This week we’re looking at not just accepting reality exactly as it is, but welcoming it wholeheartedly. A common argument of the mind against this peaceful way of being is “But if I love everything as it is, I won’t ever be motivated to make a change!” This is especially convincing when looking at the wider scope of the world and all its events. Dive into this meditation on the sense of dependence on anything external (the government, the body, success, relationships, food, approval, etc) for our sense of safety and wellbeing. We have lots of data from experimenting with resistance. What’s welcoming like?

In the world of gaining and losing, one of the main things we hold tightly to is the health of the physical body. We believe it’s something we can lose if we have it, or something we can strive for if we don’t. Either way, this belief creates an intense experience of fear and not-okayness. One of the sub-questions in The Work is “What physical sensations arise when you believe that thought?” In this week’s exploration of what Tom calls “The Myth of Death,” we’re exploring the possibility that health might have nothing to do with the physical body, and everything to do with what we think. 

Come with us into an exploration of the world of opposites. Tom guides an inquiry on what it’s like believing in the dualities that present themselves as real guiding stars (unacceptable-acceptable, success-failure, fair-unfair, competent-incompetent). These concepts hold hands and skip together through our experience, often without our realizing they are concepts. This week, we’re having a good look at various opposites and seeing who we might be without them.

This week we’re looking into the taken-for-reality story of separation. It’s a concept most of us have readily accepted as just the way it is, but what might it look like from the perspective of the Don’t-Know Mind? Does the story of separation as we believe it create peace or stress in our experience? Are we even allowed to question something that seems so obviously true? It just might be that we are, and it just might be that without this story we get to experience the love and harmony we’re looking for. 

Last week we explored the illusory past and experimented with being free of identifying with it. In this part II, we’re questioning the fear response that, according to Tom, often shows up when we get close to the truth of who we are. In this episode, fear comes up around needing permission to live the way we’d like to live. Could it be that, in reality, we don’t need anyone’s permission? We notice that with this thought we experience varying shades of misery, limitation and resentment. We notice without it there’s openness and peace. Tom asks, “Could that be enough information?” When we’re our own permission slip, we get to decide for ourselves.

What is life like from the vantage point of the past? When we hold onto and identify with the past images we call memories, we unknowingly lose touch with reality here, now. This week’s episode is an experiment with freeing ourselves from the illusion of a past, and it’s a profound one. We are fearlessly looking at the nature of memories, stories, thoughts, images and feelings and asking: Is that me?

This week we’re exploring the desire for, and the fear of, allowing what is. On the one hand, we want to be peaceful, open human beings. On the other, we are afraid of what will happen if we truly relax and let go of the need to be disturbed as a path to creating change. We hold onto our unhappiness to prove our goodness. Many of us learned to hold the suspicion that we are secretly uncaring, insensitive beings, and we resist allowing ourselves to relax and be at peace out of fear that we’ll find out for sure that’s who we are. In this episode, we meet that resistance with Tom’s favorite response: “I’m open, let’s see if that’s true.”

Ep. description: We can all find within us where we believe something shouldn’t have happened. Someone shouldn’t have gotten sick, someone shouldn’t have treated us the way they did, the list goes on… This week’s inquiry takes a look at what happens to our life experience when we take for absolute fact the belief that something shouldn’t have happened, and explores the peaceful empowerment that shows up without this story. It might be that it’s not only enough, but one of the most powerful acts of peace to end the inner war with reality, here and now. We wonder, can freedom be that simple? The invitation here is to follow along and find out.

In this week’s episode we are invited to give ourselves, every person, and the entire world the freedom to be as we and they are. We invite you to follow along and use examples from your own life as you hear the group participants share and explore their own stressful concepts related to this invitation. ‘The Work’ as meditation is a living practice — all that is needed is an open mind and a willingness to discover what is true for yourself.

In this week’s episode we are invited to question the story: “I am separate from everyone and everything else.” We invite you to follow along and use examples from your own life as you hear the group participants share and explore their own stressful concepts related to this belief. ‘The Work’ as meditation is a living practice — all that is needed is an open mind and a willingness to discover what is true for yourself.

This week’s episode focuses on the story: “If I receive something, I have to give something back.” We invite you to follow along and use examples from your own life as you hear the group participants share and explore their own stressful concepts and stories. ‘The Work’ as meditation is a living practice — all that is needed is an open mind and a willingness to discover for yourself what is true. 

When we’re living out a painful story it can look and feel so real that it doesn’t even seem like a story anymore. Which is why “The Work” self-inquiry process is so practical and helpful. It stops us in our tracks and invites us to notice what self-imposed limitations we’ve added to the mysterious, ever-present flow of life. Our nature is perfect and unlimited in its creativity — all we have to do is tell a story and the unlimited nature that we are fleshes it out so spectacularly. What story are you living?

“There’s not enough time,” “there’s too much to do,” “you won’t get another chance — you’ve blown it.” These are just some of the many stressful stories we tell about the non-existent past and future we call ‘time.’ This week’s powerful group meditation utilizes ‘The Work’ to question the concept of time and all of the stressful impacts that go along with it. Can you absolutely know that there is such a thing as time? What’s your proof?  

If you ever find yourself wondering why there is so much violence on the planet — and can’t identify your part in it — this episode is the support you’ve been looking for! We all have our circumstances where we are willing to use force and resistance in the name of ‘justice’ or ‘the common good.’ This week you are invited to turn inward and notice where you justify your unlovingness. Could it be that we’re all preaching to give love and peace a chance, yet none of us believe that it actually works?

What is your relationship to your own negative reactions? Do you criticize yourself like a harsh parent? Or perhaps you fight against others and the world? Do you try to justify and defend your case? Or do you simply stuff the negative feelings down until you implode? Whatever your go-to strategy might be, it doesn’t take long to see that none of these are effective for the long lasting change we all desire. If you’re looking for a new way to be with yourself in tricky moments that is wildly effective, this week’s episode is for you. 

