A taste of Humbrella · about two minutes

It was never the storm.

It’s what you believe about it. The upsetting stories we tell ourselves stir up emotional weather, and strong storms narrow what we can see. Questioning those stories lets the weather ease, and the view often widens with it. Here you’ll pick one upsetting thought, look at it with four simple questions, and name the emotions you feel when you believe it. There’s nothing to fix and nothing to get right.

You’ll name the thought in one line. Then you’ll answer four questions, one at a time. They’re the same four questions for every thought, every time.

You answer them. Nothing answers back. No one tells you what to think.

I’m Gary Jesch, and I built this. I’m one person, not a company.

I learned these four questions from Byron Katie twenty years ago and have used them ever since. They bring sanity where there’s confusion, and focus where feeling has crowded out thinking. That’s held through the most unexpected assignment of my life, becoming the full-time caregiver for my wife, who has Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It’s the whole reason this exists.

The four questions are Katie’s, given freely. The weather names you’ll see at the third question are mine.

What you type stays in your browser. It isn’t sent to me, it isn’t stored on a server, and no one reads it. Close the tab and it’s gone.

You don’t need an account or a payment, and there’s nothing to sign up for.

Humbrella is for the everyday thoughts that weigh on you. It isn’t meant for working through abuse or trauma, and it isn’t a substitute for care. If you’re in crisis, call or text 988 (US and Canada), or visit findahelpline.com.

Step one

What’s the thought that’s hurting?

Write it in one line, in your own words, just the way it runs through your mind.

The thought you’re questioning

Question 1 of 4

Is it true?

Take your time. There’s no right answer, only your honest one.

Your thought

The Turn-Around

Find a Turn-Around that’s as true or truer.

Now try the thought the other way around. Find a turn-around, and three examples of how it could be as true or truer than your original thought. Linger awhile with each one. Don’t just write it, feel it.

Turning a thought around never means that what happened was okay, or that it was your fault. It’s simply another way of looking.

A turn-around isn’t a claim that the opposite is The Truth, and it’s never about shame or blame, or proving that you’re the one in the wrong. It’s an experiment. You try the thought on in a new direction and notice, honestly, whether it has any life in it. Whichever direction rings truest, find three genuine examples of how it could be as true or truer, not just one. There are four directions to try. Here’s each one, using the sample thought “He never listens to what I’m really saying.”

To yourself

“I never listen to what I’m really saying.”

It’s meant as a discovery, not an accusation. When your mind is rehearsing what to say next, are you hearing yourself? Look for three small moments when you talked past your own feelings.

To the other

“I never listen to what he’s really saying.”

Is there something he’s been trying to say that you haven’t quite let land? Find three honest examples, however small.

To the opposite

“He does listen to what I’m really saying.”

Can you find three times, even small, ordinary ones, when he did? The mind says “never,” but reality is usually less tidy.

To your thinking

“My thinking never listens to what I’m really saying.”

This one is useful when there’s no other person in your thought. When the mind is busy arguing its case, does it hear you at all?

And if none of these feels truer yet, that’s a genuine answer, not a failure. Turn-arounds aren’t manufactured. They’re shown to us, often later, in the silence after the questions. Sitting honestly with the four questions is the work.

If you’re in crisis, call or text 988 (US and Canada), or visit findahelpline.com.

Breathe

Notice what’s different now.

Where do you notice a difference, if anywhere? Questioning your thinking can change how you see everything. Your curiosity got you this far, questioning the source of your emotional storm.

Notice how the thought feels now, compared with when you began. Seeing how the weather moves, inquiry after inquiry, is what Humbrella is for. This was a taste, and the practice deepens the more you return to it.

☂️

This experience is called
Freedom Becomes You.

We invite you into the full process inside Humbrella. There, each inquiry takes several weather readings and saves them to a Shelter Card you can return to, and over time your cards become a timeline of your weather. The Humbrella community is there too, for peer support, if you want it. There is much more to realize than one taste can show. When you’re ready, membership opens all of it.

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You can start fresh and question another thought.
If more than one thought is weighing on you, this one-page worksheet helps you write them all down. It’s Byron Katie’s Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet.
The Work is Byron Katie’s, given freely. Humbrella is a quiet place to practice it.