I’m sitting at the “luxurious” Springfield-Branson National Airport (what a “national” airport is, I don’t really know) waiting on my delayed flight to Dallas and then on to Phoenix. Hopefully, I will be relaxing in gorgeous Sedona, Arizona by the time the sun goes down. It will be toasty warm in Sedona, 102ºF (39ºC), but dry as a bone. Phoenix is a lung searing 112ºF (44ºC) today. Ouch!
Why am I going to Sedona, you ask? To attend my 7th Sedona Method retreat. This one is 9 days long and supposedly “advanced.” There will be lots of good spiritual inquiry involved, which is always nice. Following this 9 day retreat will be the first “Level 2 Coaching Training” that Hale (Mr. Sedona Method) has offered, which I will of course be attending. It should be both fun and very educational.
My plan is to do frequent reports on my experiences at the retreat, hopefully in the form of short, daily articles. We shall see. But my reports to you will definitely be frequent. The retreat starts Saturday evening, so look for my first report on Sunday.
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I’ve mentioned the Sedona Method more than a few times in past articles, so it feels like time to write a comprehensive review of it.
Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well-Being!
If you go to sedona.com you will see the above prominently displayed at the top of the page. So the question foremost in anyone’s mind who is exploring the Sedona Method is: does this program work? Will it really bring me lasting happiness, success, peace and emotional well-being? The short answer to that question, for me personally, is yes, it really did all that it claims. So read on to see the details of this review.
The Sedona Method is a program for teaching you how to let go of any emotion or belief. When you begin reading the book or doing the audio program, you are given the background for what the method terms releasing, i.e., letting go of emotions. The Sedona Method teaches that releasing is natural, and if you pay attention, you will notice that most feelings come and go quite easily if you do not repress them or attach to them in some way. The only reason a feeling sticks around is because we don’t allow it to be felt and then flow out.
Initially, the Sedona Method focuses on letting go of negative feelings, the ones that cause problems for us in life, like fear, anger and apathy. And you let go of feelings initially in the program by asking yourself 3 simple questions:
Could you let this feeling go?
Would you let this feeling go?
When?
It is interesting that these 3 simple questions could be the catalyst for letting go of a painful emotion, but they do work. Since releasing is a natural process, since feelings want to be felt and then flow out of our awareness, the power behind these questions is that they invite you to let this natural process happen. In fact, releasing is less something you do and more something you allow to be done. It is a process more of allowing the emotions to leave than anything else.
Once you’ve mastered the use of these 3 questions and have applied them to a few areas of your life, the Sedona Method gets a bit more involved with what it refers to as the wants that underlie all emotions. In its model, we are all being driven by 4 wants:
Wanting control.
Wanting approval.
Wanting security or safety.
Wanting separation and oneness.
While I initially found this focus on wants to be effective in going deeper with releasing and letting go of more and more difficult emotions, I found after a while that it was way too heady. Over time I became aware that all feelings were being driven by all the above. And at the core always seemed to be some sense of wanting either to survive or to be in control.
Interestingly, too, I began to see how almost every feeling I had could be reduced to anger or fear, and in most cases, anger seemed to be generated by a deep seated fear. And by seeing that it has become easier to release any emotion.
Welcoming and Allowing Feelings
In addition to the above, the Sedona Method uses other techniques for releasing. Probably the simplest, easiest to use, and most profound for me, though, was welcoming or allowing a feeling. Remember, the basic premise of the Sedona Method is that releasing is natural, that feelings merely want to be felt and then pass through. If you think about it, that is what ultimately happens with any feeling.
So, the process of welcoming a feeling is a conscious decision to feel, a conscious choice to allow what you are feeling to be exactly what it is. I had the most dramatic release one day by using this technique that permanently ended panic attacks that had plagued me off and on for almost 30 years. I woke-up one morning feeling extremely anxious, and then slipped into a full-blown panic attack. That familiar feeling of impending doom and death engulfed me. If you’ve ever had a panic attack, you know what I mean.