Do we really need to be dissatisfied with people, situations, and circumstances for them to improve? Or could it be that dissatisfaction can only breed more dissatisfaction? This week we circle back to the mistaken belief that if I’m satisfied with everything the way it is - things won’t change for the better. Follow along as we challenge an ineffective framework for positive change 

This week we bring the four questions to the topic of victimhood. We invite you to follow along as best you can with your own related experience. When there is an opening, engaging in ‘The Work’ can serve as a powerful invitation out of suffering and into freedom. However, ‘The Work’ has no agenda about what we discover. It just supports us to look for ourselves, if and when we’re ready.

Just like a tree is choicelessly and effortlessly a tree — there are qualities of who and what we are that are effortless and choiceless. This week’s meditation invites us to notice what can often go unnoticed about the truth of who we really are. Open, allowing, room for everything just the way it is. Could it be these are descriptions of who and what we are?

On the path of self-discovery, there are a lot of stories we hear that glorify suffering. It’s as if the things that come easy can't be trusted. But do you know for sure that suffering is a requirement for self-realization? That it can’t come from love, enthusiasm and interest in the truth -- it has to come from suffering. When something comes naturally, is it true that it ‘doesn’t really count?’ Or could it be that the only thing that’s missing is our allowing it to be. This week Tom invites us to let our lives work out beautifully. Could it be that simple?

Could it be that suffering is an inherent part of the human experience and one of our many freedoms? Rather than a flaw in the design that needs to be fixed or something you need to feel bad for. While we can never know for sure what suffering is and why it’s here, we can always know how we show up when we’re thinking and believing it. Join us as we explore all things suffering, challenge inherited conditioning, and consider how to best meet suffering in ourselves and with others.

Do you allow yourself to be peaceful and happy even when it appears other people are suffering? Or have you put other people’s experience between you and your happiness? Cultural programming tells us that it’s insensitive, uncaring, and selfish to go straight for our own peace and happiness. But is it true? Does adding our suffering to someone else’s suffering actually help the situation?

When we notice, question, and meet our stories with understanding, we say ‘yes’ to life. The deep relaxation, ease, and openness that occurs when this happens can feel ‘too good to be true,’ because we’ve been taught that struggle, suffering, and difficulty is what is real in life and easy, effortless, joy-for-no-reason living is just a woo-woo fairytale. This week we confront the possibility that Life/God is taking care of every detail and that we don’t have to pay for all that we’ve been given. Perhaps, it’s all here for us to let go of so we can enjoy the ride. Could that be true?

What if living Life is like following a route in google maps? You have unlimited attempts to get to where you’re going and no matter which direction you take the navigation system knows exactly where you are and directs you from there. When you make a ‘wrong turn,’ the navigator doesn’t criticize, condemn, shame, or blame you — it just reroutes you. It doesn’t even care if you get ‘there’ or not. It has no agenda, no requirements, no rules, and no demands of you. It’s just an unconditionally present, endlessly friendly, helpful, patient, and creative navigator, guiding you along the path called ‘my life.’ 

Could it be that everything we need to meet the next moment is here now? Imagine meeting every moment from the perspective that “nothing is missing.” Quite different from our habitual mental vantage point — there is definitely something missing. This week’s inquiry is quite a relieving one! If you allow it to be. Grace is happening all of the time, but it never forces us to receive it.

Most of us can relate to wanting the best for ourselves, for others, for the world. But how can we be certain of what that ‘best thing’ is? And then if we do feel clear about it - what is actually effective for bringing about that positive change we’re wanting? This week we look at the primary human strategies: resistance, force and control and then consider the turn around: accepting Life exactly as it is. Could it be that accepting Life fully is not only a more peaceful path, but the most effective and reliable one available to us? 

Is it possible to be separate from Life? Or is there only one reality? Often we experience ourselves as “in here” and the world is “out there.” But what does our direct experience show us? When we experience ourselves as separate from the intelligence of the universe, we call certain things natural and interpret other things as unnatural. But what if it is all an act of God? Join us, for a deep inquiry into the nature of reality, truth, and our attempt to find peace within it.

Doing ‘The Work’ is not just an inquiry process to discover what’s true — it is an uncovering of the most effective ways to meet Life in all of its expressions. This week’s episode explores how we show up in a moment of crisis. What is the most supportive stance to take when someone we love is going through something challenging? What do we do when there is nothing left to do? Is it possible that wanting the best for someone is enough? Follow along for a heartfelt exploration of divine helplessness that brings us into contact with the unlimited, sensitive, intelligent power of love. 

While there’s no way to know if everything happens for a reason — what we can know is that things don’t need a reason in order to happen. Perhaps, ‘reasons’ are just a story we tell to make ourselves feel like we have some sense of what’s going on here on planet earth. When in reality, we have absolutely no idea. This week we explore what happens when we consciously open up to Life being completely out of our control and meet the mystery of the universe with a willingness to say yes, while not knowing what we’re saying yes to. If you find yourself willing to find out if the universe is indeed friendly and if goodness is the real nature of life, then this is the episode for you!

Do we really have to hold it all together? So many of us walk around with the pressure to contain, maintain, manage life without ever stopping to inquire about whether we actually have that power in the first place. When believing this story, we have to imagine a future where something terrible happens if we don’t keep it all going. Yet, the nature of this reality is that everything comes to pass not to stay which puts us in an impossible position. As Byron Katie says, when we fight against reality we will lose — 100% of the time. Yet, when we notice what we’re believing on top of reality and question it — we begin to trust and flow with the great mystery of life. 

We have the mistaken understanding that if we give ourselves the freedom to be as we are — especially when we’re feeling or desiring something ‘negative’ — that we will have to act out on it. But is that actually how it works? Giving ourselves full permission to be is like giving ourselves unlimited space and allowance to be, which Tom proposes are two qualities of love. Could it be that who we are responds to love and that all of the good things we want for ourselves, others, and the world have a much better chance of emerging from freedom rather than force and control?

The promise of happiness is one of the greatest ‘motivators’ we hold for ourselves, our children, our partnerships, the world. But where does happiness actually come from and what is its nature? Is it actually sourced from relationships, objects, jobs, money, experiences going a certain way? Or is it possible that happiness is not dependent on anyone or anything? Could it be that happiness is primary to who we are — a natural state of being? This week’s episode invites you to put down everything you’ve been taught about happiness and everything you think you know about it, so you can open up to experience what’s true about happiness, for yourself. 

