game A" - is because that is it's job! It seeks to keep you feeling safe and comfortable by maintaining the status quo. Even if you come across real and valid techniques that will indeed work for you, the ego's job is to sabotage it - often by getting you to apply the method only when you feel like it. It's also great at getting you to alternate between frantic (almost spastic) enthusiasm - trying REALLY hard - and then giving up when all the problems you have ever had aren't magically solved in 48 hours. Frantic action combined with secret scepticism and hopelessness. This is it's game.
Then you go on you tube and listen to testimonials about how this or that person's life changed in 30 seconds - hoping to gather some enthusiasm - and all it does is convince you that either: 1. you must be doing it wrong, 2. there is something wrong with you (it works for everyone but me) - or - 3. the whole thing is a scam. I invite you instead to play a new game - one that works. Allow yourself to look at people who succeed in life. Perhaps you can read their biographies. In truth, you don't have to look that far. We all have the truth inside of us. Deep down we know what does in fact work to create positive results. Game B: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Look at any gymnast, professional musician, or business leader. Look at the hours they put in. Look at the level of personal discipline. Look at the support system they have. Look at their daily schedule. Look at how they eat, sleep, exercise and take care of their bodies. Look at how they view problems Look at their level of focus and concentration (one-mindedness) Look at their ability to relax.
In a sense, I could refer to "Game B" as being a grownup, being mature, being healthy, or being successful. There is a magical potency we develop when we make a solid choice to "get our act together." Growing up is a bit like recovery from an addiction. We all have all these bad habits backed by all these justifications of "future better behavior" once I get this mess fixed. In other words: I'll quit drinking when the stress of my job goes back down. I'll get more sleep once I graduate college. I'll begin exercising this spring when the weather gets warmer. When my kids are off to college, I'll spend more time with my spouse. When we make a firm inner commitment, we are choosing now. We are choosing to begin gathering our inner resources. We make a plan, write it down, and get into action immediately. We also smarten up. No more frantic, spastic action plans where we "go overboard." This is popular with people getting back in shape. They begin exercising with such a frenzy that they are sore all over the next day. Then they give up. This was the ego's game all along. To get you OUT of change - while pointing to how hard you are working to "fix it." It is precisely this "going overboard" that sinks the ship. A helpful perspective is to look at this as a game of intensity and arousal. You must learn to control and tolerate high arousal as well as low arousal. You must be willing to experience the thrill of EXTREMELY high arousal - and still hold back and create a daily plan of moderate effort. Don't let the ego run you so ragged that you get burned out and hopeless. Slow and steady wins the race. The ego wants all the flash and glamour of fantastic displays of effort. You may only be in good enough shape to do 5 pushups a day, but the ego wants to see if you can do 20. So it does 20 sloppy pushups and now you are too sore to get any benefit unless you take a week off. Essentially, you have to keep starting over. So game B is all about skill-building, daily practice, and energy management. Game A is all about flash and magic - followed by disappointment. Game B is about continuous steady growth. It is an internal shift from impressing people to healing. There is no one to fool or impress. The one thing that becomes clear with a daily practice is that there are cycles. Sometimes it feels like a grind, and sometimes if flows and feels easy. Think of a gymnast who only trains
when he feels like it. How far will he go? Will he make it to the Olympics? And this is just a metaphor for success in our own lives. We don't need to do back-flips to have good life. All we need to do is show up and put in the work. It's not always glamorous. And it's the last thing your ego wants. The upside is that it CAN be easy. When you commit to inner change. And you develop the habit of showing up in your own life. Doing whatever it takes to resolve your problems. Then the Sedona Method is a fantastic tool to accelerate all of your efforts. When you want all of your healing to be instant, then it shows an inner unwillingness to do the work. This lands you firmly in Game A. Lots of effort running in circles. Think of Game B as a staircase. You are literally building this staircase inside of you. Building strength upon strength. With years of steady effort, there is literally nothing you cannot be, do, or have. It all comes down to an inner decision to want it - and go after it steadily and strategically. Everyone has the ability, but few choose this road less traveled. Nothing is holding you back. And the thoughts that used to limit you, only have power when you believe them. The future is open to everyone. And no matter what emotions are present, we all have what it takes to succeed. It is important to see the distinction between achieving goals, wanting change, and resisting life. These are all different things. In agflap, you tend to want LOTS of change - and it comes from resisting life & wishing things were different. When people pursue goals from this place, they tend to be ineffective. They could be angry and have a "flailing" kind of energy. They are highly motivated and they do LOTS of stuff, but it tends to have a random kind of feeling to it. To a fly on the wall, it kind of looks like they are just throwing things around like a crazy person. If they are at a desk, they might be slamming down objects on the desk, snapping at their co-workers, or talking frustrated to people on the phone. Lots of action, very little intelligence or organization. If they are sad, there is a hopeless feeling to it. They may do a few things to move towards a goal, but they don't expend much energy or have a lot of hope that it will amount to anything. The energy is "I'll try a few things, but it probably won’t work." Again, not a lot of intelligence or organization here either. There may also be a bit of vampire energy here, as in "I'll tell my sad story and see if I can get someone smarter or more powerful to fix it for me." In a high place, whether you call it CAP or peace or bliss or simply confidence - the irony is that there is much less "war with the world." You tend to be much more grateful. You are able to be quite happy right here where you are. No need to fix anything or make a lot of improvements. And THIS is the space where you are the most sane, the most responsible, the most intelligent. It's not that you have gotten smarter. Perhaps you simply have more access to your full brain capacity while in this space...You begin to fall in love with the world. And the irony is that this is the place from which you are most capable of making changes easily and effortlessly. You don't want to. You don't need to. But you can. It's a bit like trying to get a loan from a bank. The more you need the loan, the less they want to give you the money. And the more money you ALREADY have, the more every bank in the world is trying to offer you money. Some people experience the same thing while dating. The moment you're in a happy committed relationship - suddenly every beautiful person in the world wants to talk to you. The moment you become single again, where did they all go? It's just abundance. When you feel abundant, you're in CAP. This is the place to achieve goals from. Otherwise, it's a game of lots of action and no results. When you are in that space of abundance, you are a much more pleasant person to be around. You make friends easily. Companies want to hire you. Opportunities become available. And this isn't necessarily some magical "law of attraction" phenomenon. It's also just common sense. If you were an employer and two equally qualified applicants came to you... except one
seemed intelligent, relaxed, and pleasant to talk to... and the other seemed uptight, depressed or angry, and a chore to speak with...
The true Self What is it? Lets assume that it comes from "Source" or "All That Is", where we are complete, full, connected, at one and totally loving and accepting of everything. This is a theory, or a story of other people's experience. However, to a degree, we must work with theories or other's experiences until we have no need of them. To "want" is to pretend something is true that is not true. To want is to pretend that we actually need something. The Self, who you really are, needs nothing. You think you need something because your mind, has identified with a body and a personality and believes in lack. And if you ask yourself the question "who am I" and "what do I need, right now in this moment", you may find some very interesting answers - answers that are quite different than what you believe that you apparently desire. Wanting is often synonymous with suffering. The Buddha said the source of all suffering is desire. Wanting is a lie as to who you really are and any time you live a lie, your emotions arise and you experience it as stress. Nonetheless, this seems to be the way life is often lived on the physical world. Life is interesting to us because of desire. What would you do if you had no desire? We want to have experiences in life that will lead us home - home to ourselves. And desire is the fire that moves us in the physical world. Wanting can also lead us to experience another lie, the lie that we are powerless. Powerlessness is a big giant universal belief. It says we cannot have, we cannot do and of course that cannot possibly be true except for all the unconscious and conscious beliefs that we hold. From the Sedona Method point of view...Apathy. And much of the world lives in apathy - a belief in powerlessness. So at level one - "hootlessness" can take you to the perspective of self, where nothing is needed and wanting does not exist. In a state of hootless, you are simply loving what is. You are present and in the moment, happy and all is well, until the next desire arises. At level 2 - is the level where we live our lives in the physical world, we breath, we work, we take care of ourselves and our family...desire is arising and we are almost constantly living it out. Desire from the point of view of a mind identified with a body is quite powerful. We want to breath, we want to live, we want to have many, many, experiences. And it is all good. This is why I say, honor your desire. Meditate with it. Let it spring forth and hear what it has to tell you. This is the path of your life and what else is there to honor if not your self and your life? Your desire tells you what is next. Personally, I have found it to be great fun to pursue desire, if you are motivated to do so. The only thing that can keep you from fulfilling a desire is a thought...a belief that you can not, or you should not fulfil it. Simply stated, its fear. Lester Levenson used to say to me, that with freedom comes Mastery. There is value in knowing that you are the master of your personal world. That you can have what you want. So living life and pursuing what you want goes hand in hand with experiencing freedom. What I have found is that as I achieve goals, and have what I want (and that would include abundance, health, love, creativity, self appreciation and appreciation of others (gratitude)),
that hootlessness accompanies it all. Its a sense of well being, where desire does not scream at me and emotions are not causing me pain and suffering. And that is not to say that feelings no longer arise. They just have a very different voice than they used to. At level two, living life in the physical world... it can be great fun to fulfil your desire. You see, everything...everything, is here to lead you to your freedom. You simply can't go wrong. The only question is how much do you wish to endure suffering and pain? How long will you take? Releasing is a great tool to reduce the suffering. The ego will use releasing, to trick you into complacency. To not think deeply... To stop and rest. The ego will do everything that it can to try to get us to feel special and superior. Watch out for that trickster! No one is more special than another. No one has more answers or wisdom than you do. Look inside your heart, see what you want, and pursue it. It will only lead you closer to your freedom, your mastery of your life and this world. And when it is mastered, you will move onto to the next thing. There seems to be a paradox between hootlessness and desire. But my experience is that they are just part of the whole. They are both experiences of living. Enjoy them both for they are both here with us.
