Sedona Method, Release Technique .. what's good and what's missing?

 

I've been continuing a deep dive into The Sedona Method (aka Release Technique) over the last month or so. There's a lot of good points related to learning and using this method, and also some things that are missing in this method that could become an issue for some, and hence why some people become road blocked at some point along their 'releasing' journey.

There has been an obvious evolution in the method from the 1950s when Lester Levenson first thought about and designed a way to release tendencies (vasanas) and allow for someone to rest in their own beingness/awareness/I AM. That evolution in itself has been both good and bad in different ways and I'll comment on that below.

The Good

- There's tonnes of information out there on the Internet about The Sedona Method. In fact, it's almost not even necessary in forking out the cash to purchase the entire course, since the whole method and aspects of the course are all out there (e.g. in YouTube, or other sites), and one can basically pick up the method and run with it. The later developments such as the 5th way (which is really a form of self-enquiry that is used with the intent to release emotions and recognise awareness) is also freely available. Hale in his graciousness has been good to open up the method and approach for free via podcasts, YT videos, books and other means, which makes it pretty much accessible for anyone.

- The method itself is fairly easy to learn. The proviso is that it is practices over and over again until it becomes a habit that is mastered. Just going through a few releases and the course (which has become more and more complex and informational now) will not cut it. This needs to be a constant practice (as mentioned in Lester's 6 points for success or imperturbability).

- There's various approaches now to the method, other than the original Questions / Queries approach. Larry Crane has a more direct releasing method based on the body sensations and also confronting the mind, whereas other newer teachers such as David Ellzey incorporate self-enquiry and some nondual practices into the mix. Any of these approaches could work better for someone. Hale also includes at least 5 ways to release now.

- The course does allow someone to be able to learn to categorise and identify emotions (on the AGFLAP-CAP chart) and identify them in the body and release on them. This is a real bonus as so many people come to the course with no idea about what an emotion is, where it can be experienced or how it could be classified and noted etc.

- The course can lead to deeper spiritual work, such as self-enquiry etc. In fact, Lester's original goal was for the course to be a tool to aid in the quest for self-realization and enlightenment, rather than an end in itself or a self-help tool, or a productivity tool-- which of course is much easier to market and have people sign up for vs a tool aiming at spiritual development.

What's missing or could be an issue?

+ The tool can get overly intellectual for some people. If someone is caught in a tendency state, zoned out or trance state, an addiction or purely physical - emotional loop, then asking these questions and releasing tends to become an intellectual exercise that doesn't really get to the core of the emotional issue. Just repeating the questions, and not connecting with the body or sensation or emotion itself doesn't produce any effect in most cases. There's no development of body mindfulness or sensation awareness etc., which for the most part needs to be done at some point to full access the body where emotions are stored and become part of our experience.

+ There's no use of meditation or contemplation in the course at all. The sorts of spiritual principles (along the lines of Advaita Vedanta) that Lester was emphasising in the 60s and later, really need to be contemplated and used in meditation. Just using the technique during daily activities and without the assistance of deep meditation and contemplate makes it hard to integrate fully into all states of being. 

+ The course is secular or purely psychological , self-help in delivery. One could theoretically become devoted to the method (or perhaps Lester), though the focus on the course is essentially still a self-help tool, rather than a psycho-spiritual path or approach that incorporates other areas as well such as ethics, meditation, contemplating principles etc. This makes a bit hard for some to commit to, and stay motivated for the long run.. few can remain motivated and constant or devoted to a tool or method or technique.

+ Integration. I found the earlier versions of the course, such as the 1992 Sedona Institute version, to be much easier to integrate and use during the day and throughout all waking hours.. ie. full integration.. due to the simplicity of the course and single way of releasing. The worksheets and drills in the earlier course versions were great as well. However, the later versions of the course just contain too much material, information, ways to release, and options. As such, it's a real challenge and becomes extremely difficult for the brain to integrate all of these items into one's daily activities or experience. Again, meditation and focused sitting sessions are missing, which means that the subconscious mind doesn't have an easy, ready to go approach within reach when emotions start flying or an unexpected issue or tendency arises.

+ Complexity. As mentioned above, as the course evolves over time, it tends to have more information, ways to release, complexity and options added over time. This seems to be in the official channels as well as with other teachers. This is understandable because it gives more flexibility in ways to release, and is a larger offering in terms of marketing the course and getting it out there. However, being a double edged sword, more complexity, offerings, options and information also acts as an obstacle for people getting a handle on ONE preferred way to release and just getting the practice and time spent releasing clocked up over time. The old metaphor of 'digging many holes that are shallow being less effective that digging one deep hole in a preferred area that hits oil' can be true here.

