Letting Go: The Sedona Method Movie

[Music] [Applause] [Music] For thousands of years, mankind has searched the world for meaning, happiness, and contentment. We've looked to the stars, we've dug into the past, we've turned to science, we've looked for it in each other, and we've looked for it in our toys. But still, for most of us, the search has been unfulfilled. The key to happiness has remained elusive. No matter who we are or what we do, most of us feel we are held back by something, whether it's stress, self-doubt, anxiety, depression, addiction, financial worries, or health concerns. Negative feelings about our

bodies, our relationships, our past experiences—all of this is based on believing we are separate, which creates a feeling that we're not enough as we are. We need something more to feel whole. We need more money, more power, more drama, more drugs, more food. We believe we need to consume the world in order to be, and that feeling of "I'm not enough as I am" is incredibly detrimental to our lives and this earth we share. But what if we could actually stop the badness, live in this moment, and let go of our limitations? What if you

had a tool that could simply, quickly, easily, and effectively transform your life? It's not about changing who you are; it's about letting go of the things that appear to be in the way. [Music] Right now, the world is at a critical turning point. If we continue to do what we've done up until this point, we'll continue to get results that none of us are happy with. But it doesn't have to be this way. All over the world, people like you and me are waking up to the truth of who we are, and this film is

just one of those ways. It's a way for you to have love, peace, and joy in your life, and it's a way for us all to work together to bring about a better world. When I found this method, I said, "This is amazing," because anybody can experience what I now know. People try to achieve this over their whole lifetime. It didn't take me hours of meditation or relaxation, sitting somewhere to get into a state of peace. It allowed me to finally come to some peace. I'm so fortunate to be able to share this method—to be

free, to be free! It just feels great to not worry anymore. That's where the Sedona Method comes in: it gives you the freedom to let life be as it is. Are you feeling overburdened by your life? Do you feel like you have a little excess baggage? Are you ready to let go? I think it's time. The Sedona Method is made up of a group of very simple and powerful tools, and one of these tools is called "welcoming." Welcoming means to greet or receive in a polite or friendly way, and it helps you let go of

the need to control or possess something. In other words, what welcoming is, is simply allowing whatever you're feeling to be in this moment. But that's not what we usually do. What we usually do is push life away; we hold our feelings back, and when we do that, they bow us over. But if we do what's counterintuitive—if we just simply open and allow our feelings to flow—they pass right through us, and there's no place for them to stick. We’ll be exploring a very specific three-part process that we call triple welcoming. So let's explore it together. Step

one is welcoming the issue: the thoughts, the feelings, the beliefs, the memories—anything that's holding you back. Step two is welcoming all your wanting to do something with it: you wanting to fix it, you wanting to change it, you wanting to control it, you wanting to hold it close or push it away—any attachment or aversion. Step three is welcoming any sense that it's personal—that it's about you or who you are. When you welcome any sense that it's personal, you'll find the whole thing naturally dissolves. I welcome all the feelings and all the sensations that come with

it. I bring it all out; I feel like I trick all those feelings into a little boat that I envision, and all of a sudden, once all the feelings are in there, I just say, "Bye-bye." Now let's explore triple welcoming together. As you do the releasing, know that you can do it with your eyes open or eyes closed; both are effective. As you do the releasing, as you let go or as you welcome what is, allow yourself to lead with your heart, as opposed to your head. Now allow yourself to think of a situation in

your life that you've been wanting to change or improve—something with your relationships, something with your health, something with your money, or something with the world. As you focus on this situation, could you allow yourself to simply welcome whatever thoughts, whatever feelings, whatever beliefs—anything at all associated with that particular issue? Could you just simply open and welcome as best you can? And then, could you also allow yourself to welcome any wanting to fix it, any wanting to change, any wanting to improve it, any wanting to do anything at all with it—any wanting to push it away

or hold it close, any sense of attachment or aversion? Remember, just simply do this inside; just simply open, relax, and welcome. Then, could you also allow yourself to welcome any sense that it's personal—that it's about you or who you are—any sense of identity? Again, remember to just do this inside. And then, could you just simply let go? [Music] You discovered the treasure of who you are, and like you open the box, the treasure is here. It has always been here, and it's an endless... Treasure! There's no limit to the richness of it, and you feel

