"When You Flow With the River, It Carries You" (w/Hale Dwoskin)

Ok. It's time to let go. Like for real. This episode is for everyone who thinks the best way to release is to yell at random call center reps. Brendan talks to the legendary Hale Dwoskin, best-selling author of The Sedona Method, and Happiness is Free
and who's known for his amazing work with Rhonda Byrne. 

They let go and dive into...

• The miraculous story of Lester Levinson's transformative healing. 
• How Hale first discovered Levinson's work and its profound effect on this life. 
• A TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICE to illustrate how we can actually let go of emotions. 
• The Sedona Method and the THREE KEY questions to releasing. 
• And Brendan pitches the idea of a Staten Island Method, where you just throw someone in the East River.  

RESOURCES
Hale Dwoskin
The Sedona Method
Hale Dwoskin + Jack Canfield
The Staten Island Method 

Transcript

Hale Dworksin
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[00:00:00] 

Welcome aboard, Mr. Pilgrim, said the loudspeaker. Any questions? Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last, Why me? That is a very earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us, for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? Yes, said Billy.

In fact, he had a paperweight in his office, which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs embedded in it. Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the [00:01:00] amber of this moment. There is no why. That was taken from a hymns commercial for a manscaping trimmer. Just kidding, everybody! Welcome to a brand new episode of Spiritual Asshole!

I'm your host, Brandon Fitzgibbons. I hope you're ready today for one of the best episodes that we ever had. I hope that whatever you're doing right now, you put 40 minutes aside. This will be like the only episode where I'll tell everybody that you should be sitting down listening to it for its full impact.

You can drive, but you might feel so calm that you're gonna just quietly drive your car into a lake. The opening quote, that was Kurt Vonnegut rooting from Slaughterhouse Five. A quote that has been etched in my memory, etched in my mind since I saw it in the Hulu documentary.

I love Kurt Vonnegut. And I actually got to meet him in 2006, which was really cool. that is a quote that has a little bit to do with what today's episodes about today's episode. We are talking to the amazing Hal Dwoskin. He is incredible. He has written a book [00:02:00] called the Sedona method and a another book called happiness is free.

He's done a lot of work with Rhonda Byrne from the secret. how I came to his work was I was listening to The Greatest Secret because my great buddy Kristen Helmstetter was listening to it too. Or reading it. And she was telling me about the power of letting go, the power of are you a w Becoming aware.

And Rhonda kept talking about Lester Levinson and Hal Dwoskin in the book. And the story with Lester Levinson is, and uh, hald goes into this, he basically used this method, which was further perfected by how to. Completely turn around his health in a way that's absolutely insane, but we're going to get into all that.

Don't, don't you guys worry? First, I would like to say thank you so much as always for coming. Thank you for listening. I'm so glad that you're here. Continue to follow me on Instagram at the underscore Brennan Fitzgibbons on YouTube as well. Follow our Patreon, subscribe. We are. Always growing, always looking to expand, always having one to two coffees, [00:03:00] always spilling some on a table.

Happy almost Thanksgiving, good god in heaven how fast has this year gone, holy shit, man! This year's gone so fast, I can't believe it. Every year is going faster and faster and faster and faster and faster! Anyways, I'm gonna make this quick, because this interview is so dope. it's actually really funny.

Basically, I didn't get to ask him spiritual or asshole questions, because I went to go write these questions an hour and a half before. Really an hour, let's be honest with you guys. I'm not gonna lie.. I'm not gonna come on to this podcast and exaggerate, just so that you guys could one day maybe vote for me for Comptroller.

That's not what's gonna happen. So I had an hour to write the questions, which I usually can do. And I was listening to some of his stuff, and then, as soon as I sat down to write them I, there is construction next door to me, and underneath me, and like my entire apartment was like reverberating and shaking, and I was like,

if only there was a method to help me control this, uh, insane rage I'm feeling right now. And stress. So, and I didn't really know what that, the method was. So I luckily drove her to my friend Natasha's house and did the interview from her garage as you do. [00:04:00] And, but it was funny because I was like stressing out and I'm like, this is entirely what he's going to teach me about as I'm going over there.

And sure enough, I left feeling amazing. one of the things that Hal talks about a lot, In his work, the idea is basically, it's the central premise of this. And, you know, we've talked about this a lot, like I start the interview by asking him, he has this amazing YouTube short. I saw where he was just like, life has no meaning. It's just the meaning you put on it and you're actually just boundless. And so we've talked about this so much that then your life is just conforming to the meaning that you're putting on it.