Could it be that everything that happens within you and without you is unfolding in utter perfection? If you’re suffering, you’re suffering perfectly. If you’re pushing yourself, you’re pushing yourself perfectly. If there’s war, it’s warring perfectly. When there are no shoulds, no shouldn’ts, no wanting it to be different; when nothing is held up in comparison to anything else — the glimmer of perfection begins to shine through all things. Follow along and discover what happens as we open up to a radical new definition of perfection.

Some beliefs are so subtle that when we first inquire into them we may have a hard time relating. We may think, ‘I don’t have that going on in my world,’ only to discover that it is impacting us in a much greater way than we had anticipated. This is exactly what happened for a majority of participants in this week’s episode. Group  inquiry is: awareness alchemy. With each individual’s reflection we are reminded of experiences of our own or invited to see something in a new way, which supports us to drop deeper and deeper into the effortless, ever-present state of awareness. Which as Vernon Howard aptly says, “Is the cure, the only cure.”

This week’s episode invites you to let in that you don’t know for sure that you are separate from everything that exists. If what you are has no beginning or end and who you are is not dependent on a body, or your name, or the events of your life; then couldn’t it be true that the reality of YOU is not separate from the reality of ALL? Up is always hanging out with down, good is always hanging out with bad - seemingly opposing realities appear separate and yet are completely dependent on each other. Where could these separate realities exist except within the one infinite space that holds it all? Join us, as we do our best to get in touch with that which is real and open to the possibility that who we are is not separate from that which is ever-present and unchanging.

If you are a regular listener of this podcast then it’s likely you are open to the possibility that who-and-what-you-are is good. It’s also quite possible that after a glimmer of this truth, the insight has become a wish or a hope rather than an embodied knowing. This is what Byron Katie refers to as, “Living beyond our evolution.” It happens when we mentally relate to a truth but haven’t actually realized it for ourselves yet. This week Tom highlights one of the most insidious beliefs that can manifest in this way: thinking that we are good and living as if we are not. Join us as we drop another layer deeper into our own understanding of what is true about our essential nature.

Could it be that our habit of making a loss, a sickness, an accident - ‘wrong,’ ‘bad,’ or a ‘tragedy’ - goes hand-in-hand with our  habit of identifying? When we see ourselves as someone, going somewhere, doing something we have no choice but to focus on whatever legitimizes our identity and we’re blocked from appreciating the inevitable goodness that accompanies all happenings. Yet, when we allow ourselves to simply be that-which-perceives, we begin to see how everything that recedes is ultimately making way for something more full, more true, more beautiful, to come through. This week’s episode invites us to keep it simple and possibly discover a sweeter life than we could have ever believed it to be.

This week’s meditation is an inquiry into being human. What is our actual experience when it comes to being alive and knowing that we’re here? Tom guides us into a powerful examination of the most common assumptions related to the underlying belief in separation and body dependence. Through exploring the nature of images, thoughts, sensations, and feelings as they relate to our direct experience, this guided meditation gets us in touch with the ever-present, effortless, limitless awareness that rests beyond it all.

Are you living as if the world is here to please you? Look at your children, your partner, your family, even strangers - is it really their life purpose to please you? Follow along for a humbling investigation filled with relatable examples, laughter, and powerful insights into the utter ridiculousness of pleasing and being pleased. Join us as we take inventory, question, and turn this story around for the love of freedom and discovery of the truth of who we are. 

Could it be that lack of safety is just a sensation in the body? And that in reality, there’s never been a moment where we weren’t safe? Even in the midst of great emotional and physical pain, is it possible that we are still safe? So often we hold onto painful stories and images of the past as protection from possible future pain, but what does that habit actually do to us? This week’s episode challenges the most common narratives about how to keep yourself safe. Could it be that openness rather than ‘holding on’ is the most intelligent and supportive stance we can take as we meet the ever-mysterious, unfolding of life?

We’ve been convinced that lack and fear and desire is what causes life to improve - but all it does is cause misery, with a few breaks. (Granted, those breaks can be quite ecstatic depending on the depth of the misery!) Imagine allowing yourself to genuinely want what is, to love what is in every single moment. Could it be that everything you see as a problem has only one cause: the lack of love? This week’s meditation invites us to try out ‘loving’ the world instead of wanting something from it. Together, we open up to the possibility that there is no limit to the goodness of life and that loving what is, is our only job along the way. 

This week’s episode focuses on the concept of loss - loss of resources, the body, one’s potential, a loved one. Yet, when we’re fully present, without holding on to past and future, what is it that we actually have to lose? Could it be that what we call loss is ultimately a habitual way of delineating the ever-changing moment of reality? Follow along as we use the four questions and turnarounds to explore new perspectives and discover what might be more true about . It’s possible to lose something, is that true?

Are there things you would like to experience, yet secretly believe are just ‘not for you?’ A type of lifestyle, the way your body looks, acknowledgement from others etc. This week’s episode meanders through our wanting, the proof we hold onto, the stories we tell, and the habits we engage with to make sense of who we are, where we’re going, and what we believe we want and need in order to be happy. Could it be that in the end we are always getting what we want and ultimately, there is nothing to “get?”

Could it be that what we truly are is not dependent on anything? Not a body, not the breath, not a thought. What if even time and space are not required in order for conscious awareness to be? Join us for a deep contemplation into what is most ‘real’ about who and what we are. Could it be that everything in existence is dependent on this conscious awareness that we are - not the other way around? 

On a conscious or unconscious level, most of us come to believe some version of this message: there is a point to everything and it’s all very important and serious so we better not mess it up. Enjoying our unique participation in the great, spontaneous, unfolding of Life is hard to do when we believe that we need to be someone, going somewhere, doing something useful. This week we invite you to put down the old habits of holding on and efforting and resisting to uncover the effortless being that you are and the possibility that Life is less of a journey towards an end destination and more like a beautiful dance.

