No. 7: Lester Levenson
Performance & The Subconscious Mind- Part 7 Lester Levenson
Posted on February 5, 2011 by Richard Matteson
Hi,
“Whatever happens to us originates in the mind.”
Lester Levenson
Clearing Negative Beliefs and Experiences
Clearing Technique #5: Letting Go, Asking Questions
In this blog (Performance & The Subconscious Part 7) we’ll keep traveling through the twilight zone by exploring ways to access the subconscious mind. What happens in stressful situations (like a performance) is, negative and upsetting thoughts enter the conscious mind and result in anxiety, confusion and lack of focus. One of the biggest causes of performance anxiety are past events and negative thoughts that enter the performers mind.
What do we do? Let them go!!!
There are several methods of releasing negative thoughts by asking questions and one of the most effective and popular is the Sedona Method created in the 1950s by Lester Levenson. With practice The Sedona Method helps you let go of any unwanted thought or feeling on the spot.
Bio From Wiki: “Lester Levenson (July 19 1909 – 1994) was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. He was a physicist, engineer and successful businessman until 1952. In 1952 Lester Levenson experienced his second heart attack. Being on the brink of death at the age of 42 Lester began his personal quest in search of the meaning of life. He realized that all his problems were self-caused by his own erroneous thinking. Levenson developed a practice that within 3 months helped him to completely regain his health back and eventually culminated in his own spiritual enlightenment. The core of Levenson’s practice included reversing negativity and replacing it with love. Following his realization in 1958 Levenson moved to the area outside of Sedona, Arizona where he practiced teaching small groups of people happiness, health and success techniques.
The core of Levenson’s teachings is that all thoughts are limitations. Thoughts culminate in tendencies. Tendencies culminate in emotions. Emotions culminate in desires. The practice of dropping (releasing) emotions and desires constitute the core of Lester’s approach toward self improvement and achieving happiness. Lester Levenson also discussed the utmost significance of consistent practice of releasing as an important condition of progress toward freedom from all limitations.”
Lester Levenson’s “Square All with Love” Technique
When you have have negative emotions or feelings about a situation or person ask yourself, “Could I change this feeling to love?”
Answer “yes” and feel love going out. When you practice applying positive and loving feelings towards people and situations that upset you, the negative feelings will be released and fade from consciousness.
Start by experimenting in this exercise with feelings that are less intense and ingrained. As you practice this on the easier feelings, you will find that even your deepest hurts and disappointments can be easily released in this way.
Three Usual Ways We Handle Painful Emotions
Levinson found that people have three usual ways of handling a painful emotion:
The first way is to suppress the emotion. Suppressed emotions don’t go away – they build up and fester inside, causing anxiety, tension, depression, and a host of stress-related problems. The repressed energy (or ‘charge’) these suppressed emotions create eventually drives you to behave in ways you don’t like or understand, and that you cannot control.
The second way is to express the emotion. By ‘blowing up’ or losing our tempers we relieve the pressure of the accumulated emotions. This can feel good because it puts the emotion into action – but it doesn’t get rid of the emotion, it simply relieves the pressure of it momentarily. Negative emotions may also be unpleasant for the person on the receiving end, which in turn causes more distress and guilt.
The third common way to cope with emotions is by avoiding the issue. Instead, we attend to distractions like talking, watching TV, playing computer games, eating, smoking, or drinking, etc. But despite our attempts to escape them, the emotions are still there – and still take their toll in the form of stress.
But there is another option for handling an emotion – you can focus on it, fully experience it, and then let go of it: release it, discharge it.
The Three Main Sedona Method Questions
You start by identifying a feeling. You may be frustrated at a situation at work or angry at someone who has upset you. If you are performing, the feeling may be “fear.” It could be the “fear of making mistakes,” “fear of forgetting the music,” or “fear of being unable to finish.”