Right. So. One of the things that he says so much and this is what Dispenza says, which I love so much is like you basically like become what you identify with the most, and sometimes what you identify with the most are negative emotions, is suffering, is your stories about suffering, and so what the Sedona Method teaches you is that you can release all that and get back into the infinite self.

And let me give you guys like a really cool example of this, and this is something that [00:05:00] I like a lot, One of my favorite Esther Hicks clips was actually this one where she was talking to this woman, this girl, who wanted to get back together with her ex boyfriend, okay? I might have talked about this on the podcast, but this is important for this.

Okay, so, this woman's sitting in front of Esther Hicks at an event and she's just like, Hey, I really want to get back together with my ex boyfriend. And Esther Hicks is like, cool, okay, what if I told you that you could Let that all go, and allow someone even better than him to come into your life. And the girl was like, yeah, uh huh.

And then, how do I get him back into my life? And she's like, okay, but like, what if I was to tell you that, Your obsession with getting him is actually the thing that's blocking you from getting somebody even better for you to come into your life.

And she's like, wow, great point. That's such a good point. Thank you so much. So, how do I get him back into my life, though? And this went on for like eight minutes until finally Esther Hicks was like, okay. [00:06:00] You're not hearing us and that's totally fine, but you just kept being like, Great, great point, absolutely.

So, but do you have his phone number that I can get him back into my life? I use this analogy, this is such an important analogy, because I'll tie it into what Hal does, which is basically like, That woman is holding on so tight to the idea of having this guy come back into her life, right? And we all do this in certain ways, whether it's a boyfriend relationships, regret, you know, jobs, money, whatever it is.

We have a very strong idea of like, this is how it has to be. But what Hal is teaching you, and what Esther Hicks is saying, is like, if you let that go, You allow the channel of something else to flow into your life. You're naturally unlimited, right? But the only things that are holding you back. Are the beliefs of like, no, it has to be this way, or no, I'm super angry about this or no, I'm [00:07:00] so addicted to the worrying.

I'm addicted to the stress of this, and it's really why I've really just loved dispensers work and how's work so much is because I'm seeing it so much more as an objective thing that we do with our bodies, which is like, you know, some people like whether or not we want to admit it. Some of us are absolutely addicted to stress, and we actually feel way more comfortable in stress, or way more comfortable in anxiety, or way more comfortable in worrying than we do in freedom.

And we've taught our bodies for so long that this is the normal, natural state. But what Hal's teaching, and what Suspense's teaching, and what You know, I hope that you can get from this podcast is like, that is just been a habit that you've had. That's actually not your natural state at all. And the stress and the anxiety that you are.

Putting yourself under and Hal uses the example of a fist gripping really tightly or you can use the example of You know a Wall Street banker [00:08:00] Screaming into a cell phone while yelling at an uber driver while breaking up with his girlfriend while sports gambling Whatever you want to use as an example, those are just grips and habits that we have that are keeping us so constricted when your natural normal state is release, is relax, is let go.

And then the infinite can flow through you, right? He talks a lot about how kids, when they would you know, go through something traumatic, they would just sort of like, stand up, look around, and see if they should be stressed about it, based off of the adult reactions. If they didn't see that, then they would just be cool with it, right?

And so it's like, they just shake it off. And it's the same thing with dogs. Dogs, I mean, my dog's shaking like, 25 times a day. But instead of like, shaking it off, what a lot of us do is we bury it in and push it down. And then we're limiting The unlimited from flowing through us. Does that make sense? So today is about liberation.

Y'all today is about opening the channel, the portal, strap it in and having the time of your life. I love this episode. [00:09:00] I'm started doing this in a method. I started reading it and listening to it. And hopefully I'll start doing flashcards, whatever it takes to get it for my body to fully feel it. And I think it's amazing.

And so I'm so excited for you to listen to it. Thank you as always for joining me. literally, this is the kind of episode that you could just put on as background noise. a bird lightly chirps through this entire time when he's talking. It's like, you're just being.

Basically going to be listening to a greeting card. I hope you like listening to a hug, because that's what you're about to listen to. So, thank you so much, and afterwards I'll check in a little bit more about it and tell you what my favorite parts were. Here he is, Hal Dwoskin. All right, everybody, welcome to a brand new episode of Spiritual Asshole. I'm so excited to be joined by Hal Dwoskin. He is the best selling author of The Sedona Method and Happiness is Free. Also, he's prominently featured in Rhonda Byrne's The Greatest Secret. Hey, how are you doing? I'm good. How are you doing?

I'm doing so [00:10:00] good. So, I watched a video of you recently where you said, Life has no meaning. It's just this. How long have you been a 13 year old goth girl?