Oh, the fear of missing out - a story we can all relate to! But did you know what it actually costs to believe this stressful story? Follow along for a very powerful investigation into a story that can create perpetual inner disharmony, as in, we’re never in 100% agreement with what we’re doing, what we’re focused on, our decisions. Instead, there’s always a doubt, a conflict, a lack. Who would you be without the story that you can miss out? 

What do we do when there’s something our conscious mind wants to experience and it’s not happening in our world? It’s easy to turn inward and feel guilt and shame about it or to turn outward and resent the circumstances of our Life. Yet, neither strategy seems to help us obtain the thing it is that we’d like to experience. This week Tom guides a participant through a new set of options. Follow along for a beautiful example of how the power of unconditional welcoming and open-hearted inquiry can transform our cringes and resistances to what we want into ‘big-fat-yeses’ to our one wild and precious Life.

How do you know that you’re dependent on a body? If sensations, images, and feelings come and go - how could you possibly be dependent on something that changes constantly? Do you experience yourself coming and going every time a new sensation arrives or disappears? Or is it more true that you are what those sensations appear to, appear within? This week’s episode dives into what we hold onto as absolute proof that we’re separate - our physical bodies. We invite you to bring an open mind and heart and see where this investigation takes you when you’re willing to not-know. 

Needing to be “right” can feel like a life or death event. Yet the truth is, we’d need to see the way every moment of eternity was going to play out in order to know for sure that something was truly “right” or “wrong.” Right? What does it do to our world when we believe we need to attain something we can’t ever know in the ultimate sense? Turns out there’s a lot of stressful impacts tied up in this one. Follow along for an episode that is jam-packed with powerful shares from the group and playful articulations from Tom. All in service to waking up to the truth of who you are and to the possibility that the world might be a lot friendlier when you let go of this highly overrated habit.  

Tom likes to say, the greatest religion on the planet is the story that you can do it wrong and it’s serious. Can you relate? Have you noticed how often you give off and receive this message - both explicitly and implicitly? As one group participant framed it, this belief seems to serve as a navigation system for moving through the world. Which is why it is so powerful to examine what we actually get when we believe this story. Do we really need to fear doing it wrong to live well in this world? Who are you without this story? Follow along and see for yourself whether this belief is really serving you and your heart’s desire.*Wednesday meditation-goers, the weekly meditations with Tom will be paused for the month of July. We will resume at our regular time (5pm ET) on August 2nd. 

This week we continue with the theme of ‘holding on’ by considering that we don’t need to hold onto anything. What happens when you allow yourself to be completely uninterested in holding on to anything - including your sense of self? Do you actually disappear or evaporate into an infinite black abyss when you stop holding onto your images, feelings, and sensations? Or is there something else waiting for you there? Join us as we let in the truth and allow ourselves to completely let go of holding on.

This week’s meditation zeros in on the painful habit of ‘holding on.’ Whether it’s holding onto the body, the past, our reputation, being liked, preparing for the future, or even staying in the moment - do we actually need to hold on to any of these things? Follow along for a popcorn-style, self-inquiry practice and receive the benefits of contemplating a belief in a group container. As Byron Katie puts it, “I don’t let go of concepts - I question them. Then they let go of me.”  

Most of us have experienced the pain, stress, and anger that comes from believing we can’t get what we want. Some of us experience it regularly, if not, most moments of every day. In this world of missing out, Life is against us and no amount of prepping or ‘doing it right’ will secure the fruition of our deepest desires and dreams. Somehow we came out the ‘unlucky one’ and it is our destiny to be left out from the goodness of life. Can you relate? If you’ve ever suffered from FOMO, this is the episode for you! We invite you to follow along with your own examples and allow your mind and heart to open to new possibilities when it comes to getting what you want.

Efforting is needed to do whatever you’d like to do or be whatever you’d like to be or experience whatever you’d like to experience. Is that true? Most of us superimpose onto our experience that ‘effort is needed’ and as long as we believe that we need it - that is how we’ll experience doing whatever we’re doing. This week’s episode invites us to contemplate the truth of this commonly held belief and notice all of the effects this belief has on our life. Who are you without the story that effort is needed? Could it be that every single thing that happens, happens effortlessly? Including the awareness that you are.

When we consider ‘Reality’ or what is actually happening in each moment, could it be we are always getting exactly what we want? While we may not like or prefer the circumstances of a situation we are in, the truth remains: no one has the power to override reality. What we do have is the freedom to make choices within that reality and that is exactly the power that this week’s episode taps us into. Discover what is available when you open up to ‘what is’ rather than the imagination of what you wish life ‘could be.’ Join us as we shift out of victimhood into limitless possibilities and freedom from an unfair life.

Many innocently assume that control is what allows for productive interactions with one’s self and others. But is that true when we look at our experience? Are your feelings or anyone else’s feelings something that need to be controlled? Or could it be that the habit of changing, resisting, and controlling feelings is what generates the suffering we try so hard to avoid? This week’s episode is for those who have experimented long enough with force and resistance as a path to peace and harmony and are ready for something new. Could it be that allowing and liberating feelings is not only a much kinder and loving approach, but a significantly wiser and more intelligent way to live?

Is Life inherently serious? Or is that just a story we tell about Life? Perhaps, we can’t ever know for sure. But what we can know for sure is that this belief does not give us a big-fat-YES to Life! And that is a pretty big clue that the story is not working for us. Are you ready to question one of the most cherished beliefs on the planet? Join us for a group meditation, inquiry, and deep invitations into a completely new way of living and loving, free from the story ‘it’s serious.’

This week’s episode goes beautifully with Ram Dass’s famous quote, “If you think you’re enlightened - go spend a week with your family.” The enormous stockpile of calcified habits, roles, rules and responsibilities that come up when we are around the key figures of our childhood are ripe with opportunity for self-discovery and freedom. Follow along, as participants provide heartfelt and deeply relatable examples of familial dynamics and experience for yourself what the power of love, acceptance, and permission can do for your inner and outer world. 