like, "Wow, you know, that's such a gift." One of the best ways to learn releasing or letting go is by sharing the experience with others. As you watch others going through this process, it invites you gently, but powerfully, into your own experience, into your own understanding. So, the best way to view this film is as though you are one of the participants. View this as an invitation to get actively involved. Now, of course, you can simply watch this for entertainment, and you'll be entertained, but there's a deeper promise here. There's something that, if you allow

yourself to at least keep an open mind and an open heart, this whole process can engage you at a level that can make a huge difference in your life. I'm a writer of textbooks; I just finished the eighth edition of my textbook on critical thinking. I'm a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and I’ve followed many paths and had many forms of therapy. When one is releasing, it's moving out of the mind and thought, and often the folly of thinking, into direct perceptual experience. It's giving me this excitement about finding stuck places in myself that I hadn't

realized were stuck, and having tools for a way through. Through releasing, we filmed an advanced course in San Francisco, and then we decided there was so much goodness there that we just had to share it with the world. Everyone in this film, including myself, are ordinary people just like you who have found real lasting happiness and are living their dreams. They did this by simply using this simple, powerful, and easy-to-learn technique that we're about to explore together. This film is an invitation for you to discover the truth of who you are and to let go

of everything inside of you that's holding you back. The key to all this, in my experience, is the letting go and allowing yourself to be that which you already are. I'm a Vietnam veteran, and I was in Vietnam 40 years ago. This last year, I was diagnosed with PTSD, and it made perfect sense that I’d been angry for the last four years, irritable about what happened in that situation. I’ve suppressed it with alcohol, antidepressants, and going to therapy, and nothing has worked to eliminate this irritability and anger that I've had inside me. About a month

ago, I stopped drinking and stopped taking antidepressants. I went to a vet center and said that I stopped drinking, and the counselor at the Vet Center said, "Well, that's good; now you can let the PTSD come up." She said, "The good news is you now recognize you have PTSD." She said, "The bad news is that it'll take another 40 years to heal." I don't want to spend four years having this PTSD or this anger heal; I’ve already spent 40 years with it. About a month ago, I started listening to Hale talk about releasing and the

different releasing methods, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last month: releasing some of this anger using some of the methods to do that. For me, the Sedona Method has been helpful, and what I’d like to say to other veterans is that it is a possibility; it could help release some of the pain and anger that’s inside. Those of you watching or listening at home, do this with us. Those of you here, if you would pick up a pen or a pencil. So, for the sake of this analogy, this object represents our unwanted emotions.

It also represents our unwanted thoughts or unwanted feelings, our beliefs about ourselves, and also all the roles or identities that we've taken on for ourselves. Your hand represents your gut, if you'd like, or simply awareness. So now, take your hand and grip it tightly around the object. Now, if we did this long enough, it would start to feel really uncomfortable and then really familiar, because this is what we're doing all the time with our emotions. Now roll the object around in your hand. Now, is this object attached to your hand? No, obviously not. But if

you think about your relationship to your identities and your emotions, we actually talk as though we are them. When we're angry, what are we usually saying? "I'm angry." Exactly! When we're sad, what do we usually say? "I'm sad." We actually believe that we are the emotion; that's actually what we believe. Now, when we take on these roles and when we take on these feelings as though they are us, we forget that it's something that we are choosing. We’re holding onto it ourselves, so we can make a new choice. We can get stuck even in positive

roles or positive identities, but especially, I think you can relate to the fact that we all have all these negative identities about ourselves and negative beliefs and negative feelings that we’ve been doing this for so long they feel like a part of us, and we can hardly move. It’s kind of like we go through life like this; we don’t lose anything, you know? We’re protecting them too. If we have a particular role that we really identify with, we’re like this: don’t get anywhere near it, especially if it hurts. You notice how what we do when

something hurts? We collapse around it. We go, and then we’re like this: “You’re not gonna get anywhere near my suffering! How dare you even think of taking this away from me?” And that's all unnecessary. That suffering that we go through in order to protect our suffering is craziness. So, getting back to this analogy, because this isn’t attached to us... We have this amazing opportunity to just simply do this: close your hand lightly around this object. By the way, please do this at home, and just drop it. Is that hard to do? No. And some of