+ Moving away from the original goals of the course and how Lester Levenson first gained his insights and realizations. Reading Lester's biographies and own notes on his awakening(s) around 1952, it's clear he was very focused on self-enquiry, Advaita in the style of Ramana Maharshi, and also seemed to have performed a variety of forgiveness and 'love'/metta type contemplations and practices at the time, which would have been beneficial on his health situation. He was greatly motivated due to his critical health issues at the time as well. His talks in the 60s where fully in line with Advaita teachings. Slowly over time, the method and focus shifted away from this, and moved into a psychological emotional self-help tool, but recently with the upswing in interest in nonduality and awareness teachings, this has been added back in via the "5th Way" releasing style etc. It's worth keeping this in mind, because TSM was really designed as an aid to release tendencies and obstructing emotions/thoughts as an aid to self-enquiry and self-realisation. There also seems to be a gap in the explanation of how Lester originally used his forgiveness/metta/loving-all type practices in regards to his health and his past grievances and relationship issues, and why this wasn't incorporated into the method as another facet. Lester was a bit of a pioneer, and tried his best to come up with a method that would suit the mainstream in releasing tendencies and obstacles so that they could live happier lives and possibly embody a more aware experience.

Takeaways

Sedona Method is a great little tool for introducing emotional release work, gaining some understanding of emotions, feelings, how they are experienced in the body, how they can be noted and labelled and released or allowed to pass through etc. It's also portable, and easy to learn. However, there's a few missing pieces if you're looking at it from a holistic point of view, and it seems a lot of long-term users have incorporated other teachings, approaches, and therapies (e.g. EFT, Mindfulness, nondual awareness approaches, bodywork etc.) into their practice to supplement those missing areas in TSM. 

Whether to dig up unconscious stuff to release on.. or release in the moment? (Lester Levenson, Advaita, and Sedona Method)

 

So I'm continuing a deep dive into Sedona Method, Release Technique, the teachings of Lester Levenson and related material. 

It's mostly centred around 2 main areas:

- Emotional release work

- Advaita, or nonduality based on the teaching model of contemporary Advaita Vedanta (most similar to Ramana Maharshi's teachings and model)

 

A question has come up after going through (again) several of the courses and reading some of Lesters original writings (as transcribed for example in 'Keys to the Ultimate Freedom', and 'Happiness is Free'). Lesters original talks recorded in the 1960 (1964 and 1966) are also available on YouTube pretty must for free now.. for example here : https://www.youtube.com/@lesterlevenson8168/videos)

 

That question is -- is it better to 'dig up' and trigger the emotional reactions and uncover where the 3 Wants are hiding (and thus emotional reactions on the AGFLAP chart), or is it better to just release what comes up in the moment (ie during the day or night or while involved in activities)?

 

Larry Crane and Hale Dwoskin put together the current two main commercial offerings that are now available with Lester's teachings and the Sedona Method style releasing system. I met Larry Crane in person when he visited Australia about 10 years back.. and unfortunately, he's gone now. Hale is still very active in the releasing community and has evolved the Sedona Method to be much larger and encompassing many approaches that Lester didn't originally use.

There are also a few ex-students of Lester around that have kept Lester's original simplified version the Sedona Method / Release technique. They tend to be very similar to how Lester approached the releasing, and just use the 2 Wants (Wanting Control and Wanting Approval) to release on.

Apart from Hale, who has now fully incorporated the approach of Advaita Vedanta (in modern terms and without any technical terms or non-English terms) into his teachings with Sedona Method, not many of the other teachers or students of Lester make use of the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, or self-inquiry.. and not in the direct way that Lester himself references the "Eastern" teachings, for example in "Keys to the Ultimate Freedom" talks.

But back to the question about whether to release on stuff as it arises, or make an effort to dig into the unconscious via goals, worksheets, topics, journaling etc..

My view now is that it is likely better to just release directly on things arising in the moment, rather than spending large amounts of time digging up stuff and constantly filling out worksheets and goals and topics. The reason for this is that when just keeping the releasing on what is arising in the moment, it aligns much better as a tool or 'means to an end' practice for then moving on to self-inquiry or resting in the moment as beingness, suchness etc... which was always Lester's "Ultimate Goal". The ultimate goal was never to clear out all of the unconscious garbage.. which is more aligned with a Scientology type goal of clearing 'unconscious traumas' etc and getting to some "Clear" state. 