I had released on panic attacks before, with some success, but never had been freed from them. So, I began releasing on this one, and this time I had no luck. I was deep in panic. And then I remembered something I had heard at one of the retreats I had been to, and so I let myself sink into the panic, going deeper and deeper with it, allowing the panic to completely engulf me and even, I remember thinking, to get stronger if it could. I fully allowed the panic attack and welcomed it. In a sense, I embraced it.
And then, like a fever breaking after the flu, it left, it released, it was gone. Not only was I no longer panicked, but I knew, I absolutely knew that I would never have another panic attack. And I didn’t. Now, as I look back on it, I can’t even conceive of how I ever had panic attacks. They seem an utter impossibility to me. Chalk one up for releasing!
Who Created the Sedona Method
The man who created the Sedona Method, Lester Levenson, was an interesting character. I’ve heard him described variously as a saint, a modern day mystic, an enlightened master, a miracle worker and a shyster businessman from New Jersey. From all that I can gather of the real life Lester, he was quite likely all of these. One man I know described him as “a black hole, so egoless that nothing really could attach to him.” He sounds like he was quite a character and a remarkable man.
Lester’s story is a fascinating one, as it is the story of the awakening of a modern day spiritual master. Others have told his story much better than I can. You can read more about Lester’s life and Lester’s realization and awakening at The Sedona Method website.
Who Teaches the Sedona Method
After Lester passed away in 1994, there was a bit of the inevitable power struggle amongst the faithful. The clear winner was Hale Dwoskin, who was granted the rights to the name “The Sedona Method” by Lester and who probably is the most well known of those teaching some version of Lester Levenson’s technique. I’ve looked into most of them, and for me, Hale has proven to be the most interesting, the most helpful and the clearest, both as a person and as a teacher.
On the whole, I like Hale and his teaching style. He is a kind man, gentle with most people and truly interested in helping them. A popular question at Sedona Method retreats revolves around how enlightened Hale is, a question I know he personally laughs at. In my estimation, Hale has had a definite bit of dropping away of his ego, at least to some extent. He feels “clean” to me. He is fairly honest and straight forward. It feels good to be in his presence.
Hale is a former New York City businessman, so a bit of that shines through his personality, too. This aspect of him caused me problems at first, because the Sedona Method is a for profit endeavor, and Hale is not hurting financially. I know that this aspect of the method bothers others, too. Hale likes to hang-out with the big names in the personal and spiritual development arena, and Jack Canfield in particular is one of his buddies. Yes, Hale was in the Secret, and he knows a lot of those people quite well.
I eventually resolved all of these issues by realizing that he’s no saint and the Sedona Method isn’t perfect. And so what? It works, Hale’s an honest, delightful person, and I’ve benefited from all he does tremendously. I have learned a great deal about my own personal hang-ups about money and success in the process and gotten a fair amount of freedom going in those areas. On the whole, I like Hale a great deal.
Here is a short video of Hale discussing how to let go on the little annoyances of life, to give you a taste of his style and personality:
If you go to the Sedona Method web site, you can read hundreds of testimonials from people who have benefited from using it. You can also read all the marketing material as well. But one of the most powerful things to me has been hearing how the Sedona Method has benefited people I know. So, here is how it has helped me:
A permanent end to panic attacks.
Less anxiety by an order of magnitude (in other words, a lot!).
Little if any concern about the future.
I survived a painful divorce. More importantly, my ex and I get along great, and I can honestly say I love her more now than I ever did when we were married because I’m now capable of really loving someone. Amazing.
I’m a much, much better father these days. My son and I have bonded to an extent I wouldn’t have thought possible a few years ago.
I don’t feel desperate about life the way I used to. I’m much happier to let life happen, to flow with life, to be a part of life rather than always fighting it.
I had chronic fatigue for a number of years. My doctor said at one point that he thought the fatigue would resolve when the anxiety resolved. He was right.
I never was diagnosed with depression, but after a few years of working with the Sedona Method I felt a fog lifting from my mind. It was strange, like I had been living in a haze for at least a decade. And I never knew it.