On the issue of taking action versus "magical thinking": From Happiness is Free, Volume 1, page 65: [Questioner]: Well, [my friend] had to go out and look for a job. She had to go to an agent, she couldn't just sit down and wait. Lester: I say all she had to do was to let go and let God. Then, even if she had locked herself in a chamber somewhere, the things would have come to her. You don't sit down and wait, you don't do anything. Just let go of the sense of doership. You just know that everything is perfect, and then the slightest thought you have will come into being quickly. There's no limitation on God, the Self. Whatever you think will have to come into being if you let go, because you're invoking your infinite Power -- God, your Self. Nothing can stop it! [Questioner]: But at the same time you have to struggle to get some action. Lester: No, I said just the opposite. I said lock yourself in a chamber and padlock it, and if you will do what I'm saying, you'll find that what you want will be effected. It has to be. Nothing can stop it! Omnipotence is invoked!
------------------------------------------------------------------Also, on one of the CDs, Lester *recommends* "Get everything you want by releasing ONLY." There was no talk of working or performing action. He wanted his students to release and have things fall in their laps. However, Lester does not say that nothing happens. Releasing allows for "inspired action", wherein the person does not see himself as the doer, but his body takes action anyway. Lester describes this in some of the audio CDs, though I don't recall which. It is like the person is observing his body going through the motions, but he, himself, is only along for the ride. So there is action, but there is neither effort nor planning on the part of the releaser.
I suspect that the mechanism is that, by releasing, the person stops feeding the old conditions and, through the sense of having, starts resonating with the new, chosen conditions. The old conditions are thus allowed to unwind and disappear, while the new conditions come into being according to what the person's belief system will allow into his experience. Some of the transitory events leading to the new conditions will include the person's body and mind taking specific actions. The more released a person is, the less external action is needed to manifest a goal. And, when he is *totally* released from both feelings and beliefs, the goal manifests immediately, even if he is on his butt, locked in a basement...and it will seem completely natural, since there is no belief to say otherwise.
Lesterizing goals "Lesterizing goals" process was created by Larry Crane - the founder of Release Technique. Larry Crane was a student of enlightened american master Lester Levenson. Essentially Larry Crane and his master students extracted the best gems from Lester Levenson teachings and based on their experiences of achieving goals created a simple, yet very efficient process to achieve goals. Reportedly one of the best guided presentations of this process are given by Rich Furlanic who is one of the best teachers of Release Technique. Larry Crane's dry, mundane approach seems to irritate some people. Lesterizing goals process consists of 2 major parts: 1. Lifting up inner emotional state initially (to "pave the way" for main practice). 2. Releasing all negative or resistance feelings associated with the goal up to the point when it becomes irrelevant whether you achive the goal or not. Once you reach the state of "imperturbability" (inner state of peace or quiet balance regardless of whether goal is achieved or not) - the practice is accomplished and achievement of goal becomes highly probable and in many cases guaranteed! People do achieve amazing results using this process. Here it is in more details: 1. Get into CAP state (part 1 of 2). CAP state (Courage, Acceptance, Peace) is essentially elevated emotional state from which person will be able to release underlying negativity and resistance that prevents person to achieve the goal. It is impossible to release resistance if the current emotional state is negative (apathy, greaf, fear, lust, anger, pride and their flavours). So first step is to get into positive emotional side: Courage, Acceptance, Peace (CAP).
To do that: Sit straight, shoulders back, posture straight, breath deeply. This will establish initial physical support for further progress. Make a mental decision to be in control of your thoughts and mind - just say "Yes", "I am the boss". 2. Get into CAP state (part 2 of 2). Imagine/feel what you want now. Sit as you’d sit if you already achieved the goal. This will move you to CAP state.
Think from the goal- Not look at car - drive the car. Not look at house - be in the house. Money - you already own the money, feel elevated sense of freedom you can afford. Feel the wish fullfilled - feel the goal completed. Do your best to play, ignite that goal accomplishment feeling. Ignore negative emotions, thoughts, feelings for now. Overpower it with images and feelings of goal already achieved now. 3. From CAP notice negativities, release them and then release underlying wanting of approval, control and security feelings. Lester Levenson stated that releasing 3 major underlying wants (approval, control and security) will speedup process of spiritual growth and liberation. 4. Do attachments and aversion process: - Imagine always having the goal - release feelings and emotions that are ignited. - This is the most important step: Hootless test: imagine never having the goal, release all associated feelings and underlying wants for approval, control, security. Become hootless toward goal. "Hootless" means - "I don't give a hoot whether I have my goal or not". If you will be able to get into this state - you are succeeded. 5. Now you have the power to do power cleaning: From the state of CAP - consciously invite negative thoughts, memories and associated feelings and emotions. Release them. 6. Super power cleaning: consciously invite the ugliest, most negative thoughts and feelings, worst case scenarios and release on all of them. This will flex your releasing and spiritual growth muscles like nothing else.
Growing Into Your Goals No matter what process you use to achieve or attract your goals there is something needed to make it all work. Releasing is a technique for realizing freedom. But that freedom does come at a price. The price is the willingness to not just to let go but to grow. When you let go something significant happens. When the inner energy of a constricted emotional state is released that energy begins to flow. And as it moves it changes its environment, that is, it changes you. If it didn't you couldn't attain your goal. What we call the objective universe is actually a reflection of us. You look around and see yourself. When you truly release something you change and as a result, the universe changes around you. It reconstructs itself to reflect your new level. To think that you can achieve your goal without having an internal shift occur is self-deceiving. The shift must occur. No shift, no goal. I work with a lot of people and there is something I have noticed. Often people need to grow into their goals. If your goal is have a million $ a year income you need to grow into a person that makes a million $ a year. If you aren't making that now you haven't released enough. You haven't released the resistance to growing into your goal. You haven't yet developed into that level of activity. You can't become a big success while you act and think like a little success.
So pay attention not just to the negative states and beliefs you are letting go of but pay attention to who you are. Are there behaviours or attitudes you have that are inconsistent with your goal? Are you claiming that you really want freedom but are acting out of integrity with that desire? Are you living out your goal as best you can in the moment? Are you investing in yourself to develop yourself into the person who attains the goal easily? Releasing is a great technique for achieving that but more fundamental than knowing how to release is the commitment to your goal. Commitment is not duty, it is heart. If you really want something you are willing to sacrifice to get it. You decide what is important to you and you live that conviction. If you really want freedom and the inner power that it brings you sacrifice anything in your life that does not lead to that end. This develops the character and will grow you into the type of person who easily and consistently attracts the fruition of their goals. Committing to something and completely letting it go at the same time. Ultimately we have to recognize that nothing can make us happy. That comes from within. At the same time there is a deep commitment to what the hearts "wants'. The wants of the heart are not the same as the 4 wants. It is simply the deep desire to be who you are. It is the desire to be free. You never actually drop the goal. You drop the feeling of wanting or not having it. Then you discover that it is now and always have been with you within. You and the goal are actually one.
There is nothing wrong with thoughts and feelings. They are not personal to any of us. They just come and we do not even pick them. Only an arrogant ego would experience a thought and feeling and try to take credit for it. It's a riot when you think about it. You do not pick the thoughts and feelings. They come and you either believe them or not. If you don't believe them….they pass. If you believe them (and you do this the minute you judge them as bad, or as garbage, or think you need to get rid of them), they stick to you. So one part of mind is beating up on another part of mind and internal conflict and pain ensues. And then that experience gets interpreted by mind, for a dose of a little more suffering and you feel like you can't do it, you're a failure, and sad and beat upon. It is torturous! During times like these, I found it very healing to give myself a lot of love. Allow it to be ok that I could not release. Let it be ok that I may never release ever again. You are free to do whatever you want. In your heart you know this. No one has to release, feel good or become free. When you surrender to any and all thoughts and feelings coming up and just let them be...the suffering stops. Remember, none of them are personal. They just come, uninvited and we choose to believe them. We do not suffer if we do not believe our thoughts. We do not suffer if we don't mind having feelings. Be kind to yourself. This will pass.
Want To Be Happy Today?
Many of us get into the Sedona Method/Release Technique so we can become more effective at getting what we want and along the way we become happier, have more peace of mind and develop a greater sense of being connected to all of life.
However we can also get caught up in the busyness of getting what we want out there in the world and lose sight of the source of our happiness. In fact, we might even develop habits of thinking that guarantee unhappiness. Here are some ways we typically make ourselves unhappy... 1. We make a decision we will only be happy when we achieve a goal 2. We decide that we will only be happy when we have the perfect relationship 3. We expect to be happy one day when there are no more problems to deal with. 4. We wait until we look and feel fabulous before we will be happy. If you`ll look more closely at these erroneous decisions and choices you`ll see there is a fear behind them all. And that`s the fear that being happy will stop us from having what we want. It goes like this, "if I`m happy why would I do anything about getting into shape? If I was completely happy I`d have no reason to go to work and be successful!" In other words we think we`d live in a state of apathy. Not so. Happiness is right at the top of the scale of emotions, its above AGFLAP and belongs in CAP. When you feel happy and energetic you`ll want to be active, you`ll want to create and you`ll be very effective at whatever you set your mind to. What can you do now to be happy today? 1. Release on happiness, let go of wanting happiness by using Attachments/Aversions, Advantages/Disadvantages or Likes/Dislikes. 2. See that all your goals have the same underlying goal - the desire for happiness 3. Release on your goals with an emphasis on having step one in place - decide you want happiness more than you want the goal. 4. Moment to moment during the day, when people or situations provoke AGFLAP, ask yourself: could you decide you want happiness more than you want to hold onto this feeling?