Because the body can experience pain and be damaged, that means you’re not safe right now. Is that true?Notice what it’s like to live with the story, “I don’t ever want to experience the body being damaged,” when it’s very clear that in the world of bodies that is a possibility. This week we take a look at our obsession with physical safety and body integrity as a path to peace and happiness. Of course we would all agree that it is not our preference to experience pain or damage to the body - but notice the toll it takes on living a full, dynamic, and joyful life. Could it be that the safest and most enjoyable path through this life in a physical body, is being willing for it to experience anything and everything? Only one way to find out!

This week Tom invites us to consider the habit of imaging the past and future as a way to hurt ourselves. Could it be there is a part of you that wants to suffer? What happens when you welcome that part and all of the thoughts and sensations that go along with it? Often we hold on to suffering in order to prove a story, such as: I’m right, I was wronged, I’m not safe, or I’m missing something vital. Ultimately, it is an innocent attempt to protect the hurt ones inside. When we bring our curiosity and understanding to each of these hurts we can begin to free our inner world and let go of the dynamics that perpetuate suffering.

Wanting what you want is no easy feat in a society that orients towards being practical and responsible. It’s as if the realm of imagination and creativity is sanctioned to childhood and even there, stands on shaky ground. Yet, it only takes a contemplation of the birthing process or a glance up at the night sky to see that this reality is far from realistic. When we take a step back and release our assumptions, life is nothing short of miraculous! Who would you be without the story you need to be realistic? Is there even such a thing? 

If you’ve ever had an aha! moment while doing ‘The Work’ then you know just how transformative this practice can be. But what happens when the questions aren’t working and you find yourself more jumbled up than you were when you started? This week’s episode is a heartfelt demonstration of how to meet those tender moments by allowing ourselves to be exactly as we are. Self-allowance is one of the most radical tools out there and this group meditation demonstrates just how all-encompassing it can be. If inquiry is actually “love in motion,” then it cannot leave anyone or anything out. Could it be that includes you? 

Byron Katie’s hallmark phrase, ‘Loving what is’ can come off as an exceptionally radical invitation. Especially, when in the midst of a challenging or undesirable moment. If you’re like most adult beings on this planet, you’ve received a lifetime of conditioning to ‘resist what is’ as a path to peace, joy, and happiness. So how could it possibly be that welcoming and allowing are actual, practical solutions for dealing with the challenges we face in our daily lives? This week we invite you to drop all of your preconceived notions about what works and what doesn’t and experiment with your own living examples. Join us, as we explore what actually happens when we give ourselves full permission to be exactly as we are - no matter what. 

Could it be there is one ever-present, awake, awareness that sees everything? Perhaps, the reason we’re always imagining ourselves being watched by others is because intuitively we know that everything about us is seen. Notice how you perceive the nature of this ever-present awareness in your life. If you are like many participants in this week’s group meditation, the one awareness is likened to a judgemental, critical authority, constantly looking for perfection and pointing out all flaws. No wonder our lives can feel so full of nervousness and a sense of constant pressure. This week’s episode invites you to put your mental assumptions aside and experience directly the awareness that sees it all. Could it be that no one is condemning you, except for you? And that in reality, you are always okay just the way you are?

It’s amazing how many stories put us into prevention-mode rather than ‘yes-to-life’ mode. We can get more oriented towards making sure ‘bad’ things don’t happen to us than actually showing up to enjoy our lives. Even when we start to see clearly that believed stories are the true source of our suffering; it can still feel completely radical to consider living without them. This week’s episode brings inquiry to what Tom likes to call ‘the favorite religion on the planet’: you can do it wrong and you can be punished. Join us, as we question this highly cherished story and consider who and what we would be without it. 

*** This audio is for the adventurous listener. Coming in hot from Costa Rica. What happens when a value isn’t formed from freedom? It becomes a chore, a demand, a requirement. Even if we resonate with the ethical code or spiritual teaching behind a value - without freedom, it will never be experienced as one’s own embodied truth. Most of us have become experts at memorizing and imitating the ‘right’ ways to live and be in the world. But could it be that a thorough exploration of the nature of our awareness is all we need to harmoniously participate with life? If you’re ready for an alternative approach to living your goodness, this week’s episode is for you. Instead of staying caught between obeying and rebelling against a list of inherited demands and requirements, join us for a deep-dive into utter self-responsibility and the ultimate act of freedom: self-trust.

Are other people’s actions the cause of our hurt? Or is it possible that our thinking is the root cause of all suffering? Whether it be receiving confronting feedback from a friend or watching a romantic partner run off into the sunset with someone else; this week’s episode demonstrates how inquiry can support us to live through any experience with an open heart of gratitude. When we get clear about the cause of our suffering, we don’t have to brace against other people’s words and actions any longer. Instead, we can courageously face each moment and genuinely love whatever happens. We can finally relax and enjoy the ride!

Through inquiry we notice that there is a striking difference between what we hold on to a thought ‘for’ and what the thought actually ‘gives’ us. Once we see this discrepancy, we can decide what we’re actually interested in experiencing and drop the stories that aren’t supporting us with that interest. Sometimes simply seeing how we show up to life when we’re believing a thought can be all it takes to be done with a story forever. Regardless of how it happens for you, the work is an experiential practice. You’re invited to follow along with your own life examples and see for yourself whether this thought or any thought is actually working for you. As Tom says, “don’t take my word for it.” 

If you had the choice to be unconditionally happy or to try and make Life happen the way you want it to go - which would you choose? We are taught to expect that happiness comes from getting what we want. But is that actually how it works? Could it be that we are the happiness we seek? And that who and what we are is good under any circumstance? This week’s episode is a popcorn style investigation into our desire for, and more importantly, our resistance to being happy right now. “I can’t be happy under these circumstances.” Is that really true? 

Many of us walk around with a persistent story and compulsion that we have to ‘do something.’ But is it actually true? What happens when you open up to the possibility that your job is done once you’ve noticed your experience? Could it be that simple? Could it be that noticing anything and everything is enough? Tom proposes that another name for noticing is ‘waking up’ and that that-which-notices is already free. If you find yourself interested in stepping off of the ‘I-need-to-do-something’ hamster wheel, then do your best to follow along as we experiment with allowing ‘noticing’ to be enough.