I finally allowed myself to fully grieve the death of my father 16 years ago. At a Sedona Method retreat, I had a realization that I had been somehow expecting my father to come back to life. I shared this insight with the group, and almost immediately I start crying, sobbing actually, and couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. I cried for 20 minutes. And then I was done. Done. And I knew it. A huge weight had lifted from me.
I finally have a sense of what I’m doing with my life. Writing, coaching, teaching, all these things are pointing me in a direction that I never had the will to move in. Now I do. I can’t say I know exactly what I’m doing, but I’m doing it, and it feels right.
And lastly, for all the years I’ve spent in spirituality, I never really took the idea of spiritual awakening seriously. That is, until Hale started discussing it, in his own way, at one of the retreats I attended. He introduced us to spiritual inquiry, and I took to it like a duck to water. The releasing that occurred from doing inquiry was tremendous. I dove into inquiry from that point, which lead me to all the wonderful teachings I’ve explored since then (and the retreats with Adyashanti). And “best” of all, it has lead to a fuller experience of what I truly am.
In case you can’t tell, I like the Sedona Method. I use it in some form with all my coaching clients. The techniques are quite powerful and supportive of you at just about every stage of your spiritual and personal journey.
How to Learn the Sedona Method
The best way to learn it is to purchase the audio program. The audio program is quite complete, consisting of 20 CDs of recordings at a live class (I was in the audience for the recording). Hale teaches releasing from the basics to the advanced exercises. Moreover, he applies a lot of the material to the three areas of life that concern most people: money and success, relationships and health and well being. You can buy the audio program here. By following the same link, you can also ask to receive a sample CD and DVD of Hale teaching releasing at a Jack Canfield seminar (and yes, Hale really does laugh that much in real life).
You can also buy the book, The Sedona Method, by following this link to Amazon.comthis link to Amazon.com or heading to your local bookstore. The book is where I began, but soon after I started I bought the audio program. It helped tremendously.
Once you’ve gone through the book or audio program and learned the method, you can head out to Sedona, Arizona, for a 7 day retreat with Hale. He also offers a 9 day advanced retreat and a coaching course. I’ve loved the retreats I’ve been on (I’ve been to 6 retreats, 3 coaching trainings and 2 other weekend courses with Hale). And I’m heading back to Sedona in June for 2 weeks of retreat and additional coaching training. I can’t say enough good things about them.
In conclusion, if you want to dive into a personal and spiritual development program that is as good, if not better, than anything out there, and lives up to its hype and claims, then go grab the Sedona Method.
Disclaimer: all the links in this article are affiliate links. I make a commission from each copy of the Sedona Method audio program sold from this website. I think it should be obvious that I’m not reviewing the Sedona Method primarily to make a buck, but if you decide it is right for you, your purchase does support this website and my writing. Only fair to let you know, don’t you think?
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I have a coaching client who has quite a bit of difficulty using his hands and arms due to a long-term problem of pain and stiffness. I frequently type notes for him during and after our sessions so he has a reminder of what we discussed, plus it is a good way to make certain he knows what he will be working on between sessions.
We’ve been working together for a while, and I have worked with him often on his beliefs about the various issues in his life. Obviously from my last few articles, I’ve had thoughts, beliefs and thinking on my mind of late, and during our coaching session last week, I said something to him about his thoughts and beliefs on a few subjects, and then I typed the following into my notes for him:
You will discover, if you are open to it, that much of what goes through your head, your thoughts and thinking, look suspiciously like the behaviors of a drug addict or alcoholic.
He pondered this statement for a day or two, and then he left me a message yesterday asking me to explain further what I meant by the above. I typed a response and sent it to him, explaining what I meant and why my emphasis on thoughts and feelings is helpful and extremely practical. He left me another message this morning begging me to post my response on my website because, in his words, “it was freaking brilliant and would help far more people than I could ever help by coaching alone.” Well, who am I to argue with a statement like that? So, here is what I wrote to him (with minor editing to preserve his privacy):
“Our minds, if we are honest, are quite obsessive. They get stuck on a topic and they keep going round and round and round about it. They don’t stop. Like an addict, they go back for another hit, another high, sticking with a subject or a belief until they literally fall apart from it. Just like an addict.
