Explore stressful thoughts

Meet your thoughts with inquiry.

The Work of Byron Katie: four questions that invite you to explore a stressful thought. Your own answers are what matter.

Chris sits with his eyes closed in stillness on stage in front of a large audience

The Work, simply explained

What happened — and what am I thinking about it?

The Work was developed by Byron Katie. You write down a stressful thought and take time to explore it with four questions and the turnarounds that follow. Your own answers remain at the centre.

An everyday example: you are speaking and the other person looks at their phone. The thought might be, “He is not listening to me.” This is the sentence you examine, referring to that one specific moment.

You do not have to convince yourself of a different view. You notice what you truly know, how you react when you believe the thought, and what you might perceive without it.

A metaphor for The Work

First, receive your own air.
Then be there for others.

You know the image from an aeroplane: if the oxygen masks drop, you put on your own first. Then you help your child or the person beside you.

This is one way to understand The Work. When thoughts about the world overwhelm you, you may first turn towards them — not to look away, but to discover how you want to meet what is happening.

Begin with myself
Which thought about this situation is putting me under pressure right now?
Inquire honestly
I take one specific statement and explore it with the four questions.
Act consciously
What is helpful now — for me and for the people who matter to me?

Taking care of myself can be part of
taking care of others.

A metaphor, not a fixed order for life: you do not have to be calm or resolve every thought before you are allowed to help. Sometimes immediate action is necessary. The Work does not replace help or setting boundaries.

Your next step

Guide yourself.
Or receive support.

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Bring a worksheet or a stressful thought and inquire together with Chris and the group.

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Four questions · turnarounds

Stay with a real situation.

Inquiry becomes tangible when you return to one specific moment rather than thinking generally about your life.

Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?

After the four questions

What are the turnarounds?

You try different directions for the same statement. “He is not listening to me” may become “I am not listening to him,” “I am not listening to myself,” and “He is listening to me.”

These are not new truths you are required to believe. You look for concrete, honest examples in the situation and consider whether a turnaround might be as true or truer. There is no need to manufacture a result.

Self-inquiry is not self-blame. You can say no, set boundaries and seek help. It does not remove another person’s responsibility for their actions.

Original instructions and worksheets →

Your answers belong to you.

I accompany you more as a colleague than as an authority. There is no correct answer to produce. You examine for yourself what is true in your specific situation.

Chris in conversation with Byron Katie