In contrast, any preparatory practice in the nondual approaches was always aimed at making way for the simples of situations in which things are able to rest and be seen exactly as they are in perfect peace, ananda, as suchness.. see for instance the preparations and end for Dzogchen, or the silent teachings of Ramana Maharshi, in which nothing needs to be done.. indeed, all conceptual designations are let stand but are known to be nothing other than the Absolute.

So if you have gone down the rabbit hole of Sedona Method, and wonder how far down you need to go, and when you need to stop releasing... then it's useful to keep these above things in mind, and veer towards an approach where you just release on things (emotional triggers, reactions, wants, craving etc.) in the moment, rather than try stir up unconscious stuff in an effort to clear it all. By doing this, you'll have a much better chance of being able to recognise and attain Lester's view of the "Ultimate Goal" which is to be that imperturbable peace and Happiness itself.

 

Establishing a 5 minute "emotional releasing" session - Sedona Method additions.

 

So I've been revisting The Sedona Method (and related teachings of Lester Levenson) over the last month or so. I've done it many times in the past, probably starting around the year 1998, 2000 or thereabouts. I had various levels of "success", but this time around has been excellent in terms of actually understanding where it is coming from, and what "releasing" (a subtle and often confusing topic) really is.

One way to use the method or approach is to establish a 5 minute (or more) quiet sitting meditation session, in which you just sit and do nothing for 5 minutes, apart from allowing issues, bodily sensations or other objects to arise and take hold of the attention (if it happens).

Then these objects and arisings can be tracked back to the feeling category (AGFLAP-CAP) or the 2 Basic Wants (Approval, Control) and released from there. If done correctly or to completion, this returns one's state back to just sitting (beingness, I-am-ness etc.)

One can notice the "I-thought" also attached to these basic wants and how they arise.

This is also a great little exercise that can be done to notice craving (tanha in Buddhism) and how craving arises and causes pressure (to escape it in either pleasure or aversion).

Getting success with the method really entails a LOT of repitition until releasing becomes automatic or second nature, as per how breathing happens (or burping etc.) and any other automatic bodily response.

Every arising, even unrelated, such as a thought, desire, bodily sensation etc. can be tracked back to the two basic wants (or prior to that the 6-9 basic feelings in the AGFLAP chart) and released from there.

Body sensations and the sensation of the body as a gateway.

I bring up the idea of using the body's sensations and the overall sensation of the body (minus thought) as a gateway into beingness.


There are many teachings that reference body sensations. They are helpful in order to start from somewhere.


I also find that it's not so much about focusing or concentrating on the body sensation(s), but rather releasing tension through body sensations, and relaxing via body sensation.. then it becomes effortless, otherwise it builds up tension instead.


This is the path of letting go, surrender, or bhakti yoga. It's also the path of the Tao and going with nature.

Sedona Method

A few notes on the Sedona Method.

My first introduction to Sedona Method was about 15 years ago. I took both courses by Hale and Larry. Although I found it momentarily helpful, I had doubts about whether I was 'doing it right', and also found that my mind often used it in order to seek out non-existent issues and 'release' on them, rather than just be at peace in the moment. The courses, which are self-led, are excellent and both parties have done a great job in delivering the content.


Through some random events, I had been led to the idea of 'releasing' via another avenue. In particular, a Buddhist teacher was recommending 'releasing' and 'letting go', 'relaxing' etc. when performing meditation on an object and after having been distracted.


While I liked the instructions offered, I kept thinking that there may be another way. This reminded me of my previous attempts at the Sedona Method, which is an indepth course on the whole topic of releasing.




I was able to find a nice audio workshop on iTunes by one Sedona Method teacher (KISS - Stephen Seretan) whom I had not been acquainted with before, and went through 6 sessions on the CD. It was actually very good. SS presents Sedona Method as he learned it in the 80s, and in a simplified version, which is likely very close to what Lester Levenson taught.






Lester Levenson is a whole other topic. A total enigma, and like most guru teachers that founded orgs, a lot of myth seems to have been built up around him as well as truths. Some of the more far out claims seem to be around him being a 'Master' in some kind of lineage with 'all the masters' who appear to be mostly from Indian background- ie. Yogananda, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna etc. etc. -- likely also due to the groups floating around the US at that time. Other lineages aren't mentioned much. Further, lots of weirdness about Lester seems to be accepted, such as he could sleep just a few hours a night, even less, maybe 30 minutes, and be OK. He was financially self-sufficient. He healed himself from life threatening illnesses when given 3 weeks to live. etc. etc.
I have to say, Lester's own recordings (which there are plenty) are excellent in themselves, and one can see the group progression from the recordings in the 60's up until the 80's. A LOT can be gained without even doing Sedona, but just listening to Lester's own audio recordings, where he covers many topics, but always around the central idea of happiness, freedom and the task at hand (as he saw it) which was to release on tendencies, and return back to the nature state of beingness and love.