Do that constantly and you`ll be lighter, freer and happier. 5. Decide to choose happiness over lacking approval, control and security. The following questions are useful to play with to encourage deep releasing. - Could you decide that you want happiness more than you want to hold onto lacking approval? - Could you decide that you want happiness more than you want to hold onto lacking control? - Could you decide that you want happiness more than you want to hold onto lacking security? Happiness is not a state of mind we can postpone and get one day, that itself is a decision to keep it in the future. If you want to be happier right now then use releasing firstly as a tool to become happy and secondly as a tool to get what you want in the world. Ironically, that`s when you`ll be much more care free and much more successful at getting what you want.
Freedom Simply put. Freedom is "me" not fighting the reality of the present moment. Which one? Which present moment? This one. But what about magic powers, financial abundance, and everything coming to me easily? What about love? What about my ailments? What about that perfect body? Didn't Lester say he healed himself totally with releasing? It happened in 90 days, didn't it? What about LOVE? Didn't Lester promise me love? No. He promised me misery if I chase after getting it, and an ever-increase sense of ease and well-being if I learned to be a source of it. As the SOURCE of love in your own life, your body will either heal or it won't. Your relationships will heal or they won't. Your bank account will grow or it won't. The one thing that happens right away is that your mind will heal. You will begin to see what is true and what isn't. You will regain a sense of peace and security. You will find and begin to experience your own right place in the world. And the irony of ironies... is that it's right where you are this very moment... The difference is in seeing it, feeling it, and having a vivid experience of being "at home" in your body and in your life. And from this place it IS very easy... much easier... to create money, health, and good relationships. It can happen slowly or very quickly. Sometimes instantly. It can seem magic, but it's really just a matter of physics. When your total readiness and full participation - when these two intersect with a person or opportunity that happens by - it can happen beautifully, seamlessly, as if by magic. But really it was just perfect timing. Releasing can heal your mind. It can deliver moments of bliss and experiences of lightness. Moments of feeling free. But as long as you are defining freedom as specific conditions in your life... conditions in your body, in your finances, in your relationships... then you will find that "releasing doesn't work." And that's only because you are fixating on the marketing material that goes along with the various releasing methods. The truth is that releasing DOES work. It can deliver powerful mind-states. It can heal, fears, dissolve traumas, and help you with all manner of life conditions. What it can't do is cancel out your own free will. Certain levels of health (for example) require certain levels of exercise. Same with money and relationships. There are certain levels and kinds of actions you need to take in order to generate certain results... And when you use releasing to dissolve your fear and resistance to taking these actions - and then you actually TAKE these actions - then you will get a very different result from the people who release while avoiding/fearing/resisting action. You can think of this non-action as a "hidden pocket" of fear. Pockets of resentment. Refusal. It can be as intense as terror or a kind of a mental FU to the world, your parents, the government, or whoever you perceive as authorities. Whatever the resistance means for you personally - moving through it - while releasing whatever comes up for you - is one of the simplest and fastest ways to clear it out. So make no mistake, releasing CAN and will make you free very quickly. But the only way to experience certain life conditions that you may label as "success in the world" - is to take well timed action in the right state of mind. The "by releasing only" is not a directive to stay in bed for a thousand years. Please understand. Common sense and simple observation tells us that the masters - to include Lester - were very active in the world. The took action. They did not hide in bed with the covers over their head.
For me, the phrase "by releasing only" means they took action out of love - as an expression of love. They acted out of a sense of freedom... ease. It means they dropped their habits of forcing things. They are opposites. Forcing and releasing. At first, there may be a little forcing. A little resistance. You are starting an exercise program. Even just a few pushups a day. Maybe a little walking, and the mind doesn't like it. The thing is to do your best to notice the resistance and welcome it. Feel it, welcome it, and let it go. Over and over. And the amazing thing is that suddenly the pushups become very easy. The walking becomes fun. Very beautiful. Suddenly you begin to crave it. Even look forward to it. And you start to enjoy and notice all the scenery as you walk. Without the mental complaining, the walking becomes so simple. A meditation. The feeling and sensations of walking. A unique physical sensation. Different every time. Sometimes your body hurts. Sometimes it doesn't. The weather does what it does. Sometimes sunny and comfortable. Sometimes not. But without the mental complaining, it's just something to notice. Part of the variety of experience. The same with paying a bill or playing with a child. Sometimes it's a real grind. The child is pissed off and is hating everyone and everything in sight. Sometimes you're in a very centered mood and can offer love in the face of all this. And sometimes you're not. The child is a grind. The bills are a grind. The body. The husband. The wife. Sometimes the mind is rejecting all of it. Trade in my life! I want a refund! And the thing is just to love it all. To include your own resistance to it. This is freedom. To allow yourself the bad day, the resistance, the drivers who cut you off. All of it. And there comes a moment. Out of the blue. When you are ready to take the ones dearest to you - and THROW them off the top of the Empire State Building - and from out of nowhere, the laughter. It just comes. The whole thing becomes incredibly funny. The sun comes out from between the clouds, and the whole thing becomes incredibly beautiful. Part of the suchness of life. It's as if you get a free pass. And you get a glimpse beyond the veil of the apparent drama of things. And the joy begins to break through. Even if only for a moment... How To Get What You Want More Quickly With A Little Help From Beingness Lester talked about going high to release because that is when we are most capable of letting go of all the limiting thoughts and feelings that keep us from having freedom. Releasing from a high place also causes us to achieve our goals more quickly. If you already have experience using the Sedona method goal process and you’re starting to see results you might like to consider making some adjustments so you can go higher to release and speed things up. How can we quickly go high to release? We want to leave AGFLAP behind and start releasing from CAP. 1. Go directly to Courageousness Consider what you want and adopt the posture you`d have IF you knew you that "Yes, I can do this, I can get what I want!" Get into that feeling state, feel the courage and the sense that you can do it. This is a decision - it does not need to be complicated. Then release from this high state on your goal until you are hootless. Use the goal statement format: I allow myself to have... e.g. I allow myself to have $100 or more by releasing only. If you want to go even higher read point 2 and point 3 below.
2. Go to Havingness Havingness is more a sense of Acceptance. You feel as if you already have the goal even though you do not yet have it. Again, simply get into that emotional state and you’ll feel as if you almost have it right now. Decide to feel you already have the goal, imagine that and feel how that would feel now in this moment. Release on your goal in the usual way until you are hootless. Change the goal statement format to: I have... e.g. I have $100 or more by releasing only. Want to go even higher? Read point 3 below. 3. Go to Beingness Beingness is a sense of oneness and a knowingness that everything is perfect as it is. You can release on a goal from Beingness. I call this being the goal. Instead of having the sense that you have the goal, imagine that you are the goal - be the goal. Yes, this sounds odd. Test this for yourself. Imagine there is no separation between you and the goal, the goal is part of you and you are part of the goal. Again, be the goal! Start by feeling havingness and then just imagine you are the goal - not only do you own the goal, it is you. This is how you feel when you completely love someone - oneness. i.e. you have only love feelings. Be the goal right now in this moment and release from this high place to speed up goal achievement. Release until hootless! Change the goal statement format to: I am e.g. I am $100 or more by releasing only. If you’re new to these ideas start with releasing from Courageousness. Then as you see results, move up to releasing from Havingness or Beingness. Play with these states and be childlike rather than analysing it all. Just notice how letting go is easier and much faster from CAP. And letting go from Beingness in the present moment is very different from the experience of releasing from AGFLAP. Its like accelerated releasing! Could it get any better? 5th way Where does freedom end and your goal begin? Where does your goal end and freedom begin?
How to Do a Hootless Check Simply ask these two questions: Am I happy if I get this goal? Am I happy if I don’t get this goal? When you get a definite Yes to both questions you are hootless about the goal.