Then you ask yourself a series of three questions:
1. Could I let it go? (Could I let go of that feeling?)
2. Would I let it go? (Am I willing to let the feeling go?)
3. When? (Can I let the feeling go now? Do I want to hold on to it for a week?)
Answer each question honestly either “yes” or “no”. If the feeling returns repeat the questioning.
Example:
1) Could I let this fear of making mistakes when I perform go? Yes
2) Am I willing to let the fear of making mistakes when I perform go? Yes
3) When? I’m willing to let go now.
You can use visualization techniques to watch the feeling leave and be released:
1) Visualize the feeling as a cloud passing through the sky
2) Visualize the feeling leaving your body going through an open window
3) Visualize the feeling as smoke going through a chimney
Another visualization technique used in the Sedona method is releasing a pen from your hand (you can do this with a real pen or imagine it):
Take a pen in your hand – the pen represents your unwanted feeling. If you want you can make a mental image of the feeling being inside the pen.
Grip the pen tighter and tighter until you feel your fingers begin to hurt. Then holding your palm upward open your hand and let the pen roll around. Now turn your hand over and hear the sound of the pen as it hits the floor.
Here’s a step by step version titled, “How to Release your Feelings” by May Johnstone
1. Move from head to heart
Since you’ll be dealing with your feelings it makes sense to be working from the feeling area of your heart. Allow your attention to drop from your head to your heart area. You may find it helpful to direct a few breaths to your heart area to help make this transition.
2. Identify the feeling
Choose an issue that’s bothering you, and ask yourself:
Eg: As I consider , what feeling is present?
Answer: I feel afraid – fear.
TIP Avoid any temptation to go back into your head and start thinking… “I’m afraid I’ll dry up, and they’ll think I’m stupid, and then…”. The beauty of Sedona releasing is that you don’t need to get tied up with the complications of thoughts, you simply work with the feelings. As you release the feelings the thoughts fall away too.
TIP If it’s difficult to name the feeling, that’s OK, simply use a phrase like ‘this uncomfortable feeling’.
3. Welcome the feeling
The next step is to welcome the feeling as best you can. Ask yourself:
Could I welcome this feeling?
In a gentle way, allow the feeling to be as fully present as possible.
Notice what it feels like. For example you might feel anger as tension in your chest, or sadness as tightness in your throat. Or you may have more of an energetic sensation of constriction. Or you may not sense anything – that’s fine.
Sometimes the feeling releases after this step along!
TIP If it feels too scary to welcome the feeling fully, simply allow yourself to be in touch with the feeling as much as you can right now. If this is just the edge of, say, a strong anger, that’s fine.
4. Ask yourself three questions
Now you’re ready to ask yourself the three questions at the heart of the Sedona Method.
For all the questions, answer from your heart. This means trusting yourself to go with your ‘gut response ’.
For the first two questions, answer with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Could I let this go?
Would I let it go?
When?
TIP If your answer to questions 1. or 2. is a ‘No’, that’s fine. You may have released the feeling anyway; if not you can ask the questions again.
TIP If your thoughts start to intrude with explanations why you can’t let go, simply take your attention back to your heart area, and focus on your feelings.
4. Repeat as needed
Letting go of emotions is like unpeeling the layers of an onion. Sometimes the feeling goes quickly; other times you need to repeat steps 3. and 4. a number of times.
The good news is that once the feeling is gone, it’s gone forever! Any more fear surfacing around public speaking is anther aspect of the fear, which I can release in the same way.
The Delicious Nugget: With Sedona Releasing, letting go of emotions around an issue is surprisingly quick and easy. Simply: move into your heart area, identify the emotion present, welcome the feeling, then ask: Could I let it go?, Would I let it go?, When?
Conclusions
Asking questions is one of the best ways to uncover the real feelings hidden in the subconscious. When they pop into our consciousness during a performance we can look at them and instantly let them go.
For more about Lester Levenson you can listen to him on Youtube or read about him online. The Sedona Method’s proponents are very active, in fact, there’s a new movie out called “Letting Go.”
More to come,
Richard