you were giggling because it was so easy. Well, that's how easy it can be to let go of even beliefs or identities or feelings that we've absolutely, with certainty, believed we've always had—beliefs about ourselves or feelings that we thought we could never, ever let go of. They could be let go of that easily by simply deciding to let them go. The person we're about to see is dealing with issues that we all face. We're all playing roles that no longer serve us and are holding us back, and this is a way to be free of

all roles and to choose to be your authentic self. I always felt this incredible responsibility to do well, be excellent, just to do my very best to represent my— in quotes—of my race. Yes, and then, of course, being a Black male in this country, I've always felt this awesome responsibility to kind of break the stereotype. Sure, and I had this moment in November where I thought to myself, "Oh, this is great," and then I had this other moment that was, "Oh, what's my raison d'être now?" But I always felt this responsibility—this responsibility, you know, that

I had to be the representative, or a representative of my race and be a good one at that. Yes, so, um, like everything I did in my life, we've hopped around that, you know? And it just feels like a really heavy load that, yeah, I'd like to let down, but at the same time have some benefit to others. Sure, before traveling this road, yeah, I mean, I feel very fortunate. I have a wonderful, wonderful wife. I decided to get married last year for the first time in my life. [Laughter] And she tolerates me! Yes, most

gratefully. So she keeps me. Yeah, so in this moment, could you just welcome that memory and all the burden that comes with it? And all the memories, and all the beliefs, and all that pressure [Music], and all the desire to fix it, or change it, or control—to be free of it. And then all the sense, "But that's who you are!" "But that's me! That's personal!" And then notice what's beyond all that. So what's actually here now? That's nothing. It worked? Yeah. Yes. So in this moment, do you need to play any role in order to

be? Isn't that a relief? Yeah. [Music] Thank you. Thank you. [Music] So I think you can see we all have one or two issues that we need to deal with, but you may be wondering: how did we lose our way? If we're already whole, complete, and perfect within ourselves, how did we get so confused? Well, it's actually quite simple. If you allow yourself to simply be open to what we're going to explore next, I think it may ring some bells, open some doors, and help reveal to you how we got ourselves into this mess. What

I'm talking about now is just another concept. I'm not saying this is the truth, all right? But in my experience, what happens for the first couple of years of life is that the thinking mind is in development, and it's a word behavior to even think that you're your name. It kind of looks kind of like this: if that was Laurel and this was Daddy, it would be "Daddy Worrell," "Oh, Daddy Worrell," "Daddy Worrell." If you hear that for about long enough—maybe two years or so—you start to believe you're a Worrell, or a poem, or a

Tony, or whatever your particular body-mind is called. It's a word behavior, and it's actually when we start describing the body in the third person. But around two or two-and-a-half, it goes from "Laurel's toy," or "Hale's toy," or "Giuseppe's toy," or again, whoever we're called, to "my toy." And as soon as it becomes "my toy," we're willing to defend our toys with our lives. It becomes like we think that it's all about me, and then we spend the rest of our lives until we get tired of it. What arises with that belief, that "I'm this," is

that everything besides this is a threat. Then one of the words you use a lot is "no." No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And as adults, we've just perfected our "no's," and we try to make them very subtle. As you let go, discover the truth of who you are: you don't lose the wisdom gained from experience, but what happens is you lose all that excess baggage that's accumulated around believing you are just that—separate "me," that separate "I." That can fall away, and it falls away through all the different forms of releasing, and it

falls away very rapidly as you discover that it's just a weird behavior. It isn't the truth. It isn't who you are. I was going through a difficult time in my life in terms of my marriage, and I was at a stoplight in San Rafael. I suddenly realized that the love that I had been seeking outside of myself was actually coming from inside, and it was quite a revelation. It was very much of a relief. At that point, I had gotten to know that the marriage was in a lot of trouble. I was very concerned about

how my children were going to respond. And I still remember what he said to me. I didn't even tell him much of a story, and he just looked at me and he said, "Can you—could you let..." Go of wanting to control your family's experience. And that, I really think, was the beginning of what helped me start to release. In our fast-paced world, we're also busy; we're also plugged in, that we become human doings instead of human beings. And that beingness is always right behind all this doingness, and if you allow yourself to discover that you