When we are hootless we are completely happy if we get the goal and completely happy if we do not get the goal. It makes no difference because we have let go of all AGFLAP associated with the goal and we feel happy now. As a result we live with more freedom and another set of attachments and aversions hit the dust. Could it get any better? (Let emotions come, let them stay, let them go...when they want to go) ..if you're releasing to chase desires, you'll find it inherently frustrating (to include the desire to feel better). If you're releasing to become more present, you'll tend to feel better as a sideeffect. "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all the other shiny toys will become available to you." (paraphrased) But if you chase the shiny toys (to include happiness, feeling good, great sex, money, perfect relationships, etc) then you'll find the process inherently frustrating. If you "seek the kingdom" you end up having a lot more of the other stuff, but only when you truly no longer care about that other stuff. No way around it, and to be honest this will involve some screaming and kicking for a lot of people. It CAN be simple and easy. Many are programmed however to chase the shiny toys and in their programming it seems just insane or terrifying to let go of those desires to chase or want that stuff. The getting or even the chasing has become equated with: normal, safe, comfortable, familiar. The irony is that heaven is so close. It's right here. No chasing required. It's right in the middle of the headache. It's both in the feel of the steering wheel in your hands and in the experience of traffic piled up. If you only look for it in the five-star meal or the car, then that's great - at least you have it there - in your life or in your imagination. Why limit your bliss to rare or unusual situations? Your bliss is in every emotion to be found on the agflap-cap chart. Right in the middle of your anger or depression. Learning to love these IS bliss.... An unconditional acceptance of whatever life is showing you right now. And this places you right in the middle of the present moment, but in an entirely new way. The cells of your body are all lit up. You really feel things. The story in your mind is there, but more to the background. You notice it, but you aren't living it. It's just there. One more thing to REALLY feel and notice and embrace. No longer stuck in your head, you're beginning to catch fire. Living in this very moment. Beingness includes all that... And living this way is a matter of practice. It's not something far off or something you'll be able to do "someday." It's something to play with right NOW, and just to notice how it feels. Having the story, but not living your whole life from it. To include whatever your mind is telling you about these words you're reading right now. Notice that too! Breathe it in and relax. Notice how your body tends to tense up when reading something you don't agree with (or doesn't make sense) and how it tends to relax and open up when you do agree. You can also begin to notice how your breath does the same thing. Tensing and relaxing. Becoming deeper and more fluid when you feel in alignment with whatever experience you seem to be having... Lester tells us the first step is to want Freedom more than the World. Now this is not some desire for the future. It is only to be realized in this present moment. In other words don't expect to release for an hour today and expect everything in the future to just be rosy. You have to want the Freedom this moment, and release in this moment. In this moment feel the peace, stillness, space, silence that surrounds everything. For example, let's say you are looking at a beautiful flower. For this moment you feel at peace. You feel an openness towards your environment. There are few thoughts, only the recognition
of that flower with your senses. As Lester tells us, as your thoughts are quiet you are happiest. Pay special attention to this moment. What is it about this moment of your interaction with this flower that creates the peace inside. It is an openness, an allowing of what is happening in this moment. This openness we could label as Love. This openness, this quietness of thought should be your starting point. This is the real you. It is very simple, uncomplicated, not knowing of anything. Now, you can add thoughts about how you wish the flower had brighter colors, had a stronger fragrance, was located in a different location so you could see it better, etc., etc. See how everything gets more complicated as you add thoughts to the equation, and is taking you away from the openness, the allowing, the love. In this moment do you want the Freedom from thought and the feeling of love, or do you want the story that is developing. Step 1. You have the choice to just experience that flower with just an openness, with just sensing the flower with your 5 senses, or by adding dozens of thoughts and labels that distracts you from your peace. That is step 1, you have to want the quietness more than the complication. You have to want that openness, that love, more than the story. Now how does that relate to having health problems for a long time with no outlook for a brighter future. It is still a moment by moment decision. If you are having pain in the moment, really look at that pain with your 5 senses. Really feel it and experience it in this moment. See it for the first time without the labels and thoughts of how horrible it is and how it never seems to go away. Have openness towards it. Really experience it. You will find a whole new experience as you release and lesson your attachment to the labels and thoughts surrounding something. You don't have to have an answer for what the future may hold. Striving for the answer just causes pain. You know what you are experiencing right now, in this moment. Experience it with an open heart. Know that all these thoughts coming up can not exist if there wasn't first a silence for them to come out of. This silence is what you want to become more intimate with. Now you can't analyze this silence with your mind, but you can SEE that it is there. The silence comes first, and the thoughts come out of the silence. Start each moment with the silence, the openness, the love. Well, you might tell me it worked this moment, you were able to release your attachment to your thoughts this moment, but now it is a whole new moment and the story is hitting you even harder. The pain is back even more intense, the worries that it will remain for a long time are even stronger. All I can tell you is Release. This moment is the only time you can release. Release moment by moment. Step 1, want the freedom more than the story. Now you don't have to use words or techniques to release. Know your basic nature is this peace, this silence, this openness, this love. Really know this inside (Step 2). Then when you feel resistance coming up, let it go. It takes tremendous effort on your part to deal with all the turmoil of these thoughts and feelings, but it takes no effort to just rest as your real self. Take a moment and just realize this. It takes no effort to just relax as your real being, but tremendous effort to deal with your trials and tribulations. Can you just relax in this moment, and release the resistance you feel coming up. You can do this instinctively each moment. It doesn't take time or effort. But the important thing is you have to release each present moment. You can tell me it is a lot of work to release each moment. I will tell you it is thousands of times more effort to deal with the fantasy story you are creating in your head than to simply rest as you are. The problem is that the story is very compelling and draws you in. Well, we are back to Step 1. You have to want Freedom more than the World. In reality we cannot release every single moment, but we can each moment we become aware resistance has crept in. Sometimes that may be a continuous stream for a while. When you make releasing constant in each moment your
attachment to your story gradually fades. Now you still need thoughts to interact in this world, but you don't need the thousands of thoughts that are just bouncing back and forth as destructive noise, and causing all kinds of fears and feelings to build. Be lazy, Release the extra resistance you are experiencing and just relax in your beingness. Now I have given myself approval for hours on end, and I think it is the best thing you can do. But give approval to your real self. Forget about Linda, forget about the negative story you weave. Give approval to the wonder of that which is always at rest. Give approval to the silence, the peace, the space, the openness, the stillness, the love that is always present. You are that. You are love in your essence, give approval for that.
Saying YES to any emotion that arises does wonders. If you are feeling self loathing, say YES to it. If you think it is bad to beat yourself up, you will just create more reasons to beat yourself up. This seems to be what is happening. Can you let go just 1% of disapproving of yourself? Starting small and building up can sometimes to the trick to a full release. Once you are at a higher percentage it is a lot easier to venture into direct approval. People talk about going free, yet if you ask them what that means, I notice that they often describe just another concept that they have read or heard about. Which of course is fine. So what does it mean to you? Why do you want it? For everyone, it is likely to be a little bit different. Make a list and make it real for yourself. You went to the trouble to be born, grow a body, develop a personality and all that it entails. Why try to escape it? Embracing it is so much more fun! You are free when you are loving it....every single aspect of it...and that is so easy to do. Every one knows what love is, how it feels...they just make the mistake of applying it selectively to that which they think deserves love. Goodness, light and positive things most often. Freedom happens when you love everything ...totally and unconditionally, and that would include your resistance, your anger and hatred, your dark corners, your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, your attachments. These things are not "garbage". They are simply aspects of our world seeking to be set free. You know how to do this, because you have done it before! Love is the key. It is very simple Sit on a chair. close your eyes go ahead and sit how you would feel if you were in courageousness....Go ahead and feel how you would feel...its just a decision.....stay there for a while just so that you know that you can....go ahead really feel it....Go ahead and ask yourself...If I was in total peace how would I feel? If I'm in total peace how do I feel? Ask it again, again if you like...If I'm totally free How do I feel? just take whatever feeling comes to you...Now you are in that high place from this high place you can look down and let go of wanting approval control or security? was what you were feeling approval control or security? okay so could you let go of wanting a c or s? let go of the tension in your stomach or your chest Get High to release don't release to get High If you're complaining its not working then you're wanting it to work....this whole thing is about being hootless.....................................................It's a lot easier to let go of wanting when your in the feeling of having............When you feel you got a lot you don't mind letting go a little..keep going higher and higher...there is no ending point.........let go of those good feelings too.. Yesterday I got an inspiration to release in a slightly different way.
The Observation Method 1. Choose an issue to release on, a goal you desire or a problem you want resolved. 2. Observe your experience of that matter. Simply notice what you are observing in terms of feelings, images and internal dialogue. Pay attention to what you are observing without wanting to change it. Just keep watching it - the more attention you give it, the more you will notice. 3. Notice what happens Observe the experience without judgement, effort or trying to fix it. It will then let go on its own. I am not talking about allowing the feelings to be present. I am not talking about going deeper into the feelings to explore them. All I am saying is watch them and see what happens. Yes, this is a fun game to play. I used to teach this trick to my fitness clients back when I was a personal trainer. The brain runs all the hormones in the body which affect mood, health, and physiology. And how does the brain know whether to make you fit or thin? Happy or unhappy? Healthy or sick? It knows by what we tell it. Beating yourself up is most definitely a message to the brain to produce negative effects in the body. In addition to releasing disapproval (and the desire to self-punish) one can also give instructions to the brain very simply by holding mental PICTURES in mind of how you would like to look, but the trick is to hold that desired image and tell yourself "this is how I look now" as opposed to "if I could only look more like this mental picture THEN I would be happy, good enough, and lovable..." Give yourself the love now. Why wait? And when you tell yourself "this is how I look now" and all this resistance comes up - for example: * no you don't * have you lost your mind? * you're fat and ugly * you'll never look that good * who are you kidding? * this will never work * or insert your own favorite form of self-punishing verbal artistry... Just notice how those statements make you feel, and release all that resistance to your desired image and the resistance to... knowing you can have that image be true for yourself right now... As you let those thoughts come and go... and the emotions come and go... and all the body sensations... then you begin to notice that it becomes easier and easier to hold that perfect mental image... and your subconscious will automatically begin to make all the adjustments... so that your eating, fitness, and body physiology naturally begin to line up with your goal. You may get inspired ideas. Different foods may suddenly become more or less appealing to you. And as long as you continue to hold to the image, adjusting it as you wish, then the body begins to conform. The same applies to mood (happiness levels) and wellness (health levels) - which can also be adjusted by releasing on: disapproval, the wanting to self-punish, and any resistance to your ideal pictures in these areas of your life. Giving yourself love and approval is also a very big deal - and so simple. If you have questions about what it means to give yourself love, then you
are missing how simple this is. Just start by giving up a little of the disapproval, and it will begin to become more clear.