Actually, they're a 13 year old goth girls think everything is meaningful. That's actually a great point. You're right. You know, what the, how they, uh, how everyone around them looks, how they look to them, the w how many likes they have, how many followers they have I mean, the list is endless. You're right.

Actually, they probably care the most. That's a great point. Um, I did love this quote though. I cut, I cut your quote off. You went on to say then we're basically boundless beings. So do you feel like you came to this place? through all the releasing you've done? yes. Well, yes and no. This doesn't feel like a place.

It feels, uh, placeless and timeless. But this, [00:11:00] I certainly did a lot of releasing. I've been involved in the Sedona Method and releasing since 1976. Yeah. Uh, and there was a, a lot of releasing on you name the topic. Life does releasing on it. And again, I've been working with people since 1977. Using this process.

So, and I'm excited to dive into it. You did create the Sedona method. Are you familiar with the Staten Island method where you just throw yourself in the East river? That's a, that sounds dangerous.

No, I'm not. I'm from originally from Brooklyn. Yeah. I saw, I saw that you were in the Upper East side for a while and it's kind of where you were really practicing the Sedona method, right? Yeah, I, I lived, uh, on Central Park West, right off of Central Park West, which is actually the Upper West Side. But [00:12:00] who is, who is counting?

Uh, yeah, but I grew up, I was born in, uh, in Brooklyn and grew up until I was, uh, when was I moved to Manhattan? In my early twenties, I moved to Manhattan. Yeah, and if you can release in Manhattan, I lived there for 12 years. You can release anywhere. That's what I say. I think that's accurate. And when I first moved to the Upper West Side, there were still burned out buildings.

This is, 1977, I think it was. There were still burnouts and stuff like that, not far from where I was living. I was living in a, in a walk up, but it was a beautiful location. It was just a few houses off of Central Park West. And so I had the access to the park and it was, it's gorgeous. And the Upper West Side has always had wonderful things like Zay bars, lots of restaurants, fun place.

It [00:13:00] was a fun place to live. Yeah. So how did you initially come to Lester Levinson? I know I read that you were a seeker or, you know, you were seeking different things and I was, you know, I'm on a very similar path and have been. So how did you get to that place? Well, I actually, organized a seminar for a man named Lennard Orr, the guy who started Theta seminars rebirthing.

Cool. and Wester came as his guest to one of the seminars. Uh, I, it was a one year seminar, meant once a month for a year. Uh, and Wester just came as a guest and didn't even notice him in the seminar because he was pretty unassuming. I went out to lunch with Wester and Leonard, and the, uh, my co organizer of the seminar.

And just being with Wester, he was palpably different. than anyone I, any, uh, teacher from the East or West I had met before. And he also didn't consider himself a teacher, he was just [00:14:00] talking about Releasing and letting go and truth. And I found it very, it was hard to say. I just felt this peace and this calm and this love.

Just being with him at lunch. So I asked him what he did and he said, You sit around the table and release. And I had no idea what that was. This is 77. Releasing back then for most people was beating pillows. Oh, it still is for me smashing my car, poor pillow for me, man, but so when I heard, when I heard that, I didn't even know what it was, but I thought if I could get just a tiny bit of what he was oozing or living, I thought I should check it out.

It was a course starting the next weekend. He didn't even teach them, someone he had trained taught the course. And before the course was even over, what I noticed is [00:15:00] this, things were shifting very rapidly, and I was starting already to feel some of the peace that he was exuding. So, and I also had this, I was 22 years old, and I had this recognition, oh, so this is what I'm going to be doing the rest of my life.

And we should talk about how much this method completely changed Lester Levinson's life. I mean, I, I was literally just listening to The Greatest Secret on audio and his story is incredible. Yes, his, his story is incredible. But basically, the doctor sent him home to die and, He moped around his house feeling suicidal for a few days.

He had, he had just had a second coronary. At least he thought he did, back then. Wasn't that exact. But anyway, , and he, and then after a few days he said, Lester, for a smart boy, you are stupid, stupid, stupid. He said that to himself. And [00:16:00] then, he decided to go back to the web within himself. He, he didn't, had never studied any spirituality or anything like that.

Wasn't into it. He had studied psychology, engineering, and, besides psychology, those are the main two things he studied. But he was very knowledgeable. Uh, in those two fields and, and just in life, he was a successful entrepreneur and, and he started spontaneously, he didn't even know what he was doing, he started a process of self inquiry.

Like, what is this world? What's my relationship to it? What's this all about? And the first thing he hit on is that, and he asked himself, well, what have I been looking for? And he realized that the main thing he wanted was happiness. Um, and, and then he examined when he was the happiest, and he realized that the times he was, was the happiest is when he was loving.