don't need to be so caught up in all the actions in life, there's a sense of flow, there's a sense of ease, there's a sense of openness, and there's a sense of certainty that reveals itself in action. And you can have this right here, right now, and throughout your day. I can't believe I'm doing this! [Laughter] Most of the people up there can't believe they're up there. It's like my hand went up, and I'm on the stage! Oh my! Yeah, I'm in enough pain that I would love—oh yeah, pain is a great motivator. Yeah, one

of the things that keeps coming up is my career and what I do for a living. Yes, you know, I've devoted a lot of my life to it. And then, on the very first day when we did the pen, yes, when I was grasping onto the pen, it was my career; it was what I do for a living. But it was really, really nice to even take that away from me! You know, don't you ever even try, kind of thing, you know? And what's happening is my body—there's been, like, for about the last year, year

and a half, but my body is not—I don't know what's going on with it, but it's not letting me have as much energy to do as much as I have, so I'm not able to meet all the demands of my work, life, and mothering. My way of dealing with that is to push through this—yes, you know, we're just going to push right—and that's not working, you know? That's really not working, and I feel like I'm really trapped there. And here I am in this really expansive space, and I can expand in so many other ways,

but this area, man, I am just holding on for dear life. So I would really like to be released from that if you could help me. By the way, I just want to remind you and everyone else that it may appear that I'm doing something, but I'm not. The releases that happen, the recognition that happens, all that unfolds here has nothing to do with me. So, before we even go there, could you just welcome all the energy that's arising in this moment? There's a lot of emotion arising, so could you just simply welcome it? And

could you just do this inside? So, in this moment, can you actually find the one who thinks they need to work in order to be? No? Right. But what is here? It's a very beautiful, very beautiful space right now. Check: are you separate from that space? No? Right. Do you rent that space out at your job? I'm not getting any money for it. One of the things that happens as you do this exploration, as you recognize that what you are is that which is changeless, we present that starts to become a little more interesting than

that which changes. The only reason we miss it is because we're more interested; we think the juice is in the suffering, we think the juice is in the changing, and we believe in it. We believe in the changeful and ignore that which is changeless. Yes, there's definitely an element of that—the glamour, the drama—it feels very compelling. Exactly! What else are you going to talk about? Mine also likes to have something to talk about, and there's not much to say about what you are. It is the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and even that's

too many words, because what you are is worthless as a concept. Thank you very much! As you allow yourself to open to welcoming, what happens is you get a sense of flow. You get a sense of how life simply is happening. It's like a river, and it's always flowing through the now. And as you allow yourself to open to the river of life, it carries you where you need to go. And all those obstacles that you've been creating in your life—when you allow yourself to welcome the river, it simply flows through, carrying away whatever it

is that you don't need. Most of us have a long list of leaves of what we think we are, what we believe we are, and what other people have told us about ourselves. All these things that you believe about yourself are not actually who you are. As you discover that all these things that you learned about yourself, all these things that you believe about yourself, aren't actually real, it's actually a relief. Now, I know you've already invested a lot of time and energy in that particular identity that you think you are, so some of you

at first may hesitate, seeing through all that work you invested. But what you'll find is that as you do this work, whatever time and energy and intent you've invested in that particular separate identity, as you see through it, as you discover that it isn't who you are, you'll get it back a millionfold. Because when you confine yourself to any particular identity, when you confine yourself to any particular point of view, what you discover is that you're murdering, or eliminating, or cutting off from all other possibilities. But what you are right now is unlimited. There's nothing

you need to do and nowhere you need to go in order to be that which you already are. Are I found a way to survive what was very challenging depression. I found a way to overcome some sabotaging thought patterns and behaviors, and I've had the good grace of being introduced to the nature of my mind. That's something that is priceless. Most of us are carrying deep burdens from the past; it could be old losses, old traumas, even abuse, and it's such a heavy burden to carry. The problem when we carry these burdens is that we

