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Doing The Work – A Lesson
1. Identify and write down the thought or belief
The first step in The Work is to identify a thought that is creating
stress in your life. Click
here to download The
Judge Your Neighbour Worksheet. This is
a great way to put the story of the mind on paper and find those thoughts.
Print out the sheets and get a pen. Answer the questions as simply as you can. Writing down the thoughts that trouble you freezes them, and puts them clearly in front of you so you can see the thought and then later investigate them through the inquiry.
Because it’s written down you can:
a. Keep yourself on track
b. Constantly refer to the precise thought you are looking at
c. Circumvent the mind’s tendency to slip and slide all over the place
“Rosie Stave facilitates The Work with such tenderness,
compassion, insightfulness, humour and humility – she is
magnanimous, tireless and abundantly patient. She is a rare and
exceptionally loving human being!” "Doing The Work has been the most life-changing process
I have ever done. It took 4 or so years before I began to see how
deep the questions go, and what a difference simply questioning
my thinking makes. It's great to have Rosie here making
it possible for me to sit with other people and immerse myself-
it's like being in a huge swimming pool of love. At home I have
days sometimes where it’s
hard to find a problem. Now for me, that’s profound." |
Some examples of thoughts for self inquiry might be:
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“ My partner should appreciate me.”
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“My children should do what I ask.”
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“The world is in shambles, it’s going to the dogs.”
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“People shouldn’t steal “
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“I want my father to understand me.”
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“People are thoughtless and selfish.
Watch a Slideshow
2. Question or investigate your thoughts – The Inquiry
Once you have identified the thoughts then it’s time to take them to inquiry with the four questions and the turnaround, as laid out on the The Judge Your Neighbour Worksheet.
The inquiry is really a form of meditation.
It’s when you ask yourself.
It’s when you are willing to just sit with yourself and your thinking to see what is true for you.
Be still, go inside of you, and investigate.
Ask each question in turn and be with it -- there are no ‘wrong’ answers.
The Inquiry
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Is it true?
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Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
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How do you react when you think that thought?
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Who would you be without the thought?
And then
3. Turn the thought around
Ask yourself is this as true or truer?
How is that? Notice, and investigate and allow yourself to be open to see.
Another way to do The Work
Once you are familiar with identifying beliefs that cause you stress,
and you would like to thoroughly question one single belief, you may
like to use the One-Belief-at-a-Time Worksheet.
Click here to download it.
© 2006 Rosie Stave