Healing Journeys with Suzie Daggett
Suzie interviewed Jill Fox and Michael Katz, both local people involved with The Work of Byron Katie, author, visionary and teacher. Katie (as she is known) spent 10 years in depression, until one morning in 1986 when she woke up and saw the world without her previous concepts about it. She instantly became a lover of a new reality based on truth and experienced a peace that has never left her. The Work grew out of Katie’s deep-seated realization and she began teaching in the eighties. Since then, she has been received as a master teacher, and TIME Magazine has called her “a visionary for the new millennium”. She is the author of two books, including “I Need Your Love – Is That True”, co-authored by local editor, Michael Katz. Jill Fox leads a local monthly inquiry circle to explore The Work in depth. Suzie asks both Michael and Jill about The Work and Byron Katie:
Michael and Jill – Can you explain what is The Work is about?
Jill: The Work is a simple process of inquiry, which helps us to examine stressful thoughts and move us to peace. It is an opportunity to upgrade our mental software enabling us to think more clearly, feel better about ourselves, have deeper, more loving relationships, and thus, have more prosperity in our lives. The purpose of doing The Work is to help us to find truth. A stressful feeling is a signal that it is time to do The Work, to examine a belief that we are attached and that may not be true. The Work consists of four questions and a “Turnaround.” The questions are: 1. Is it true? 2. Can you absolutely know that it is true? 3. How do you react (how do you live) when you think this thought? 4. Who would you be without this thought? (Imagine what your life without by like if you were incapable of thinking this thought?).
Michael: To get started in The Work, all you have to do is write down the single thought that's causing the most stress in your life right now, and question it with Katie's four simple questions and answer the turnaround which changes the issue to experience it through different perspectives. For instance: "She should listen to me" turned around becomes "I should listen to her, or I should listen to me (do I follow my own advice?), or "She shouldn't listen to me, because…. Doing The Work changes how you relate to the everyday thoughts that run in your head most of the time--especially the ones that nag at you and others you judge: "I should be more calm, get my life together, lose weight. She should return my calls, listen to me, cut her lawn, take better care of her children, etc." If you act on thoughts that you know inside are not true, you suffer and get into all sorts of trouble.
Jill and Michael answer - why did you get involved in the Work?
Michael: Two or three different friends insisted that I check it out, and eventually I did. Then, when I realized what a life-changing process it is, I met Katie and helped her publish her first book, Loving What Is, written with Stephen Mitchell.
Jill: Having been a therapist for the last 30 years, I have been interested in all sorts of therapeutic tools. I love witnessing people’s transformation and empowerment. This process helps eliminate victim consciousness by paying attention to the language we use. I appreciate the simplicity of The Work and the depth of understanding it brings.
Has The Work changed your life?
Michael: There is no corner of my life that The Work hasn't touched. At first, I applied it to my most troublesome thoughts and sources of anxiety. And when those disappeared, I began to apply it to every thought that struck me with any stress. Then the questions began to appear by themselves. Potentially stressful thoughts appeared with little tails on them saying, "Is that true?" My thoughts run in the background in a similar way to the songs that play in my head. I used to think I needed those thoughts to function at a high level. Now I find that I function better without them. My thoughts still amuse me, but I don't believe them any more, and I have a happy life.
Jill: The Work has changed my life in dramatic ways. My relationships with my loved ones have deepened in loving acceptance. I am able to stand in the face of high levels of negative emotions, mine and others, without taking it personally. I am better able to help others with their emotional issues. This tool has been valuable in helping me raise three teenagers, a process which I am still in the thick of. I notice that I am happier than I have ever been, my life is going well. Whenever I have done The Work with someone, great changes have occurred in their lives for the better. I have become a “Lover of Reality” and I am deeply grateful for Katie’s teachings. For monthly inquiry circles, contact Jill Fox at 530-265-3802.
Healing Journeys is a column written by Suzie Daggett for the Grass Valley Union newspaper. Suzie interviews a variety of health practitioners most Fridays in the Wellness section. Click here to read past articles prior to 2005. Enter "Suzie Daggett" in the search box to get listing of all articles. |
