Changeable Podcast: Recent Episodes
Changeable Podcast
Join psychologist, life coach and author Dr. Amy Johnson for Changeable, a podcast about a new paradigm in psychology that reveals the ironic way change really works. It’s easier than you think.
In this episode, Dan and I explore the difference between thinking and direct perception. This distinction is crucial in the spiritual and self-investigative work we’ve done and that we’ll be discussing more in future episodes. It’s an important difference in how we relate in relationships and in all of life, actually!
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
The post EP399: Clarifying direct perception versus thinking appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Dan and I explore the benefits of asking meaningful questions. We discuss what meaningful questions are, the benefits of asking them, and why people don’t ask questions. We also go into depth about how we ask each other meaningful questions and the ways in which that has strengthened our connection and led to significant changes in our lives.
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
The post EP398: Asking meaningful questions appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In EP397, Dan and I share how we went from being quite independent – in part as a way to prioritize our respective spiritual paths – to now being surprisingly (to us!) interdependent and closely enmeshed in many ways.
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
The post EP397: From Independence to union appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this conversation, Dan and I share one of the key ways our deep connection developed in the early days of our relationship; something we called “going into the portal” through sustained eye contact and feeling into the energies that were present. We discuss how this process went for us and the benefits of it on our relationship. We even do a little “portal dive” while recording so you can get a feel for it yourself!
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
The post EP396: Exploring our connection through eye contact appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Dan and I look at the role of attention in a relationship. We’ll explore what attention and connection have to do with each other, how attention is an open and receptive presence (rather than monitoring, watching, or evaluating), the benefits of attention, and the obstacles to giving and receiving attention and what we can do about them.
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
The post EP395: The power of attention in relationships appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Changeable is back and I have a co-host! Dan Kelso and I explore the mystical nature of relationships and unveil our ideas for a new set of dialogues exploring the intersection of identity and relationship.
Please email me at support@dramyjohnson.com with your feedback and suggestions about this episode. We would love to hear what you think and what you’d like to hear more about as we record a new series of episodes for you.
If you’d like to hear more about the online weekend intensive Dan and I are doing on July 11-12, you can see that here: dramyjohnson.com/intensive
The post EP394: The mystical nature of relationships appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Martha says she knows that circumstances can’t create suffering, yet she suffers when watching images of some things happening in the world. How can she reconcile this? uGfCbeGyYlpygwNQU7E8
The post EP393: Why are outside circumstances affecting me so much? A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This week’s episode is a conversation with Juliet O’Rourke for her brand new podcast, Gifted with ADHD.
Gifted with ADHD brings together mental health, wellbeing, and a big-picture spiritual understanding of how the mind works, particularly an ADHD mind.
In our conversation, we go deep into the role of thought and emotion, particularly experiences like boredom, rejection, and restlessness.
I recommend subscribing to Juliet’s podcast here:
Apple Podcast
Spotify
She has some amazing episodes and guests coming up!
The post EP392: Breaking Habits and Ending Self-Doubt: My episode on Gifted with ADHD appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode we’ll look at where attention naturally wants to go…and where attention might be going in ways that are unwanted. The more we have in our lives and around us that demand attention, the less free attention there is for exploring direct experience.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, and only a few spots remain. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP391: Pruning life so attention can go where you want it to go appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode explores what it means to be energetically open versus closed, why and how we open and close, and what being open (versus closed) does for our vitality, wellbeing, and relationships.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico/
The post EP390: Open and closed appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I’ll explore how to look at, and ultimately change, patterns in more detail.
I discuss how and why to reflect on patterns, how and why to communicate what’s arising, and how and why to examine identity as part of this exploration.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP389: More on patterns appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I strongly encourage you to look at the beliefs you’re living by.
There may be conflicting beliefs. You may believe things you swear you don’t believe. The only way to know – and for those beliefs to change – is to honestly and eagerly look and be willing to see what’s there.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico/
The post EP388: Beliefs you live by but didn’t choose appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I speak to a question from a listener who says she chooses romantic partners who are not right for her because – in her words – they make her feel more worthy.
I talk her through some of the ways she can examine this pattern in depth, noticing the beliefs behind her behaviors, so she can see this with more objectivity and ultimately so it can change.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP387: Choosing the wrong relationships: A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There’s a progression that seems to happen. You might say it’s from gross to subtle.
Where attention shifts from being absorbed in abstractions, thoughts, representations, and relationships…to attention moving to much more subtle energies like sensations, sensory input, and maybe something like intuition or perception.
Identity is viewed in these different ways. From gross thought and beliefs being questioned, to more subtle physical and emotional reactions felt.
As we sense at this more subtle level, the unraveling process seems to pick up some steam. Identity is seen through rapidly. Thoughts barely arise before they dissolve or fall away.
Something like this is how the fabric of thought-based reality comes apart in the best possible way.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at https://dramyjohnson.com/silent-retreats-2026/
The post EP386: Special Rebroadcast: Unraveling Ego at the Feeling Level appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Being in silence is not about suppressing anything.
It’s also not about creating anything, such as an environment of peace or thoughtlessness or anything like that.
It’s the exact opposite, actually. It’s about leaving everything alone to simply be exactly what it is.
“What it is” is constantly changing. It is totally unknowable. It’s far too fluid to be known.
In silence, the self-ing process is more clearly seen. It’s like seeing how a magic trick is done; you can’t be fooled in quite the same way once it is seen.
In that silence, the inherently safety in experience becomes obvious. The concept of safety is not even relevant there.
Consider steeping in this deep knowing in 5 days of silence with us in February. It would be an amazing way to start the new year. For better or worse, whatever comes and goes, things will not look the same afterward.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico/
The post EP385: Special Rebroadcast: Noise is Silence Shouting appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if 95% of attention and energy went toward sensing, feeling, and intuition, and 5% went toward the use of thought?
That ratio is typically reversed.
I’ll explore this with regard to being with trauma, brainstorming and problem solving, and self inquiry.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP384: 95/5 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, we’ll explore how to end habitual psychological patterns such as reactivity, shutting down, becoming controlling or hypervigilant, or eating or drinking.
The way to end a pattern – very oversimplified – is to become deeply familiar with the elements of the pattern and stay open, rather than react, when the pattern begins.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP383: Staying open appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Emma believes that she is unacceptable if her weight goes above a particular threshold.
This belief is behind 45 years of restrictive and binge eating.
Emma is onto the fact that this is a belief, but that doesn’t feel like enough. If she doesn’t have the ability to simply stop believing this thought, what can she do?
I’ll discuss how Emma can investigate her beliefs in a way that can help her gain some perspective on – and freedom from– them.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat is small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/newmexico
The post EP382: I’m not acceptable unless I’m thin. Questions from a listener with a 45 year history of disordered eating. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There’s an extremely important distinction to be made when it comes to where and how attention falls.
It’s the difference between attention being on something versus absorbed in it.
Attention on the fact of thought is completely different from attention being absorbed in the content of thought.
Attention on sensation or pain or the sense of self is completely different from attention absorbed in them.
The difference is perspective and ultimately freedom.
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27, 2026.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/silentretreat/
The post EP381: Attention On versus Attention In appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
“Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news” – Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Chaos seems unwanted and perhaps terrifying to a mind that’s always trying to hold things together.
But in Greek mythology, Chaos is viewed as a primordial void or emptiness from which all else emerges.
It’s the source of everything. Chaos, emptiness, void…source, aliveness, new life. It was not viewed as a lack of existence or total disorder, but the birthplace and source of everything.
Maybe it really is extremely good news?
I will be leading a Silent Retreat in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27, 2026.
The retreat will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreat will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/silentretreat/
The post EP380: Chaos is extremely good news appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There seems to be an innate intelligence that guides us when we deeply feel what is present.
An intelligence emerges from simply being in what is without resistance. This intelligence is often less about firm conclusions and more about doing what feels most right right now. It’s less about security in a vision for the future and more about sensing immediate right action right now.
Feeling reveals what there is to see. It contains pure possibility and potential. Thought can only negotiate based on the past, operating in what is already known. That’s the opposite of potential and possibility.
Join me for a live, free, 2-hour class: The Silence at the Heart of Everything: Rediscovering What Never Changes on Monday, November 10th
In the class I’ll talk about the silence and stillness at the center of all things as well as several common benefits of prolonged time in silence.
I’ll also tell you a bit about my upcoming Silent Retreats and answer your questions. Then we’ll have a quick break and an optional 30 minute guided-meditation-turned-silent-sitting together to give you a tiny taste of what’s possible.
Register for the live class at dramyjohnson.com/silenceclass
The post EP379: The Intelligence in feeling appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There is a lot of talk about prevention in the physical health world. It makes sense to prevent physical health problems when possible.
Does this extend to emotional health?
Can we prevent emotional discomfort? Does it make sense to try?
Or is it safe to “wear your heart on your sleeve”, even when the world may be warning you against that?
Join me for a live, free, 2-hour class: The Silence at the Heart of Everything: Rediscovering What Never Changes on Monday, November 10th
In the class I’ll talk about the silence and stillness at the center of all things as well as several common benefits of prolonged time in silence.
I’ll also tell you a bit about my upcoming Silent Retreats and answer your questions. Then we’ll have a quick break and an optional 30 minute guided-meditation-turned-silent-sitting together to give you a tiny taste of what’s possible.
Register for the live class at dramyjohnson.com/silenceclass
The post EP378: Prevention appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
How – and why – communicate how you’re feeling with someone else?
Dropping into the inner landscape and opening to what’s there…the thoughts, sensations, emotions, and beliefs that are present…and then expressing those to another person feels infinitely helpful.
And it feels like something we often shy away from for any number of reasons.
We’ll explore some of the reasons we shy away and also the enormous benefits of expressing experience in this episode.
Join me for a live, free, 2-hour class: The Silence at the Heart of Everything: Rediscovering What Never Changes on Monday, November 10th
In the class I’ll talk about the silence and stillness at the center of all things as well as several common benefits of prolonged time in silence.
I’ll also tell you a bit about my upcoming Silent Retreats and answer your questions. Then we’ll have a quick break and an optional 30 minute guided-meditation-turned-silent-sitting together to give you a tiny taste of what’s possible.
Register for the live class at dramyjohnson.com/silenceclass
The post EP377: Communicating feelings in a helpful way appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I speak to a listener’s question about how she can be less reactive and more patient with her mom.
We explore how she can watch the reactive patterns that arise with a sense of objectivity, curious about what’s showing up rather than judgmental of it and trying to change it.
We also explore the nature of the resentment she feels and look at why that’s so important to explore.
I will be leading two Silent Retreats in 2026.
The primary retreat (hosted and facilitated by me) will be in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27. The second retreat (facilitated by me) will be in Hendersonville, North Carolina, February 1-6.
Both retreats will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreats will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at https://dramyjohnson.com/silent-retreats-2026/
The post EP376: How can I stop being so reactive toward my mom? A question from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This week’s episode is a portion of a call with Kat Adamson.
Kat talks about how awareness is the essence of all things. Mostly, she talks about love. She shares her experience of the death of her partner and she discusses unconditional love and compatibility.
I hope you are as impacted by this conversation as we were being part of it live.
The post EP375: Awareness and Love with Kat Adamson appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
An inch deep and a mile wide typically describes a person with superficial knowledge of many things, but without deep knowledge of anything. A generalist, broad but shallow.
Is experience an inch deep and a mile wide?
In this episode, we use this phrase to explore the depths and dimensions of the felt sense, thought, emotion, and even the sense of self.
I will be leading two Silent Retreats in 2026.
The primary retreat (hosted and facilitated by me) will be in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27. The second retreat (facilitated by me) will be in Hendersonville, North Carolina, February 1-6.
Both retreats will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreats will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at https://dramyjohnson.com/silent-retreats-2026/
The post EP374: An inch deep and a mile wide appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Thought says no end of things. But what does thought do?
Thought does things like conclude, restate, and provide frames and contexts.
What thought does is often more subtle and easy to miss than what thought says, but it’s far more valuable to see.
I will be leading two Silent Retreats in 2026.
The primary retreat (hosted and facilitated by me) will be in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27. The second retreat (facilitated by me) will be in Hendersonville, North Carolina, February 1-6.
Both retreats will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreats will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at https://dramyjohnson.com/silent-retreats-2026/
The post EP373: What thought is saying vs. what it’s doing appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When someone says they are distracted, they are expressing an agenda or expectation for where attention should be.
They are essentially saying “I’d like attention to be on this project or on my breath or on the person in front of me, but it’s somewhere else”.
What would it be like to simply watch attention shift without those expectations? In that way, it’s not “distraction” which implies a problem. It’s a simple shift in attention.
In this way, everything gets to be exactly what it is with no problem.
I will be leading two Silent Retreats in 2026.
The primary retreat (hosted and facilitated by me) will be in Taos, New Mexico, February 22-27. The second retreat (facilitated by me) will be in Hendersonville, North Carolina, February 1-6.
Both retreats will provide a supportive space for you to steep in your essential being. You’ll immerse in what’s always here, unchanging, beyond the pull of thoughts, feelings and identities, in the absence of everyday distractions and conditioning.
The retreats will be small, so space is limited. You can check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/silentretreats2026
The post EP372: Distraction appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Mary is struggling with guilt over something that happened in her relationship a few years ago.
Listen in as we explore our responsibility for feelings, societal ideas of right and wrong, honesty, and much more.
The post EP371: How can I let go of guilt? A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I explore how one might coach someone with chronic pain.
Is chronic pain really treated the same way as anxiety, habits and depression? Can it be helped solely through the lens of what’s shared in here?
I’ll discuss the impact of the word “chronic” in all suffering and how we can have impact by looking there, but that we never need to rely on any particular lens.
The post EP370: Coaching around – and finding peace in – chronic pain appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Is the quality and nature of present moment experience solely a function of attention?