We get what we focus on. And life shows us what we are focusing on - by showing us how we are focusing. Ever say to yourself: Well, what the hell did I do to create THIS? I didn't create this! That is life showing you the resistance you have to telling the truth. The ego plays games. When we have an outcome that we automatically (reflexively) judge as negative - then we have a few choices: 1. We can start beating ourselves up. And feel lost and confused about what-I-did-to-createthis 2. We can get mad at ourselves for being so stupid. 3. We can get mad at someone else. Clearly it's them. 4. We can ask ourselves non-judgmentally: What am I resisting here? What is my worst case scenario? If you choose option four (and really you don't have to) - then you will actually begin to find real, useful information about what you can do differently to create a new outcome. Whatever your 'worst case scenario' - this will reveal the place where you most likely have the most resistance (usually in the form of fear, anger, or guilt). When you become totally okay with your worst case scenario, then and only then are you free from it. Until then it will remain as a repressed image in your subconscious - which you are constantly feeding and energizing with fear, anger, and guilt. These are the things which keep showing up in your life. If you can't stand people being rude to you, then you will keep tensing up whenever you encounter someone having a bad day, and you will be a thousand times more likely to interpret his/her actions as rudeness. Then you will resist it, and spend the rest of the night telling yourself (and others?) how you hate it when people act like this. Can't stand people who don't keep their word? Guess what your life will be filled with! In short, when you learn to love your enemies (to include situations & annoying traits) - then you will be free. In other words, then and only then will you stop having to deal with this situation. When you release on these issues - and most importantly when you choose FREEDOM more than you choose fighting the problem - you will be free of it. Two things generally happen. One, you attract it less. And you tend to interpret situations more generously (thus you are no longer seeing demons behind every plant and lampshade). Two, even when the situation (rude person) does present itself - you are now completely unaffected by it. You are free. This doesn't mean that you have magically "poof" eliminated all the rude people in the world. What it does mean is that you have dropped your resistance to them. You can now see them as just having a bad day. You can extend love instead of feeling triggered. You remain in your healed state - you remain in heaven (CAP, bliss, peace, ease, etc). They no longer have the power to pull you into hell (resistance and AGFLAP). In a sense, you become undefended. And I say this in the best possible sense. The world shoots it's arrows at you - and they pass right through you. You become transparent to the former problem. In short, the problem doesn't exist for you when you are in a high enough energetic state. It's simply another opportunity to love. This doesn't mean that you never get triggered, but from a 'healed mind' this triggered feeling simply becomes a reminder to choose freedom - again and again. And notice that with practice you are able to regain your peace almost instantly. Unfortunately, learning to love your most feared possibilities can seem like an endless process. If you notice, you will find that once you feel totally at peace with your worst-casescenario, then there is your "second worse" case scenario. What else are you resisting? And
what else? It can seem like a long list, and if you are like most people - it is! On the bright side, its easy to use some very simple logic here. Let's assume you will be alive for a certain amount of time. And the amount of time starts now - and it ends when you die. Simple enough? From now to whenever the end is. Now would you rather spend that time recreating all of the various worst case scenarios in your life? Now usually this doesn't happen all at once, and the better you are at suppressing, then they usually only show up in tiny ways - even if it's just "always being on guard" and tense - cringing as you wait for the problem to occur. Then when it does, you can say "See! This always happens to me!" It's so much fun being right, isn't it? The other option is to live the exact same amount of time with life getting continuously better as you release on these issues. And as we continue to clear out all of our inner obstacles, we move closer and closer - to our own experience of heaven. This sends the mind into finding proof. Your powerful subconscious then looks for - and finds - evidence of what you did to make this happen. And here is your proof of "how it's all your fault." Now unless you can use this information for anything other than feeling guilty or angry at yourself (hopeless, scared, etc). All this process does, is that it gives you proof of "how it's all my fault." The more productive choice is to use that exact same power of your subconscious mind to find solutions, skills, and opportunities which will make you feel more powerful, happy, healthy, and resourceful. In short, you can use your inner resources to make your life worse or you can use your power to make your life better. The choice is yours, and often all we need to do is simply learn to ask better questions. Questions are one of the most powerful ways to direct the subconscious mind: What can I do to improve my skin - from this day forward? What can I do to improve my physical heath? What foods help me feel great? And then take action on the very simple and practical answers you get. If you find yourself blocked, then it often means that you are just in a low mood: What can I do to get myself in a better feeling state? What can I do to improve my mood? What activities do I most enjoy doing? Other ideas include: 1. Making a written list of all your positive memories. 2. Listing what you are - or could be - grateful for. 3. Spending time helping someone less fortunate. 4. Volunteering with an organization. 5. Finding any way to get into a loving state. 6. Pet your cat, dog, etc. 7. Watch one of your favorite movies. 8. Listen to music. Then when in a better state it is easy to find (and list) positive actions, thoughts, and ideas that can improve the part of your life which you would like to improve. The mind loves to daydream about metaphysics, but just make sure that these deeper questions you ask - help to move you in the direction of your dreams. The desire to assign blame about the past is just one way the ego like to delay your healing process. Since we are all intelligent beings, we are always learning - and therefore moving towards healing. The ego just likes to slow all this down (to maintain the status quo) - as a way to make you more comfortable. But just ask yourself this, if the status quo isn't actually what I want (oily skin) - then why allow the ego to slow me down? Why go into blame stories
about my role in things? Why not use the power of my mind to move me towards an easy and satisfying resolution of the situation?
You can make changes in your body by releasing. There are many ways of doing this. - let go of disapproving of your body - give your body approval - let go of resisting a condition - give your body love For example, take a particular condition and sit quietly for an hour doing nothing but sending love to that part of your body. You`ll notice less tension, greater sense of well being and maybe a reduction in the intensity of any symptoms. One day I was doing this as an experiment on my ears and I could feel my inner ears relaxing and my hearing improved after just 10 minutes. Afterwards I was listening to music and the sound was richer, clearer and more complex. Some healers say the body is made up of light and information. By changing the energy flow you change the condition of the body its like pressing reset. Releasing can be used to clear up all sorts of physical conditions. Some esoteric teachers speak of the energy body or an aura that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body. What could this possibly have to do with releasing? It is my belief (and I admit that this is only a belief) that all healing that creates permanent change does so by making permanent changes in the physical and energy bodies. All healing is a literal re-wiring of the brain, the body, and the energy body. It doesn't even matter if you understand anything about the body, brain, or energy body. A good therapist (loving, healing, good listener) has an effect on us. As we release the past... as we release our blocks to success in the future... our neurology literally gets re-wired. How does the Sedona Method accomplish this? In some magical systems, they refer to things known as "elementals." These can include anything from fairies, imps, gnomes... and all kinds of magical creatures... these elementals are sometimes referred to simply as "thought forms." There are many new age philosophies that refer to the aphorism: thoughts are things. Some claim that they physically exist. They exist in some unseen way - in the same sense that radio waves, cell phone signals, and television signals are all buzzing through the air... in fact right through walls, solid objects, and even right through your body. In the same way, thought-forms (elementals) are said to exist and move through the air. Some claim that everything that exists, was first created on the level of thought. An architect works from a blueprint, but first it existed as an image in his/her mind. Many success teachers work with this idea, and others simply might call it visualization. Sports psychologists use imagination and visualization to "help create success first" on the imagined level. In the book, The Magus of Strovolos, the teacher, known as Daskalos, speaks of our entire personality as being made up of a collage of thought-forms (elementals). He creates healing for people by dissolving the elementals that are not serving the person. These elementals can be a thought, an emotion, a story about a person/place/situation. They can be an urge. It's
like a little packet of consciousness. In truth, it's nothing more than energy and information. A thousand little vectors of intention. Each pushing in its own direction. So imagine that your personality is nothing more than hundreds of intersecting stories, thoughts, and feelings - and that each of these exist as little packets of light. Each little packet contains a thought, a feeling, an urge, a desire, an image, a sound, some bit of information. Now whether this is true, or if it's just a useful metaphor - either way - we can see how the Sedona method dissolves many of these feelings (elementals) almost like letting the air out of a balloon. In fact, you can imagine each elemental as a little colored balloon, and your energy body as a collection of these colored balloons. As we release an emotion, these balloons get more and more deflated. The balloons of AGFLAP get released or at least become smaller. The same with our feelings and stories of lack. As our undesirable elementals get deflated, we begin to feel relief on any given issue. As we release our attachments to control (another series of thought-forms) - we can now have the blessing of having good feelings even WHILE certain problems continue to exist. In short, as our attachment to running the whole world decreases, we can then live more peacefully within our "current personality." Essentially, one of the greatest blessings of releasing is that as we release our resistance to all our elementals, they no longer freak us out. Instead of our own personal demons (negative thoughts, feelings, and beliefs) running US now we control THEM. As we release on our thoughts, stories, and emotions - we now become more at peace with "what is" to include our inner world as well as the external circumstances of our lives. We begin to develop a sense of mastery over our mental and emotional worlds. With this additional peace and confidence, we are now more able to leverage "what is" and resourcefully use it as raw material for moving towards our dreams. This releasing path offers huge rewards. It offers power, wealth and happiness. But it asks a lot too. It requires that each person take full responsibility for their own healing. And that one dives in, commits to the process, and stays with it until they reach the goal. The ultimate goal is obviously enlightenment in all its various forms. It could be called imperturbability, or the peace that surpasses understanding, happiness-for-no-reason. It doesn't really matter what anyone calls it. It's all an act of courage. And as your courage grows, your healing accelerates... Courage, determination, commitment. And so I repeat: So if this is true - and maybe it's not - what can those who TRULY want more success, love, and abundance do? And this is my best answer: Courage, determination, commitment. It's not the only answer, and it's certainly not "the right answer"... it is simply part of the journey... and part of what it takes... to truly allow the healing process to unfold... when you develop these three qualities, things will begin to happen fast for you. Until then, it may seem like "two steps forward - three steps back." It's as if there is some part of us that is fighting change. For every bit of progress, there is an equal and slightly greater amount of backsliding... What to do?
Well... unfortunately... nothing. Unless you are committed, and willing to do the work, nothing you try will help. There is no right therapy, no magic therapist, no "perfect" relationship, no ideal job - nothing on the outside will fix it. And nothing on the inside will change either. We all have an internal self-regulatory system that keeps our lives basically the same over time. The only way to over-ride this... is by wanting it bad enough... and getting excited enough to make the commitment... to work your ass off... to do whatever it takes... to reach the goal... and when you do this... things start happening fast. This has been my experience. First nothing changes. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, nothing changes. Am I doing this right? Do I understand it properly? Why isn't it working? What's wrong with me? Maybe releasing just doesn't work for some people? Maybe it doesn't work at all... And then... you get fed up with all the "poor me" complaining... and you decide enough is enough... and you decide to take some action... whatever it takes... you decide to make it happen...This is when the magic starts to happen! Another angle on this (I agree with all of the ideas above) is that you are not really "releasing" feelings when you release on a feeling. What you are actually doing is more in line with the energy of welcoming. Allowing yourself to HAVE the experience you are having. So with fear, for example, it's not the "getting rid of" that allows the fear to dissolve. It is the process of allowing yourself to actually FEEL this emotion that you were suppressing, denying, or distracting yourself from. The method works by "reconnecting the wires." When we run from a feeling it's like trying to fix your car engine by cutting the wire that runs the "check engine" light in your car. Releasing/welcoming is in many ways a process of willingness. This willingness to feel ALL of our emotions - the good as well as the bad - allows us to process them quickly and get all the messages they are conveying to us. So our minds and bodies don't have to keep trying to re-send the message. Now, with "good emotions" we might not mind being stuck in them for a while, but here you can see that we are actually doing two things. We are enjoying the feeling AND terrified that we will lose it. The second element is what ruins it. The fear creates a kind of clutching or holding on - and thus the "losing the good feeling" becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. The clutching carries with it a contracted kind of consciousness as well as a tense body posture. When you release on the good feeling it is actually a kind of confidence that there is "plenty more where that came from." Holding onto it, creates a belief in scarcity.