Not when he was being loved, but when he was loving. And that was the first of a series of realizations that ended [00:17:00] up freeing him of, his issues and diverticulitis and migraines and perforated ulcers and jaundice a few times a year. , he had even had I don't know how long he was in therapy, but he went to psychotherapy and the, , The therapist after working with him for a while, , said, Lester, some people just can't be helped.

He got fired. Basically. I think it's fair to say he was doing the Staten Island method. That's what was probably was.

And it wasn't working well for him. Yeah. So, okay. So basically then he discovered, and then you kind of gleaned this and took this even farther that there are all these emotions stuck. that we've trapped in our bodies. And they just kind of live there. And you use this great a pen analogy with Jack Canfield that I love.

Can you talk a little bit about that? Oh, sure. let me just finish one [00:18:00] thought. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. No, no, no, it's totally okay. So, so anyway, so Lester then basically his body healed and he, he spent the rest of the 42 years of his life, even though the doctors gave him only weeks to live, trying to help what he saw as the rest of him discover what he had discovered.

Yeah. And he was a living embodiment of it. And by the time I met him, it had been over 20 years he'd been doing it. And I got involved with him and, And realized that working with him is really what I wanted to do. And now I was pretty young at 22. So I worked with him a little bit, and then I needed to go out and live my life for a while.

And then in 87, I moved from New York to Phoenix. That's where his organization was headquartered and worked for him, for him for a bunch of years for free, because I'd gotten so much [00:19:00] from the work. And then, before he died, he passed all his copyrights to me. Wow. And he asked me if I would continue the work.

And after that, the method continued to evolve. He said it would. And it did. And it developed into a whole do it yourself system that is called the Sedona Method. And as you mentioned, Jack, Jack and, , about half the movie The Secret that I was in with Jack and, John Gray and Marcy Shymoff and a bunch of other, the other, war of attraction teachers.

I only had a small role in the movie because, , Ronda, when she interviewed me, was already very familiar with Wester. So what, The main thing we talked about is releasing and towards the very end of the thing, Oh yeah, this first movie is going to be about the law of attraction. So you need to give me a quote.

So I gave you the [00:20:00] quote, be for what you want instead of against. What you don't want and they, she built a whole segment of that film and book around that. but I only, I think I had two very short, , pieces of the movie. Cause I, at the time I, even though we do help people manifest what they want, we didn't, we never called it the war of attraction, nor did Lester when she, she got a, one of the places she heard about the rule of attraction that she, is from Lester.

Lester, there was a book of Lester's teaching called Keys to the Ultimate Freedom. It's now called Happiness is Free. , and she had it on her bed stand. I think she told me since early nineties, late eighties, it must've been the early nineties. Yes. , and so that also part of what inspired the secret.

Yeah, you know what's interesting? I'm just [00:21:00] thinking about this now is like that whole, you know, That whole movements about attracting things to you and you guys are teaching basically to release things to have things come Yes, so is it because by doing that then you become more magnetic for the things that you want?

Is that what happens? Well, yes and no The pseudonymous method is based on on the premise that That which you truly are, or that which truly is, is already unlimited, is the all. And that includes abundance, that includes goodness, that includes all the good things that life has to offer. That's already what's natural.

And the only reason we don't experience it is because we're very identified with our story and our body and with our, our emotions. There's nothing wrong with emotions. Emotions are just energy in motion. They come, they have their moment in the light, and then they go. Then they subside. [00:22:00] But for most of us, because we have all these stories about why we feel the way we do and because we resist the emotions, they tend to run our lives.

They push us around. They tell us what we can and cannot do. And what the Sedona Method does is it frees you to have or not have any emotion. It doesn't try to get rid of all emotion because I think that would be boring. But, it does free you. to have any emotion, like be angry when it's appropriate or sad when it's appropriate, but also frees you to let go of any emotion that seems to be holding you back.

And, and, because basically emotion or feeling and thoughts, are, are just that they're not really who you are. And they, they, because they're not who you are, they can be dissolved at what go over shed. So we can't just yell at call center reps. That doesn't, that's not the move. Well, it's a great [00:23:00] move, but not for the call center reps.

And I'm sure you've noticed that when you yell at someone or you express anger in any kind of destructive ways, it might temporarily feel better, but generally it feels crappy afterwards. Absolutely. And then you think about it and then you like ruminate about it. You're like, I shouldn't have done that.

Right, exactly. But also one of the things I've found that if you yell and scream at someone, they're much like much less likely to, to do what you want. Yes. That's such a good point. That's such a good point, man. That's like, that's like, uh, that famous negotiator talks about that. Like, if you really want something, you have to talk slowly and quietly and never forcefully.