Attention is always contracting and expanding. Sometimes it’s so absorbed in me-and-my-life that all we seem to experience is a stream of me-centered ups and downs.
Other times, attention seems to release or expand and experience is very different. The me-and-my-life components might just be a tiny proportion of what’s noticed.
We tend to equate one with suffering and the other with peace. Looking at this as a simple function of attention opens up a new way of seeing what’s happening.
The post EP369: Attention appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I share an exchange between myself and a member of our community around her experience of anxiety.
I am pointing to What Is before summary thoughts like “I keep feeling anxiety” or “I am afraid something is wrong”.
Those summary thoughts are fine – they are powerless – but they are getting all the attention and are being confused with reality. There is a reality here, now, before thought. When we look in that direction, we sense it. This is an instant way “out of anxiety”.
The post EP368: Feeling your way through anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Some thoughts, like “no matter what”, “ too late now”, “this always happens”, “I knew it”, somehow feel more true than others, don’t they?
Thoughts like these have a scent of finality and certainty. They seem unquestionable. They don’t appear as thought most of the time. They appear as a description of the-way-it-is.
But they are the same as any thought. Fundamentally untrue because they are a representation, an after-the-fact label, a reflection.
They are dead and powerless because they are thoughts.
The post EP367: “No matter what” is a powerless thought appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Lisa Natoli and I talk about identity. She shares her experience coming to identify with the simple aliveness that’s always here. We discuss the role of being in what is and exploring that in helping her see through identity with the Lisa character.
If you’d like to see more about Lisa and her healing work, check her out here: www.lisanatoli.com
The post EP366: Identity with Lisa Natoli appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When one is experiencing health anxiety, for example, and they are often sure that “this time is different”. They are sure they are unwell, running to doctors, trying to solve health problems that don’t actually exist. It’s very simple and extremely helpful to assume the issue is anxiety first. After all, when the thinking and
The post EP365: Anxiety First appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Beliefs, including spiritual beliefs, are helpful to a point. Then they become decidedly unhelpful.What happens at that point? You look beyond belief.We’ll look at what it means to go beyond belief and how that’s very different from continually clinging to “better” beliefs.***The (now) annual Summer Book Club is back! Beginning in late July, I’ll be leading
The post EP364: Beyond belief appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The title of this week’s episode is also the title of a book by Sailor Bob Adamson. This is the book we’ll be exploring in the Summer Book Club. In this episode, I share some quotes from the book that have stood out in my initial reading. As the author says, this book “is not about
The post EP362: What’s wrong with right now?: If you don’t think about it appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Let’s talk about the experience we call anticipation. It seems like we’re looking ahead to something that’s almost certain to happen. And it seems like it’s very likely to happen the way we’re imagining it. The way it’s likely to go feels like sound logic – of course it might not happen that way, but
The post EP361: Anticipation is Imagination appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Shortly after I recorded last week’s episode, The Biggest Irony, someone shared an experience on one of our forums that perfectly illustrated what I was trying to express. Today’s episode shares that illustration and expands on the idea that all of our teachings, pointers and understandings have a singular benefit – presence in and as
The post EP360: The Biggest Irony – Part 2 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP358: Abstractions and Reality with Chris Niebauer appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP356: Breaking down the experience of needing to be productive appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP355: A challenge: Let everything be exactly what it is. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP353: I experience extreme reactions to certain noises (misofonia). Is there anything I can do about this? Responding to listener’s question. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP352: All of life is a mirror with Piers Thurston appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP349: Where does it hurt? Asking the simplest, most direct question appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The post EP348: I can’t surrender or feel self-compassion. Responding to a listener’s questions. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This week’s episode is a portion of a Community call with guest speaker Shenan Charania. This was one of my all-time favorite guest speaker calls and several in our community said the same.Shenan and I talk about silence, presence, regret, thought, and much more. Shenan shares his past as a gang member and his experiences
The post EP346: Extremely This with Shenan Charania appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In my recent silent retreat we explored the fact that nothing was happening. All retreatants had to do was show up when the gong chimed and be quiet. Literally nothing else. Their entire day from 10am to 10pm was scheduled for them. Meals were prepared and served. Life for 6 days was unbelievably simple. And so
The post EP345: Willfulness and positionality dissolve into silence appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I talk about how I work with common phobias. First we look at what you’re really afraid of – It’s what you think (literally), not the thing you think you’re afraid of (flying, spiders, vomit, germs, etc.) Then, we look at the feeling aspect of the fear. The combination of imagination + feeling is
The post EP344: Phobias – What are you really afraid of? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Following has been an important pointer for me over the years. Following, or yielding to what’s already here, looking toward what wants to happen, absorbing, immersing, disintegrating, or melting into what is, being overwhelmed…these all have the flavor of following.And sometimes there’s a flavor of leading. Not following what the world says in terms of
The post EP343: Following and leading are the same thing appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I address a series of questions sent in by a listener. Hannah says she has performed horribly in past work environments and that’s not a thought, it’s a reality. Isn’t it that reality that’s causing her depression?She also gets that the past is over, but it still happened and it was still
The post EP342: Being a failure, forgiving yourself, and the reality of the past: Questions from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Those thoughts that aren’t yours…yes, that’s all of them…you don’t have to pick them up. If you don’t want them and you didn’t order them, you don’t have to take delivery of them. Let it be this simple. The thoughts that want to make it more complicated than this also don’t need to be taken delivery of. ***Beginning
The post EP341: Don’t take delivery appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Peace is not in something else. It’s not in adding more or changing what’s here.It’s actually here, in this, now. How can that be when what’s here now is difficult and unwanted? I’ll talk about the difference between an abstraction (e.g., I’m going through a divorce, my country is at war, I have cancer) – there’s
The post EP340: How do I find peace in reality? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, we explore the desire for more of a specific feeling, particularly joy. It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Of course you want more joy. Of course more joy is available. Perhaps joy is even our “default state”. We obviously want to experience more of it!As innocent and obvious as this may seem, perhaps
The post EP339: Is more joy available? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I walk through a practice in unbound consciousness I learned from Angelo Dilullo’s book, Awake: It’s your turn. This is something I’ve been practicing for a few years, and it’s my primary practice on silent retreat.This practice allows you to “get underneath” experience – to see from beyond the confines of content
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In my recent week in silence I saw two things more clearly and simply than I ever had. One, there is nothing to work out. The movements of life around the deep, still, silence that is always there are just movements. There is nothing in those movements that requires anything.And two, those movements in consciousness
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In this episode, I give an overview of the way I see and work with anxiety. I recorded this episode for people who are brand new to this way of viewing anxiety. I have been deeply impacted by this understanding myself and have seen the way it resonates as truth for so many.At the beginning
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You know what hurts? Bracing yourself. Holding yourself apart from what’s here. Not that you can, but believing you can and tightening and resisting life as if it’s going to slam into you.Bracing yourself for impact hurts.You know what doesn’t hurt so much? Being overwhelmed. Letting life overwhelm “you”. Seeing that what is arising is already
The post EP335: Be overwhelmed appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Lisa Natoli was our November guest speaker in The Community. This week’s podcast is a portion of our call. I felt a huge resonance with what Lisa shares because things look exactly the same to me (although we may point in different ways) – she points to being in/as what is, as it is, welcoming
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Being in silence is not about suppressing anything. It’s also not about creating anything, such as an environment of peace or thoughtlessness or anything like that. It’s the exact opposite, actually. It’s about leaving everything alone to simply be exactly what it is.“What it is” is constantly changing. It is totally unknowable. It’s far too fluid
The post EP333: Noise is silence shouting appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What is meant by “no self”? We use the personal pronoun “I” all the time. I am typing (or reading) these words, I am feeling anxious, I am ready for winter. To what does that “I” refer? Can you identify or locate it in direct experience? In this episode, we’ll see the difference between direct experience and
The post EP332: No-Self in Direct Experience appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In looking for the doer, I often hear something like: “Who is doing all of this if there is no me and no doer?” Does there have to be a who? Or is that who question just a remnant of the me-and-my-life perspective? Maybe there is no Who anywhere? It’s similar to Why questions. Does there
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In Episode 224, I talked about a man who had been everywhere and tried everything looking for freedom, except one thing – being in What Is. One hundred and six episodes later, this still feels like perhaps the only thing to see. In this episode, I share several examples of the same – people suffering and
The post EP330: The way out is right under your nose: Part 2 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I want to invite you to join me for a brand new 4-week course called No-Self Realization: A Thorough Search in Direct Experience for the Separate Self. What exactly are we referring to when we say “I”? What exactly does that pronoun point to? Is there an entity there, separate from life? Where? As Adyashanti says,
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Are trust and wisdom needed? Who needs them? Seriously, look. Can you find the entity here who needs to trust or align with wisdom in order to be okay? Where is that entity? Is there anything here lacking wisdom? Where? Really look in immediate experience and see if you can find it.Is there something here to
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In this episode I revisit the topic of morning anxiety. I experience strong physical energy in the morning at times as well. I actually enjoy it. The strong sensations serve as a way to let attention go straight into What Is. I use this early morning time to explore the sense fields, including watching thought arise
The post EP328: Morning anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode was Inspired by a question from a listener about how doubt seems to be behind her continued OCD behaviors. Her take was that she needs more trust in wisdom and less doubt for her rituals to finally come to an end. I give another take and explore doubt in a bigger sense. What
The post EP327: Doubt appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode is the opening of another The Little School of Big Change call from the recent 6- week course. You are what’s here.When pain is here, you are pain. When anxiety is here, you are arising as anxiety. When joy is here, what you are is joy.Pain, anxiety, joy, and any other fleeting sensation
The post EP326: Nothing happens to you appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This saying is very common. Stay in the conversation and things will begin to land more deeply. Although this seems true at a certain level, it also invites you to fall into the common traps of “waiting, “someday” and “becoming”, which are all thoughts.What can you do beyond simply staying in the conversation? We’ll explore that
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Life is constantly letting go. You don’t let go. You are let go. Who-you-take-yourself-to-be arises and dissolves as experience in each and every moment.Today’s episode is a portion of a recent call with the LSBC 6-week course where we explore the effortless, always letting go nature of life. ***Join me for a 6-day silent retreat in
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It’s not uncommon that someone might argue, “You say self is a thought, but no-self is also a thought, isn’t it?” Or, “Isn’t nonduality another belief?” Everything is a thought or belief when it’s a thought or belief. So yes, no-self can be a belief exactly like self can be a belief.But what’s between self and
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Thought creates a sense of continuity. It creates a sense of you living your life with your past and your future. All of that – you, your life, your past, your future – only exist in and as thought. This process will happen. But what I discuss in today’s episode is the thought that says it’s
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Many questions are seeking conceptual answers. The answers to those questions tend to keep the questioner in ideas and concepts. Those are common and innocent, but generally unhelpful.We’ll explore some of the most common unhelpful questions and see what makes them unhelpful, and then look at some helpful questions – which point beyond the conceptual –
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Let’s have a serious talk. Thoughts are not true. Honestly, how in the world could they be? How could a formless blip of energy with some untouchable, vague images or memories or words, know about ‘you’ or the future?Thought is what creates the imaginary idea of a future. There isn’t a future known by thought.It
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In this episode, we explore two definitions of the word fix. There is to fix, as in to correct. We try to correct or fix a problem, or ourselves, or the way life appears to be unfolding. The other is to fix something into place, as in to solidify. Identities, opinions, and problems appear more or
The post EP318: Nothing is ever fixed appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I respond to a question I received from someone who experiences depersonalization and derealization. Specifically, the questioner shared that they don’t believe this is a thinking disorder and do I agree? This sent me on a bit of a nice rant 🙂 I do agree. No thinking is “disordered” in the same way that
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I so often hear people feeling they are making things worse. They say things like, “I’m resisting, which is making these feelings worse” or “This anxiety is making my physical pain worse”.But what if “I’m making it worse” is just a thought?Can one thought really make another thought or sensation worse? Does it have that
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In today’s episode, I share an example of someone who experiences “health anxiety” to show how experience is “all conditioning” (EP310) and also how there is no conditioning (EP311). We explore the related idea that there is something other than what is right here, right now. This is another paradox. I feels like things
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Ana wrote to me saying that she began having social anxiety two years ago. She said she’s ashamed because she wishes she was strong enough to let this go.
She went on to talk about how things are for her, but that first statement alone reveals a lot. She’s ashamed of something that has nothing to do with her, something she has zero control over. And she believes that if she possessed some sort of strength, she could let this go.
I speak to many points in Ana’s message about social anxiety, claustrophobia, her body physically reacting to fear, and more in a very direct way, trying to point out and clarify the assumptions and misunderstandings behind her suffering.
Beginning September 5th, I will be leading a very small group through The Little School of Big Change Guided course.
You may know that I don’t lead this course anymore but because there were a number of people on the waitlist, I thought I would lead a small group through the curriculum this fall. You’ll get lifetime access to the full curriculum of video lessons, interviews, and animations, 6 live coaching calls with me, and access to our private forum for the 6 weeks.
If you’ve been wanting to do the live version of this course with my support, or you know someone who has, this is the time to do it!
Go to The Little School of Big Change to register.
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Today’s episode is a conversation with Sarie Taylor and her Worldwide Wellbeing Community.
When the mind is trying to hold onto some shred of perceived control, it often says something like “we have no control over what shows up, but we do have some control over what we do with it/pay attention to”.
But that’s still control, right?
I suggested that we have absolutely no control over any experience, and we had a very direct conversation front here.
Sarie shared that this call created some debate from her community, some saying it was their favorite call and others saying it was frustrating and depressing. The mind is so clever!
I’m grateful to her for allowing me to share this. You can check out Sarie’s work and community at https://www.worldwidewellbeing.co.uk/
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In episode 306, Bill Giruzzi shared his experience and the insights he had during a period of extreme anxiety and suicidal depression. In today’s episode, his wife Lisa shares the incredible insights she had during that same time.