re-experience these past traumas over and over and over again. The invitation here is, as you let go, you keep the wisdom that you gained from experience, but you get rid of all the pain, all the suffering, and all the stuff that's preventing you from fully living life and moving on. I realize I had a lot of very difficult memories that I needed to let go of, and I didn't know how to. I was experiencing very strong emotions, like panic attacks. I found a way to be able to accept my feelings rather than reject them. When

you allow yourself to let go of what was, you discover the exquisite beauty of what is. When that one person dies slowly, yes, I did that. One person leaves behind a husband and maybe two daughters. I become racked with pain, sure. So, is it here now? It seems to be okay. So, let's just start with a memory. There's all these memories about that whole time period, yes? Yes, and there's also a pain attached to all the memories, yes? Right, but there's also a lot of sweetness. Yes, and sometimes when we have a mixture like that,

we think we have to hold on to the whole package, because if we let go of the pain, we're afraid we'll lose the sweetness. I've seen this so often; where we get caught when we're grieving is we believe that the grief and the suffering, the pain, actually connects us to the one we've lost. This is true if a relationship breaks up, or someone dies, or someone just simply goes out of our lives. We are afraid to let go of the pain and suffering attached to us, to the memories, because we're afraid we will lose the

person or our love for them. But in my experience, the opposite is true. To the degree that we're holding on to the pain or suffering, we're cutting off from the love that we are. So, in this moment, let yourself remember your wife. Can you feel just a little bit of that love you have for her? Yes? Okay. And could you just let it shine, and then let it shine into all those memories? It's actually coming from here, out and through, and if you let it, it will start to dissolve all these things that you've been

carrying around. You'll notice that it will just get stronger as it does, as it consumes it in the flame of that. Whoa! So, just let it all burn. Try just one memory that's painful and come, okay? And could you just welcome the memory? Okay. And then could you also welcome all your wanting to change it, oh, your wanting it to be different than the way it was? And could you also welcome this, the feeling that it is personal? Yes? Yes. You came up here wanting to let go of something that you've been struggling with for

20 years. So now, check in this moment: did you lose love, or is there a little more love available to you in this moment? A little? Yes? Yes? Okay. So could you just welcome the love? Yes? Yeah. And then could you welcome the remaining pain and suffering and memory? Yes, the love itself, if you allow it to, will simply wash away all the rest of the memories. You don't have to sort through them; you don't have to remember each one, make sure you get every detail. It's not required. In this moment, there is this awareness

now. The awareness itself is that person I was. It just is. It is, right? And does it have any boundaries? No, right? And does it have even a beginning or an end? No, right? Now, was she separate from that? No, right? Is what you are separate from that? No, right? So, if there's no personal center, was there one in her? That's what I started to realize. Justice, yes. We live in a highly addictive society. Most of us have addictions that we don't even realize we have. We can be addicted to food, we can be addicted

to drugs, we can be addicted to alcohol, but we also get addicted to our stories, to our suffering, to whatever it is that's holding us back. But there's an invitation to allow yourself to let go of wherever you're on automatic, wherever you've become addicted to something besides the truth of who you are. When you let go of addictions, it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the very same things that you were enjoying before, but you can do it in a new way: free of addiction, free to do it or not do it, and free to discover

what's beyond all addiction. So, do you have a particular habit in mind? Yes, a habit of using food for comfort, or energy, or to calm things down? Yes, to excite things up? Pretty much for many reasons, I have an all-purpose relationship with food, actually, and extreme limitation by that. That's great. Well, in this moment, could you just welcome that memory? See right now, are you using food for anything? No? Right? So could you just welcome that whole memory of how you've used food for many things besides just simply supporting the body? Yes? Okay. And could

you just welcome the whole memory? Yes. Okay, and then could you also welcome any feeling of wanting to be controlled by food? Yes. Okay, good. And then could you welcome any wanting to get rid of the memory, wanting to change it? Yes, good. And then could you welcome any sense that that's about you or who you are? Yes, yes. When we have a lot of memories associated with a particular tendency, there is this sense that all those memories must belong to somebody, right? And I think because there’s a sensation that arises in, you know, I'll

