It takes a fearless mind to be open.
Byron Katie

My mind is becoming fearless. I welcome the opportunity to open it, question my thoughts and wake up to the truth.

Every time you think a negative thought you are voting ‘No’ for consciousness.

Why? You are not conscious or awake to your thoughts in that moment. Anytime you feel anxiety, sadness, anger, low levels of energy or any other emotion, you are not in your true nature of love and peace. Notice what you are thinking and become the observer of your thoughts. Your feelings will let you know when you’re thinking is out of order.

If your mind is attacking your body, notice how you feel inside. The image in the mirror has to do with what you believe. What are you believing?

Way back when I was in middle school, a boy teased me and said I had skinny legs. I never knew my calves were skinny until that moment. So I looked in the mirror and saw that I now had a problem because my calves were skinny. I compared my legs to my sister’s legs that were shapelier. So began my war with my body. Then I believed him and was embarrassed I had skinny legs. Then another boy bought me a popular record called “Skinny Legs and All.” Then I became a believer. Every time I looked in the mirror and saw my calves, neurons fired and the myelin sheath in my brain became thicker. The more I hated my calves, the faster and stronger the connection in my brain. My thought was now a belief.

Earlier this month, my husband and I attended Byron Katie’s No-body Intensive in Ojai, CA. Katie talked about the mind/body connection and said, “We don’t have a problem with our image until it’s brought to our attention.” It’s our emotions that alert us to what our thoughts are having us believe about ourselves. We compare ourself to others and when those images don’t match, we suffer. If you find your mind goes against your true nature, you will feel it in your body. So the first step is to become the watcher and observe your thoughts.

You are voting ‘No’ when you:

• When you look in the mirror and hate your thighs.
• When you think your body looks fat or your waist is not as small as it used to be.
• Your face is showing signs of aging. You see bags under your eyes.
• When you participate in side talk about another person.
• You attack and judge others with your thoughts.
• You put someone down to make yourself feel better.

Katie’s inquiry called The Work is an opportunity to open your mind. This process allows you to look at the opposite of what you believe as true and to hold the mirror up to your face and see that everything you say or project on others is about you! This is how you open your mind. You are searching to find what might be just as true or truer then your original thought.

Today I have a new relationship with my body. It’s my friend. I’m no longer at war with it.

“Mind is the cause and everything else is the effect. The body takes on projections and will intensify a thought. You have to compare your body in the past to project it into the future. The mind intensifies pain, images show us a future and we see ourselves in that future and it doesn’t look good. Where the mind goes, the body follows.” Byron Katie