There is sometimes a bit of tension between certain "camps" in the healing community. The more one has been profoundly helped by some tool, technique, or modality - the more one tends to "swear by it" and insist that it is the one right way to heal. This is very common, and it happens regardless of whether one invents some system on their own - or if they are a devout follower of someone else's technique or method. There are the purists, and the tinkerers who feel a need to play with everything and change things around to suit them. Which way is right? Well, in my experience, neither. The entire question is loaded and tends to be a bait-and-switch proposition. Just like the magician who wants you to look at his left hand, while his right hand is pulling something from his sleeve. The real thing to look at isn't what works or even if you have the right to monkey around with a proven technique. The real issue is about the nature of healing itself. I find that it is part of the human condition - to conform to the subconscious images one has oneself. If you believe that you are unworthy of healing - somehow not good enough - then you will take ANY method, no matter how effective, and then change it around as a way to keep yourself stuck. It is also tempting to do this as a way of avoiding any of the
difficult or upsetting portions of any transformational process. True change is often scary and WAY outside of one's familiar comfort zone. I often get the image of the cartoon turkey that is going into the oven, and it keeps blowing out the match - so the owner cannot light the oven for thanksgiving dinner. No one wants to get cooked! And that is what real transformation is all about. You are "going into the oven" and you won't come out the same person. Parts of your ego are not going to like this. The actual process of change is not about "getting everything you always wanted" and magically eliminating all the bad stuff. It is much more like going to the gym and putting in your hours. It's hard work and it feels like nothing is happening, except for a bunch of sweat and sore muscles. Sometimes the process is so gradual that it's hard for you to notice any progress. Often it's your friends or relatives who will begin to notice the changes going on inside of you. And then finally one day you will look in the mirror and begin to see that something is very different. Life is decidedly easier, and your stress level is way down. And this is just the beginning! So it may sound like I am arguing for the purist side of the issue - and against "changing things around" - but I am actually suggesting that it really doesn't matter. No matter whether you are too rigid or too lax, your ego will find a way to use your rigidness or over-flexibility as a way to avoid staying "out of the oven." In short, it doesn't matter WHAT you do - your ego will find a way to try to weasel out of it. The real trick is make a strong internal commitment to healing your life. There is a balance between following the rules and making adjustments - and we must all find our own way here. There is no one right answer that applies to everyone. As a guide it may be helpful to ask yourself: "Am I making adjustments to avoid something hard or uncomfortable?" "Am I sticking to the script out of a fear of really exploring and investigating this?" Some people begin their release work simply by repeatedly listening to an audio program where they are being guided. While this is excellent, if after two months you still haven't developed your OWN form of practice then you may be limiting yourself unnecessarily. How will you ever be able to bring your releasing in the real world and learn to feel open, relaxed, and at peace - if the only way you think of releasing is "that thing I do while listening to the audio?" I am not against releasing this way, I am simply suggesting that there is no way to make your releasing constant if that is the ONLY way you have practiced releasing. The real issue is that most people come to releasing with some combination of a desire for selfdevelopment, desire to let go of some feelings of internal discomfort, and perhaps to find a way to reach your goals more effectively. The catch here that all change tends to be temporary, until you find a way to change yourself. We all impulsively seek out quick ways to change the situation, and very few honestly are willing to change themselves. A famous teacher once said "everyone wants relief, but no one wants the cure! A cure is too painful. It involves real change, and may take some effort. But a cure is the only thing that will allow you to heal." The Sedona Method, when applied diligently, will allow you to question and dissolve all the things that are holding you back. It can free you to achieve your goals and give you the ability to heal any part of your life that is out of balance. The only real question is "will you do the work." There is no doubt that the ego has a hundred ways to try to convince you: 1. This is a bad idea. 2. It doesn't really work. 3. You don't understand it. 4. Everyone is getting results, except for you. 5. This whole thing is a con.
6. 7. 8. 9.
No matter how hard you try, nothing happens. All great gains, will be followed by immediate setbacks. All progress is temporary. Everything eventually goes back to the "way it always is" no matter how much work I do.
If you hear any of those voices in your head or your thinking, you can relax and be assured that your ego is alive and well. It is doing it's job perfectly (and it's not even a bad job!) It's real job is to keep you safe and secure by keeping your life familiar and within your comfort zone of what you are accustomed to. Even if you are used to suffering, it's there to help you feel normal and to save you from "whatever is on the other side of the coin." So in the parts of your life that suck, your ego is right there to help you stay out-of-balance, if that is what you are used to. And in the parts of your life that are wonderful, it's also there to keep things just the way you like them. That's it's job. True change is about making a solid internal commitment to over-ride this unconscious mechanism and "ride out the storms" of its resistance. And the way we do this is by learning to love it. We love and accept the resistance. This is like adding water to fire. Fearing, judging, or hating the resistance is only adding fuel to the fire - resisting the resisting - this is just turning up the heat. It is an exercise of the ego to resist - so more resisting is only like giving the ego steroids. This is the first hurdle. To practice loving whatever shows up. And for some, just thinking about change can bring up a whole pile of resistance and fear - and this is how the ego works - it pitches a big fit - and gets you to go into fight/flight - be afraid and run for cover. Only when you are willing to stand in love, are you truly able to handle all the fear and nonsense it likes to throw at you. Remember it is only trying to keep you safe. You may find it's helpful to think of it as a scared child, and your job is to give it love and attention. Instead of getting "all wrapped up" in its games - it often helps to just stand back and give it your undivided attention. Notice the thoughts as they arise. You can write them down if you like. And resist the urge to let them wind you up. The temptation is to react instantly, and believe every fear-thought that crosses your mind. This is it's plan. It wants to control you by keeping you in a state of fight or flight. Many people live this way, in a chronic low-level state of worry, rushing, and anxiety. This has become the comfort zone. Your first taste of bliss will actually be a big threat to the ego, if you have never really felt bliss before. It may double its efforts to wind you up. And the solution is the same. Do not combat the ego. Just stand back and notice the thoughts. Love them. Give each thought your full and loving attention - as it floats in and out of your mind. And then there is another... and another... and you simply develop this skill of watching and loving... each one in turn arising and falling away... as the habit of loving develops momentum within you. In the end, the ego will still be there. You will always have a personality. And as you begin to trust your work with loving, releasing, and observing - the changes you make will feel wonderful. Your ego may resist the changes in the beginning - regardless of the change. And then the ego will get used to the new ways of being in the world - and begin to protect these as your new normal. And if you stay with releasing long enough, your ego will experiencing releasing itself as your natural way of being in the world. And perhaps then you will experience a natural state of constant releasing that flows naturally and effortlessly - as you learn to love and embrace each moment of your life. What will that be like for you? What will it look like? How will it feel to live in that way? Many may recognize the words "loving what is" as the title to a popular book by Byron Katie. It has even become a bit of a common phrase in some self-help circles. In my mind, this phrase has a lot to do with what the Sedona Method calls letting go of control. If not identical, then at least very similar. As I see it, this is one of the main obstacles in healing any part of one's life or experience. In essence there are two parts to any healing equation. First there is "learning to love or accept the situation" exactly as it is. That's the first hurdle, and believe me, I know it can
seem huge or even impossible in many situations. It helps to practice with small things that annoy, upset, or scare you. Tiny things. Little things that you KNOW you could let go of... if you wanted to... The second thing is taking action. Yes, it may seem like a contradiction, but it's there. It's essential. First, learn to love it. Then, take action to move the situation towards your goal or preference. And if you think about it, it's not as crazy or paradoxical as it sounds. Just think of someone who loves their house. They enjoy the people, the space, the environment, the feel they get from being there. And don't they take action to keep their home tidy and beautiful? They might even redecorate the rooms occasionally to make it even more comfortable to live in. You might wonder why they would redecorate if they already love it so much, but if you give it some thought... perhaps they redecorate it because they love it so much. And maybe the analogy fits a little better for someone who really loves their body or their car... Would you ask "why wash it if you love it so much?" No, probably not. It's obvious. They bathe because they love and care for their body. They maintain their car because they love it. Wash it, paint it, overhaul the engine, make upgrades...The voice of fear suggests that accepting something... loving something... "Oh no! This means you'll be stuck with it forever..." Reality suggests otherwise. Where there is love... where there is common sense... where there is a willingness to act... then things do change. Continuously. Nothing stays the same. Everything is in flux. Acting and interacting. And the love allows us to add our own input to the situation in a way that is graceful, creative, and perfectly timed. Frustration creates poorly timed input to many situations that throws the dynamic off balance, and disrupts the energy. We "bite our tongues" or say the wrong things. Fear tends to cause a shutdown and a lack of input. We tend to freeze up and do nothing. Love allows us to take in reality "as it is" and to add our own input in a relaxed way. Like someone polishing their beloved sports car, or two lovers spending a lazy day in bed cuddling and being playful. When we are in agflap we know that we are "missing the mark." We are well aware that our actions and inactions are poorly timed. Poorly executed. But we often just don't know what else to do. We seem to lack access to grace or the right information... In reality, grace is always there. Intuition is always there. It's just a matter of "tuning the radio" to the frequencies of CAP. Peace, insight, and grace don't take a vacation when we are having a bad day or in extreme situations. It's just that we may have developed internal habits of hating or fighting certain situations. An automatic reflex to close down our relationship to grace when certain things happen. It's a matter of opening up. It has nothing to do with what is going on... on the outside. Whatever it is, you can always train yourself to open up, to love it, and respond gracefully. It's a choice. A decision. No one can make you do it, and you're not wrong if you still find yourself closing down in certain situations. Opening up, loving what is, releasing control... it's not like these are the "right and good" things to do and any OTHER response is bad, wrong, unhealthy, etc. No that's nonsense. It's a choice to open or to close. Both are valid. It helps to see that our wounds are where we close. They are where we tend to experience the most fear or anger. It's where we go into "fight or flight" mode. Where we tend to attack, defend, and justify everything. When we close, we may also feel very right about it. The fear voice tells us that closing down is the right thing to do, the only thing to do, and any other response would be completely insane. To be loving in THIS situation. To open up in THIS situation? To let go of hating this? To accept it? That's nuts! Then it would just keep happening, right? It means it would... right?