be sitting here and I'll feel tired, and so the sensation comes up like, "Eat something." Everyone's relating to this very well, and going throughout my day, I'll be working on the computer and get stressed out, right? You know, and it's this, it's actually, you know, sensation: "Eat something." Right? Well, that's the thought, but it kind of arises as a bodily sensation. Absolutely. And so every time that happens, it reinforces the memory, right? But again, none of that's happening now, right? Right. Okay, so all those memories, 'cause you just simply welcomed them. Yes. And then could

you welcome the rest of the sense that those memories are who you are? Yes, right. Could you welcome that sense of having constructed a whole identity around your relationship to food? Yes. And now check: do you need that identity to be? No. So if this fear arises again, just simply notice it and welcome it. Notice the sensations, notice the sounds in your head, "Oh, time to eat, what can I eat, what should I eat now?" We all have our favorite ones there. When that comes up, or as that comes up, you just want to be

there. And you may, okay, sometimes eat the chips, but if you fight eating the chips, you'll just eat more. Everyone in this room has experienced that—"Oh, I am NOT gonna eat this." But if you simply welcome that phenomenon, you want to be there. What happens is very quickly it starts to dissolve, and you may go through the pattern a few more times, and then it will just start to drop away. And be open to the possibility it will never come up again. Okay, great, thank you. [Music] All of us tend to have these self-imposed limitations

we put on ourselves, and this work helps you let go of those limitations. And then when you put another one on yourself, you can recognize that it's just a story and learn to let it go. Once you learn these tools, it helps you to become liberated. It’s really given me a basis to stand on: that I am here and only here, and that the story is going to play itself out. I don't have to play it out in my mind. I tried it and did it with my kids—nine-year-old and eleven-year-old—picking Maria and seeing the results

on my kids was just overwhelming. I started crying. I said, "You know, this is powerful stuff. Anyone can do it." And it's really something that has been transformational for me. Have you been experiencing what we've been exploring so far? You may be wondering whether or not you can do this. You also may be experiencing some push or pull inside—that too is completely part of the process. Even though it's simple, we don't always make it easy; we highly complicate everything that we do, including this process. So here's a humorous look at what we all do when

we're not letting go. We all have these coping mechanisms or compensations for emotion, but this is what we're doing: I'm gonna stand up to do this so you can see—[Laughter]—and that takes a little effort. So could you just do this inside? Just open. Okay, good. It feels better, right? Exactly. So that's a little key. The mind lies to us; it tells us that if we let the emotion up, we're gonna be a basket case. But most of us are walking around with one foot in the basket all the time, and we're wondering why we trip

and fall. Because we're so busy juggling emotion, believing that if we just let it up and let it go, it's gonna be worse. That's what the mind tells us, and sometimes that's even what society tells us. But it’s never true. As you let go, one of the things you'll notice is that you laugh a lot more and a lot more easily. You also notice that often when you release, it’s accompanied by laughter. Plus, laughter is already one of the natural ways that all of us let go. I think the main thing that I have learned

is that the truth is that you don't have to understand or comprehend who intended that. The most perfect and the most creative thing that there is is the emptiness that we have—that’s like perfect, and there's nothing more to it. And that the trick of life is a safety in that there is nothing more in life than where it is now. [Music] What you'll find is that as you let go, as you discover the truth of who you are, you'll find that you naturally and effortlessly think more positively. And so what happens as you let go

and allow yourself to be what you already are, the mind gets quieter. But you also discover that there's this wonderful choir with the mind. You let the mind think whatever it does, and by allowing the mind to simply do its own thing and not taking it personally, it seems to write itself. It seems to naturally create more and more positive, and the less you effort at this, the more you allow it to be natural. The simpler it is, and if you allow yourself to be open to what is, you'll find that it's very friendly, it's

very compassionate, it's very loving, and there's enough for everyone. Most of us live in a sea of "if onlys": if only we had more money, better relationships, more toys, then we would be happy. But if you haven't already noticed, when you postpone your happiness, when you want something instead of having it, you never seem to get it. What you discover as you let go is that most of us have the way we deal with life backwards. We think we don't have what we want because we haven't wanted it enough, but the exact opposite is true.

