12 Step BreakthrougH
The “10 Step” is the result of over 10 years of research and experience and is very proprietary (for “Path of Peace” participants only). Have friends & family join us at a free event to receive the needed support on this.
This collage was inspired by the “Sedona Method”, ConniRae Andreason’s “Core Transformation”, Harry Palmer, Dave Newren, Dr. Cliff Dunston, Michael Singer, Byron Katie and Jeff Herrera. Note: This is written in the 3rd person, as if you are working on it with a friend or facilitator. If you’re working with this alone, same thing. Let’s face it, you’ve been talking to yourself for years. Might as well get somewhere with it.
1) CBT Model
Possibility 1 - The possibility you chose or are now choosing.
a) What was or is the event or circumstance?
b) What thought did you decide to think? What conclusion did you reach? What belief emerged?
c) How did this thought or belief make you feel?
d) Based on your thoughts and feelings, how did or do you act or what did you do?
e) What was the result?
Is there another thought or belief underneath all of this this that deserves your attention even more? If so, start the above all over again. Click here for ideas.
Fully acknowledge (even “welcome”) the beliefs, thoughts, feelings you chose and the results you created.
Don’t try to push it away.
Don’t try to pretend it’s not there or it didn’t happen.
Don’t wish your thoughts and feelings weren’t so crazy.
Don’t beat yourself up for your words or actions (That’s not going to help)
Don’t try and get away from your creation- from your current inner world and outer circumstance.
Just acknowledge it all! - your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, actions and results. Get your arms around it all i.e.
“That’s what I thought and felt.
That’s what happened.
And that’s where God comes in, and my Savior, Jesus” (or similar thinking)
If you want to go further, praise God i.e. “Thank you so much for the growth and refinement that can come from this and that through this you can make weak things strong and bring me home.”
4) Ask yourself, “Is it possible that this feeling or belief is not actually you?”
“yes” or “no.” Either answer is perfect
5B) Ask, “Is it possible that this feeling or belief is not actually you, but is an effort to protect yourself from something even worse?” Note: Perhaps your anger is a way of avoiding vulnerability. Perhaps your depression or lack of motivation is a way to protect yourself from getting your hopes up and being let down etc. Or at a more primal level, is it possible you are trying to distract yourself from what I call ultimate disappointments” i.e.
a) “That once I have what makes me happy I will at some point have to lose it or in other words, it will end and in ending cause more pain than I’m willing to face”, or
b) “In the end there is nothing anyway and my life is temporary and/or meaninglessness.”
Is it possible that anything similar to the above is perhaps what’s really going on and that the bee in your bonnet (or knot in your knickers) is just a distraction?
- “yes” or “no.” Either answer is perfect.
6) Ask, “Now that you have fully acknowledged and experienced this (whatever you’re working on) perhaps you could, to some degree, just let it go. I’m not asking you to let it go, but do you think you could just let it go? Is that possible?
- “yes” or “no.” Either answer is perfect.
7) Ask, “Will you let this go?” “yes” or “no.” Either answer is perfect.
8) Simple Exchange
Notice that this part of you is loosening. Notice it is beginning, all by itself, to thin and to gently move out into the infinite space in front of you.
Notice at the same time the light and love of God, moving through you, from the top of your head, down into your whole soul.
Notice these two things happening at the same time.
Tell me when you are noticing both of these things at the same time. Stay with this for a minute or so.
OPTIONAL: In connection with “Simple Exchange” you could also thank God, in advance, for healing this part of you. Thanking Him in advance will open your heart even more to this possibility.
9) Choose a new reality
CBT Possibility 2 - a thought or belief that would lead to a different result (a result you would like)
a) What was the event or circumstance. What actually happened?
b) What could or will you decide to think? What conclusion might this create? What belief could you choose? What old life story could you replace with a new one?
c) How could or will this new thought or belief make you feel?
d) Based on these thoughts and feelings, how could you have, or will you (in the future) act or what will you do?
e) What would be the result?
9) Choose a new reality
”What are you willing to cause?” or “What reality do you now choose?” I.e. “I cause _________” or “I am _________” and/or “I will cause _________” or just “I _________” etc. What is the truth about who you really are, about what God is trying to make of you, about what you’re fully willing to do and be?
It can feel awkward sometimes to say it, but in saying it you are declaring a new reality. Note: Don’t try to cause it. Just say the truth. In a state of stillness & faith you enter more fully into cause i.e. “God said, let there be light and there was light.” You are a child of God, whose existence is pure, infinite, cause. Saying something that is true- in stillness, in a lack of resistance, quieting your mind, tends to create whatever it is you’re saying.
10) With a quiet and faithful heart, Just say “yes” (Choosing and affirming)
Ask and answer the following questions, without thinking. As with Step 9, quiet your mind, notice your resistance and give a “yes” or whatever affirmative answer you can.
Are you ______? (Fill the blank in with the new reality.)