Tom often describes Reality as ‘utter allowance’ - yet that is not how many of us would describe our day-to-day experience. Imagine standing in front of a mirror completely exposed. In reality, all of you is welcome. Are you aware of what it is that you have a hard time allowing to be? When following the path of inquiry, we often discover decisions made long ago and strategies implemented to keep us safe. This week’s episode explores what happens when we let in the possibility that we are all of it and begin to see clearly that all of it is allowed. 

Notice how in our actual experience nothing is separate. There are no borders and there are no boundaries. There is no outer world and inner world. There is only one, ever present, uninterrupted, impenetrable experiencing. The mind is always looking for an edge, a distinction, a justification to declare what is allowed and not allowed. What is right and what is wrong. What needs to happen, what needs to go away. This week, Tom invites us to let go of this habit and allow it all to blur together as it is. When we see clearly that it’s all allowed, it’s kind of like a ‘game over’ for the mind or a ‘checkmate.’ With nothing to figure out and nothing to do, we can finally rest, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Let’s propose that believing our stressful thinking mirrors the results of putting our hand in a flame. When we do it - it burns, when we believe something untrue- it hurts. Now just because fire can burn us doesn’t mean we’ve stopped using it altogether. It is an incredibly helpful tool. We just acknowledge its potential for destruction and stop engaging with it in ways that can hurt us. What if the same applies with our thinking? What happens when we get very clear about the source of our suffering and stop engaging? Could it be that the path to living a wonderful life has less to do with what we acquire and obtain and so much more to do with a clear understanding of and disengagement from the thinking that leads to our suffering? 

‘The Work’ is an incredible tool that can be utilized anytime we feel resistance to Life. The four questions and the turnarounds can be just as effective for focusing on a small moment of tension in our day-to-day life as they can be with a long standing pattern that has been with us since childhood. How? Because every step of ‘The Work’ requires awareness. If you are interested in looking within for the root of your suffering and your freedom, then we invite you to follow along as this week’s participant dives deep into one of his greatest resistance activators - doing chores.

So often we ask, ‘why am I here?’ from a place of frustration. But notice what happens when we genuinely contemplate this question. Could it be that there is nothing required of you? Nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to be? This week Tom leads a guided meditation into the possibility that there is absolutely nothing required of you to be here. Who are you and what is your presence like without the story that there are rules, demands, and requirements for your existence?

The nature of the universe is utter allowance for everything and everyone. How can that be? Haven’t we proven we should not be free. Haven’t we demonstrated that we (as a human race) need some serious control measures put in place? And yet, reality keeps chugging along saying, “Nope, everyone is free and everyone is allowed to be as they are.” Could it be that Life knows something we don’t? Could it be that everyone has what it takes to navigate their own unique journey on this planet? Even the young people? Join us, for a Mother’s powerful investigation into themes of trust and control and the different worlds we create when we come from fear or we come from love.

Notice what happens to your freedom and joy when you believe you need to be superior to others. Are you actually getting what you imagined being ‘better than’ would bring you? This week’s episode explores the price we pay when we make managing our image more important than the experience of the beingness that we are. Follow along using your own prized labels and discover who you are without the story that you need to manage the narrative around you. 

As children, we intuit the limitlessness of the universe and meet each phenomenon with humility and wonder. Our minds are open to all possibilities, not yet hardened by the “knowing” that comes with growing up. Luckily, it only takes a few moments to disrupt the arrogance of the ‘I-know’ mind and this week’s episode provides ample opportunities to do so. Through inquiry we examine whether or not ‘being reasonable’ supports us to live and experience in the way we truly want to. If every human body will eventually return to the earth - what kind of life and experiences are you interested in having while you’re here?

Do you know for sure that the movement of people coming and going from your life means something about you? What about your movement in and out of other people’s worlds? Although the mind loves to explain why these things happen the way they do, when we engage in self-inquiry we start to see how very little there is that we can know for sure about why things are the way they are. This week’s episode is an intimate sharing on how to work with the comings and goings of friendships, to welcome our blackhole-like need for reassurance, and to experience directly the freedom we all exist within. Who would you be if you knew that the movement of people in and out of your world were impersonal cosmic events?

Who are you when you believe you need to prove yourself through your accomplishments? What happens to your world when you look to the past and believe that you wanted to achieve more than you did? These are some of the simple and powerful questions explored in this week’s episode as we examine the stressful and relentless story of ‘achievement.’ Follow along for a powerful popcorn-style inquiry and allow yourself to open up to the freedom that is instantly available when you realize perhaps, you’ve achieved exactly what you wanted to all along.

In this week’s episode, a participant works her stories around being single and the idea that a partnership is her ticket to a happy, fulfilled life. Most of us have something that we’ve decided, once obtained, will be the source of our happiness too. Money, fame, success, partnership etc. Whatever the object of your desire, follow along as we explore the true source of the pain of not getting what we want - which isn’t in not having it but in the meaning we’ve attached to its absence. Using inquiry we encounter new ways of working through the ‘life-or-death’ pressure that can come when we believe our happiness is dependent on something ‘outside’ of the experience of who and what we are. Could it be that our happiness is not dependent on any thing? 

Are you putting your life on hold believing you need to know why something happened the way it did? Notice how in reality you don’t actually need to know why anyone shows up the way they do or why anything happens the way it happens, in order to do all of the things that provide you with a deeply satisfying life. Do you need an explanation about why you’re alive in order to just sit here? No. What about an answer to the meaning of life in order to gaze up at the night sky? Nope. Who would you be without the story that you need a reason or an explanation from anyone or for anything?

The only presence that you actually know through experience is - your own. It is the only thing that doesn’t come and go unlike all perceptions which have a beginning and an end. Notice how the qualities of this presence are welcoming, allowing, and as Tom puts it: “a 100% yes to everything that appears.” So what happens when we shift our focus away from the objects, people, and situations that eventually will come to pass and relax into the unmoving, unchanged presence of awareness that we are? Join us, as we get in touch with the experience of being alone, at home, in and of ourselves without projecting a future. Perhaps, yours, is the only heart that has the possibility of never abandoning you.