The little voice... that little gremlin inside of us... (that we sometimes mistake for our own true voice)... it is very clear... only when you hate or fear this problem ENOUGH... only then will it change... And the challenge is simple and obvious. Simply look and see. Just ask yourself how often this "solution" has actually worked in the past... and also how frequently it has actually made things worse. Just do an honest review of your history and see for yourself. And you can take a moment and reflect on this. The mind will have it's opinions, but if you really look and review things, you may get a different perspective on your own history. The mind doesn't want you do this. It likes things as they are... the more you may heal... the less control it has over your thought process... The more we heal. The more we allow love to have its way with us... the more we become free from "old thinking styles." We slowly and progressively free ourselves from the fears and wounds of the past... and the patterns of thought, action, and inaction that were linked to these wounds and experiences. In one sense they are very real... these wounds... these occurrences... they really DID happen... they do happen... all the time... every day... and not just to us... they happen all over the world... And in another sense, they are not as real. They can be seen as memories. Relics of the past. Things we may have carried, but now have a choice about. We can continue to carry them around like a thousand suitcases or a backpack filled with a million rocks... or we can slowly unpack these events... these large and tiny rocks... and practice letting them go. All the little ways we clench and protect ourselves when we anticipate the possibility of "something similar happening"... and we practice welcoming, unclenching, letting go... The voice of confusion likes to muddle things. To love something, we don't need to like it. To accept something we don't need to tolerate it. It's an internal shift. We can take all the required action on the outside, all the while we have the option to open up on the inside. I can love my broken toe, and still go to the doctor to get an x-ray. Love doesn't mean like. It means an internal alignment with reality. It means dropping the internal hate party. How? Welcome THAT too! Okay so I'm having an internal hate party. That's reality. Now I see it. I'm aware of it. And just noticing it means I am approaching the beginning of a choice. A new possibility. Now that I see it, I can choose to welcome it. The hate is there. I'm in the mud, and really rolling around in it. Really enjoying it. I'm into it. The hate is flowing. I've turned the hot water onto full blast. Now I can do one of two things. I can get into this blazing hot shower... step into that scalding water... burn the hell out myself (and whoever else I interact with)... or I can make a new choice to add some cold water. I don't need to beat myself up about it (hate myself for hating)... that's just adding more heat. The way to bring hot into balance is to add something cool... something soothing... add some peace... some humour... some kind of gentleness... Again, this is a simple formula for changing anything. Love it. Take action. First love what is. Then add your own action from a place of CAP. Love the car. Wash the car. Maintain it. Love the problem THEN address it. Let the "sanest version of yourself" be the one that adds the input to the situation. So very often, in the areas where "the mind" is in control (wherever we feel the most stuck) - in these areas we allow our fear or frustration direct the action or inaction. It's really a choice to let love run you. Body and mind. Kind of an internal commitment: "Today I will bring my most loving response to this situation." Again this is not a suggestion to suppress. Don't deny the reactivity, fear or upset. Love that as well. Bring your most loving response to that too. In fact, that may be the most important
part of the equation. To say it another way: don't make the situation wrong, don't make your emotions about it wrong, don't make your desire to change it wrong. Love all three of these. That's grace. More accurately, that's YOU being open to grace. It's you opening up. It's welcoming on all levels. It's you with all your problems and limitations. The only difference is that you aren't waiting for your mum or Lester to love you. To be there for you. You're giving it to yourself. It's an internal choice to allow love in without needing some superhero or authority figure to say, "You're okay. You deserve it. Here have some love." And then going whew! I feel so much better! Essentially, it's an internal choice to love yourself without needing some special occasion... So that's it. No magic. Just love plus action. No super-secret formula. That IS the formula, and the joke is that we already know it. We've heard it a thousand times over a thousand lifetimes. And we're already doing it. In any area of life that's working, we're already doing some version of this. We just "forget it" in whatever area of life we label as stuck, and then do something called struggling-to-fix-it which is just code for: remembering what we already know and applying it to this area where we feel stuck, afraid, angry, and wounded. We apply what we know, what is obvious, what has always worked... to this area where we have an old habit of being hard on ourselves... And the loving is nothing more than a skill. Something to practice. Doesn't matter if you call it loving, accepting, letting go, or welcoming. Open up, take your time, then act. Practice opening, practice acting, and practice combining them. So it's really three skills. Opening, acting, and doing them both at once. We've all had moments of loving someone or something. We've all taken action. And most likely we've all had moments of being in the flow. Inspired graceful action. And while the following suggestion may have VERY little to do with releasing, it may have everything to do with "being released"... The more you practice being released in the very situations that piss you off, the more you become immune to being pissed off. The more you practice letting go in the situations that make you sad, the more you are able to move into CAP as they occur. The same with fear. When you practice doing what scares you, then fear begins to lose its magical power to stop you in your tracks. In short, fear stops functioning as some kind of boogie man in your life. You begin to "live into" your own personal experience of being limitless. As you practice opening up, you develop a kind of emotional intelligence. You notice the agflap, and then begin to move out of it almost automatically. You recognize the feeling, and you also recognize that it has no power to influence you. No power over your mind or your actions. No power other than what you give it. No need to use Sedona or releasing as some kind of crutch or novocaine to "escape the emotion" - and then "oh it didn't work" if the emotion doesn't go away. No. Releasing becomes something different. It is a way to feel INTO the emotion. A way to move through it, rather than run away from it. You no longer judge the emotion as bad, nor do you judge yourself as bad for feeling it. You simply begin to "tag it and bag it." Yup it's there. I'm noticing some fear, deep breath, welcome it, love it, invite it to stay, and then go about taking the most loving action you can that is appropriate to the situation. You love the fear, yourself, the mistakes you're making, the mistakes everyone else is making. Nothing special. You don't have to do anything other than what you are already doing. No magical solution. You live the same day you're already living. Do all the same stuff. Just without the internal clenching. And of course, when you're in CAP you think differently. You probably speak differently. Feel more optimistic. Behave differently. So it's not a matter of having a bad day and then beating yourself up... telling yourself you should release more... love more... BE MORE LOVING (right now dammit!)... no... nothing like that. It's just allowing the shift to occur organically. Instead of letting the agflap direct the thinking, perceptions, and choices... you
welcome the agflap AND the situation... and as that begins to shift your thinking and feeling... then let that new response direct your activity. The response... the welcoming... the grace... whatever you call it... it's already there. It's more a matter of choosing it. Remembering it. Allowing it in. And allowing this accepting-peacefulenergy to flow to yourself, your feelings, your wounds AND the situation. As you welcome it inside you, and allow it to circulate within your mind and your body, it has to have an influence. You may not notice how it creates a change inside of you. The mind doesn't always understand it. Doesn't always like it. But it always has an effect. And the more you allow it in, the more it changes how you function in the world. It's fine to do your best in the world. To try and be nice. Act loving. Do all the right things. And all this is external. Great. Do your best with all that, but if you are exhausting yourself trying to "do it all right" while being really hard on yourself and others... then I will go out on a limb and say that you may be doing it the hard way. And it's very likely that you aren't adding any actual love or peace to the situation. At the extreme, people may sense or feel the fear and frustration "coming out your pores"... at the minimum there's a hopeless a kind of apathy that rides along with the action. When real love drives the input, there's a kind of magic that occurs. It doesn't mean that everyone suddenly likes you or that long-standing problems get resolved in seconds... All it means is that you're practicing unplugging yourself from the matrix, and you have made a personal commitment to bring the highest energy you know... to every person, event, and situation in your life... to include yourself. Before we go any further: I want to say that it’s easy when reading articles like this one to think that you should be doing what the author says, and shouldn’t be making the mistakes she points out. If you have recognised yourself in the examples above and are now feeling guilty, please know that (a) you have done nothing wrong (b) almost everyone else either feels the same way or has done so in the past So how does the Sedona Method help with these conflicting desires, and what do these have to do with goals? Instead of trying to force yourself to change, or berating yourself for having a hidden motive for your goal, with the Sedona Method, you welcome all the feelings, thoughts and images that arise when you think of or read your goal. What, you mean I’m supposed to welcome these awful feelings? Yes, and no. First, you’re not supposed to do anything. But if what I’ve written so far seems helpful, then keep reading. Welcoming a feeling, thought or desire doesn’t mean you will hang on to it forever. Nor does it mean you act on the desire or feeling. Welcoming simply means you acknowledge whatever is there and don’t judge yourself because of it. We have the thoughts and feelings we do in an attempt to protect ourselves, and welcoming is really a way of acknowledging that, and of accepting what is here right now. It also leaves the way open for what is here right now to change in the next moment, whereas resisting means we get caught up in a struggle that keeps alive the very feeling we want rid of. Resisting what here is right now means that your energy is directed into that trying to change what has already happened, instead of onto taking action to achieve your goal.