“We continually give energy to our thoughts by believing them to be true. We say, ‘Well, since I thought it, it must be true.’ But a touch of honesty reveals that most of what we think is no where near true. I would contend that none of it is true. It is all just mental noise, far removed from our actual moment to moment, minute to minute experience.
“So, what I’m encouraging you to do is to suck some of the energy out of the stories you tell yourself. That’s why I always emphasized working with your beliefs. Beliefs are stories. You only believe those things you don’t know to be 100% true. Do you have to believe in breathing? Do you have to believe in gravity? No. You may not know what gravity really is, or how breathing works, or whether gravity will be working tomorrow, but it seems to be the case that every time you jump, you come right back down. No believing really required.
“Let me be very blunt with you. You believe that you can’t make money because of your hands. We’ve discussed that many times. Do you have evidence even remotely as strong as gravity to justify this belief? Or did you decide at some point that it must be true? Do you see? You’ve repeated that story so much that if you will look, you will see that you are clinging to the belief that until your hands get better, you can’t earn money. But is it true? Is it real? Where’s the proof?
“And when you start to doubt your own beliefs, you will find that your creativity will skyrocket. Suddenly, things that seemed impossible start seeming possible. You have new prospects, new perspectives. But only when you question your old beliefs. This process is releasing in its most basic form. Real and true and deep Sedona Method releasing. Exactly what Lester Levenson did when he awaken and healed himself from terminal heart disease.
“Plus, as you shed these beliefs, your body will have a chance to relax. It will not be under so much constant mental stress. And who knows what good things might happen if you relaxed your body!
“Is this making more sense? Let me know….. Tom”
I’ve been thinking lately of writing more articles that focus on how to live from consciousness, spirituality, etc. Personally, I think that spirituality is the most practical approach to life and life’s issues. That’s why I work with people. That’s why I write. To help people with life’s ups and downs.
Spiritual awakening seems to me to be the absolute best solution to all of life’s problems and issues. It is difficult to explain, but it is truly amazing the relief that you feel when you start realizing that all of your problems are not a big deal because they aren’t your problems. Quite simply, there is no you to have them. They are just stuff, part of life, but they do not ultimately threaten who you truly are.
I encourage everyone reading this article to do what I encourage my clients to do: challenge your beliefs. Start to see that they are just thoughts, just ideas floating around they mind, and that they aren’t true and they certainly are not you. You will be surprised by what happens when you start to let all this stuff go. All I can say is, “magical.”
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As I have progressed along my spiritual path, I have felt at times as if I am being led to a better and better understanding of how the spiritual journey works. I started out, only naturally I suppose, wanting primarily to “feel better” both mentally and physically. As time has passed, I have moved a little away from that original goal toward feeling more and more as if I want to be helpful to others. Don’t get me wrong; I have always wanted to help. But the feeling I have now is a bit more selfless, a bit more “other focused” rather than self focused. It is, to say the least, a wonderful feeling.
But more importantly, what I am beginning to see is exactly what I read in A Course in Miracles years ago. Namely that the key to me “feeling better” is to freely and completely give to others because, as the Course would say, I only know what I have as I give it away.
If I want to feel happy, to feel love, to feel joy, these are the things I must give to others. And it must be a free gift with no expectation of return. Giving to get something back doesn’t work. But giving out of love always works.
Lester Levenson, the creator of the Sedona Method, talked about the discovery he made during the process of awakening that he underwent. Lester said that he realized that he was only truly happy when he was loving someone, when he was giving his love to another. And the more he practiced this giving of love, the freer and happier he got, until he experienced what is typically referred to as enlightenment. He woke-up by loving. He gave, and he was healed.
For me, this beginning step of truly giving is synonymous with an experience I have had off and on for a number of years. When I used to meditate, I would at times see a “light” in my mind’s eye, shining brightly just above my field of “vision.” This light wasn’t a worldly light, because I only saw it in my mind when my eyes were closed. As time has gone on, I have begun experiencing this sense of “light” more frequently, until now I can sense it in my mind’s eye at will. It especially is noticeable when I release using the Sedona Method or meditate by sitting in silence. When I release or meditate, I can feel my awareness shift to this light and the sensation I have is one of releasing into the light. The feeling I get is one of very clearly letting go of “myself” into this light, which is completely equivalent, at least to me, of letting go through loving or by the power of love. The light I perceive and the love I feel are one and the same.
