Mtti handout: Mindful Inquiry into Core Beliefs

The following set of questions is adapted from Byron Katie’s work, and close to the version found in Tara’s book, True Refuge, Chapter 8.

Reminders in facilitating inquiry:

This is not intended as a rigid sequence. For instance, you might ask “What is it like to live with this belief?” and as the person opens to the experience of carrying that suffering in the body, a deep self-compassion might naturally arise. That would be an indicator that there is a readiness to move to the inquiry, “What would my life be like without this belief?”

Alternately, you might find that one of the questions uncovers another core belief—one with even more charge, perhaps—and then begin the process fresh with that belief.

A key element in the entire sequence is to help guide the person to experience “What it is like to live with this belief IN THE BODY?” This direct contact with the pain of beliefs is the impetus for transformation. While it can take some time and practice to open to how beliefs express in the body, only through an embodied experience will there be an opening to self-compassion and a shift in identity and perspective.

As with all processes of mindful inquiry, attitude is everything. Try to create an environment of safety and kindness, and both model and encourage a sense of curiosity and gentleness.

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“What am I believing?”

Emotional suffering is a flag that you are in the grip of unexamined, fear-based beliefs. If you are caught in anger or depression, hurt or fear, the simple question “What am I believing?” can reveal what is driving your mood. It is important for this inquiry to be directed to the feelings themselves. You are asking, “Sadness, what are you believing?” or “Fear, what are you believing?”

“Is this really true?”

When we assume a belief is truth, there is no room for other possibilities, for new information, for a larger perspective. Pausing and questioning our belief can begin to open the windows of our mind to the fresh air of reality.

“What is it like to live with this belief?”

Beliefs are always accompanied by a felt sense in the body. If we pay attention, we can discover how our body feels when we are in the sway of a limiting belief. Is there tightness in certain areas? Heaviness? Hollowness? Cramping? Trembling? Are these sensations associated with particular emotional states? Are we feeling embarrassment? Fear? Anger? Self-hatred?

We can also investigate more broadly, asking, “How has this belief influenced my way of relating to myself, to other people, to life?” Our answers to these questions may point to any part of our lives— to a persistent shortness of breath, to our surges of irritation, to an ongoing conflict with our spouse. Body, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors— all express our beliefs.

“What stops me from letting go of this belief?”

Even when you’ve seen the pain of a belief, it’s easy to get re-hooked and to buy into its message again. Your new-found freedom may vanish the moment someone acts insensitively toward you or you make a mistake. Sometimes the old belief reasserts itself with a vengeance: “I must have been a fool; no one will ever really understand or care about me,” or “That proves it: If I let down my guard, people do take advantage of me” or “What was I thinking? I’m a fundamental loser. I’ll screw up any good thing that comes my way.”

When you ask, “What stops me from letting go of this belief,” you shine a light on a basic strategy of self- protection rooted in another core belief: “If I know what is wrong, at least I can control things. Keeping my attention on this will help me avoid greater pain in the future.” On some level, we believe that our beliefs are serving us.

“What would my life be like without this belief?”

Before posing this, make sure to take some moments to reflect on the fear-based belief that you have already identified. Whatever the belief, sense how it expresses in your body and has affected your life. Can you connect with the pain of living with this belief? Now ask yourself, “What would my life be like without this belief? How would my relationship with myself change? How would my relationship with others change?”

“Who (or what) would I be if I no longer lived with this belief?”