And I was like, Oh, that's amazing. But it's, it's really not how you talk because you can talk slowly and quietly and drive people crazy. [00:24:00] But, but if you push someone for what you want, when someone prides, pushes you to do something, what's your immediate inner reaction? Push back or step back. Yeah, yeah.

Yes. So, good negotiators find a way to, to find mutuality. So it's a win win situation. Everybody is getting something. And a really good one actually makes the, the harmonious solution, something that the apparent opposing party thinks of. It helps them come to the same conclusion and, and it's, it's really good negotiators are not manipulators because you can feel when you're being manipulated.

Oh yeah, absolutely. You really can feel that. So this, the way that releasing affects that is as you let go, you're, you rest tight. You know how we have this sense of contraction that's usually, we. in us when we're awake. It's part of the reason we like sleep so [00:25:00] much is if you have a sound sleep, you get a relief from all, not just all the problems and issues you're dealing with and all the thinking, but also just the tension there is of just managing life moment to moment.

Well, that tension can drop away. It can be released and, then it almost feels like you're being lived or life is living you or life is just this flowing alive happening as opposed to a drama and a trauma and, and all about winning and losing and, you know, every person you meet, I, you, you're evaluating whether or not you can get something from them or they're a threat.

You just described LA bro, you just described La , Hollywood, . Yeah. Well, but it's not just in Hollywood. It's human beings in general. Uh, not from [00:26:00] maliciousness, right. But from the sense of I'm in here and there's a limited amount of resources out there that I'm competing with everyone else for, and.

You never know when someone's going to be a threat. They either agree with you or they don't. They either have something you want or they, you have something they want. And so it's, it's a constant, push pull or negotiation and life isn't a negotiation, it's just life. Man, I feel great. Okay. So I think it'd be beneficial.

Can you talk about like. actual things that you started doing with this method and the changes you saw, so we can get into some specifics for the people. Oh yeah, absolutely. You mentioned the, the pen analogy. That's a good place to start. It's so good. So, so those of you listening to this, I, is this just audio?

Is it audio and video? We'll do both. Yeah. Okay. So Uh, whether you're listening or watching, it doesn't matter, but pick up an object. I'm going to hold a pen, [00:27:00] but I just happen to have it on my desk here. you can do a coin, uh, it really doesn't matter what it is, and hold, just hold it in your hand for a second.

Now, for the sake of this analogy, the pen represents a coin. All the sense of contraction and limitation that we carry. The limiting thoughts, the limiting feelings, the limiting beliefs, the, the painful memories. All the stuff that we are not happy with usually. And our hand represents our gut or, or our awareness.

And, take the object and grip it really tightly. Now, if you did this long enough, it would start to feel really uncomfortable, but also really familiar, because this is what we do with all that, without realizing it. It's reflexive. Now, that's enough gripping. Open your hand and roll the object around in your hand.

Now, is this object attached to your hand? No, obviously not. But the way, it's [00:28:00] even in our language, we feel like we are our suffering. Oh, that's so good. And, but, our, our, the suffering that we experience is attached to us as this pen is attached to your hand. So now, close your hand lightly around the pen, turn your hand upside down, and then just let it go.

That's what we mean by letting go. It's really that simple. We, we tend to overcomplicate it. Uh, but it doesn't have to be that, that doesn't have to be complicated. And what we can do if you'd like, I can do, there are many ways of, of letting go. It's a whole tool chest. But one of the most simple is just deciding to drop it.

And one of the, techniques is just a series of a few questions that, , that can help you get in touch. with that natural ability to let go. And one of the things after you start [00:29:00] to use the Sedona method, you find at first it may seem odd because most of us are doing this with our emotions, pushing them down and holding our breath.

Yeah. Right, right, right. Exactly. Or pushing our way through life or, or, or, or just. Throwing them at people or at life, but once you learn, you can let go, it becomes second nature and then it's always more. It becomes more and more of a choice in life to either struggle or not to suffer or not. And again, it's not about not.

having emotion because there's nothing wrong with it, but it is a way to, to be freer with our thoughts and feelings. So we're not bound to them and by them. Yeah. I would, I would love to hear the questions. And then just quickly, I also want to hear, what do you say to those [00:30:00] people that are like, it can't be this easy?

Well, don't believe me. Sure. . So we, we'll, I'll, I'll give you the questions and then I'll, I'll just take a couple of minutes and just take us through it experientially and all I say, when I, when I do that, just be open as possible to it being as easy as I say it is. and each time you do it, it gets a little easier.

So, these questions are designed so you can easily do it on your own, and if you practice it a little on your own, at first you might not feel much of anything, but pretty quickly you'll start to feel relief from this. And we've got testimonials. When we first, you mentioned Jack Canfield earlier. Jack is a friend of mine.