In so many profound ways, Lisa deeply realized that nothing in life is really up to her. When Bill was in ICU for four weeks after a near fatal brain bleed… in the early days of Covid and she couldn’t visit him at all…it wasn’t up to her. She was forced to let go and let things unfold.
For the year or so afterward as he frequently talked about planning his suicide, Lisa again saw that it wasn’t up to her. There was nothing she could do to ensure that things would go the way she wanted them to.
Lisa talks about one of our greatest fears–being completely powerless in the worst of circumstances – actually being our greatest freedom. This is an amazing conversation.
You can see more about Lisa here.
The post EP312: It’s Not Up to Me with Lisa Giruzzi appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Last week’s episode was called It’s All Conditioning.
And, also, there is no conditioning.
Conditioning is an idea that depends on time. It exists only in thought, which means it has no lasting, real existence. It’s an appearance, albeit a persistent, very real-feeling one.
Conditioning exists in duality, as a label for a fleeting experience. The unconditioned is nondual, not fleeting, and not an experience.
Starting in August and running for 10 weeks, I’ll be leading a group of people through the book Liberation Is: The End of the Spiritual Path by Salvadore Poe.
This book is simple and direct. It is not theoretical or conceptual. This is not a book that discusses your true nature – it’s a book designed to directly reveal your true nature.
I loved it when I read it, and I think you will too.
We’ll have weekly calls, including one with the offer, and a forum to share insight as we’re doing the experiments together.
I would love for you to join me! Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/bookclub/ to register
The post EP311: There is no conditioning appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
All experience, in a sense, is conditioned. It’s all learned. And it can’t be anything other than what it is.
It’s not your conditioning. The you with a life and problems and a past and future IS conditioned thought. It can’t have conditioning or be conditioned. It is a conditioned thought.
There is a sense of continuity. It seems like you’ve existed for as long as you have, right? What’s continuous? Is it the “me” you take yourself to be, the one with a body and a life? Or is that sense of continuity pointing to something else?
Starting in August and running for 10 weeks, I’ll be leading a group of people through the book Liberation Is: The End of the Spiritual Path by Salvadore Poe.
This book is simple and direct. It is not theoretical or conceptual. This is not a book that discusses your true nature – it’s a book designed to directly reveal your true nature.
I loved it when I read it, and I think you will too.
We’ll have weekly calls, including one with the offer, and a forum to share insight as we’re doing the experiments together.
I would love for you to join me! Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/bookclub/ to register
The post EP310: It’s all conditioning (and it can’t be any other way) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode is a guided meditation of sorts…or something like that.
We’ll lean together into what’s always here, never changing.
What is here between thought and no thought?
What’s aware of my voice?
What’s wide awake when body and mind feel tired?
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In this episode, we explore one of my favorite phrases: Who cares?
We’ll look at this in two ways. First, who cares, as in ‘so what?’. Second, who cares as in ‘who is the one apparently experiencing caring?
Do you care about the things you’re reactive to? Do you really, or is caring a conditioned assumption that arises alongside some conditioned sensations?
Can you find the one who apparently cares, is “I care” one thought?
Starting in August and running for 10 weeks, I’ll be leading a group of people through the book Liberation Is: The End of the Spiritual Path by Salvadore Poe.
This book is simple and direct. It is not theoretical or conceptual. This is not a book that discusses your true nature – it’s a book designed to directly reveal your true nature.
I loved it when I read it, and I think you will too.
We’ll have weekly calls, including one with the offer, and a forum to share insight as we’re doing the experiments together.
I would love for you to join me! Go to dramyjohnson.com/bookclub/ to register
The post EP308: Who cares? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Everything we’re looking for – freedom, realizing your true nature, peace – is about letting go of everything we thought was true and real.
It’s a massive letting go. Anything we cling to, or even believe, holds us back.
This includes all pointers and all paradigms. Pointers and paradigms are like a flaming arrow. We follow where the arrow is sailing but we don’t grab onto it and carry it around afterward.
Perhaps part of the clinging to paradigms is out of fear. Someone else seems wiser than us. Someone’s insight was bigger than ours and so we hook ourselves to their words.
You can trust yourself. You have to trust yourself. Their words and paradigms and “understanding” are only pointers. They were never meant to be carried through time.
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Four years ago Bill had a massive brain bleed. Three years ago, he had his first panic attack. A little over two years ago, he was desperate to end his life. Then in April 2022, he awoke one morning feeling awful, per usual. But this particular morning, for maybe three seconds, his mind went quiet and a thought came through, “It’s all lies.”
After that, he still woke up feeling awful at times and he continued to experience anxiety, but it wasn’t the same. He couldn’t be fooled in the same way.
In this conversation, Bill shares how he knew all about resilience and that thoughts were lies conceptually, but until this insight really came to life for him, its impact was limited.
Even so, change didn’t happen at all the way he expected. There was still anxiety and suffering in ways he wouldn’t have predicted, but change at the same time. Bill says he’s learning what true resilience is. It doesn’t look the way he thought it would.
There are so many incredibly helpful reminders and pointers shared by Bill in this conversation. I’m so grateful to him for sharing it here!
The post EP306: It’s All Lies appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share a way of looking at our true, nondual nature and the dualistic experience we appear to be living in much of the time.
None of this is new, but this particular way of looking at this was inspired by David Bingham. David’s pointings are based on the Koshas, an Indian yogic philosophy.
There is a simplicity and practicality in this way of seeing things that I deeply appreciate. Duality is a game we opt into around that age of 2 or 3. Even while we play that game, we remain effortless, nondual awareness.
David’s teachings look at how we remain effortless awareness no matter what, and we simply accept – or can decline–the frequent invitations into dualism that come our way. When we decline these invitations, those energy systems are weakened and we recognize ourselves as effortless awareness more.
If you enjoy this way of seeing our true nature and the game of duality, check out this video where David explains this himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGq8aJnL344
The post EP305: An Unfun Game appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Change happens by neglect.
Neglect of me, the one with the big problem, and neglect of the problem itself.
How do we neglect something that feels so solid and important? See it clearly.
It’s like an impressionist painting. From a few feet back, the mind conceptualizes it as a pond with water lilies. But move closer and closer and really look, and it’s not water lilies at all.
It’s the same with problems, habits, worries, illnesses. We’re looking at an abstracted, conceptualized view of “my problem” and trying like crazy to fix it. But you can’t fix a concept.
Look more closely and immediately to see that it’s already changing.
The post EP304: Change Happens by Neglect appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode of Changeable, I have a conversation with Emily about energy and overwhelm.
Emily says she swings from periods of coasting (which feels lazy to her) and pushing, which feels harsh and exhausting.
She also talks about the feeling of being constantly “on” in her work.
We explore how much is truly effortless and how these habitual tugs on her energy are reminders that she’s not resting in effortless awareness of what’s arising–instead, “Emily” is very much in the picture believing a lot of rigid rules and responsibilities she made up for herself.
Many people will be able to relate to this conversation.
I would like to invite you to join me for a live 2-day event this summer in Plymouth, Michigan!
Over two days, July 19 and 20th, we’ll explore the absolute freedom of living in reality. We’ll settle into what is, deeply feeling the difference between that and the imaginary worlds constantly created in thought.
These live events are amazing opportunities to gather together with a group of likeminded people, see a lot in a short period of time, and form connections and have fun together.
You can see all the details and register at https://dramyjohnson.com/live2024/
The post EP303: A coaching session about energy and overwhelm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
My client recently said this. She wants to be a different person.
You’ve had that thought many times, right?
Being a person is hard. It’s inevitable that “different persons”, all imagined, of course, look better than the person you are.
But what if you aren’t a person? Maybe the desire for different isn’t about being a different person so much as seeing that you actually aren’t one?
I would like to invite you to join me for a live 2-day event this summer in Plymouth, Michigan!
Over two days, July 19 and 20th, we’ll explore the absolute freedom of living in reality. We’ll settle into what is, deeply feeling the difference between that and the imaginary worlds constantly created in thought.
These live events are amazing opportunities to gather together with a group of likeminded people, see a lot in a short period of time, and form connections and have fun together.
You can see all the details and register at https://dramyjohnson.com/live2024/
The post EP302: I want to be a different person appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I speak to some questions from a listener about how to best support her daughter through suicidal and self- harm thoughts and actions.
The listener notices when her daughter’s mood seem to fluctuate in a way her daughter does not. I speak to how we can point to the always in flux nature of form, and also the formless health that is always present because it is who we are.
I talk about helping someone surrender into the energy they are feeling. Wanting to escape THIS through self-harm or death makes absolute perfect sense when THIS feels unfeelable, which only happens when there is a story and resistance present.
There is a lot in this episode that speaks to our humility in what arises, as well as our humility in supporting others. I hope it’s helpful to you.
I would like to invite you to join me for a live 2-day event this summer in Plymouth, Michigan!
Over two days, July 19 and 20th, we’ll explore the absolute freedom of living in reality. We’ll settle into what is, deeply feeling the difference between that and the imaginary worlds constantly created in thought.
These live events are amazing opportunities to gather together with a group of likeminded people, see a lot in a short period of time, and form connections and have fun together.
You can see all the details and register at https://dramyjohnson.com/live2024/
The post EP301: Listener questions about suicide and self-harm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Episode 300 is all about working with thought and awareness to re-cognize your true nature.
Awareness is always-present. It is who and what you are. It is overlooked due to identification with thought.
Thought, attended to and identified with, is dead. It’s not always-present nor is it who or what you are.
How to re-familiarize yourself with your true nature and unhook from identifying with thought (which is suffering, by the way)? It’s simple but can take a little practice.
- Rest as awareness.
- Recognize the dualistic thought patterns that are trying to feed off your energy and attention and do not feed them.
I’ll walk through some examples in this episode.
This 300th episode feels like the point of the previous 299. I hope you can hear and feel the simplicity in what’s being shared here!
The post EP300: Resting as your true nature (Working with thought and awareness) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I get a lot of questions about what it looks like to feel what’s arising.
How do we welcome what’s here? How can we fully immerse in what is?
These are great questions that aren’t easily addressed by more talking about it; so in this episode, I walk you through an experiential exploration.
This was very intuitive and on-the-fly. I want to make it clear that there is no right way to do this. There is no script. There’s just an intuitive exploration that may (or may not!) feel something like what you’ll hear in this episode.
I hope this gives you a sense of how you can do your own exploring.
The post EP299: Guided Meditation: Exploring What Is appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Richard Lang was a recent guest speaker in The Little School of Big Change community. This episode is a portion of our time with him.
This conversation with Richard is an investigation into your true nature. From a few feet away, you appear to others as a person. You appear to them, so you’re told, as a human with a face and head.
But how do you appear to yourself? Do you see your own face and head? What is your nature when you look?And what about when we look closer? What about a few inches away? At your center? What’s your true nature at zero distance?
This is what The Headless Way helps us explore.
To see more about Richard Lang and The Headless Way, go to https://www.headless.org/
To join our community and hear guests like Richard each month, go to https://dramyjohnson.com/thecommunity/
The post EP298: The Headless Way with Richard Lang appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It can be heartbreaking to feel as if you “have it” – clear seeing, a buzzing energy, emotional freedom, a loss of identity –and then to feel as if you “lose it”.
And, this is what you signed up for. It must be this way. This is awakening, not the always happy picture your mind created.
In this episode I’ll explore why and when this feels so heartbreaking, but how it’s actually the best news there is.
The post EP297: When you have it and you lose it appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
We’re always getting what we most need because what we “get” is our own projection.
It’s a projection from and as an insecure identity. That’s what our triggers are – the areas where the self we take ourselves to be feels threatened and insecure.
This is why it seems that we are victimized by the same recurring patterns over and over. We are, but we aren’t victimized by other people or a cruel universe that keeps punishing us. We’re seeing our own insecure identity over and over so that we can move through it.
So that we can finally see it for what it is.
In this episode, I share a personal example and one from a client that shows how this plays out. It couldn’t be a more perfect system. Anything needing to be “healed” arises, over and over, to be healed.
Join me for a brand new 6-week course called Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective.
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one hour coaching session to the first few people who register! I hope to see you there!
The post EP296: Why you’re absolutely guaranteed to get what’s perfect for you appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I have an amazing conversation with Dr. Kathleen Perry about the most important exploration: Who am I?
Kathleen shares how being curious about identity is fundamental to everything we’re up to and everything we’re up against. Nothing shifts the way life looks and feels the way an exploration of identity can.
Kathleen discusses her own identity shifts, particularly when her husband died a few years ago. Her experience sheds so much light on how identity operates in mysterious, sometimes subtle ways.
We also talk about how identities seem to crack and break open (like it or not) around certain life events and at a certain age.
At the end, Kathleen talks about her passion for supporting women as they explore identity in the context of what they are wanting to create or change in life.
She’s offering a totally free masterclass on this topic on April 16th. You can register here.
I highly recommend you check it out!
The post EP295: The Fundamental Exploration of Identity appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Stephanie has struggled with bulimia for over 20 years.
In this short conversation, we look at what an urge really is. Do we know? Can we even determine that? Does Stephanie know what it is she’s been running from, what’s been running her around?
As we explore this together, Stephanie begins to open to the possibility of meeting this unknown experience she calls an urge in a very different way. She becomes excited for the next urge–for the chance to explore it and see what it really is.
Join me for a brand new 6-week course called Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective.
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one hour coaching session to the first few people who register! I hope to see you there!
The post EP294: A Coaching Session About Urges appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A listener wrote in with some amazing questions. She shared her yearning to be at peace and the way she’s taking in so much content in the hopes of having some sort of enlightenment experience that takes the suffering away. I discuss the innocent folly in this way of thinking.
She shares that desperately needs a job but how she can’t seem to take action. It seems to look like an either/or to her–find a job or practice compassion toward herself and see that she is okay in any circumstance. Of course, there is no either/or here, really.
