Here is Lester Levenson's story. He is the founder of Releasing. His story never fails to inspire and encourage me to share this great tool.
Why not explore this method for yourself at our next Workshop ?
Blackrock Community Centre
Saturday December 5'th
11am - 4pm
To reserve a place
Phone 087 6616800 or email taichimcilraith@yahoo.co.uk
“Wait a minute!” he thought. “If happiness is when I’m experiencing love
for the other one, then that means happiness is a feeling within me.
“And if I felt unloving in the past? Well, I know I can’t change the
past, but could I possibly correct the feeling now inside myself? Could I
change the feeling to love now?” He decided to try it. He looked at his
most recent unhappiness, the day he left the hospital.
“First,” he asked himself, “was I experiencing a lack of love that day?”
“Yes,” he answered aloud. “Nobody gave a damn about me, not the nurses,
not the orderlies, not even Dr. Schultz. They did not care. As sick as I
was, they threw me out, sent me home to die so they wouldn’t have to
watch one of their failures . . . well, the hell with them. They can all
go to hell.” He was shocked at the vehemence in his voice. His body
trembled with rage and he felt weak. He really hated the doctor: He
could feel it burning in his chest. “Oh, boy,” he thought, “this sure
isn’t love.”
“Well, can I change it?” he asked. “Is it possible to turn it into love for the doctor?”
“Hell, no,” he thought, “why should I? What did he ever do to deserve any love?”
“That’s not the point,” he answered himself. “The point is not whether
he deserves love. The point is, can you do it? Is it possible to simply
change a feeling of hatred into a feeling of love—not for the benefit of
the other person but for yourself?”
As the thought crossed his mind, he felt something break loose in his
chest. A gentle easing, a sense of dissolving, and the burning sensation
was gone. He didn’t trust it at first. It seemed too easy, so he
pictured again the scene with Dr. Schultz in the hospital. He was
surprised to find that it brought only a mild feeling of resentment
rather than the previous intense burning hatred. He wondered if he could
do it again.
“Lets see,” he thought, “what did I just do? . . . Oh, yes. Can I change
this feeling of resentment into a feeling of love?” He chuckled as he
felt the resentment dissolve in his chest. Then it was totally gone and
he was happy. He thought of Dr. Schultz again, pictured him in his mind
and felt happy, even loving. He saw now, reliving that last meeting, how
the doctor had hated to tell him the things he had to say. He could
feel the doctor’s pain at having to tell a young man in the prime of his
life that his life was over. “Dr. Schultz, you son-of-a-gun,” he said,
grinning, “I love you.”
“Well, it worked on that one,” he thought. “If my theory is sound, then
it should work on everything.” Eagerly, he began trying it on other
moments, and the results were consistently the same. Each time that he
asked himself if he could change the feeling of hostility or anger or
hatred to one of love, the dissolving process took place. Sometimes he
had to repeat it over and over until he felt only love for the person.
At times, the entire process would take only a minute or two; at other
times, it might take him hours of working on a particular person or
event before his feelings were only loving, but he would doggedly stay
with it until it was completed on each person and each incident.
His entire life came up for review in bits and pieces. One by one, he
changed to love all the old hurts and disappointments. He began to feel
stronger as the weight of his pain dropped away. He was happier than he
had ever been in his entire life, and he kept it going, feeling even
more happiness with each new thing corrected.
Blackrock Community Centre
Saturday December 5'th
11am - 4pm
To reserve a place
Phone 087 6616800 or email taichimcilraith@yahoo.co.uk