Reminds me I need to call him. But I used to go to be one of the guest speakers at his seminar, Breakthroughs to Success. And one year he recorded it, [00:31:00] the whole seminar and gave me an excerpt of me speaking. and gave me permission to use it. So we used to send that out to people as an introduction to what we do.

And we, all I did is the only piece of the Sedona method I taught is the piece I'm about to teach everyone. And we got testimonials of people letting go of fears and phobias and getting better jobs and improving relationships and having all sorts of health issues clear up just from practicing just this small piece of it.

So let, let's do it now. So let me explain it first and then, then we'll just go through it two or three times. Great. It's very quick. So the first question, the first thing I'll do is just, have you think of something that you'd like to feel freer about or, or, uh, you'd like to have or get rid of. And then the next thing we'll do is just allow ourselves to be present with or notice [00:32:00] The, the thoughts or the feelings that are rising about that.

And then the three main questions are, could you let it go? And could you just means, Are you capable of it? If you could imagine dropping a pen or an object or you actually did it with me Then I know you can the next question is would you let it go and would you Just means are you willing to and if you're ever not sure or you when you're practicing this on your own Just ask yourself would I rather Hold on to this pain or suffering or would I rather be free and have my goal?

Whatever it is And the last question is when and when is an invitation? You To decide to do it now. And you might find you let go a little on the, could you, a little on the would you, and a little on the when, or you might save it up for the when, and you, again, and it might be subtle at first, but if you stay open to it, you, you will start to see results from it.

And again, it's very [00:33:00] simple. So there's not a lot to remember. Yeah, that's great. So what happened with. Cause I was reading your story when you started doing this, you saw changes pretty immediately. Yes. Pretty soon. Oh, yeah, I really did. I, first off, uh, I felt like I stopped searching. I felt like I, I, I had found the, the thing that I was going to be involved in for the rest of my life.

So that was a relief. And then the other thing is I just got this sense of clarity and ease about living. And I was only 22, so I hadn't really experienced a lot of life. A lot of my challenges actually came after that, but I did clean up some of the traumas from my childhood. I had a brother that was born severely mentally retarded when, when I was three and that changed my whole world and I was kind of living.

unknowingly living, with that, carrying that around on my shoulders. And that started to drop away. and my, when that thing happened, my [00:34:00] mother was really traumatized and she went into therapy. So I, whenever, all her insights, she would practice on me. So I, it was very well meaning. I mean, it wasn't like she wasn't trying to manipulate me or anything, but she was getting these insights in therapy and she thought maybe she could help me because she could see how I had really contracted.

I was very outgoing little baby. And then at three, the this. This whole traumatic thing happened to the family and after that I was pretty contracted and, and she didn't like that and she felt responsible. So I was carrying extra stuff about that. And, you know, everyone has stories about. the way they do, but it didn't really matter.

What I recognize is I could let that all go and it started dissolving. And I also had become, went from being kind of a gregarious three year old to being very quiet [00:35:00] and introverted. It was years later. that I did this, obviously 22, but I went from, I wasn't went from feeling really uncomfortable around people to feeling relaxed and open and at ease.

And now I can be in, in a very large groups and it's like just talking to a friend. There's no tension around. It's just fun. So at that time you were asking yourself these questions, is that what was freeing you up? Yes. This and some of the other. Tools that we don't have time to go into. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

So what do you think is the number one thing that keeps people stuck? Is it their addiction to their own suffering? Yeah. Well, it's their identification with their own suffering again. Well, first off it's also, it's the feeling it's my suffering. What if, what if feelings, don't actually belong to you.

They're just what's a energy that's appearing [00:36:00] as anger, or as grief, or as fear. so when we identify with our story and our emotions, it gets very, very sticky, very, very tight, and we feel more and more like there's nothing we can do about it, and we feel the victim of life. Or we feel like we have to be the victor, but that's a lot of work, too.

Yes. But as you learn to let go, life just, you notice that life just is What's apparently happening in this moment? It's, it's beautiful. and at the same time, there's still challenges, but they don't knock you flat. Because you're not as identified with them. You're more open at ease. And you also respond more appropriately.

I found that the more I let go, I, I also, my sense of humor went up dramatically. I laughed a lot more. But, but also I found that I was responding more appropriately to life [00:37:00] situations. And that's, that's a universal, report from people. In fact, everything I just described, not my specific story, but everything else is universal.