She shares some super common, relatable magical thinking about how she thought the spiritual search would go. I discuss how there is no bypassing. Full immersion into what’s here is “the way”, so to speak. It’s a more immediate way than beliefs about everything being magically taken care of if she studies the right guru or has the right insight.
I love what is uncovered from her honest questions.
Join me for a brand new 6-week course called Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective.
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one hour coaching session to the first few people who register! I hope to see you there!
The post EP293: I am obsessed with awakening and…I need to get a job! A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Have you ever thought something like: “I need these feelings/thoughts to settle down so I can be present”?
What if thoughts and feelings are presence? Believing they are in the way of presence leaves us feeling as if life has it wrong. It leaves us searching for the “right” way.
I suspect that what we’ve been taught about presence and meditation contribute to this innocent misunderstanding. It also seems clear that the “not this, there’s something better” feeling is a distinct and nearly always present flavor of thought in general.
Join me for a brand new 6-week course called Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective.
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one hour coaching session to the first few people who register! I hope to see you there!
The post EP292: Thoughts and feelings don’t take you away from presence. They are presence. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective begins the week of April 8th!
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one-hour coaching session to the first few people who register
I hope to see you there!
The post Special Announcement: Join me for a brand new course this April! appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In today’s episode, I dive into another set of questions from a listener–this time, all about feeling.
Chris asks some amazing questions about welcoming what’s arising. We explore what is being welcomed, who or what is doing the welcoming, and much more.
Join me for a brand new 6-week course called Exploring the Me-And-My-Life Perspective.
We’ll examine how Me-And-My-Life is a point of view we’re conditioned into; a point of view that posits there is a “me”, separate from life, “having a life”.
There are many fascinating aspects of this perspective that we’ll explore–such as evidence for a separate me, choice and doership, other people, and fully immersing in the senses as a way to explore the Me-And-My-Life point of view.
We’ll explore in a small group, with video lessons, group calls, and a private forum.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/meandmylife to see all the details. As a bonus, I’m giving away a private one hour coaching session to the first few people who register! I hope to see you there!
The post EP291: Are we only welcoming uncomfortable feelings? Who is the welcomer? And other questions from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
One function of thought appears to be creating continuity– the sense of a solid me, traveling through time. You, your life, the thoughts, feelings, and experiences that arise, often feel familiar. We feel stuck in repeating patterns, saying things like “I’m back here again” and “This always happens to me”. At the same time, when
The post EP290: You’ve Never Felt This Before appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode of Changeable was inspired by a goal one of my private coaching clients shared with me. Her goal for our coaching was to feel a particular way when faced with a particular work situation. While I don’t know that our time together can deliver what her mind says it wants–that specific feeling–I’m pretty certain
The post EP289: How to be Less Reactive appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode explores a question from a listener who says she has been stuck in a sense of nostalgia for years. She’s convinced that it’s all downhill from here. This may be one of my favorite episodes. The questions she asks opened the door to look at what nostalgia is, what the past and future are,
The post EP288: I’m Stuck in a Feeling of Nostalgia: A Question from a Listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Helen Amery and I discuss “authentic expression”, or just “being as you are”. The veil that appears to be in the way of our experience of simply being as we are is perhaps not as thick as it feels. And that veil, when it’s felt, is here to be felt. We feel
The post EP287: Authentic Expression with Helen Amery appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This week’s episode is a talk I gave about the difference between reality and imagination. Reality is what’s alive in your sensory experience right now. It’s seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. What also might be alive right now is thought. The content of that thought is what I’m calling imagination. It’s the concepts, images, stories
The post EP286: Reality vs. Imagination appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Change Coach Alex Linares and I discuss turning toward everything. Thoughts. Questions. Doubt. Discomfort. Seeking.We explore how subtle, immediate, and complete everything is (which, not surprisingly, is the exact opposite of how thought often portrays it). We feel this completeness when we immerse in it. We discuss how questions, doubts and seeking burn
The post EP285: The completeness of everything appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I hear a lot of people not wanting to fully give up identification with thought. They get that not all thought is true, but some of it is, right?Or they get that thought is reflective and narrative, but we need it for practical tasks, right?These are very natural, innocent thoughts. And, there can be an
The post EP284: Thought isn’t needed appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Change Coach Bill DeKramer and I talk allll about feeling in this episode! Bill shares a metaphor that came to him in his work with clients about waking a sleeping dog and how that relates to how we are with the emotions that arise.We discuss triggers, how every feeling is absolutely perfect, saying YES to
The post EP283: Meeting what arises with love and compassion with Bill DeKramer appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode is the replay of a webinar I recently held with Rohini Ross on how the way we work with people and the way we mentor others to work with people is rooted in awakening from the illusion of the separate self rather than bettering things for who we take ourselves to be. I
The post EP282: Coaching and the Illusion of the Separate Self appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Do you ever feel like you hate yourself? And do you sense the stigma around that feeling? When people share with me that they hate themselves, they often lower their voice and look around as if they are about to be hauled away. But who is this self that’s hated and who is the hater? What if
The post EP281: Inauthenticity and self-hatred appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It seems that much of our experience is based on unquestioned assumptions. For example, it “seems like” we’re a separate self carrying ourselves through time and space. It “seems like” we have insecurity issues, or a history of addiction, or that conversation we just had didn’t go well.But what makes it “seem like” that? What
The post EP280: Nothing is hidden appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I’ll share how I’ve been doing something I call “feeling my way through life” rather than “thinking my way through life”, and how this seems to coincide with a massive downward shift in energy and attention from the head space and mental constructs, to the body/heart/physically felt space. From this deeper sense of living from
The post EP279: Feeling your way through life appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Betty returns to Changeable for another coaching session. Betty was coached in episode 266 around her urges to over-exercise and her beliefs that she must constantly be moving in order to be healthy. Due to health issues related to under-nourishing and over-exercising for so long, Betty is not exercising at all right
The post EP278: A coaching session on restlessness, aimlessness, and simply being appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode of Changeable is a portion of the last LSBC call in this fall’s 6-week course. In this call, I talk about the difference between reality and imagination. Every “reality” is a point of perspective, and I share how the explorations they’ve been doing as part of this course has simply opened up more
The post EP277: Perspective appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Change Coach Chiara McHale shares some of the insights she’s had in her romantic relationship, and how the things she’s seen have led to a completely different relationship than she had in the past. This is a fascinating conversation about how a relationship can look when one or both people have a
The post EP276: Grounded Relationships with Chiara McHale appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Where’s the problem when everything is always changing? Can you find it? Can you find it outside of thought? Really look at that…we can easily find things that need changing within thought, as thought. Do they exist anywhere else?Can you hold onto the problem? Can you hold onto anything? When we can’t hold onto anything, what
The post EP275: Where’s the problem when everything is always changing? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It can look like there are things in our lives we need to accept. Acceptance is a concept, in this case. We have an idea of what acceptance is and what it looks like, and we’re told it’s a good idea if we don’t want to suffer.When we can’t accept (how do we even do
The post EP274: Acceptance, Resignation, and “The Way Things Are” appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, we’ll explore the difference between thinking and looking. Thinking is taking what’s said as another concept to go back and ponder. It’s adding more thought to what is already a lot of thought.Looking is looking into what’s here now, before labels and concepts. It looks like curiosity rather than pondering. There may be
The post EP273: Thinking versus Looking appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Chris Neibauer is the author of No Self, No Problem. Chris talks about how the left brain interpreter, narrative-self, works and how we easily mistake that narration for who we are. This is a beautiful, deep conversation that goes far beyond neuroscience. His way of explaining how and why we become mind-identifying is so helpful.You
The post EP272: Beyond the Interpreter appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A vague, ill-defined feeling of uneasiness is behind so much of what we do. Look for yourself and see–is something we might label “restlessness” there in the background? Is it what gets you up from the couch, doing something “productive” rather than rest? Is it what runs you around from rest to the refrigerator, to
The post EP271: Restlessness appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I often hear parents say these things to their children about emotion: “You decide how you feel.” “You choose your reactions.” “What other people say has no meaning except the meaning you give it.”We can ask ourselves: Are these things we heard somewhere that seem helpful, or are they our direct experience? Do you–mom or
The post EP270: What we teach young people about emotion appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode is taken from a recent guest speaker call with The Little School of Big Change graduate community with Violet Synergy. Violet talks about looking toward the mysteries in life (and how everything is a mystery, really), leaning into what’s arising and the most obvious thing we can do, meeting life from a place
The post EP269: Looking toward the mysterious with Violet Synergy appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode is an excerpt from a The Little School of Big Change 6-week course call that took place in March of 2023. I talk about how this–what’s being experienced right this very moment–is all there is. There is no better place to find or arrive at.What you’re looking for is so much closer than
The post EP268: This is all there is (from LSBC Spring 2023) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Are you examining the nature of experience in order to see through the illusion of you as a separate, limited self? Are you trying to “smoke the veil” that has you feeling separate from life? I’ll talk about the ways we do that, plus share a couple stories of how my husband successfully “smoked the
The post EP267: Smoking the Veil appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A listener asks: “My family and work colleagues describe me as a ‘speedy’ person and many times I get asked to chill out or calm down. I try to calm myself but I’m still not getting to the root reason why I can’t seem to slow myself down! …I’m wondering if I am avoiding something
The post EP266: Why is my bodymind so sped up? A question from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Change Coach Samantha Miller shares her nearly lifelong experience with OCD and how it has changed over the years, especially in recent years. If you have experienced OCD in any form or duration, I know you’ll relate to so much that Samantha shares.And if you would like some support around OCD from
The post EP265: Freedom from OCD with Samantha Miller appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A listener asked to hear more about “welcoming the unknown”. What does that mean? How do we do it? It seems that an important first step is looking at what we think we do know, and considering that perhaps knowing isn’t all the mind makes it out to be. Thinking we know feels safe…but is it?
The post EP264: What do you mean by “welcome the unknown?” A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When faced with death…whether it’s the death of the physical body or the “death” of the dream of being a separate me…the mind will grab for something, anything, to hold onto. It often grabs at false identities, trying to solidify a sense of ‘me’. It does this by clinging to personal identities, group identities, and
The post EP263: Terror Management appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In truth, nothing is carried through time. Because there is no time. Time is a thought.In the thought-world, everything refers to time. There is clear and obvious continuity, a clear and obvious past and future for a clear and obvious ‘me’. When thought is not projecting this world, there is none of that. Zilch. Not even
The post EP262: Nothing is Continuous appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this conversation with the amazing Razmik Sargsyan, we discuss how what’s true must always be true. If it’s true that we are okay in any experience, that must always be true. In the East and in the West, for people in luxury and comfort as well as for people in the middle of war.
The post EP261: What’s true must be always true with Razmik Sargsyan appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I am a guest on a lot of podcasts and I’m not always inspired to share those conversations here. But this conversation with Razmik Sargsyan for his podcast Brand New Thought felt like one that I wanted more people to hear. Part “the basics” and part pushing the edge, we covered a lot of ground. I
The post EP260: My conversation with Razmik on the Brand New Thought podcast appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What do you really know? You think you know your name, that you love your dog, that you’re thinking, that there is a quiet, still space within…Look again. How do you know?What are those things you think you know made of? What is that quiet, still space? What is love for your dog? What’s it
The post EP259: Do you really know anything? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Andrea says she can easily see other people’s thinking for what it is. She can even see some of her own thinking as thinking, and she can see how being identified with thought led her into past habits. So why can’t she see this now with regard to her current habit? She says, “I don’t know
The post EP258: I see thinking for what it is for everyone but myself. A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Katie has several questions about listening to her heart rather than her head. How does one do that? Is it even something we can do? She also says she starts to sense freedom from her habits, but then she “clams up”. She wonders if this response is due to being in an unsafe environment in
The post EP257: Guidance versus conditioning, trauma and habits, and practices versus intuition: Questions from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I hear some variation on this question a lot. If I’m feeling discomfort and I know an untrue thought is behind it, why lean into that discomfort? The discomfort reveals that something untrue is being identified with. So why lean into that discomfort if it’s rooted in a lie?When someone asks a version of this question
The post EP256: Why ‘lean into what arises’ when the thoughts behind those feelings aren’t true? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A listener sent an excellent question. “I’m still confused about how your thinking is not personal. How can this be? Whose thoughts are they?”She says she sees there is a “witness me” who sees everything, but isn’t there a “thinker me” being seen? We examine these “me’s” and the thoughts that apparently belong to them in
The post EP255: “Whose thoughts are they?” A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Aneta Mruz was diagnosed with OCD shortly after her son was born, about 6 years ago. As difficult and terrifying as it was at the time, she says OCD healed her and she’d go through it all over again for what’s it given her.
OCD forced Aneta to re-examine everything she thought she was and everything she believed. Little by little, her identities, beliefs and assumptions were stripped away, leaving a beautiful space of freedom and-what she calls-connection with the divine.
Her experience with OCD allowed to see that everything is energy. She can now discern energy in a way she couldn’t before. Aneta uses this ability to discern energy in her work as an intuitive coach and medium.
I know you’ll hear so much in her story. To connect with Aneta, visit https://centerofsolace.com/ or follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/centerofsolace/
To learn more about the Change Coach Self-Study Course, visit https://dramyjohnson.com/changecoachselfstudy
The post EP254: “OCD healed me” appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Maya wrote to me about the suffering she’s in over, what she calls, her “physical imperfections”.
She’s seen so much about life beyond thought and it’s brought her a lot of peace, but this feels different.
Maya’s skin discoloration is making her life very small. She doesn’t date, she stays physically covered up, and she hasn’t talked about this with any of the people closest to her.
Listen in as I speak to Maya’s question.
The post EP253: A listener question about physical imperfections appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I was asked to share the story of how my binge eating/bulimia habit ended as a contribution to an upcoming book. The book will be a collection of stories of diagnosed mental health issues that came to an end as people explored the sorts of things we explore here.
