Blueprint >> Sedona Method

Disclaimer: This document is in raw form as I process and distill 4 years-worth of my personal development notes. Expect some typos and cryptic language for now. I will be updating frequently and polishing up.

Prescription: Learn Sedona Method. Apply Sedona Method.
Related Concepts: Emotional Awareness, EQ

What is Sedona Method?

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Why is it Important?

The Sedona Method is extremely effective at managing negative emotions that make you unhappy and tend to derail your goals.

Sedona Method Videos

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Sedona Method: Key Points

The Sedona Method is a very simple but powerful mental tool for releasing negative emotions. It's also a framework for understanding what emotions are and how they control your life.

Sedona emotions framework:

• All negative emotions are useless and can be released at any time, with your choosing. ¹
• Even positive emotions can be a hurdle and should be released. ¹
• All emotions fall into the following basic categories: apathy, grief, fear, lust, anger, pride, courage, acceptance, peace. ¹
• In the end, all emotions boil down to 5 basic human needs: ¹
• Need for control
• Need for love
• Need for approval
• Need for uniqueness
• Need for oneness
• You create resistance to anything whenever you tell yourself that you "must", "should", or "have to" do it. Resistance can be released just like any other emotion. ¹

Sedona Method for releasing emotions: ¹

• Step #1: Allow yourself to feel the emotion and label it.
• Step #2: Ask yourself, "Could I let it go?"
• Step #3: Ask yourself, "Would I let it go?"
• Step #4: Ask yourself, "When would let it go?"
• Step #5: repeat steps 1-4 at least 3 or 4 times, or until you can't feel the emotion any more.

So what's the catch? Is the Sedona Method too good to be true? It definitely works, but you have to actually use it. The catch is that you will either be too lazy to use it for minor emotional annoyances, or you will be so triggered during a major emotional upset that you won't have the consciousness to run Sedona. But if you really want to master it, you can, and it will remove a lot of needless pain from your life.

Counter-intuitively, positive emotions should also be released because they can keep you from achieving your goals. For example, you can be so excited about starting a new project that you never start. Releasing the emotion of lust, in this case, would free you up to start the project. Releasing a "positive" emotion like lust will not eliminate your motivation. What you're actually doing is just releasing the emotional attachment to the outcome, freeing yourself to pursue your goals in a detached, even-keeled way.

References

1. The Sedona Method, Hale Dwoskin