A discovery for me- was that Lester actually seemed to attain Self-Realization from self-inquiry and inquiry on the nature of love (and performing heart-type practices which would be similar to Metta meditation) .. NOT using his Sedona Method. The standard gist is that he healed himself via releasing, and overcame his physical-mental issues this way. If one listens to Lester's talks in the 60s, they are very Advaita Vedanta flavoured. They are mostly talking about standard ideas in Advaita Vedanta (and early Buddhism), with some minor talk about living in the world, manifesting 'ones desires' etc.. which has always been the rage in the US since Mentalism took hold in the early 20th Century.


I recommend listening to many of Lester's talks (satsangs), which are available on the Internet. His earlier talks are excellent, and present an easy to understand explanation of Advaita Vedanta, and the basic philosophy underlying most Eastern / Indian systems. There is also a pdf floating around which was taken from the transcripts of "Keys to the Ultimate Freedom"- a book written by Lester, now out of print, but thankfully transcribed into a pdf for posterity.






Returning to Sedona, it appears at that Lester didn't invent the Sedona Method until the 70s. The first cut of the course seems to have included only one question, and was quite simple in steering all desires/arisings into the 3 main categories (wanting control, approval, security) and directly asking 'Could you release that wanting ...?'. Later versions of the course added new questions, and came up with different ways for releasing. Hale's course, which is the legit 'Sedona Method' with rights, has about 5 ways to release currently, and probably has the most comprehensive course on the subject. Larry's course is a bit simpler, and tends to use the body and feeling tone as a platform to release directly. Larry is also a bit of a character and quite abrupt in his presentation, which can suit some people.




From the above ideas about Lester, the thought kept coming to me 'But why not go for self-inquiry then, if that was what Lester did originally? And also what he did to 'heal' himself'?' Then a piece of information came through one of the recordings that apparently Lester himself had said it was the highest form, but people weren't ready for it, or had too much garbage present to do it. -- I have to disagree with this a little.. It was Ramana Maharshi's view that anyone could do self-inquiry, and although some preliminaries might be necessary first, such as establishing decent concentration, in the end the actual practice would take care of things. The other major avenue that took Lester to freedom was in doing love/heart practices. One of the audios goes into much detail related to how Lester looked at all of his life events, and meditated on feeling love towards the people, events etc. rather than the need to be loved. Through these intense heart-practices he seems to have entered into the Jhanas (it seems obvious he was going through rapture, energy, tranquility etc.), and most likely attained Stream-Entry via this means (aided by some self-inquiry).






Back to my own recent experience. I used the questions again for several weeks while regularly making use of the Sedona Method in daily life, and in meditation sessions. I had used the method about 15 years back quite intensely, and done all available courses properly. This time, I performed the method very regularly, as I always do with my 'experiments', and as 24x7 as possible.


In the end, I found the repeated questions to be too tedious in the end and had the tendency to place one back 'in their head' rather than release and be restored to beingness/presence. Further, the mind seems to latch onto the idea of continued 'seeking out' further disturbances to release (ie digging up the ground when not necessary).. most of the time, there are no active disturbances operating in the mind. The other ways of using Sedona which don't make use of the 3 Questions may get around this issue. Just welcoming present feelings, for instance, seems a lighter method.


After a few weeks however, the method did work more seamlessly in the background, and aided in spontaneous releasings when tension, or emotional hiccups became obvious. This is likely the intended outcome, rather than conscious interventions where the mind needs to analyse a situation before releasing.


I do find that placing all arisings (disturbances, hinderances) under the 3 Wants, to be a nice trick and helpful. I am not convinced that if one just keeps releasing that eventually they will 'Go Free' (one of the common tenets in the system). Desires / tendencies seem to be endless, unless one gets to the root cause (being the 'I'-thought according to RM, or the ignorance that has created the sense of a separate self (Buddhism)). There doesn't seem to be too many who have been using Sedona for a while who proclaim that they have 'gone free', with the exception of Lester, who himself 'went free' via another route (intense heart-practices + self-inquiry). Incidentally, the only other person I can find who 'went free' via the SM seems to be Pamela Wilson.






I find the Sedona Method to be a valuable tool, and very very helpful for some. Others might find it a bit ho-hum, and take to other forms of releasing (such as through loving-kindness practice, forgiveness, surrender, and many, many other possible forms of release/acceptance). The system is definately worth checking out.