So it’s true that you _______ or that you are _________? (“yes”)
So what you’re saying is that you ________?” (“yes”)
[Affirm your choice] i.e. “I choose ________. This is who I am.”
“Is this true?” “Yes” etc.
“It’s true then?” (“yes”)
“So if I look up ________ (statement of the new reality) in the dictionary, I’ll see a picture of you?” (“yes”)
“Really?” (“Yes. It’s true. I _____ or I am _____.”)
“What are choosing?” “I ________.”
It this true? (“Yes”)
Say it one more time. (“yes”) etc.
Note: At some point you could evolve toward an affirmation i.e. “Yes, I am ________” or “Yes, I _________ “ etc. and then continue to affirm what you sense is the truth until it rests naturally in you.
Start over at the top (#1 of the 10 Step Breakthrough Collage), repeating the process, with the same subject line until you have come to a rating that seems acceptable to you for now. (Rating is 0 to 10, with 10 being highest).
Return to the Breakthrough Book
“10 Step Breakthrough” - Notes
Inside out / Outside in
Note that 10 Step is for inner breakthrough. It’s designed to remove blocks between you and the actions leading to what you want. The other aspect of breakthrough is outer breakthrough, meaning we experience something new (inside of us) by causing something new in our life (outside of us). So breakthrough is always inside out and outside in, starting at either end.
Venting
If inspired, do an initial 30 to 60 second venting. Let it go baby. You deserve a little venting! It’s a pi_ _er, isn’t it!? “What in the heck is with this guy (or woman)?” or whatever you want to quickly get off your chest.
Note that what remains unspoken (what we sweep under the carpet) tends to cycle and expand.
You may want to put, on the left side of a piece of paper, “I feel _____”, or “Things never work out. They never will” etc. As you work through breakthrough, put the truth on the right side of the paper. This alone can be very effective in breakthrough.
Identifying a false belief (vs. a feeling) can be tricky.
Your false beliefs are hiding from you and don’t want to be discovered. Some can be discovered in pure revelation, where God simply turns on the lights and you suddenly see this purely made up belief you’ve been harboring for years!
Another way to discover a false belief it to look at your current results. For instance, if I keep attracting relationships with people who are self absorbed I may not believe I deserve love.
Be prayerful. Perhaps get feedback from friends. Write some possibilities.
Examples of false or limiting beliefs:
I don’t matter
What I do will never be good enough
My feelings don’t matter
I’m not good enough
He or she doesn’t trust me, respect me, honor me, or cherish me
No one needs me
I can’t do this
I’m worthless
I’m alone and always have been and always will be
No one will ever come through for me
I’m lost
I’m invisible
I’m a failure
I cannot be forgiven
No one wants me
There is no hope
I have no control over myself
I need to be in control of others or I won’t be safe
Examples of negative feelings:
hopeless
angry
overwhelmed
jealous
afraid
invisible
alone
defeated
Step 2: Fully acknowledging or even welcoming your negative feelings or false beliefs
The key to melting your resistance is to fully acknowledge a feeling or negative belief while at the same time, note that you are not your beliefs or feelings.
When we give voice to our distrust, negative emotion or belief we immediately begin to disassociate from it.
The secret to this is first fully acknowledge a false belief or negative thought that’s been looming in the shadows. Hale Dwoskin suggest that you welcome whatever negative thought or feeling you are starting to notice, just like you would welcome an old friend into your home or a sudden, unexpected thunderstorm. What he means by this is that the very opposite of pushing against something (or resistance) could be praising God, gratitude and even welcoming (meaning, a complete surrender to something).
Note that your negative feeling, limiting belief or negative tendency is different from your experience of these things. A limiting belief is simply that; a limiting belief. Your experience of this limiting belief can create inner trauma and resistance. The same is true with a tendency.
You may in fact have a tendency to put 2nd things first. That is one thing. Your experience with that tendency may be causing a lot more problems than the tendency itself.
Remember, it’s your experience with things that we are mainly working on in a breakthrough. We’re simply trying to release the energy that seems to be holding our nightmares together.
Question 4 - “Is it possible this is not you?”, meaning, is it possible that this is just an outgrowth of you, but not you i.e. like mold is on wood, or a pimple is on your face, or like an infection or virus is in your body- something that has formed or grown on or in you that is not actually you. Is this possible?
Questions 4 to 7 from the “Presence 10 step breakthrough.”
The answer is either “yes” or “no.” Either one is perfect. The secret is not to think about it. Just answer. The point of this method is to underscore this central truth: We either think, or we choose. Thinking usually keeps us stuck. Choosing is the beginning of possibility.
Step 5B - Is it possible that this belief or experience is your attempt to protect yourself from something?