Now, eventually, it can result in, for many people, more money because you're responding more appropriately and you're more at ease. And there's also more of a sense of being open to your own. your intuition and your clear reason and that comes in really handy in life because the thing that obstructs this is getting lost in the story so you're responding to what was and what might be and also getting lost in just the contraction around thoughts and feelings so when that drops away it opens everything up you find universally people find that their relationships get easier in that way.

That often means that your perfect someone or you improve your relationship, so you also have the [00:38:00] freedom to leave ones that aren't functional. And it really helps you deal more effectively with the challenges of being in a, having a physical existence, all forms, but the body too. Even though it doesn't treat, diagnose, cure, or advise about physical or emotional illness, People have reported that it really helps.

deal with what the body is going through. And sometimes it can produce miraculous physical changes as well. So I have an interesting question just came to me. Do you want anything now? Or do you just let it all happen? Because I think there's this such an interesting dichotomy in spirituality and development, self development world of like, there's like this approach, which seems so much chiller and relaxed.

And then there's people like Tony Robbins and Alex who are like, break a board over your head. Let's go. You know what I mean? Yeah. That doesn't mean that you can't get things that you want in both approaches. Does [00:39:00] that make sense? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. You know, when you flow with the river, it carries you when you bend with the wind, it doesn't knock you over.

I just like your way. I prefer this way. There's birds chirping on your screen. I mean, my god. Yeah, actually I have a Senegal parrot. Oh my god. Alright, I want a parrot. And she, when she hears me talking she chirps. Oh my gosh, that's so much participating in the conversation. Oh, dude, she's doing great. So I guess my question is, can you still get everything you want doing this approach?

Cause I feel like it's such an American ethos that like, I have to basically almost kill myself to get what I want. Yeah, you, you can get, you can have, you can have a happy, fulfilled, abundant life being chill a lot, a lot more easily. And you can force [00:40:00] things to happen in life, but there's always cost.

And the cost is often, often a lot more than the reward. But when, when you're open to the way life is, you naturally flow in the direction it's already going in. And there's this, you feel often without trying to make it happen, you feel grateful because life tends to give you abundance if you're not fighting with it. it tends to, support wonderful relationships when you're not fighting with people. It tends to support better health when you're more relaxed and open and you also take care of your body better because you're not fighting with it. So it doesn't have to be either or. Yeah. It's and. And so that was a long way of saying yes, you still get goals.

In fact, I'm gonna in January, I'm gonna be leading a goals course. just on how to apply the Sedona method to [00:41:00] goals. Uh, and it's very powerful. There, there are many, many successful people who have used it to, to gain tremendous wealth. And to do that is just similar asking questions and just more maybe aligned with these goals.

Is that similar? Yes, yes. Part of what you do with working on goals is you first you have, first you get the clarity of what your goals are. And by the way, a lot of this is taught in our basic program too. I'm just doing the course in January. The only reason I mention this, not trying to sell it, is the uh, as an example of that, this work can be used in that, our basic program, part of what it teaches you is first how to get clear about what your goals are, and then how to let go of all the thoughts and feelings and beliefs and ideas and memories to the contrary.

you can let go enough so that you can feel okay whether or not you get the goal, and then you discover that it's much easier to get the goal that way. we also show you [00:42:00] that. Getting into action is really important, but if you release all the, the conflicting thoughts and feelings and beliefs about the action steps, that is often the biggest thing about, about helping you then get into conscious, effective action.

So yeah, it's definitely effective for goals. When was the last time you were stressed out? 1977? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. No. There, I, there was, recently, my wife had a health challenge. And that, and it was an extreme one. And there was definitely emotion coming up, but there was also this sense of calmness and openness and allowing to find solutions.

And I was her caregiver, and it, instead of being an awful trauma, it was just what's happening. And I was also able to, to just be much more effective at helping her. So, and, but it didn't mean there was no stress, it's just it didn't stick, because [00:43:00] it wasn't mine. So what would you say to somebody who is like in this moment experiencing extreme stress?

Well, let's, before we end, since we've been going for a while, I know you have a time limit. We were, I was going to do this earlier, but we kind of went on to other things. Great. Let me take people through just this very first step, this simple process that people can use. on their own to keep using it.

So, you can do this with eyes open or eyes closed. It doesn't matter. I'm going to ask a series of questions to everyone. You don't need to respond. You can just see what happens for you. So allow yourself to think of something in your life you'd like to change or improve. It could be something with your body, your mind, health, well being, wellness, uh, Money, relationships, politics, it doesn't really matter.

And then, could you just welcome or allow or notice whatever thoughts or feelings that brings [00:44:00] up inside? Is that welcomed or allowed? Are those thoughts or feelings what's apparently happening?

And then, as best you can, just for now, could you let that go? Just could you?

Would you?