So, this episode is my telling of that story.
I discuss how my habit was at its worst, the various things I did for support, how it ended and the insights I had along the way, and how life is now.
Of course, I don’t know exactly what shifted or how change like this works. I don’t know how a shift in consciousness really happens–only that it happens and when it does, everything looks different (and oddly, also sort of the same).
So, this is the story of my habit with an emphasis on story. I hope you hear something helpful in it!
The post EP252: How my habit ended appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The idea that each of us has a specific life purpose that’s our job to figure out…and that we’ll be endlessly happy and fulfilled when we discover it, and empty and lacking until then…is an idea I’ve seen create more suffering than most.
Matt Cooksey helps people see this in a fresh way. He frees people from this limited idea of a singular life’s purpose while, at the same time, looking at what truly is wanting to be created and move through them. Matt knows that we are here to create – that natural impulse can feel unnecessarily complicated when we’re clinging to beliefs about it that aren’t true.
I absolutely loved this conversation with Matt. The depth with which he sees things, and his astuteness and compassion in helping people spot the hidden beliefs that are in their way, is incredible. I know you’ll really hear a lot in this conversion.
You can learn more about Matt and the amazing work he does at:
www.matthewcooksey.com
https://www.instagram.com/thespiritualmidwife/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcooksey/
If you have questions about “life purpose”, send them to Matt and he’ll reply on video! Submit your questions here www.matthewcooksey.com/amy by May 29th and Matt will respond.
The post EP251: When you know you’re here for more: A bigger view of purpose and what’s in the way with Matt Cooksey appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Being “hard on yourself” is only possible when some very simple, near universal misunderstandings are in place.
One, that you’re responsible for what you think, feel, and do. Two, that what you think, feel, and do means something about you. These are basically the same thing, both rooted in the illusion that there is a you that’s separate from the seamless flow of life with ultimate say in what happens.
And three, that a thought, feeling, or behavior other than what happened, could have happened. In other words, that life could be other than it is.
All of these feel true only in the fabricated story thought tells. Outside of that story, there is no self to be hard on and no reason to hard on that false self if it were real!
The post EP250: How to stop being so hard on yourself appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Giacomo is unsure what he wants to do for a career and where to place his attention. He has many passions but says he has a hard time choosing which to pursue.
As we explore what his mind is telling him about all of these passions and what it means to choose one, he begins to see a lot of invisible thinking about what it means to pursue a career, what must be sacrificed, how it should feel, etc. He begins to wake up to just how much forward thinking his mind is doing.
Minds love to forward-think (especially when you’re in your early 20s and “should” be settling in on some major life choices!). But what if none of that is helpful or necessary? What if dabbling in exactly what pulls on his attention is the way through?
The post EP249: A coaching session on choosing which passions to pursue appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I’ve come to love a familiar feeling of dread that visits many mornings. How this feeling is experienced has changed quite a bit over the years.
Initially, I found a lot of benefit in curiously inquiring into the thought behind the feeling. Was there one? I’d explore who this feeling was about and who it was for, looking to see if I could find an owner or recipient of this feeling. (I never could).
Then I looked forward to leaning into the sensations and thoughts that naturally arose. This was less inquiry and more exploration of only what was there in my experiencing of it.
More recently, something new has been seen about this feeling. It’s not in “my” body, or any body, at all.
It’s just experiencing. No container, no belonging to, no location. Just experiencing.Same with thought. Feelings aren’t in “your body” and thoughts aren’t actually in “your head”, right? Do you really experience them there?
This container-free exploration is worth exploring!
The post EP248: Feeling is not in your body appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
A listener recently wrote to me and shared that she sees that her longtime intrusive thoughts were never “hers”, they were never true, and they couldn’t hurt her.
However, she’s still feeling some physical and emotional reactivity to those thoughts. Does this mean she still believes the thoughts on some level?
She wants to know why this would be happening. Is she missing something?
This question is incredibly common. If I see xyz, why am I still feeling xyz?
It’s much simpler than it seems.
The post EP247: What am I missing in my understanding? A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Have you noticed this story? It’s a sometimes obvious, sometimes incredibly subtle storyline that comes is present anytime suffering is present.
Often, the story is not noticeable but the physical and emotional resistance of “this shouldn’t be happening” is felt.
That story has nothing at all to do with life. It has zero to do with truth or what’s happening or any of that. It’s a habitual background hum of resistance + dissatisfaction that has nothing to do with anything.
There is nowhere else to go. Leaning into THIS, including that story and resistance when it is noticed, is the only place to go.
The post EP246: Noticing the story that says everything would be better if this wasn’t happening appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Liz has been deeply impacted by the knowing that we all have exactly what we need in any moment. We are health. We are life itself. Fresh ideas and wisdom are constantly moving us through life.
From that grounding, she sees that listening is one of the most powerful ways we can be with someone. When we listen–rather than try to help them get somewhere or problem solve with them–we make space for them to recognize their own wisdom.
During Covid lockdowns, Liz went into her local community to offer listening. The ideas she had during that time are now spouting into all sorts of amazing forms of support, all centered around allowing people to be seen and heard, so that they can recognize their own wisdom.
Liz is the author of a book I highly recommend called To Listen is to Love. Please check out the book here and see more about Liz’s Wellbeing Listener programs here:
innercompassguide.com/
innercompassguide.com/to-listen-is-to-love/
The post EP245: The Power of True Listening with Liz Scott appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the difference between welcoming what arises and wallowing in what arises. In this episode, we’ll explore how welcoming is rooted in curiosity and not knowing what we’re exploring.Welcoming is “dumb”, while wallowing tends to be “smart”. We wallow in something (anxiety, depression, sadness), meaning we’re feeling what we think we already know rather than exploring what we don’t know.The post EP244: Welcoming versus wallowing appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Animal trackers don’t know where the animal is, but they know how to get there. They get there by following the fresh track that presents itself.
It’s immediate. There is no extensive planning or imagining future scenarios, just following what’s right here, right now. Then doing that again, and again, and again until you don’t anymore.
In this episode, I talk about how all of life looks this way. Following the live track right in front of you, not knowing where you’re going, is how habits are broken, feelings come to look safe, life is leaned into. It’s how coaching sessions happen and how decisions are made.
It’s incredibly helpful to see that we never really know where we’re going but we all know exactly how to get there.
With Student Access Plus, you get a large library of digital courses, discounts on LSBC and other larger courses, and a live monthly coaching call, all for one very low annual or monthly price.
Go to https://dramyjohnson.com/student-access-plus/ to learn more and to sign up!
The post EP243: I don’t know where I’m going, but I know how to get there appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Sam is a talented coach who supports people with ADHD. He does this from his own lifelong experience with ADHD and from his deep grounding in the health and perfection in any and all neuro-(or other)-diversities.
We are not our brain patterns and each of us lives with a bodymind that operates by its own playlist. Over the years, Sam has come to welcome and embrace his brain quirks in a way that feels like freedom. Not freedom from ADHD patterns, but freedom with them.
Sam has an incredible book coming out in May 2023 called Beyond ADHD. You can learn more about Sam, his coaching, his amazing podcast, and his upcoming book at his website https://www.samledconsulting.com/ or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/samled1111/
If you enjoy Changeable, please consider leaving a review on itunes. Reviews go such a long way in attracting new listeners. Thank you to those of you who have already done so. I appreciate it so much!
The post EP242: Beyond ADHD with Sam Led appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Ken says he has an avoidance problem. He feels stuck avoiding projects, work, and life in general.
He talks about how much easier (albeit still painful) it is to watch YouTube than it is to do the things he knows he wants to do. He knows his mind is trying to protect him, but he still feels controlled by it.
Ken and I explore the possibility that none of what his mind is doing can actually stop him from acting. He only thinks it can. We looked at many of the specific things that arise that appear to derail him.
I encourage Ken to go right into the feeling that appears to stop him. Be curious about it. Invite it in. Maybe even be playful with it. On the other side of that feeling is Ken behaving freely, doing exactly as much or as little as he wants to do.
If you benefit from this podcast, I would be so grateful if you’d leave a quick review on itunes. Thank you so much for listening, reviewing, and sharing this show with others!
The post EP241: A coaching session on feeling stuck and avoiding life appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Crystal shares her experience hiking all the way down…and then all the way back up…the Grand Canyon.
This is an amazing feat for anyone, but it’s especially huge for Crystal. Crystal struggled with health anxiety in various forms for many years.
Being frequently worried about what might go wrong with her physically, Crystal didn’t travel for many years. When she began traveling again a few years ago, it was only with certain precautions and perceived safety nets in place (e.g., only with certain people and if there was easy access to hospitals).
There’s no way she could ever imagine herself doing consecutive days of strenuous physical activity with no hospitals or doctors nearby. Yet, following a strong nudge that showed up last spring and carried her through, that’s exactly what she did.
Crystal’s change story shows how life lives us in ways our mind can’t imagine. As she shares in this conversation, nothing is not possible.
If you benefit from this podcast, I would be so grateful if you’d leave a quick review on itunes. Thank you so much for listening, reviewing, and sharing this show with others!
The post EP240: From a Small Life with Health Anxiety to Hiking the Grand Canyon with Crystal Saltrelli appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Allysen says she hates having a bad day.
She feels like every day could be her last and if it is, she should feel grateful, positive and productive.
Because she feels this way, when she wakes up feeling bad, her mind spirals quickly. It scrambles to change things, which always makes things worse.
In this session, we look at the fluid and meaningless nature of thoughts, feelings and moods.
If Allysen could care just a little bit less about what’s showing up, so much might open up for her.
If you benefit from this podcast, I would be so grateful if you’d leave a quick review on itunes. Thank you so much for listening, reviewing, and sharing this show with others!
The post EP239: A coaching session on having bad days appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In Part 3, I walk participants through leaning into what’s arising.
I answer a lot of excellent, thoughtful questions about this process and everything that’s been shared so far.
Participants share their experience and how this class has opened up so much for them already.
And I talk about going right into the things we least want to lean into.
The spring 2023 Little School of Big Change class begins TODAY, February 6th!
95% of LSBC grads say that what they learned in this course put them on the path to lasting change.
We’re so confident that LSBC will help the way it has helped so many others that we offer a money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose.
Enrollment closes on Thursday, February 9th at midnight eastern time so head over to https://www.thelittlschoolofbigchange.com to enroll now.
It’s going to be an amazing 6 weeks full of insights and lasting change for all of us!
The post EP238: Welcoming What Arises Part 3: Q&A appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In Part 2 of the Welcoming What Arises series, we look more deeply at how to lean into what’s arising.
There is no one way. It’s something we each experiment with and find our own way.
But in this class, we look at breathing into the physical sensations of what’s showing up with curiosity, from an I-don’t-know place.
We lean into the thoughts and memories and images in the same way.
Curiosity is huge here.
When we lean in with curiosity, we will discover what’s truly there beyond old ideas and concepts.
The spring 2023 Little School of Big Change course begins in just 1 week, on February 6th. This is also the last week to save $47, so don’t miss that!
The school has helped thousands of people in over 60 countries. You’ll have lifetime access to video lessons, 12 live calls with Amy, coaching and conversation on our private forum throughout the course, and much more.
We’re so confident that it will help you that we offer a money back guarantee so you have nothing to lose. Head over to https://www.thelittleschoolofbigchange.com to save your seat. I hope to see you there!
The post EP237: Welcoming What Arises Part 2: How to do it appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In the next three podcast episodes I will be sharing the 3-part class I recently taught called Welcoming What Arises.
Today’s episode shares Part 1 where I focus on why we don’t welcome what’s arising.
I speak to the misunderstandings behind our habitual resistance and fear of feeling and the promise, power, and true freedom available when we lean in and feel what’s there.
I discuss how not leaning in is at the root of 100% of suffering, habits, anxiety and anything else that looks like a problem.
I am sharing these classes on Changeable because I honestly can’t think of a more important conversation to be having. Please tune in and if you were at the free class live or have already listened, please listen again. You’ll hear so much more the second time around.
If you’d like to hear much more about Welcoming What Arises, and have my personal support as you experiment with it, please join us in The Little School of Big Change guided course that begins in just 2 weeks on February 6th.
The guided course is 6 solid weeks of lessons, personal coaching, and an incredible community. Enroll before February 6th to save your seat and to save $47 on enrollment.
Go to https://www.thelittleschoolofbigchange.com to enroll. See you in class!
The post EP236: Welcoming What Arises Part 1: Why we don’t appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
An incredibly common thought that doesn’t look like a thought is, “It won’t work for me”.
Whether it’s becoming free from a habit, anxiety, or some other type of personal change, or becoming a successful coach or being able to support others, have a successful business, or any other venture, I hear it all the time. “It works for others, but won’t for me”.
This objection is nothing but a doubtful thought. This doubtful thought has a lot of close relatives like “I’m different”, “I’m special”, “There is something uniquely wrong with me”.
There is always a lot of evidence for this thought, all based on the past. A mind will replay and rehash memories of the past and use these as proof of the future, as if it works this way. These thoughts will always prove themselves right.
In this episode, I give some examples of how this common, simple thought shows up all over the place so that you can see it for what it is when it arises for you.
What will “work” for you has nothing to do with you.
The Little School of Big Change Spring 2023 course begins in just 3 weeks!
95% of LSBC grads say that what they learned in this course put them on the path to lasting change.
We’re so confident that LSBC will help the way it has helped so many others that we offer a money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose. Go to https://www.thelittleschoolofbigchange.com to save your seat in the February guided course.
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There are just a few spots left in the 2023 Change Coach Training Program. If you’re looking for a highly supportive, 6 month immersion into this understanding with tons of practice feedback supporting others in this way, check out all the details at https://www.dramyjohnson.com/coachtraining
The post EP235: It won’t work for me appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Jackie feels like her mind is torturing her. She says it’s constantly telling her what a bad person she is and predicting a horrible future. When Jackie’s mind talks this way–which is often–entire days can be spent in what feels like depression and anxiety.