Here’s a real example from my own life of how to approach goal setting the Sedona Method Way. First, as with most goals processes, write the goal in the present tense, and in the positive. Include how you would like to feel in your goal. I’d like to feel at ease so I include the word “easily”. Goal: I easily complete the first draft of my novel by the end of January. Now notice your reaction: My first thought is, “Fat chance!” I feel tense, and a sinking sensation comes in my gut. I welcome that. This may seem counter intuitive, but as I do I feel better, more relaxed. The goal actually feels possible. I remember how much I enjoy working on my novel, and feel eager to get back to it after having had a break. I think about my goal again, and doubt surfaces, along with a thought: “I’ll fritter time away and never be able do it.” The image that comes to my mind is of me on January 31st, having done nothing and feeling disappointed. I welcome that. As I do, I spontaneously breathe out, and relax. I see now that the thought and image are old habits, just part of the old-fashioned way of trying to use fear to force change (wanting control, and wanting approval.) Now I realise that perhaps my original goal could be unrealistic and part of an old habit of trying to compensate for what I believed to be lack of drive by pushing myself. (Remember that push-pull we looked at before? It’s now easy to see that these conflicting beliefs have been holding me back.) I see that a more realistic goal would be to complete the first draft by the end of February. That way I leave time for other projects, such as writing articles on Hubpages or working on learning more about Search Engine Optimisation. I also now notice that the original goal was creating a sense of feeling rushed, which made it hard to focus on the task in hand. I feel much calmer now, and more confident that I can work towards my goal. Notice that throughout this process I didn’t try to figure out what was the best thing to do, but a solution showed up as I welcomed. This is a major aspect of The Sedona Method, that instead of spending hours weighing up pros and cons, which usually results in feeling caught in a loop, we welcome feelings and our minds naturally become clearer. It may seem counter-intuitive to welcome so-called negative feelings or wants that hold us back, but the moment we do so our emotional state goes from negative to positive. The very act of welcoming is an act of courage and creates acceptance, and in a state of courage or acceptance we are able to move forward easily to reach our goals. The fifth way is a little like jumping RIGHT to the answer key in nondualism. Instead of studying and learning and sweating to learn your algebra - your buddy stole all the answers to the quiz and is selling them for 5 bucks a piece. That's the good news AND the bad news. The problem is that if you skip the work, you also skip the learning. And everyone wants relief NOW. Solve my problems right now! And the original ways of releasing are a bit like putting in your hours at the gym or studying for your algebra exam. Eventually you DO learn all you need to know, and more studying isn't actually going to help you. Skipping right to the
answers at this point is incredibly helpful. Pay the five bucks! (it's just that we all want to get there before we really ARE there.) Ideally, the fifth way can act as an accelerant. Mixing it up with "normal releasing" works very well in the beginning. There is a learning curve for developing emotional intelligence. We need to understand at the deepest levels that our emotions are OURS. They were not caused by other people or external Once you peel back the curtain, and begin to dissolve the "solidness" of this "you that you perceive yourself to be" then the problems have very little to stick to. For me, resistance is the glue - the stickiness. So the first four ways are about getting really GOOD at dissolving resistance. Instead of fighting the emotion, you learn to feel it. To feel it consciously. To welcome it. You actually invite it in like a guest you are welcoming into your home. Right into your body (it's often helpful to remind people that you ARE feeling it in your body anyway - the only difference is that in the past you were just really good at ignoring or distracting). And then like any other guest, you allow it to leave as well. In resistance, we do the opposite. We have "the guest" standing at our door knocking for eternity. It can never come in, but it can't ever leave either... So once we have developed a bit of this emotional intelligence - built up our spiritual muscles so to speak - we then can begin to find faster and more efficient ways to relate to the problem. We are now good at releasing the feelings and the wants. Now we can see that this stickiness of certain problems involves three players. 1. Me 2. The problem, and 3. The glue/stickiness/resistance. In the first four ways we learn to drop the fight (which only glues us to the issue) which then allows us to bring elements one and two together. The guest comes in, the guest leaves. Over and over. Until we REALLY do see it as a guest. It stops being a metaphor and we really have no problem welcoming our hate, our fear, our lack of approval, etc. We remember how much relief the welcoming gave us LAST time, so we gladly repeat the process. Now we finally get to a place were we can really question the first of the three elements (me, the problem, and the glue). Without a "me" there is nothing for the problem to stick to. It becomes like space debris - and it passes right through us. The more and more we investigate this "me" and it's supposed solidness, the less stuck we feel and become. It is an experience of lightness - in every sense of the word. The whole point of releasing is your freedom! Anything you do that goes against that is not worth it. So what's the answer? The first step is to stop forcing, naturally. Get to a state of leisure. what are you trying to get to, through releasing? Ease, effortlessness and leisure, correct? So, THAT'S the way to go! Try to first get to a point of leisure. This ability is inbuilt in all of us. When we've had enough, all of us say 'Oh, screw that!', and simply go into this 'leisure' state. We've simply had enough. We kick out all concerns and simply be. Everybody's done that. It's very easy To release something does not mean to fight and win against it. It means to be free from the need to do all that. Releasing allows everything to flow as it should. Everything is constantly changing, moving, flowing in this world. Releasing is seeing this, and allowing it to happen. Releasing isn’t trying
to improve the situation. Releasing is allowing to be, what is already there, and allowing it to move on. As everything is changing you will have happy thoughts, good emotions, but also unhappy thoughts, negative emotions. Be aware of each situation. See how each experience, in each moment, is so unique and has different affects on your world. Don’t analyze, don’t judge; just notice. You are just seeing the thoughts and emotions for what they are in this moment with an open heart (notice I didn’t say mind). Release anything that holds you to that moment. Let this moment come and go. Releasing is not a mental process. As soon as you get the mind involved in releasing, effort comes in. Releasing is simply seeing what is, and not going into your mind for a solution or to find something different that you think you should be experiencing. If someone just said something nasty to you, how does that affect your mental and physical well being? Loosen the attachment (Release) and see how those words from someone else affected your being. Don’t analyze, just notice. Releasing is letting go of the labels and just seeing everything for what it actually is. Did this situation trigger a slew of other thoughts? Did it make you hot under the collar? Did it give you a headache? Notice these things, but Release, and let them go. Make a game of it. Lose your attachment. That is what Releasing is about. Release the belief that you shouldn’t have these types of negative things happen. Release the label that these are even bad. Just experience them for being something new to experience in this moment. Releasing helps you live in the present moment. Release from the heart rather than the mind. What does that mean? It means seeing things without the labels attached. It is seeing things exactly as they are in this present moment. Releasing should be simply to quiet the mind in this moment so that you can actually see what is going on in this moment. If you are participating in a sport, staying in the present moment is very important and releasing can enhance that experience. If you are in a social situation, releasing can help you interact in a relaxed and comfortable way. If you are in a financial deal, releasing can bring your intuitive talents into place so that you can maximize your efforts. Remember, Lester wants us to spend time meditating on one thought, to the exclusion of other thoughts. In his words “meditation is a necessary step in quieting the mind. When I say meditation, I mean holding one thought to the exclusion of other thoughts, and that one thought should be a question. As other thoughts drop away, the mind gets quiet and concentrated. When the mind is concentrated, you will experience your self and it will answer any and every question. Learn how to meditate and in that state learn how to release. The deeper one goes, the more one discovers the innate joys to which there are no limits. Joy is unlimited because you are infinite. But the major thing to accomplish is the ability to control the mind, to meditate, to release, to drop into peace at will.” So Release so that you have the ability to quiet the mind. If you want to go Free, then use that talent to be able to concentrate on one thought to the exclusion of other thoughts and do that with the help of releasing. If you just want this world to be better then release so each present moment is experienced without the destructive thoughts behind it. make it as simple as you can. I wanted to share a quote from a daily mediation email that I receive. To me, this quote speaks directly to the heart of what releasing offers: "Remind yourself that you can move into the higher Light, the Soul now. You do not have to wait for some future time when all your problems are solved and things are perfectly smooth." The above speaks to the world the masters live in. All the masters who have walked this earth. All the masters who are alive and well right now. This is the world they live in. And good thing for us, it's the exact same world that we live in too...
For too long, we have all been taught that heaven is a place that we "might get to" - after we lay down this body - and only if we have been good in this life. Modern advertisers have basically updated this con, and sold us this same message by exchanging heaven with words like "success and happiness." We are taught to live by comparison which in itself is a no-win scenario. The comparison game is clearly rigged. As long as we can look and find someone who seems more wealthy, successful - even more spiritual - then clearly we have somehow fallen short. This all seems somewhat logical until we look at some of the dynamics of success itself. A practical question might be, "Do successful people do this? Do they look at more successful people - and then berate themselves for not being rich or happy enough?" And perhaps they do, but this only shows that they have fallen into the trap as well. They may have money, but are internally unhappy - until they learn to cherish what they DO have. This includes family, health, friendship - as well as material blessings. Until a person is truly grateful for what they have - then success will always seem "one step around the corner." And the truth is that the more we learn to release, the more we can adopt the internal mindset of success - right here and now - and it doesn't require a new car or a new spouse. Of course, there are external habits of success as well. And our habits in this area will govern our level of outer success. Without learning to "win the inner game" - it is impossible to fully enjoy our material gains. As we all cultivate the ability to identify and release all the little things we resist, we can all begin to move into a "here and now" experience of heaven.
Sources: http://hootless.com/ http://releasingforum.multiply.com/ http://sedonamethodreleasers.blogspot.co.uk/