The more you let go of wanting, the more you feel like you have, and the more you manifest in life because wanting does not equal having. Want is a feeling of "I can't have it" or "I don't have it," and when you can see that and let go of wanting, the more you'll discover you can have it all. Well, I've been doing this "Dad owned" method for about two years now, and prior to this "Dad" method, everything in my life was all about wanting. I've wanted control, I wanted more money, I wanted more success. It

was one thing, one thing, one thing, and one thing—things that I wanted my whole life. I was never able to accomplish, even though I had quite a few accomplishments, sure, but not the big ones that I really, really wanted. So just to share with everybody else, by releasing constantly all that wanting, I am now manifesting things that are beyond my imagination. Two years ago, it was just profound. The money—I’ve made a lot of money because I'm a very driven guy and totally goal-oriented and all that—but now I'm making more in a month than I would

have in a year just a few years ago. And yet it doesn't matter to me because I've released on it anyway. I mean, you're a living example of how when you let go, you gain more with less effort. You've been suggesting less and less over the time we've known each other and gaining more and more with less and less effort. And that's normal! We don't realize it's normal because we're so busy doing something else. And then the other thing is that we do support people in working on goals. What you're doing is you're setting a

clear intention, and then you're consciously inviting up all the thoughts and feelings that are contrary, and you're letting them go. What you notice very quickly is all of a sudden you can see and feel and hear the goal already being accomplished. And so all that unlimited energy that you are is flowing in that particular direction. It's ironic; I think I've actually had more success since I started letting go of wanting the success. I used to take a lot of action steps, and there was a lot of doing and pushing and forcing and trying to make

things happen. The second I just let that all fall away was when things just started miraculously showing up. Life just flows to me now. Life just happens. A lot of people refer to me and they say, "Algae is just so darn lucky." I say, "You know, luck has nothing to do with this." Yeah, luck is when opportunity and preparation collide; they meet each other. As you open to the truth of who you are, you get all these little tickles inside that are really fun, but you may get confused. You may think that you have to

live life differently, and that may or may not be true. What you'll discover as you let go is that life goes on, but it goes on from a very different perspective. You have greater ease, greater joy, greater happiness, and you know no matter what's happening around you, that all is well. So I feel fabulous, yes, and I'm having these questions now. Yes, the only things that are on the agenda are getting in the car and driving back to where I live. And then what? I really like the way I feel. Yes, I'm nine-tenths of the

things that were on my to-do list before I left home. I've already mentally crossed off the list because I don't care anymore. Okay. Do you just wander around like this? Does that question even make any sense? Of course it actually does! This is something that I would like to point out to all of you. This is what the mind does. As you start to discover what you are, the mind wants to turn that into something special and meaningful and important, and it thinks that the externals need to change. Nothing needs to change in order for

you to be what you already are, and the joy, the bliss, the relaxation, the knowingness—all those things that most of you are experiencing in this moment—are what's natural. It's what's always been here, and life doesn't stop. Life continues. What stops is creating suffering. That works for me. I had the privilege of being born in a country where I was very much exposed from a very young age to Sufis and poets like Rumi and Hafez, who talked about all of the stuff that we talk about here at Sedona. It simply became very clear, without really any

effort, that you really don't need to go outside of yourself to look for the answers. Finally, I got myself a tool to be able to stay in there now, and it's lovely. I'm a different person; I know I am. I mean, I feel it internally. Had four or five of my dearest, closest friends have actually told me, all in the last three or four months, it's just profound the changes that have taken place in my life. I'm a completely different person than I was three or four years ago. Things don't seem like work anymore; things

are just like a project, you know? They're just fun, and I like that. You know, I never imagined that I could be making the kinds of radical, what once would have been terrifying, changes in my life, and there's no fear anymore. As you echo, one of the things you'll notice is that your heart opens, and you're filled with compassion. You're filled with love; you're filled with caring, both for yourself, your friends, your relatives, and the whole planet. This will naturally move you into action. You'll do more to help your fellow man, you'll do more to

help the world, and you'll do more to help yourself. There's this hope for myself personally, for the planet, and for what help I can give to other people. I work as a hospice chaplain, so I was looking for some more tools to work with people with different belief systems, and also that are gentle because I work with some people in some really fragile states. So, I started reading about the Sedona Method. I went to a seminar, and I found it really transformational in myself. So, I started using it with patients. I asked people, "So, you