As if that weren’t enough, Jackie experiences a lot of guilt and shame over the fact that she’s so ungrateful. She has an objectively great life but she doesn’t enjoy it because of these thoughts and feelings.
These thoughts and feelings appear heavy, personal, and meaningful to Jackie. She sort of knows they aren’t true, but not in any way that actually helps.
Because this energy feels so BAD, it is resisted. Pushed away. Judged. Not felt.
Listen in as Jackie and I explore the truth of her experience and as she opens to feeling– welcoming, even–everything that arises.
The Little School of Big Change Spring 2023 course begins in just 4 weeks on February 6th.
If you feel tortured by your mind like Jackie, or you know that an easier, nicer experience of life is possible, I’d love for you to join the guided course.
The LSBC curriculum has helped thousands of people in over 60 countries. You’ll have lifetime access to video lessons, 12 live calls with Amy, coaching and conversation on our private forum throughout the course, and much more.
We’re so confident that LSBC will help you that we offer a money back guarantee so you have nothing to lose. Head over to https://www.thelittleschoolofbigchange.com to save your seat. I hope to see you there!
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There are just a few spots left in the 2023 Change Coach Training Program. If you’re looking for a highly supportive, 6 month immersion into this understanding with tons of practice feedback supporting others in this way, check out all the details at dramyjohnson.com/coachtraining.
The post EP234: A coaching session on feeling tortured by your mind appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Desire and fulfillment have a bad reputation in spirituality. They are associated with ego, attachment, and suffering.
But what if the opposite is true? What if desire and our feelings of personal fulfillment are the way life expresses itself uniquely through us?
What if they are our guides, naturally leading us to follow the energy of what wants to happen? In that way, they aren’t ego-based at all. They are just the opposite, in fact.
Next week, on January 10-12, I’m leading a totally free 3-part class called Welcoming What Arises.
There is tremendous freedom in welcoming anything that arises. In experimenting with this in my own life, I can honestly say that this feels like the most helpful and freeing avenue to explore.
Register for the free class at https://dramyjohnson.com/welcoming
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There are just a few spots left in the 2023 Change Coach Training Program. If you’re looking for a highly supportive, 6 month immersion into this understanding with tons of practice feedback supporting others in this way, check out all the details at https://dramyjohnson.com/coachtraining.
The post EP233: Desire, Fulfillment and Energy appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this special rebroadcast, I share three examples of people who were suffering to varying degrees because they were carrying around the past without realizing it.
This episode is one of my personal favorites. Even if you think you might have listened to it last year when it was initially published, give it a listen again. You’ll hear it differently this time and it just might be exactly what you need to hear right now.
The incredible holiday special we’re running on The Little School of Big Change guided course (beginning February 6th) and the Change Coach Self-Study course LSBC guided ends when 2022 ends. Enroll in these courses this week to have a lot of money AND start 2023 with a bang. https://dramyjohnson.com/events/lsbc-spring-registration-page/ https://dramyjohnson.com/new-change-coach-self-study/
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Also, From January 10-12 I’ll be leading a FREE 3-part class called Welcoming What Arises. See more and save your seat at https://www.dramyjohnson.com/welcoming
The post EP232: How You’re Living in the Past and Not Realizing It (Special Rebroadcast) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
JoJo had a self-proclaimed, longtime issue around making progress in her business. She’d know what she wanted to do, she’d sit down to do it, and she’d become easily overwhelmed. The thing would not get done. She felt more victimized by this overwhelm each time this happened. An interesting thing happened, though. She volunteered to be
The post EP231: A coaching session (sort of) about getting stuff done appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Drinking was part of Jim’s life and identity for several decades. From his first drink as a teenager, it was something he associated with feeling like himself and having fun. It seemed fun until it didn’t anymore; then, it threatened his health, peace of mind, and his most important relationships. Jim stopped drinking 5 years ago
The post EP230: Life after alcohol with Jim Hobbs appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Suzanne went through LSBC in Spring 2020. During and immediately following the course, her longtime bulimia habit was nonexistent. This freedom lasted for a couple months. Then one day, as often happens, she experienced some old habitual thoughts and did some old habitual behaviors.At that moment, Suzanne thought “I guess LSBC didn’t work” and she swung
The post Bonus Episode: A coaching session on needing a food plan appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Kristina Bruce can help you stop hating your body. She helps people see that their body is not the problem…their conditioning is. Kristina says, “Please realize that the amount of conditioning you have experienced to hate fat is the cause of so much dislike about your body, not your body itself.”YES. In this conversation, Kristina shares how
The post EP229: Ending the war with your body with Kristina Bruce appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Euan reached out to have this conversation because, despite years of exploring a variety of spiritual topics and practices, he says it has only landed intellectually. As a result, he has a terrible feeling that he’ll spend the rest of his life with his thoughts getting in the way, missing what could have been. This conversation
The post EP228: A coaching session on why this message hasn’t gone beyond the intellectual appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
My guest in today’s episode is bestselling author and speaker Kute Blackson. Kute says surrender is a shift from ego to soul. He talks about us going from “What do I want?” to “What does the universe want to express through me?” (or what I often ask, “What wants to happen?”)We talk about misconceptions around
The post EP227: The Magic of Surrender with Kute Blackson appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Betty has urges to stay constantly moving. She believes that if she stops for too long, her metabolism will plummet and bad things will happen.As we discuss in this coaching session, Betty knows this is irrational, but this is the story her mind tells.Bigger even than the story her mind tells is the discomfort that
The post EP226: A coaching session on irrational thoughts and the urge to overexercise appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Alex Manzi had a breakdown of sorts several years ago that turned the tide of his life in a very different direction. In that breakdown, Alex realized how depressed and living in his head he had been, and he saw that he might do some things to change that. One thing turned to another and
The post EP225: When a breakdown is a new beginning with Alex Manzi appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I am constantly hearing from people who have tried everything. They’ve read every book, taken every course, studied every philosophy, self-help method, and religion. Many of them have been doing these things for decades. So you can imagine their surprise when their habit remains. In this episode, we’ll explore the way a mind will take us
The post EP224: The way out is right under your nose appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Rob Cook grew up in the inner city around crime and violence. Simply by saying yes to what was presenting itself, life pulled him through to a very different way of life today. In this episode, Rob and I talk about:Saying yes to the ways life is pulling us through (and sometimes saying yes when
The post EP223: How Life Pulls You Through with Rob Cook appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I’ll share some new tools I’ve been trying out with myself and in my coaching with others. They are all about leaning into what’s arising. Looking at it. Being with it. Saying it out loud and owning it.They are all about breaking up the resistance that leads to suffering. I’ll share how I’m
The post EP222: Looking at your darkest thoughts in a new light appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Could things have turned out differently than they did? Really look at this. Our minds are constantly talking about what should have been, what could be, how things might have turned out if xyz were different…But isn’t that pure fiction? I mean, it’s made up! Things were how they were, period. To make up a
The post EP221: Things can’t be other than they are appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this amazing conversation, Change Coach Lindsey Eilliott shares two things in her life that she’s had to “come to terms with”: a divorce she went through several years ago, and having one child when she wanted two. In the case of the divorce, Lindsey feels completely over it. She describes an insight she had
The post EP220: Coming to terms with disappointment appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Do you ever feel like something is off? That things aren’t as they appear? You missed the punchline to a joke that everyone else is in on? Me too. It’s not just you, and you’re not crazy. Something is off. It’s all off, actually.Things are not as they appear. This thought-identified experience is not the truth of
The post EP219: Something is off appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Lisa Inlow is a Change Coach who–now, more than ever–is thriving with ADHD. As is often the case with diagnoses, it was initially a relief to Lisa to have an explanation for some of the things she struggled with. Then, as her relief began to fade, she sometimes felt boxed in by her label. All of
The post EP218: Seeing ADHD through a much wider lens appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Is change up to you? What, if anything, do you really have control over? If we don’t have control, why do anything? Why talk things out in relationships in hopes of more closeness, or join The Little School of Big Change in hopes of freedom from habits? I’ll explore these excellent questions in this episode. I
The post EP217: Is change up to you? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Trying to change through willpower has a massive downside that’s rarely discussed: shame. If we believe that change is up to us–we simply need to work hard enough or want it badly enough–that means it’s also on us when our change attempts don’t work. Believing that we make things happen in life through effort or
The post EP216: Willpower and Shame appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Christina Brittain is a Change Coach who loves to notice, feel, look at, and talk about energy. She notices that there is an energy of moving experience and a somehow different, more stable and subtle energy that she calls “the energy of me”. Christina loves to swim in the energy that’s arising. She loves to
The post EP215: Saying hello to what arises with Christina Brittain appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The Little School of Big Change celebrated its 5th birthday this summer. So much change has happened in 5 years, both for the school, for the no-willpower movement, and for the 100,000 or so people who have been impacted by the no-willpower approach shared in the school. Today’s podcast shares a free class I recently
The post EP214: How habits and anxiety change the no-willpower way appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Rebecca left the religious institution that was a huge part of her life for 18 years. The process of deconstructing her identity and the beliefs it was based upon was a somewhat messy one with moments of anger, fear, guilt, and sadness. It was a process of grief. As Rebecca shares, it was also a
The post EP213: Rebecca’s Change Story: Deconstruction and shedding beliefs that no longer fit appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share some brand new things I’ve been seeing about food, weight concerns, diet and binge eating. Much of it is around physical and mental restriction of food. Diet mentality, good and bad foods, things we will and won’t try, striving to eat as little as necessary…these are all forms of restriction.
The post EP212: How food and weight have been in the nine years since I stopped binge eating appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Do other people’s opinions bring you down? You’re doing great, but their opinions threaten that. Do other people trigger you? You don’t agree with what they say at all, but you can’t help but feel triggered by their words. Guess what? Other people only exist as thought showing up within you. If “they” aren’t in
The post EP211: Other people don’t have opinions. Only you do. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I speak with Stephen Ladd in conversation inspired by his new book, Spiritual Constipation: Discover your True Nature & Get Shift Moving. We talk about how to know the difference between truth and a belief, how oneness is radically different from connectedness, and how sensing our unity with all things is a
The post EP210: Spiritual Constipation with Stephen Ladd appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Are there reasons for things? Your mind definitely thinks there are. Not only does everything have a reason (according to your mind), it’s very important that you know the reasons. Reasons equal control, and control equals survival. So, yes…we often seem to reside in a world full of separate things with lots of reasons that
The post EP209: There is no reason appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Melissa Ford has been coaching for almost 30 years, before coaching was even a thing. She went on a personal development journey around that time and was eager to share her new insights with others, but she had a problem: she was terrible at selling so she had no clients. Melissa vowed to change that
The post EP208: How selling, service, coaching, relationships and all of life looks different with Melissa Ford appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Patricia is looking for the key that unlocks the grip her procrastination habit has on her. Aren’t we all? Interestingly, she says she senses that procrastination is not really a problem to be solved. It definitely feels like a problem, but she’s on to the fact that things are not as they appear. Patricia asks
The post EP207: If I just [BLANK], my habit will go away. What goes in the blank? A question from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
All of life is a projection. Perhaps one of the easiest places to see this is with money. In this conversation, Dr. Giles Croft and I have a conversation about the made-up, projected nature of life, particularly around money. We discuss made up ideas like “enough”, security (which Giles says means free of care), that
The post EP206: Money with Giles Croft appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In listening to one of my Change Coach trainees coach a woman who is struggling with binge eating, two misunderstandings jumped out at me. These are two things I hear from nearly everyone who feels caught up in any habit. I thought these two things myself all the time when I was in my former
The post EP205: When a habit looks like it brings peace, here’s what there is to see appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This week’s episode is my response to a listener who has repeated physical symptoms like head pain and fatigue. She would like to not have those symptoms any longer. She suspects there is an unhelpful story she’s believing, which she’s unaware of and must have been around for years, behind the pain. If she doesn’t
The post EP204: Do you need to see through a story to let it go? A question from a listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I talk with certified Change Coach Malene Colotla about the interconnectedness in all of life. We are all the whole. The human world, the animal and plant world, the physical world….all the way down, one single system. In this discussion, Malene shares how seeing that interconnectedness is what can naturally make way
The post EP203: Mitigating climate change with a shift in consciousness with Malene Colotla appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I share 6 practices you can experiment with. Six ways to play with feeling into the space beyond thought. Some of them are triggered by suffering. Some lead you to zoom way in, others to zoom way out. Some have you play with sensory information, some with sensation and emotion, and one
The post EP202: Practices appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Horton is a Change Coach and Allen Carr practitioner who works primarily with people who want to stop drinking. In this conversation, he shares two major shifts in his own life that led him to the work he does. The first was experiencing sudden and lasting relief from chronic back pain after reading one of
The post EP201: How understanding why we do our habit can lead to instant freedom with Horton McCormick appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Why is our attention so easily and frequently drawn to planning and thinking about the future? Why does retreating into the world of thought feel so comfortable (even when thought is completely uncomfortable!)? It’s a well-practiced habit, no doubt. It’s familiar there. But I think there is more to it than that. In this episode,
The post EP200: How planning and playing out scenarios distract from feeling appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Thomas Leamy has a long history working with very high performing leaders, including leaders of world governments as well as leaders in business and industry. He used to study these incredible leaders very closely, hoping to find the magic potion that made them so effective. He watched their every move, wanting to reverse engineer them
The post EP199: When a mind is not stressed, everything is possible with Thomas Leamy appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
You already know that life is living you. Nothing is excluded from that. There is nothing we must take charge of, make happen, or figure out. Nothing we must gain clarity around. That includes–of course!–seeing more about how life is living you. It can look like there is a path. It can look like there
The post EP198: Life is showing you how to wake up appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Tania Elfersy was experiencing perimenopause symptoms for a few years. Then, she had an insight about the role of thought that led those symptoms to go away. Since then, she’s been exploring the real purpose of symptoms. Menopause and perimenopause symptoms are not a sign of something gone wrong. They aren’t problems to manage or
The post EP197: How hormone changes and menopause symptoms are perfectly designed gifts with Tania Elfersy appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode was inspired by a question posted on our LSBC graduate forum. It was part of a bigger conversation about a habit that was currently feeling heavy and out of control, but the question at the very end of the thread grabbed my attention. “I think my main issue is my unwillingness to sit
The post EP196: You don’t have to sit with uncomfortable feelings appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I often talk about how all suffering comes from thought taken as truth. That can sometimes be heard as cold or insensitive. It looks to me like there are three primary misunderstandings at play when this message is heard in this way. Three things that are not what’s being said, but are how it is
The post EP195: When this message sounds cold and insensitive appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In today’s episode, I speak to a question that was sent by a listener named Betsy. Betsy says her binge/restrict cycle is the worst it’s ever been, she’s gained weight, and is embarrassed and ashamed by herself. Given that she literally sees this all when she looks in the mirror, how can it be thought?
