I love "The Work" by Byron Katie

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Hey, everyone, it's Alexandra. I hope you're having an awesome day. So today's video, we're going to be talking about the work. This is Byron Katie's work. Yesterday we talked about an idea that I got from one of her workshops about the seeing the images that you see. And then I just thought it would be helpful to go through her questions for the work because it's so powerful. I've been to a few of her seminars and a few of her workshops, and I just really think this is such valuable. This is such a valuable tool. And it's really just inquiring. It's contemplating about your thoughts, like, are your thoughts actually true? And then what happens when you believe thoughts? And it's just really amazing. So she has a bunch. If you're not familiar with the work, she has a website called thework.com and she shares, like a whole bunch of sheets for you to kind of print out so that you can get started doing it. You don't need to go to a workshop. She also shares a lot online for free, too, so you can get a gist for it if you're not. If this isn't new to you, and if this isn't new to you, then maybe this is just a refresher. Because I definitely just hearing her talk about it and hearing these four questions, I just get new insights all the time about myself and the world. So. So her thing is basically you look for a thought that is causing you pain or suffering, and she recommends that you start with a thought that you have about someone else first. A lot of times we want to go to our own thoughts about us, but she says to go to somebody else because it's easier to kind of dive into the work when you're doing that. So we all have judgments about other people. He should listen to me. She is selfish. He is arrogant, whatever it is. So just think about your latest, maybe confrontation with somebody or your latest judgment about somebody. So when you have that in your mind and then she has the four questions, the first question is, is it true? And it's either yes or no. And this isn't like you need to get it right. She just really recommends that you meditate on it and you just feel into your heart, you know, is she arrogant? And then you feel into your heart, like, is it true? Yes or no? And if it's a yes for you, then you say yes. And then you go to the next question. Can you absolutely know that it's true that she is arrogant? And you just try that on. Can I absolutely know? Well, I mean, I can't absolutely know. She's maybe not arrogant all the time. So then you just start inquiring about it, contemplating, see if it has resonance. And then the third question is, how do you react? What happens when you believe that thought that she is arrogant? What happens for you? So again, this goes to the images. What images do you see? How do you feel in your body? What emotions do you feel? And just tuning into that. Then after you kind of run through that, then you go to the last question and it would be. It's who would you be without that thought if you were in that situation and you didn't have the ability to say she is arrogant? Like, it just. You just couldn't think that who would you be in that situation, in that circumstance? So then you just kind of visualize it and feel into like, who would you be without that thought? Maybe you would be more kind, more compassionate, you'd have more freedom. Whatever it is for you that comes up. And then her, she has the turnaround. So the turnaround is turning that thought around. So she is arrogant. Could be I am arrogant. And then you just sit with that other places that maybe I'm arrogant. Okay. So then you just look, it's not like a black and white answer to these questions, but just feeling into, is there some truth to that? Or maybe it's, she is not arrogant. Are there times where she isn't arrogant? You know, you kind of just feel into this and this goes with anything. He is mean, he is angry, he is selfish, or, you know, she doesn't care about me. Whatever it is, just turn those things around. So then what I love about this is with you, when you sit with these questions in like a meditative space, is that you actually start to see the world differently. And you start to see perspectives of like, okay, this is my perspective. These are my thoughts. And then you could potentially see their thoughts. And it just like opens up a whole new world of kindness and compassion for. It's a rooster, obviously, kindness and compassion for other people. So I recommend that, you know, this is something that I just do regularly. A lot of times she recommends you write it. I don't always write it. Sometimes I just go through my head when I notice that I'm having A belief that is not serving my highest potential. And I'll just question, is it true? Can I absolutely know that it's true? How do I feel when I believe that thought? Who would I be without that thought? And then I just do a quick turnaround and that's enough, usually, not always, to get me kind of out of that triggered space. And I just love this practice because if we all practice this, there would just be much more peace and kindness and compassion and understanding. Understanding for people. You know, whatever our backgrounds is, whatever we might have conflict about, we can just really get to the essence and to the truth of true connection. When you are willing to see your judgments and to inquire about them, and then being willing to be compassionate to other people to see what maybe they are going through, what are their thoughts, what are they believing in order to do the things that they're doing to you or to the world. So it's a really beautiful practice. I use it a lot in my meditation practice because you get into that meditative state and then you can really inquire deeper into that. So that is Byron Katie's the Work. Highly recommend you check it out. Would love to hear. If you already do the work, how has it transformed your life? If you're gonna try the practice, what your thoughts are and. Yeah. Sending you lots of love and blessings.

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