Love and light seem to go hand in hand. They are one. The light that shines in our awareness is usually obscured by the vast quantity of subconscious junk that fills our minds. A Course in Miracles spends a lot of time discussing the contents of the subconscious mind, if you care to know more. But as we let go of these blocks to the perception of the light, we can experience greater peace, love and joy than we have ever known. The love that we give to anything by releasing our feelings about it is real, it is true, and it could even be described as holy.
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The Sedona Method is a unique, simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to uncover your natural ability to let go of any painful or unwanted feeling in the moment. As you let go of painful and unwanted feelings, you will experience a clearer mind, more positive thoughts and greater creativity. The Sedona Method thus becomes the key that unlocks a life of greater ease, greater success, and overall happiness and joy.
What Makes Coaching with the Sedona Method Special?
If you look at most of the coaching world, you will find a wide variety of approaches. Most coaching has, at its very core, an attitude of action. There is a fundamental attitude that pervades our world that says if only we would DO something different then our lives would improve. But what if action wasn’t the answer? What if action is simply the natural result of our feelings and our thoughts? What if the place to experience true, lasting change was inside of us, not outside?
That’s what makes Coaching with the Sedona Method special. It turns the attention where the attention belongs: the person inside. Working with The Sedona Method is an inside-out process, because for lasting change to occur, the inside must change first. We start with the cause, and the actions that lead to changes in the external world follow naturally.
Using a Coach
Whether you are new to The Sedona Method or a long-time user, a coach can give you the assistance you need to go further than you ever thought possible. For long-time users, you will work with someone who speaks your language, who knows your process, who understands why you use The Sedona Method: because it works! Unlike a releasing partner, a coach will focus exclusively on you, putting all his energy into assisting you with releasing whatever issues are arising for you and with achieving all the goals you have chosen to get.
For the relative newcomer to The Sedona Method, a coach will help you to understand how The Method works and how to apply it to your life. A coach learns early on from working with The Sedona Method that everyone can release, and much more easily than they would have believed. And, as everyone who has used The Method has discovered, the benefits of releasing are virtually limitless. Everyone can enjoy:
Freedom from financial difficulties.
Better relationships with partners, children, friends and co-workers.
Greater joy, peace and ease of living.
Easing of health issues.
Freedom from stress and fear.
Freedom from negative habits.
Emotional well-being and happiness.
Deep fulfillment in living every day.
These are just a few of the benefits that can be yours from working with a a coach who works with the Sedona Method.
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All of our thoughts are conditioned. We all are thinking exactly along the lines we are conditioned to think. Programmed like a computer. Anybody who thinks they are actually choosing of their own free will the line of thinking that they have is completely deluded by their thinking.
Behind most spiritual practices is the belief that you have to get someplace you’re not- a destination called realization or enlightenment. But realization isn’t someplace else; it’s the naturally occurring human state. It doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s who we all are. Spiritual practices also set up many pictures of what this state looks like. For example, when I described how much fear was present, people told me the fear meant that something must be wrong, because fear was an indication that I wasn’t in the proper state. But fear is just what it is, and it’s there too in the vastness of who we are.
In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.
Those who awaken never rest in one place.
Like swans, they rise and leave the lake.
On the air they rise and fly an invisible course.
Their food is knowledge.
They live on emptiness.
They have seen how to break free.
Who can follow them?
We always want someone else to change so that we will feel good. But has it ever struck you that even if your wife changes or your husband changes, what does that do to you? You’re just as vulnerable as before; you’re just as idiotic as before; you’re just as asleep as before. You are the one who needs to change, who needs to take medicine. You keep insisting, “I feel good because the world is right.” Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That’s what all the mystics are saying.
this link to Amazon.com or heading to your local bookstore. The book is where I began, but soon after I started I bought the audio program. It helped tremendously.