The post EP194: How can my weight problem be thought when it’s a physical reality? A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I talk about a one month workshop I recently led for people struggling with health anxiety. What happened over the course of a month is pretty amazing. Three people who were struggling with worry and anxiety around their health began to see that their anxiety has nothing to do with any health
The post EP193: Freedom from Health Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It’s so funny that I refer to these conversations we have here as an “understanding”. That’s not what it is at all, really. It’s before understanding. Way before. It’s so close, so immediate, so oozy that we overlook it. A mind and it’s concepts and stories look right “over” it. It’s this aliveness that is
The post EP192: Overlook appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share a quote that deeply spoke to me about how the objectifying mind is “nothing other than it’s own movement”. How it will “arrange and rearrange its collection of ideas onto a nest and settle down for a little while, but some unexplainable restlessness will prompt it to keep looking for
The post EP191: A More Comfortable Nest appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There are many concepts and ideas that have been incredibly helpful to me. Things like wisdom, empowerment, hope… From a place of feeling completely immersed in the story of me-and-my-life, going from feeling like life is up to me to seeing that there is something called “wisdom” leading the way was unbelievably helpful.Same with hope.
The post EP190: Hope as a Handhold appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Today’s episode is based on a question I received from a listener. The gist of her question was this: “If our thoughts are not real and they’re just making up stories, then how would you explain childhood abuse? Are my thoughts and feelings not true? Is my mind just making this up?” It’s an excellent
The post EP189: “Is childhood abuse also a story?” A question from a listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The mind isn’t a real thing. It’s a concept. As a concept, it implies some solidity and some continuity. There’s a story about me-and-my-mind that can’t help but arise. My mind appears to be an entity with some solid qualities. I can like what it does or dislike what it does. I can try to
The post EP188: There is No Such Thing as a Mind appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this conversation, I talk with parenting coach, change coach, and The Little School of Big Change moderator, Jessica Silverman. Jess shares what’s behind impatience, particularly in parenting. We feel impatient when we think things aren’t going the way they should–our children aren’t feeling the way they should, or they aren’t behaving the way we
The post EP187: Uncovering Patience with Jessica Silverman appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
If you listened to EP181, you heard me speaking to some questions sent by Alice. In today’s episode, I share a portion of a conversation I had with Alice after she heard EP181. Alice says she feels like a prisoner to thoughts and beliefs she couldn’t change. She said that although it sounded nice to
The post EP186: “I’m a prisoner to my thoughts and beliefs” – A Conversation with a Listener appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There’s a good reason I talk about the no-willpower approach to change. There is no such thing as willpower. Well, don’t take my word for it. Explore for yourself, as you listen to this episode. What if there is no such thing as willpower? What if what we call willpower is thought saying “I’m going
The post EP185: There is no such thing as willpower appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Shelly says she used to be overly reactive. She would get defensive at people’s actions and comments, and the feeling that came with this reactivity was overwhelming. After trying so many things to fix her “reactivity problem”, Shelly sees this “problem” in a completely different light now. Shelly shares how reactivity is simply identification with
The post EP184: Shelly’s Change Story: Seeing Reactivity in a Completely New Way appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Five years ago this month, The Little Book of Big Change had just been published and I was busy creating The Little School of Big Change. In the story in my mind, things look remarkably simpler, clearer, and deeper today compared to five years ago. But when I looked back at the original LSBC curriculum
The post EP183: What Looks Different–and What Doesn’t–Since 2017 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this conversation, Clare shares how suffering and seeking are love in disguise. We talk about how the search for something that will make us feel complete can literally never, ever be won. The seeking itself reinforces the misunderstanding that something is missing or needed. And we talk about the fact that all suffering and
The post EP182: How Suffering and Seeking Reveal Love and Perfection with Clare Dimond appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Alice wrote to me saying that after two years in this conversation, she doesn’t feel any better off. There were several things she said she didn’t get about these pointers, but the biggest was this: “Nothing outside of you can make you feel anything”. That’s just NOT true, Alice said. It’s not that simple and
The post EP181: “Two years in this conversation has gotten me nowhere”. My response to a frustrated listener. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Joe Bailey is back on the podcast! Joe’s new book, Thriving in the Eye of the Hurricane: Unlocking Resilience in Turbulent Times, is all about resilience. After this conversation with Joe, resilience felt even truer and deeper and simpler than ever. It’s not that “you” are resilient, or “I” am resilient (whoever “you” and “I”
The post EP180: Your Nature is to Thrive with Joe Bailey appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Amanda Dorolek recently came across this podcast and my books and videos. To say that things are opening up for her is a massive understatement. She’s watching old beliefs and identities fall away. Her relationships are beginning to transform. How she sees anything and everything is changing. Although Amanda is no doubt in the beginnings
The post EP179: A New Listener Interviews Me! appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Surprise! It’s a bonus episode! This episode is a playback of a webinar I held this week about having a totally new, fresh experience of the holidays. I talk about thriving through this holiday season, not weighed down by over-eating, over-drinking, or over-spending habits that you’ll try to compensate for in January; stress, pressure, people-pleasing, and
The post Bonus Holiday Episode! Having a Brand New Experience of the Holidays (and every other day) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Birds don’t know how to fly or build a nest. They just fly and build nests. And we don’t know how to make it through life, make decisions, take action, feel better, learn new things, or change. Those things just happen. When we think we need to know how, we’re missing the fact that life
The post EP178: Thoughts Don’t Cause or Interfere With–they Accompany appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In many ways, Sarah was the classic overachiever, always excelling in academics, music, and her creative pursuits. Like so many of us, she learned to do what others’ expected of her rather than following her own desires. The weight of that constant effort and pressure took many tolls, including anxiety and eating disorders. Then Sarah
The post EP177: Disidentifying with the Intellect and Thriving in Every Way with Sarah Lee appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Kjersti experienced a range of chronic pain conditions from the age of 11. From headaches to ulcers to pelvic issues, her pain morphed and changed, often showing up in new ways. Kjersti tried many things to help alleviate her pain, but it was really when she began diving into the New Paradigm that she began
The post EP176: Thriving with Chronic Pain with Kjersti Ostvik appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share three examples of people who were suffering, to varying degrees, because they were carrying the past around without realizing it. You’ll hear about someone who was positive that lockdown created the anxiety he feels today. You’ll hear about someone who wanted to know how The Little School of Big Change
The post EP175: How you’re Living in the Past and Not Realizing It appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if the concepts we call ‘choice’ and ‘regret’ have nothing to do with what actually happens in life? What if life lives us, and thought arises talking about intention, control, and a “you” who has intention and control…and that’s what’s happening when we say we made a choice? Likewise, what if regret is simply
The post EP173: Choice and Regret appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Jenny Roberts has been working with parents and their children (but really just the parents) for decades. Jenny lives in Australia and worked with parents who were feeling completely overwhelmed and hopeless throughout Australia and all over the world. She’d move in with families who were at the end of their rope, dealing with children
The post EP172: Less is Unbelievably More in Parenting with Jenny Roberts appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share a practice I’ve been playing with. It’s a deep investigation into the actual experience of thought. It’s me asking “what is this thought thing, really?” It’s me walking right up to a thought and looking at it. Feeling it. Moving closer. Are there images, sounds, or other sensory reflections I
The post EP171: Try This! Deeply Exploring the Nature of Thought appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, my friend and coach colleague Piers Thurston and I discuss what it’s been like for our coaching to move from a focus on psychology to a focus on something closer to spirituality or nonduality. We talk about how life looks far simpler than it used to, and why, even given that, we
The post EP170: A conversation between two coaches about our apparent shift from psychology to spirituality with Piers Thurston appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Minds love dramatic, sensational statements. And if you don’t know better, you might be very tempted to take them seriously. They’ll say things like: “I can’t handle this”. “I don’t know how I’ll make it through.” “I’m lost. I don’t know what to do next.” “I’m barely keeping my head above water.”. But here’s the
The post EP169: I Can’t Handle It! appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Siobhan came to the new paradigm a couple different times in the past few years. The first was to find freedom around some habits. She talks about going through The Little School of Big Change a few years ago, solidly focused on her behavior (which is NOT how I recommend doing it!). Even while tracking
The post EP168: Siobhan’s Change Story: When Change Doesn’t Look How You Expect appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The narrator exaggerates. It can be so dramatic. You’re not just feeling a little grumble in your stomach, you’re about to die of hunger. You’re not just coming up on a busy week, you don’t know how you’ll handle it all–it’s going to be horrible! These are examples of how a mind loves to add
The post EP167: Minds Dramatize appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Your mind will never say “Okay, you can rest now. You’re perfectly good enough right now. There is nothing more to add or improve upon.” That’s just NOT what minds do. Brains have evolved to look for ways to keep us safe and alive. In the absence of many actual threats to safety, the story
The post EP166: Minds Think You’re Never Good Enough appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Minds are always looking for problems to solve. This works out well for them given that they are also always creating problems. They create the problem and the solution. Can you sense how seeing this is incredibly valuable? If you believe that your mind’s problem solving activities are necessary–that minds are solving actual problems that
The post EP165: Minds Problem Solve appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Your brain is a big ole’ know-it-all. Its job is to keep you alive, and the more it knows, the more assumed certainty it has, the better it can do that job. It’s a know-it-all because it loves you and it wants to do well by you. One of the ways minds scramble for assumed
The post EP164: Minds Compare appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
All minds do the same things. The details and content may vary slightly, but the tricks a mind gets up to are universal. The next five episodes of Changeable will feature 5 of these things all minds do, based on five chapters in my upcoming book: minds worry, minds compare, minds problem solve, minds think
The post EP163: Minds Worry appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share some of the most helpful themes that came up in the 4-week overdrinking workshop I recently led. Questions like: Isn’t alcohol different from other habits because it is a drug that involves physical addiction? (If we were trying to manage experience, this would probably make a big difference. But we’re
The post EP162: Ending the Drinking Habit appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Anne experienced anxiety and worry for as long as she could remember. As is often the case, it showed up physically, as well as emotionally. She often felt sick, had headaches, and experienced pain that would move to different places in her body. She tried many things for her pain (including surgery), and some things
The post EP161: Anne’s Change Story: A New Experience of Chronic Pain due to Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When I initially heard the title my publisher proposed for my upcoming book Just a Thought, I absolutely, positively hated it. I literally said (over and over) “there is no way that will be the title of my book”. And, well, things change. Within a couple months, I had a change of mind. Or a
The post EP160: What Hating the Title of my New Book Showed me about Change appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Phillip has been alcohol-free, after a lifetime of drinking, for a year this summer. He quit smoking this year too, after having smoked since the age of 13. But the fact that he no longer smokes or drinks are just details. They are incredible details, don’t get me wrong, but when you know Phillip, you
The post EP159: Phillip’s Change Story: Free from Addiction and Free to Feel Everything appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I recently heard something so simple. Everyone who is suffering is preoccupied. Preoccupation is the only problem there is. Some thought has occupied our focus such that we’re no longer sensing what’s there pre thought. The world we experience is a perfect reflection of what we’re preoccupied with. I think you’ll sense a whole new
The post EP158: Preoccupied appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Lily has a long history with anxiety, similar to mine in many ways. She describes herself as a sensitive child who often worried about being abandoned. She worried about going crazy and about her physical health in general, to the point of behaving in ways that might be called orthorexia, health anxiety, sleep anxiety, or
The post EP157: Freedom from Derealization, Orthorexia, and the other Shapes Anxiety Takes with Lily Sais appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Brains generalize in order to make sense of the world in the most predictive, efficient way possible. And while there are a lot of necessary benefits of this, there are some drawbacks too. We lose some nuance and fluidity when we’re hanging out in a highly generalized view of things. Our experience tends to be
The post EP156: How Generalizing is Keeping you Stuck in Habits and Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Me and Dr. Bob Solomon are major geeks for helping people be themselves again. From the time we’re babies, we’re taught how to be. Don’t cry. Be a good girl or a good boy. Say please. Be grateful. Do the right thing. This is the beginning of us being led away from what feels right
The post EP155: Being Yourself with Dr. Robert Solomon appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I view anxiety as a habit. (To be fair, I view most things–including personality, identity, and moods–as habits too). People who struggle with anxiety ask me about this all the time. They say “I can see how nail biting or binge eating or drinking is a habit. But how is anxiety a habit?” “Where’s the
The post EP154: Where’s the Habit in Anxiety? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Maria Brigantino helps people become free of eating issues because she’s been there herself. In this episode, we talk about how Maria went through anorexia, bulimia, obsession with her weight, and early trauma to where she is today–feeling grateful for these struggles and the deep peace they revealed to her. She shares how relief from
The post EP153: A New Way to Stop Binge Eating with Maria Brigantino appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
My friends Sarah and Anthony have a wonderful webinar series called Beautiful Feelings Within where they share the New Paradigm. They’d done several webinars with the two of them, and some with guests. A few webinars in, someone who was unfamiliar with this understanding but had been listening along asked, “What is this that we’re
