Amy, Miami
I was already on Todd’s photography email, so I had experience with Todd’s newsletters. Thoughts like, “Am I going to get spam? Is Todd going to sell my email?” didn’t occur to me. I knew Todd wouldn’t anyway so there wasn’t really a barrier to getting The Work as Meditation newsletter.
I Was Glad to Get off the RSS Feed
I will say that I was glad when I could get off of the RSS feed because then it came directly to my inbox, instead of me having to go check it. That was more user-friendly for me just because with the RSS feed I had to go to my Yahoo and read it there and now it comes right to my Inbox.
Todd Provides Open, Candid Examples from his Life
I find in the newsletter that Todd provides open, candid examples from his life that I can relate to mine and learn from. The newsletters help with some of the more challenging parts of The Work, maybe some of the parts that I am stumbling over. And then through the examples that Todd gives it helps me to move beyond them.
For example, one of the newsletters was on getting hung up on question 4. The article provided examples on how to be open to question 4. Especially if you are really stuck in the story and you just can’t think of anything.
And then another newsletter was…it was kind of related actually so you can tell where MY blocks are… “Why Are Some Beliefs So Hard To Overcome?” It is the same thing! It just helps hearing someone else, reading what Todd writes and just hearing it different ways.
Todd’s Emails Help Link the Thinking with the Emotion
The other thing is that Todd’s emails help link the intellectual process of The Work with the story which is not an intellectual process. So it is linking the thinking part with the emotion.
But because it is a third party, it is not my story, I am not attached to it, it is easier for me to make that link and then I can extrapolate that to my own story and help turn things around.
Another Example Is Todd Did Turnarounds for When his Mom Died
The belief was “She shouldn’t have died” and of course one of the Turnarounds was “She should have.” I remember reading that and going “That’s ludicrous”. But when I read the reasons that Todd stated, the examples, I was like “Okay, yeah. Those are also true.”
So that was one thing that stuck with me that I think was on a belief that I held so deeply that people who are young or whatever shouldn’t die. So that was like “Okay, that really turns everything on its head.”
The Newsletters Provide Encouragement When we Think we have Failed at The Work
Todd writes about how sometimes you do The Work and you don’t really feel any shifts. You don’t feel any different. You are kind of in the same place. And sometimes the shifts might come later, sometimes on a subconscious level.
But the other thing that Todd has said is “Keep at it. Try it from a different angle. This is a really deep story that you are in, and one 30 minute session is not going to change your story necessarily.”
Because sometimes it can be frustrating when you spend time doing The Work and nothing happens. And it also of course reminds us that we probably were not really open to making that change, to thinking of it in a different way and being open to the inquiry.
So that is another check with ourselves. We need to check in and make sure that we really were open to the inquiry. In other words, what are you trying to get out of it? Just to check it off that you did it? If you are not open to it, then there is no chance for any shifting to occur.
The Newsletter Helped When Working Cancer
I have been doing a worksheet on cancer because one of my friends has cancer and she is dying right now. And the worksheet was on cancer…”I hate cancer” or something like that was how it started out. And I did this whole worksheet on it and in doing some of those Turnarounds you have to turn them around and you have to think “cancer is awesome,” which was hard for me.
I was thinking about the examples for the Turnaround that Todd had given about his Mom “She should have died” and I was thinking about my friend and how she is going to die and thinking about the cancer and thinking, “Okay, if Todd can find examples for the Turnarounds for the fact that his Mom died, then I can find some turnarounds for why cancer is awesome. Or why I don’t hate it.”
I Think the Relate-ability of the Newsletter Is the Biggest Benefit
The examples that Todd gives help us overcome some of the challenges that we are having too. Some of the stumbling blocks. Because what Todd tends to address often are stumbling blocks. Like if someone has blocks to answering question 4. Or a stumbling block when you did a whole worksheet and you are like, “I am still in my story.”
I Would Recommend the Newsletter
It is kind of like why would you recommend The Work. It would be the same thing.
The newsletters are very easy to read. They are not super long. They are engaging. They are relatable. I would be curious if someone wasn’t familiar with The Work. But I think they could probably understand it. And Todd always connects back to Byron Katie’s website.
I think the person would have to be interested in doing some self-reflection though and personal growth. Otherwise, I don’t see them being interested.
Amy
Miami, Florida
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