have this fear in your body?" "Yes." "Do you want to keep that fear? Would you like to get rid of it?" "I'd like to get rid of it." "So, well, you just sit with me and answer some questions. So, where do you find that fear in your body? How would you describe it?" Oftentimes, they'll say, "Well, I feel some tightness here." "Okay, so you feel some tightness here. Is that something you want to hang on to, or would you like to let it go?" "I'd like to let it go." "Could you let it go?" Some

people look around and think, "I guess I could." "Would you be willing to let that go?" "Yeah, I would." "Be nice. When?" Then you'll watch them; they'll just— and they finally realize they don't have to hang on to that. And then you just take them through it again: "In this moment, can you feel the nothingness? See if you can find where nothing ends and something begins, or where everything ends and nothing begins." One of the questions that's been coming up in all the minds in this room is, "Now what do I do?" First off, remember

the basics: feelings are just feelings; they're not facts and they're not you, and you can let them go. You can let them go by simply deciding to drop them and using questions like, "Could I let this go?" "Would I?" Or you could say it in the third person: "Could you let this go?" "Would you?" Remember that simple questions are incredibly powerful because they're simple. It doesn't need to be hard; it doesn't need to be complex. In fact, it isn't. And so, the other thing you can do is to simply welcome what is, which, by the

way, is the same thing. So, as you welcome what is, you can welcome simply whatever you're experiencing in the moment, which is, by the way, a great way to release an action. Just simply do this inside: simply stay open to what is. The more open you are, the more transparent you are, the less there's any place for anything to stick. You can also take it a little deeper by welcoming what you believe is the problem of the moment, and then welcoming any wanting to fix it or change it, and then welcome any identity with it.

If you've noticed those three things combined, when you welcome the appearance, the memory, the thought, the belief, the problem, you welcome all the thoughts and feelings and sensations, pictures and sounds that are associated with it. Then, you also welcome all your wanting to meddle, wanting to fix, wanting to change, wanting to force it, wanting to control it, wanting to figure it out. When you welcome all that, what happens is there's an opening inside. As you also welcome any sense of identity—any sense that it's personal, it's about me, or who I am—that unhooks it. You stop

feeding that illusion, and then they can spin freely and spin out of existence. What you notice is that you are already the field; you're already the screen; you're already the presence of awareness that allows for all experiencing, yet is unaffected or uninvolved in any of it. And then, of course, at any moment, you can discover or re-remember just two things: that presence of awareness, that beingness, that isness, the truth, that love, that peace, that joy that you are is already here, already now, already completely unencumbered. That which you often believed you were, or you are

in this moment, doesn't bear direct examination. What you discover is that if you try to find this separate "me," you'll discover it's not there. You can certainly remember it; you can certainly imagine it, but it still doesn't make it real. Now, one of the things you'll discover as you keep letting go is that what you are requires no belief to be; it's beyond all belief. So, if you find that you've turned something positive into a belief, just dig a little deeper. Would you rather believe you have a million dollars, or would you rather see it

in your bank account? Would you rather believe you have good health, or would you rather be living in every moment? Would you rather believe that there is... No separation, or would you like to have that be your living experience now? And so, don't settle for any belief, no matter who's peddling it; settle for nothing less than what you are and also a wellbeing. What you are—to be fun, to be natural, to be easy—doesn't require effort. To be so, every moment allow yourself to be more interested in what's actually here now. Nothing is required for you

to be what you already are. I love you all unconditionally. Thank you for sharing yourself. Thank you for your willingness to show up, to be seen, and to support this planet in this wonderful change, this wonderful unfolding. Every release you've done is not just for you; it's for everyone. Every release you'll ever do is not just for you; it's for everyone. We're all in this together. [Music] What you've just seen is an invitation for the healing of planet Earth; an invitation for you to lead a happier, richer, and more love-filled life; an invitation for you

to share what you've learned with those that you care about, starting with each and every one of us. Letting go of all that is holding us back and being all we can be, starting right here, right now. The Sedona Method shows you how to uncover and live that presence of awareness that is always here, always now, shining in plain view. As you let go, as you simply allow yourself to notice what is actually here now, you'll discover that right here, right now, you're already whole, you're already complete, you're already enough as you are, and all

is well. [Music] [Music]