We often imagine how good it will feel when something changes and miss how it actually feels to want something to be different than it is. Everything we hold onto, we hold onto for a good reason because we think it’s going to help. But the more you can be aware of the actual effect of holding onto wanting something to be different, the easier it becomes to let go. It’s like, “Oh! I’m holding onto the experience of running into a brick wall.” That’s what I actually get by wanting something to be different. Join us, for a popcorn style meditation on the extremely popular - yet highly painful habit of wanting things to be different. What do you actually get when you want something to be different?

Sometimes life can feel like too much. And maybe it is - just not for the reasons our mind holds onto. What if the experience we call ‘too much’ is actually what happens when the belief that we need things to go a certain way, bumps up against the truth of the the way things are? That makes sense! It’s absolutely ‘too much’ to believe we need control of our life’s agenda, when reality is constantly proving otherwise. This week’s episode brings helpful and effective ways to work with the anger and the fear that can show up when life doesn’t go the way we want it to. Perhaps, there is actually a good reason you have no idea where you’re going - maybe you haven’t been given the travel itinerary because this life is meant to be a wonderful adventure.

Are you tired of waiting for the world to [ insert desired behavior ] so you can finally experience peace? Do you like putting your experience of peace in everyone else’s hands? Notice what happens when you need other people, life, circumstances to be different than they are. What does that do to your presence? To your ability to experience peace, joy, and love right now? If you’re interested in a different experiment, try out the turnaround “I need me to …” and then see what options become available. When we bring our demands back home to us, a whole new set of possibilities can emerge. Perhaps, peace is not having everything the way you want - it’s who and what you are when you welcome everyone and everything just the way it is (including you).

Could it be that the story, ‘I can’t trust life’ is a primary cause of war and violence on the planet? And that every time you believe this thought, you become a participant? You might not be plotting a military invasion but you are at war with reality. And any time we are at war with what is, we have no choice but to try and control it. Which means bigger and bigger ways of forcing - of violence. What would it be like to set down your huge list of what should and should not be happening and let the universe take care of every detail?

Is it possible to allow yourself to be satisfied with every aspect of your life? If you could be completely satisfied with everything the way it is right now, would you? In this week’s episode, Tom invites us to look at the habit of being dissatisfied with ourselves, our partners, our ‘situation’ around money, where we live, our hobbies etc. It might seem like holding on to dissatisfaction is helpful in getting you what you want - but is it? Is dissatisfaction actually the grand motivator we make it out to be? Or does it just lead to more stress and suffering? Perhaps, it is actually the experience of satisfaction, of following your interests, and feeling your freedom that are most supportive in the attaining of your heart’s desires. If you’re not thrilled with your results from the ‘I’m not satisfied’ experiment - this is the episode for you.Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

Could it be that we don’t need a reason to want what we want and do what we do? Though most of us are habituated to provide justifications and explanations for ourselves, this week’s episode highlights the underlying freedom of reality: we don’t need a reason. Join us, as we experiment with trusting what we want, honoring our yeses and nos, and acknowledging our unlimited freedom to change our mind. What is your presence like without the story that you need a reason?Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call visit theworkwithtom.com

In this week’s episode, we take a look at all of the past experiences we label as ‘shouldn’t have happened.’ Notice, that when we hold onto the past like this, we don’t allow it to be what it is: which is - over. We are blocked from receiving the grace of this brand new moment and experiencing the friendly qualities of the universe.  Letting it be over can feel like ‘cheating’ or can just seem ‘wrong’ because as Tom puts it, ‘everyone knows you have to pay for your past.’ But do you? This week, we open up to the possibility that letting go of the past could be as simple as allowing it to be done. You ever, ever, ever have to pay for your past, is that true? Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit: theworkwithtom.com

This week’s episode dives head first into what Tom calls, ‘the greatest religion on the planet’ - the story of right and wrong. Is it possible to die at the wrong time? Is it possible to make a mistake? Is it possible to miss an opportunity? When we come from an ego perspective, we think, ‘if I don’t believe something is wrong, I won’t act to change the world.’ But is that really true? Do we actually need to judge life with shoulds and shouldn’ts, in order to effectively care for ourselves and each other? This may be why so many people are afraid of peace and the truth of who we are. Because who we are doesn’t oppose reality. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call visit: theworkwithtom.com

By now, we’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s not happening to you, it’s happening for you.” But hoping something is true is quite different than seeing and experiencing the truth for yourself. One is flimsy in the heat of the moment, the other is an unshakeable ground to stand upon. When things don’t go the way we had planned, when life isn’t happening as we believe it ‘should,’ it’s easy to slip into a ’life-is-against-me’ mentality. So, bring your examples, collect your proof, and follow along as we consider the impact of this painful story. The invitation this week is to leave everything you “know” behind and enter with a sincere heart and genuine curiosity. Perhaps, there is nothing in life that is against you. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

In this week's episode, Tom invites us to notice the habit of identifying with the sensation we call, 'resistance.' Resistance tends to consist of an image, sensation, and story, and is what Tom refers to as 'the imaginary doer that we put our name on.' Could it be that this habit is actually completely unnecessary to live a happy and effective life? Is it possible that there is no situation in which we need our resistance? Join us, for this week's living experiment where we turn our resistance around and consciously allow things to be exactly the way they are.Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

This week we work with the universal belief of every ego: 'I need recognition.' As participants share their personal examples, Tom highlights the insidious nature of this stressful story and helps to expose all of the meaning we've attached to it. Could it be that striving for recognition is not actually about the recognition? Join us, as we apply each step of 'The Work' to discover the truth for ourselves - popcorn-style, among friends.  Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

This week’s episode explores what can seem to be unanswerable questions regarding the nature of reality. Why are we here? What is the purpose of this life? Taking these questions out of the head and into the heart, Tom proposes a way to choose your own north star, to get in touch with what you are interested in, and to take the courageous leap of finding out what is true through your own direct experience. Perhaps, the only thing we’ve really got to lose is our suffering. Let the experimentation begin!Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

