The Sedona MethodThis system of therapy and self-development has existed for longer than half ofa century, but itbecame really popular in the last 10 or 15 years. Lester Levenson was forced todeveloped itbecause of his greatly disturbed health. When he was 42, in 1952, he had a stroke, a sick liver,kidney stones, spleen troubles and perforated ulcers. Medical doctors sent him back home to die.He became deeply depressed. Meditating about his life and seeing traumatic experiences he had,Levenson got a very deep insight that the cause of his illneses were his emotions. The otherinsight had a practical value if we release emotions which limit us we will havea sound andcalm life. He used those two insights for a period of three months. By the end of that period, hebecame totaly healthy again.So those were the insights from which he developed his Sedona method of emotionalrelease. The quintessence of his method, he expressed with these words: "The keywhich will giveyou the permanent happiness is the knowledge of how to release your accumulatednegativeemotions. Releasing them, you will get a stronger feeling of happiness and otherthings importantfor you in your life will be better: Money, health...absolutely everything."The basis of all our experiences is emotional, Levenson said. Negative emotionsstartcorresponding thoughts, and negative thoughts push a person to the wrong activity or force suchone to retreat from useful activities. Watching people around himself, Levensonnoticed the maintypes of behavior caused by negative feelings: suppressing unpleasant emotions,expressing themand releasing them or letting go of them.Suppressing has the worst consequences as smoking, alcohol, drugs and other compulsiveactivities. Not only are people supressing their own emotions, they are often supressing emotionsof their children. In the therapy circles, there is a popular joke: In the firsttwo years of childslife, everyone around them is trying to get them to walk and talk, and for the next eighteen years,everyone is trying to get them to sit and to shut up.Another way we try to handle unpleasant emotions is through their expression. There aresome methods which try to attain human wellbeing through expression of unpleasant emotions.Workshop leaders of such methods tell participants: Share with others whatever you feel towardthem, that is the way to set yourself free from such emotions. Such a catharthicapproach does notgive a permanent positive solution, however, because with such behaviour the person is likely to58hurt others around him/her. It causes guilt feelings, and relationships with theclosest peoplearound become aggravated.Only the release of negative emotions gives permanent results and leads to wellb

eing andgood relationships with surrounding people. Levenson supposed that removal of negativecharacteristics will automatically bring about positive states, but this has notproved to be true inpractice. Consequently, his followers perfected the system. Basically it was thesame asLevenson made it for simple negative emotions, but for deep negative feelings and negativebeliefs, they use todays more complex procedures. That means the Sedona method isnot arigid one. It accepts contributions of followers and that is the reason it is inconstantdevelopment. It is logical that such a constantly developing system can not bypass the polaritieswhich make the fundament and arena of human life. Recently (in 2003) Hale Dwoskin, one of themost eminent practitioners of this system, published the book "The Sedona Method," whichpresents as a very worthy practical manual.One of the main ways for people to cause misfortune and disappointment is holding ontotheir own limited beliefs and feelings. The opposite attitude, we would say theopposite polarity,is to let them go or release them. Holding for something and letting it go are components of thenatural process of living. "Such understanding is the basis of the Sedona Method," writesDwoskin in his book, which is evidently emphasizing the polar nature our world.The process of letting go or releasement of emotions has a few definite steps.First stepConcentrate on the unwanted emotion which you feel in yourself in the present momentand let yourself feel it completely.Second stepAsk yourself one of the following 3 questions:Could I let this feeling go?Could I allow this feeling to be here?Could I welcome this feeling?These questions are intended to ask yourself whether you could take one of theseactions.Both "yes" and "no" are acceptable answers. Very often a man will release an emotionalthough now he answers with "no".Third stepIt does not matter which question you started with, now ask yourself: "Would I do that?"In other words, it means "Am I willing to let go/release that emotion?" If the answer is"no", or if you are not sure, ask yourself: "Would I rather feel this feeling orwould I ratherbe free of it?"59Forth stepAsk yourself, "When?" This is really an invitation to let it go now. You will see that in thisphase of the process it is easy.Fifth stepRepeat the preceding four steps as often as needed until you feel free of that emotion.

Practising this simple procedure will cause the person doing it to have more andmoreinternal freedom. Applying the Sedona Method on himself, Lester Levinson discovered thatpeople are able to cast off the yoke of their past when they clear four fundamental needs whichappear as polarities:Wanting to control others Wanting to be controlled by othersWanting approval/love Wanting to give others approval/desire to love othersWanting security/survival Wanting to dieWanting to be separate Wanting to be One with othersThe final goal of the Sedona Method is the freedom to decide what to be, to do,and tohave, and what you don t want to be, don t want to do, and don t want to have. It is the naturalstate of Being when we are not able to be disturbed with what happened in our past.