When? Now, it doesn't matter how you answered any of the questions. Pondering those questions, you'll find an ease developing inside of you and things bubbling up and letting go. And, just the only thing that helps is be as open as you can to it being easy and read with your heart as best you can, but you don't have to cut off your head.

Uh, and, be open [00:45:00] to, to positive, supportive change. And so let's run through it again just so people have a better sense of it. So, focus on that same thing or anything else that you'd like to change or improve in your life. Doesn't matter what it is. And then, could you welcome or awow? Or notice how you you're thinking or feeling about it.

And then, as best you can, just for now, could you let that go? Just could you?

Would you? When?

Good. So, you'll find that if you're open to this, you keep asking the questions until you get the amount of relief that you want, and don't be fooled by how simple they are. As I mentioned, [00:46:00] this is the only piece of the Sedona Method that Jack had me teach in his seminars and now he teaches it in his seminars, too.

but it produces profound results and it's something you can do in just a minute. Can you narrate all of our lives? I felt so calm. I was like, okay, this has got to be, this has got to be something I do all the time. Right. Well, but the, the, I wouldn't want to compete with your narrator. Most of us have have a narrator.

who's not always sympathetic. No, not at all. Interesting about, you mentioned the narrator. One of the things that happens as you let go is, well, two things. One is the narrator talks less. There's just life more and more of the time. A spontaneous living where you're just responding to life without having to overthink it and second guess it.

And the other is it just naturally is more supportive. The [00:47:00] thoughts become more encouraging, more positive, more open, more, inquisitive, more about solutions as opposed to problems. And again, you don't have to force that to happen. It happens spontaneously and naturally as there's a letting go. This was awesome.

Okay. I love this so much. the last question I ask everybody is if you could tell people one thing to tell themselves all day long, what would it be? One thing, this, whatever is apparently happening is an invitation to happiness. Is an invitation to abundance, is an invitation to just being who or what you are. And you can naturally let go of whatever appears to be standing in the way. Okay, good answer. You never had that. That was incredible. Why it's so much fun.

[00:48:00] Can you tell everybody where they can find you and your book? It's amazing. Sure, the book is called The Sedona Method, Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well Being. It's available wherever books are sold, including of course on Amazon. And if you want to find out more about our work, you can go to Sedona.

com, just like the city, S E D O N A. com. and there's lots of free material, and there's also information about what we do. and then on, on Facebook, on YouTube, there's, uh, the Sedona Method. You can look that up on Facebook or YouTube. And there are, uh, As you mentioned earlier, you watch some YouTube.

There's hundreds of YouTube videos that teach various aspects of the Sedona Method on YouTube. There are also videos on Facebook and there are quotes from me and Lester, new ones every day on the Sedona Method page. So there's lots of free [00:49:00] resources. If not, Hal will just come to your house. So thank you so much.

Just kidding. This was awesome, man. Thank you so much. Thank you. It was fun. I would say if there's such a thing as an LA method, it would be The method of going to the gym, having green juice, and then calling everybody else a narcissist.

Keep it going for Hal Dwaskin, everybody. Check out his incredible book, The Sedona Method. Also look us up on spiritualasshole. com. I'll be posting, his resources and show notes and some of the clips I watched with him and Jack. It's awesome. Jack Canfield, of course, legendary author . The Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

So one of the things I flagged you said was we often get lost in the story of our minds responding to what was or trying to figure out what will be Yo, what does that sound like Living in the familiar past or [00:50:00] the predictable future. And I think when you start releasing and I started doing this method yesterday and he obviously was doing it, I was following along the whole time when he was doing it and I was, I was doing it and I was just like, I do feel calmer.

I just do. And that voice in my head has been, has been able to shut up a little bit more, which is awesome. I would like that guy to maybe go down like eight or nine notches. I would like the voice in my head. If he just sounded like.

Nemo?

Where he was always excited? And not so much, like Darth Vader, you know, but yeah, I just think it's so important. The idea of going with the flow. Wow. It's just so much easier. So I'm going to try that approach this week and I'm going to go with the flow and I'm going to keep releasing.

And asking myself some questions, and I hope you will too. Thank you so much for listening. I believe all your dreams can come true. I believe there's so much love here for you. I hope you have the best week of all time. I hope you realize that all of your dreams are just there for you. That the [00:51:00] larger part of you wants them all to come to you.



I'm so excited that you guys are here for anybody that's doing any of this work. I love you. I think it's amazing. You should be so proud of yourself for every day, working to be a little bit better because that work is going to help everyone around you.

And we're all super stoked that you're not going to yell at us at an intersection now because you let go. you're not going to be yelling at a DMV anymore Thank you so much. You're the best.