My Experience of The Work

I don't remember how I came to know The Work of Byron Katie. I know it was sometime between my first foray into therapy (2008-ish) and attending the Wayfinder life coach training by Martha Beck (2016). The fact that the coaching program curriculum focused an entire section on The Work is one of the reasons I knew it was the right fit for me.

"The Work, created by Byron Katie, is a simple a process of remaining alert to and questioning stressful thoughts. It is a simple, powerful, and effective meditation practice." thework.com

Katie teaches that when we're living in harmony with reality, in true acceptance of what is actually going on in the moment, we feel at peace. And if we're not at peace, then some aspect of ourselves is arguing with reality, with what is.

Katie's website continues "the Work is a practice where…you are becoming enlightened to who and what you are". Through noticing, writing, questioning and turning around our painful thoughts, you can "access the wisdom inside of you".

Through my own practice of The Work, I've found this to be true. The process of slowing down, listening to, and capturing in writing my own racing, frantic, and painful thoughts allows me to become more and more aware of them. The practice of noticing and writing. Then there's the questioning of each individual stressful thought, and exploring how it makes me feel, how it affects how I treat myself and others, and imagining who I would be without this thought filtering my perception. The last step of turn-arounds is my favorite because it's the juiciest. Here is where the practice takes my negative belief and unlocks wisdom that I need, something that I may already know to be true for myself, but my mind, my ego, has weaponized against me.

Here is where the practice takes my negative belief and unlocks wisdom that I need...

During the entire process, my body and brain slow down. I'm able to listen to myself and give myself the space and understanding I so desperately crave from others. I recognize how my thoughts affect my emotions. I identify how my emotions drive my actions. The whole scenario of living the painful thought plays out in my mind and I can begin to change the story.

During the turn-arounds, where you take a painful thought and turn it around to the "opposite", the "other", and the "self", is where I can actually feel a difference in my thinking, a shift in perspective, and slide into thinking something new. And I'm not speaking just metaphorically. I actually feel tiny shifts and warm tingling in my brain/head as I do the Work. New synapses firing, new neuro-pathways forming.

The Work is a process and a practice. Resources are available for free so anyone can start immediately (listend below).

If you have questions about The Work or are interested in having someone walk you through the process, consider booking a coaching session with me.

Resources:
The Work
How to do The Work
Wayfinder Coach Training, Martha Beck