This week's episode supports us to welcome our wanting of negative experience. Could it be that the position of opposing is actually wanting the thing you're opposing? For example: being taken advantage. Notice how resisting being taken advantage of creates a subtle wanting to be taken advantage of. Much like the #6 on the judge-your-neighbor worksheet, when we release our resistance to something we return to the free, open, spacious awareness that we are. From here we are in allowance of every  'happening' while simultaneously completely about what we are and are not interested in.  Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

The experience of waking up from a nightmare seems effortless and obvious. Our eyes open and we see that it was just a dream even if there are lingering feelings and reactions moving through our body/mind. Could it be that this is exactly what happens when we question a story and see that it is not true? As Tom puts it, efforting comes from thinking, from the thought-identified self, from the mind. Whereas realization comes from that which is already free - and it's effortless. Join us, as we experience what it is to wake up to the truth of who we are.Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor group meditation details visit: theworkwithtom.com

When looking out at the state of the world, it is not uncommon to get stuck asking, "why?" Why do certain people experience abundance while others do not? Why are some living privileged lives while others appear to endlessly struggle? Rather than relaxing into the goodness of the moment we're in, we become contracted, stressed, and guilty. We think, "how could I possibly relax when there are people suffering in the world?" This week's episode takes a deep and sincere look at privilege, victimhood, and the possibility of love for no reason. Could it be that you don't have to deserve a good life? Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor group meditation details visit: theworkwithtom.com

In its essence, The Work is quite simple: take a stressful thought through the four questions and then turn it around. Sometimes the trickiest part is identifying which thoughts cause us stress. It turns out that many of our stressful stories are embedded into culturally accepted narratives that we've been conditioned to believe are "right," "helpful," and even "good for us." It is not uncommon after taking a belief through the four questions, to discover that the thought is not only not as helpful as we initially expected but more-so creates the opposite of what we are wanting to experience. This week's episode is a perfect example of one of those unassuming beliefs. Follow along and see for yourself whether this seemingly "good" thought is working for you or against you. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer For more information about group meditations please visit theworkwithtom.com

In this week's episode, Tom makes a radical proposition: Could it be that everything you experience as "a problem" really boils down to one problem? The experience of a lack of love. Follow along as participants share their own powerful examples and we dive deep into the nature of reality, love, and freedom. Remember you never, ever have to love, accept, or welcome anyone or anything. These meditations are invitations for self-inquiry and you are unconditionally welcome to participate or not. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about group meditations visit: theworkwithtom.com

You know what's possible and what's not possible in this existence. Is that true? Join us for a popcorn-style group inquiry around this concept led by Tom. If you're interested in joining the live meditation call - please visit theworkwithtom.com for more information. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer

This week, Tom guides us through an exploration of the effortlessness of it all. Follow along and notice for yourself just how effortlessly your thoughts, feelings, and sensations appear and disappear. Are you really the doer? Or could it be that you just - are aware - with zero effort? Following the meditation, we hear from two participants surrounding the topic of safety and what safety is dependent on, or not. We come to see that while it's hard to know what makes us safe, what we can know for sure is that whenever our safety is dependent on someone being different or seeing things differently, it completely disconnects us from the love that we are. And that always hurts. Thank you to all who share their worlds and question their stories so we can learn and grow together. Happy listening!Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer

When we identify and follow an uncomfortable sensation  in the body, it often reveals a painful story we've been holding onto. As we welcome the accompanying feeling that goes along with it, we can then begin to ask ourselves what we've made this mean. With time we start to see how it is not the event itself that causes us pain but the conclusions we've made about the event. This week a participant explores her story, "there isn't a place for me here."  With Tom's loving guidance, she begins to open up to the possibility that not only does she have a place - but that her place here may be unconditional. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer | Could it be that it's time? by Andreas Henze, vocals by Eleni, Laeticia, Leeanne, Andreas

With every identity comes hundreds of rules - what's allowed and what's not allowed. Notice that when we let these unconscious belief systems run the show, our experience of life becomes very constricted and limited. How then do we reconnect to our childlike happiness? To our liberation and freedom? Perhaps, it is by noticing this simple truth: that in reality - everything is allowed. As you open to this possibility, you may begin to see that everything which has been suppressed is actually coming up to be met with love. And in doing so, we leave the invisible shackles of identity behind to live life from the wisdom of the utterly-allowing-beingness that we truly are. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer

One way to work with the resistance you experience is to ask yourself, "what story does this prove?" Often times we hold onto our resistance even when the situation is over because it's holding up a cherished story. Can you sense that at some point in the past you made a decision about the way things are and now every time you experience resistance it serves as proof that your conclusion is true? In this week's episode, several participants' share real-life examples of resistance and are guided to notice how it is working for them - or not. As Tom suggests, it could be that once we believe a story life will line up perfectly with it until we consciously decide that we are no longer interested. Are you ready to be done with the resistance-as-proof-game? Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran |  Awakening by Jimmy Stofer

In this week's episode, a participant explores the difference between the image of goodness and the 'real thing.' With Tom's guidance, she considers the possibility that her self-hating behavior actually wants to accomplish something good and opens to the gift in having her unloving behavior out and exposed. This deep and powerful inquiry shines a light on how to work with the parts of ourselves that can be hard to forgive and realigns us to the unshakeable goodness that we are.Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy Stofer

We could say that a common unconscious habit on this planet is to identify with our perceptions rather than our presence. Everything becomes a struggle, an effort to avoid the bad and bring in the good. However, when we look at our feelings, sensations, and images through the lens of inquiry we start to notice the possibility of just how effortless it all may be. Is physical pain actually a burden to the awareness that notices it? Are the possible bad things that could happen in the future a true threat to the presence of awareness of this moment? In this week’s episode, Tom invites us to notice how much of our experience is accompanied by the habit of efforting and resisting what is — or what our mind imagines could be — and invites us to rest as the unmoving presence of awareness that we actually are.Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com

Welcome back to Season II of Love is the power. In this week's episode we introduce the team and recount the origin story of the Love is the power podcast. Tom reflects about his life before and after he discovered "The Work" of Byron Katie and shares many of the powerful insights and understandings he gathered along the way. Until love is satisfied by Caroline Corcoran | Awakening by Jimmy StoferFor more information about the Love is the power weekly meditation call - visit theworkwithtom.com