The open sesame technique

Think about how much smoother your life would have been right now if you could have overcome your resistance to all the things you didn’t want to feel, do, or think. You know the feeling of resistance, it’s the feeling of digging in your heels that gets in the way of almost everything you don’t want to do… and also gets in the way of all the things you really want. Consider all the ways you can sabotage yourself when it comes to money, sex, love, relationships, work, career, or even vacations. We are nothing but good self-saboteurs!

Learn this simple and profound way of looking at things called sesame open technique and you will have a tool that has helped my clients for years. It’s all done in your head and it literally opens doors that you would have kept closed. Think you will like it and you will get a lot of rewards by using it.

The magic words are really simple. You tell yourself, “I’m open to” and add whatever your honest, real feeling is about something that makes you feel stuck. Let’s take some examples to make things really clear. You don’t really want to go to your family’s house for dinner (we assume). That is what is really going on inside of you right now. You are tense, irritated, looking for an excuse… you know the procedure. So, in your head you repeat the idea: “I am open to NOT wanting to go to my family’s house for dinner.” That is what you silently consider in your mind a couple of times. What happens? All! You relax in your body. You relax your grip on the idea by jumping over your inner resistance. You feel better and get almost instant clarity on the subject.

Either you go to dinner or you don’t. But you’ve reaped great benefits from thinking about it in this simple way. The inner relaxation that comes from honesty without resistance is quite amazing.

Let’s consider some more emotionally charged topics you can try this with:

“I’m open to being upset with my boss.”

“I’m open to secretly lusting after someone I feel like I shouldn’t.”

“I’m open to feeling so tired I could take a nap at work.”

“I’m open to being more loving even though I’m not in the mood right now.”

“I’m open to how uncomfortable my body is right now.”

“I am open to how angry I feel towards my loved ones.”

“I’m open to being nasty to strangers in traffic.”

“I’m open to NOT doing what everyone wants me to do.”

“I am open to my current sadness, pain, and depression.”

“I’m open to finding a way out of my pain after enjoying it for a while.”

“I’m open to feeling as foolish and unloved as I am now.”

Try on the size if any of them ring true for you and remember the formula that makes this work. You are choosing to be open to ANY and ALL honest, true, and accurate thoughts about how you feel. You are not trying to change, cover up, or manipulate reality. That’s a big part of what makes this work so well. You are “telling it like it is” and choosing to be open to it in this moment.

Remember that you can choose to be open to something horrible right now (like pain, anger, or even rage) and in the next moment choose to be open to changing it or doing any of a thousand things with it. You are not caught up in the feeling, ever. It’s good to keep that fact in mind as you build your sesame open technique statement.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you can get great value by talking about this out loud. I do and my clients too. But do it in private. When you are with others, do it mentally; works fine either way. And if you want to repeat them three, five, fifteen, or even twenty times, that’s fine too. You will find the way that best suits your needs.