Additional possibilities:
a) Your experience of anger could be to distract yourself from your real fear which is that you’re not lovable and in the end that you will be rejected.
b) Your experience of depression could be your attempt to suppress your feelings of grief, loss or hurt.
c) Your creation of poverty could be to keep your mind preoccupied and distracted from your real fear- your fear of death, and having to say goodbye to those you love.
d) Your creation of poverty and/or failure could also be to protect yourself from the responsibility of success, or
e) Your creation of failure could be to protect yourself from the rejection that might occur as you leave your current life and emerge as the amazing, accomplished, peaceful, fun, balanced, spiritual son or daughter of God your were designed to be. (Note: crabs caught in a bucket will reach up to pull down anyone trying to escape. You might feel more comfortable facing mediocrity with all your crab friends at the bottom of the bucket). In this, perhaps your story, upset, struggle, failure, etc. is really to protect yourself from leaving your small, ineffectual world that has become your friend - a friend you are afraid to leave.
Leaving what is comfortable
In short, perhaps your upset or story is simply a way of sabotaging any possibility of greater success or love because the degree of happiness, love and success your soul is calling you into is foreign and scary- For to have so much also means so much to lose and so much pain you could be facing. So perhaps you will do pretty much whatever it takes (as insane as this seems) to keep yourself from the very happiness you want!? Is any of this possible? - “yes” or “no.”
Note, however, that you do not consciously need to know what you’re protecting yourself from to have a good experience in the 10 step breakthrough. You are working, mainly, with your unconsciousness, so just being present and still in the process will affect the result you want. The result is best described as an opening, or a feeling of peace.
Step 8 - Simple exchange
It’s helpful to turn up your awareness to your breathing. Don’t try to control your breathing. Just be aware of it- the feeling of the air passing in and out of you. As you increase your awareness of your breathing you will tend to empty yourself of thoughts, worries, efforting etc. In this space, as with placing your feet in stillness on the sand at the beach, you will soon find the water of faith coming up around you. Faith seems to be part of the natural stuff of existence. As we empty our self of thought we open ourself to faith.
In this sense, don’t try to push your upset or victim story out from you. Simply notice that it is already moving out, by itself. This is the essence of faith, simply being still enough to allow the truth. To shed light on this, consider two verses from the Bible: 1) “God said, let there be light.” Was there light after He said it? Was there light because He said it? It’s possible that there being light paralleled or co-existed with God saying “Let there be light” i.e. and “there was light.” One was the other (kind of quantum concept). How about this one - 2) “Faith…is the evidence of things not seen.” If I decide to notice something, it is possible that in a spiritual, or a “faith” context, that this very noticing co-exists with the occurrence of what I’m noticing (meaning, neither the chicken or the egg, but rather, the chicken and the egg).
So notice.
Notice and allow whatever it is you’re working on to begin passing out from the front of you, forward into infinite space.
Once this movement is flowing (which can be as instant as your decision to notice it), allow at the same time, a flow of the light of God and Christ, directly through the top of your head into your being. In this sense there not only further space and quiet for your faith to grow, additionally, there is what I call a “simple exchange” (Tim Rice) - God’s light taking the place of your negative feelings or limiting beliefs and your resistance to your negative feelings or limiting beliefs.
Keep in mind that in 5b you sometimes become aware of what we call the ultimate disappointments (See 5b). It makes sense then, in Step 8, to meditate on or make a space for the ultimate promises: that nothing that is good can or will ever be lost (love, character, the treasures of your deepest relationships), that through the grace of God everything will be made right in the end, that the embrace of our own nothingness will reveal the glory of His everythingness and that in this, we can be infinitely happy with everything, just the way it is- that even in loss, or disappointment, the greatest gain we can or will ever experience is His love - a love He is willing and is even now attempting to pour into us and through in connection with everyone we know and the many people He will put in our path to serve.
You could perhaps let this be part of the “light and and love” you experience, coming into your soul beginning at the top of your head (etc. See Step 8)
As you could be meditating on the above, at the same time, continue to be aware of your breathing. Don’t try to control or change your breathing. Just be present with it. This will assist you in staying present to everything else (see paragraphs above).
Notes on Step 9:
Multiple choice test. Which is more true?
a) ”Reality” causes what you experience.
b) What you choose to say and to see tends to cause reality.
You may be inspired, as with #1, to see if there’s anything underneath the first stated new reality i.e. “Is there anything else?” or “is there anything underneath this?” You may want to play with this for a bit until you feel you’ve got to something core for this person (or for yourself).
Notes on Step 10:
The “Just say yes” string of phrases and affirmation above is just an example. The object is to move faithfully past your considerations and mind chatter directly inside of “yes” and affirmation- alternating between the two in any way you’re inspired i.e. “So it’s true that you are amazingly productive?” “Yes, I am amazingly productive!” “Is that true?” “Yes” etc. What are you choosing? “I choose amazingly productive” etc.
If you’re doing this alone, this is a still and quiet conversation between your higher self (the real you) and the you that’s still stuck in limitations.
Always remember, reality is a choice and you are the one choosing.