The post EP152: What Are We Talking About Here, Anyway? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Joy Elohim is a Change Coach who works with people around grief. Although that might sound depressing, it’s not at all depressing for Joy. She loves it, because grief isn’t depressing to Joy. Grief is a beautiful expression of love and life. I love how Joy describes the aliveness in grief. The way that everything
The post EP151: A Fine Line Between Grief and Joy with Joy Elohim appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Have you noticed how people often qualify what they want with their “terms”? They want to be happy, or have a nice relationship, or have fulfilling work, but only “on their terms”. It has to show up a certain way–a way that our mind surely made up–in order for it to be okay. “On my
The post EP150: On My Terms appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Dorothy had been working with individuals and organizations to help them manage stress and avoid burnout for many years. Then, stress and burnout hit her. Hard. She went through a period of time when she would wake up completely exhausted. She hated to be awake. Stress, exhaustion, and hopelessness were her new norm. Then, she
The post EP149: Burnout to Buoyancy with Dorothy Martin appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Your brain is a fancy computer, always making predictions in order to keep you physically alive. To support its prediction making, it makes up causal models to try to explain how life works. If this, then that. If x, then y. Which is fine, except those causal models aren’t accurate. And we often take them
The post EP148: If This, Then That appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Matt Dixon of Purple Patch Fitness coaches athletes, business leaders, and others to their absolute highest level of performance. Like all competitors, Matt loves winning. But his coaching is not about that. It’s about taking people on a journey where they get to wake up to what’s possible for them, which impacts every aspect of
The post EP147: High Performance from Within with Matt Dixon appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Jamie Sellers is a magician. He has also been sharing the New Paradigm with adults and young people, in psychiatric hospitals and other in- and out-patient settings, for over 20 years. Jamie says that doing magic for his patients in the psychiatric hospitals proved to him that innate health was true. He could take any
The post EP146: How Innate Health was Revealed through Magic with Jamie Sellers appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This is a conversation I’ve been wanting to have for a while. First, with Sharon Strimling. I’ve been aware of her for a few years and we’ve never had the opportunity to connect until recently. But also about what it truly looks and feels like to wake up to that space beyond our psychology when
The post EP145: Realizing Health through Trauma with Sharon Strimling appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The inspiration for this episode is a Biblical quote retold in Moshe Gersht’s book It’s All The Same To Me. “In the beginning there was one voice. Then there were two. Now there is one. Our first step is to, at the very least, return back to hearing two voices.” The voices are said to
The post EP144: I Forgot! appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Moshe Gersht is the author of It’s All the Same to Me, a book about the equanimity we discover beyond our mind’s ideas of how life should go. This kind of equanimity or “sameness” is the exact opposite of dull, boring, or cookie-cutter. When we sense our shared oneness, the light in all things, as
The post EP143: It’s All the Same to Me with Moshe Gersht appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Katherine went through a boatload of anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts after the birth of her daughter a few years ago. For as hard as that time in her life was, it’s incredible to hear how it all looks to her now. Katherine discovered her resilience through this hard, scary time. She’s come to see
The post EP142: Katherine’s Change Story: Intrusive Thoughts and Postpartum Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Consider what it might be like to not carry anything through time. To not carry your clung-to identities or problems around. To not be checking on, or “working on” anything. Notice how often you check on your issues. How am I doing? How’s my progress? How’s my problem? I want to suggest that none of
The post EP141: Hypervigilance and Setting Down What You’re Carrying appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Shane is a former law enforcement agent who began experiencing PTSD symptoms 20 years ago, after an event on the job. For years, he was in therapy that had him relive the traumatic event over and over again. It was horribly painful, but the memories did lose a lot of their power after he replayed
The post EP140: Shane’s Change Story: How 20 Years of PTSD Revealed his True Identity appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It’s an episode within an episode! I’m sharing my conversation with Angus and Rohini Ross, when they interviewed me about my relationship with my husband on their incredible podcast, Rewilding Love. I talk about how this understanding has impacted our relationship, how many of the ideas and theories I used to have about what made
The post EP139: My Relationship appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Caroline used to be terrified of making mistakes. She was the good girl, the one who tried to be perfect and hold everything together for everyone else. She did that until she couldn’t anymore. Life began showing her in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t working. As she says, she learned to “get past perfect,
The post EP138: You Don’t Owe Anyone with Caroline Garnet McGraw appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The title of this episode was the topic of an incredible thread on the LSBC forum. What makes a person free? What’s the difference between the people we hear from in the Changeable Change Stories, and others who have been listening, but who don’t feel the same lightness or freedom? In this episode, you’ll hear
The post EP137: What makes a person free? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Missy used to push through life. When things didn’t work out her way, she tried harder. She thought low-level anxiety motivated and fueled her to do more. But in her mid 40s, Missy’s old ways didn’t work anymore. The hum of anxiety turned to terror and it manifested as hives and swelling that were impossible
The post EP136: Missy’s Change Story: How Hives and Terror Woke Her to up to the Fact that Life is Impersonal appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I see a lot of people want to get it right the first time. We want to NOT fall into our habit at all, we want to NOT say that thing that starts an argument, we want to somehow PREVENT uncomfortable feelings from starting in the first place. Getting it “right”, as our mind defines
The post EP135: Getting It Right appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Stacey came across the New Paradigm when she was struggling with binge eating and depression. She saw a lot, quickly. She began to see that thought creates her entire reality. That she has a home base within her that is far closer and less conditional than she ever imagined. Without trying, her success at her
The post EP134: Stacey’s Change Story: Doubling your Business while Remembering Who-You-Are appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In Part 2, I share two stories to illustrate how things tend to go when our experience looks personal, and how things can go when it doesn’t. Jane often experiences anxious reactions to her sometimes-unkind sister in law. Jane says the problem is that she’s too sensitive. She should be tougher. She should be able
The post EP133: The Impersonal Nature of Thought Part 2 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This is one of my favorite topics. It’s something that has become increasingly clear and obvious in the past several years. Experience isn’t about us. What you experience–what your mind labels a thought, feeling, sensation, behavior, preference, aversion, any of it–has nothing to do with you. It is simply life arising. What’s also become increasingly
The post EP132: The Impersonal Nature of Thought Part 1 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Debbie Miliam is one of the most inspirational people I know. She sees the best in everyone and everything. She’s full of love and gratitude. And it’s not because her life is easy. In fact, she’s been dealing with a huge string of life threatening health issues this year that she’ll discuss in this episode.
The post EP131: The New Paradigm and Religion: Are we all pointing toward the same thing? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Lea Wernli and Shailia Stephens had secret lives. Lea had everything she thought she wanted, but she was secretly drinking, eating, and shopping more than she wanted to. And Shailia was moving up the ranks in her marketing career, only to come home from work and be flooded with worry and anxiety. When they came
The post EP130: Telling Our Secrets appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Lexi started binge eating at age 10. She thought she was seriously flawed–broken, really–for the next 35 years. It was so easy to see it that way. Her mind ran with fixes and effort and doing, until she came across the New Paradigm in early 2020 and things began to shift. They’ve shifted in deep
The post EP129: Lexi’s Change Story: Freedom from Binge Eating after 35 Years appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Surprise! It’s a special New Year edition, rebroadcast of one of Changeable listener’s favorite episodes. Did you know that January 17th (aka, my birthday) is International Ditch your New Year’s Resolutions Day? Do you know why? Do you know what consciousness has to do with it? You will after listening to this episode. Listener’s loved
The post SPECIAL REBROADCAST: The Average Resolution Lasts 17 Days. What Consciousness has to do with it. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Looking back at Dror’s life provides a clear illustration of how a life often goes. We settle into something that feels right, only to evolve and grow and change. Then we wake up in a new state of mind, in a new reality. And life changes naturally from there. Sometimes this process is fun and
The post EP128: Dror’s Change Story: From Cloudy Vision to Clarity appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Okay, so I know Hanukkah is over. And Christmas is basically Now. The holiday episode is a bit late this year because, if I’m honest, this year has felt different. Not worse. Just different. But, I may be redeeming myself with this episode. It’s a mashup of two popular holiday episodes I ran in the
The post EP127: The Holiday Episode appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There are a lot of things that are normal, but not natural. Living in your head is pretty normal. But it’s not natural. Feeling caught up in habits is normal, but not natural. Anxiety and depression are sadly normal, but they aren’t natural (feelings are natural–chronic anxiety and depression are not) Focusing outward at the
The post EP126: Normal vs. Natural appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Do we “make” decisions? Or is it possible that we realize them? That instead of us being the doer behind a decision, what’s really happening is we’re catching a glimpse of what’s always already available to us beyond the curtain of thought? I’ll discuss some decisions I once felt like I “made”, but now I
The post EP125: Are Decisions Really Just a Peek Behind the Curtain of Thought? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I had a series of massive insights when I was 16 years old. Shortly thereafter, my familiar, habitual thinking slowly came back, masking what I had seen. This happens, but I didn’t know it at the time. I spent a good part of the next 20 years trying to chase down or recreate my former
The post EP124: What Losing my Insight Showed me about Feeling versus Knowing appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I attempt to describe what’s there beyond our changing, moving, psychological experience. As you might imagine, it’s not easy to describe in words. But I try, using one of my favorite ways of thinking about it–the purring cat (I got this from my friend Marnix Pauwels). If anything I say in this
The post EP123: The Purring Cat appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if we’re designed with the ability to eat without needing to think much about it? And what if we never, ever lose this ability…we just think we’ve lost it? I know it can look like we have all the evidence in the world to prove that we don’t know how to eat. We overeat.
The post EP122: You Know How To Eat appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Gina has been the primary caregiver for her father and step-mother, during a pandemic, no less. To make matters worse, her husband has had some recent health challenges and she’s been caring for him as well. As many of you know firsthand, caretaking can be a huge job. She’s felt the enormity and exhaustion and
The post EP121: Gina’s Change Story: Caretaking and Meeting Your Elderly Parents for the First Time appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Politicians do not determine our overall level of wellbeing. Policies and practices, while very important in a macro sense, do not determine what we feel in a micro sense. In this episode, we’ll explore that macro-micro distinction. When we look out to the macro and think it affects the micro, we suffer. That suffering is
The post EP120: Political Candidates and Outcomes Can’t Affect Your Wellbeing appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Sarah’s life today is unrecognizable from how it once was. She spent 15 years in and out of hospital, afraid to eat, often on a feeding tube, with more than one suicide attempt. She didn’t think she could cope with life. She didn’t want to grow up, so she kept herself (literally) tiny and physically
The post EP119: Sarah’s Change Story: From fifteen years of anorexia to complete health, contentment, and a life supporting others appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Humans are said to process 11 Million bits of information per second. Do you know how much we’re aware of? How many bit make it to conscious awareness? 50. Isn’t that an incredible ratio?! How do you suppose the 50 out of 11,000,000 bits are chosen? Which 50 come to life in a way we
The post EP118: What the Ratio 50:11,000,000 Can Show You About What You Think and Feel appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Harry has touched that space beyond thought. He knows firsthand that he is not his experience. And, for forty-some years, he was caught up in varying degrees of thinking. He had a “normal” life, with problems and suffering and regret…the whole bit. It may have looked like what he saw 40-some years ago was lost,
The post EP117: You Can’t Lose an Insight…But You Can Think Over It with Harry Derbitsky appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
People are suffering and we’re bombarded with reminders and images of their struggles. Which, in turn, leads us to suffer for them. In some ways, it’s a beautiful, compassionate illustration of our oneness that we suffer for complete strangers. We celebrate with them too. We are them and they are us and we deeply know
The post EP116: Suffering for Others appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Jacqui recently had what she calls a shattering. There was B.S., life Before the Shattering (which she says is aptly named) and there is life now, after the shattering. Before the shattering Jacqui was far less aware of her worth. She believed that her worth came from the roles she took on. Her value was
The post EP115: Jacqui’s Change Story: Realizing Your Worth Beyond Actions and Roles appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Twice a year, before each LSBC class begins, I’m flooded with emails that say things like this: “Everything about this understanding resonates so deeply with me, but I’m afraid to try The Little School of Big Change because I’ve already tried everything” Or, “I love what you share and I know it could help me
The post EP114: What if it doesn’t work? Yeah, but what if it does? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I was ridiculously excited to talk with John Dicey, CEO of Allen Carr’s Easyway Method. Allen Carr’s Easyway books have sold over 14 Million copies worldwide. Fourteen MILLION. They’ve applied their method to smoking, drinking, overeating, and a growing handful of other issues. The essence of their approach is so much in line with the
The post EP113: Dismantling False Beliefs to End Addiction with John Dicey, CEO of Allen Carr’s Easyway Method appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Clare has gone from living with quite a bit of anxiety, to being mostly free of it. She’s gone from worrying about everything, to being diagnosed with an eye condition that could possibly lead to blindness at some point, and facing that with a kind of gratitude, ease, and grace that is quite remarkable. She’s
The post EP112: Fearless in the Face of Health Uncertainty with Clare Assante appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode was inspired by a woman who said she feels a lot better since she stopped listening to the podcast 🙂 We’ll discuss why this happens and how you can follow the incredibly simple, incredibly clear guidance life is providing. If you don’t feel good listening to this episode please don’t listen to it!
The post EP111: Don’t Listen to this Podcast appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Dave came to The Little School of Big Change in the Spring of 2020 to see something around writer’s block. He ended up getting a lot more than that. As he shares in this episode, he saw that all problems are the same. He watched a 20+ per day Diet Coke habit he had for
The post EP110: Dave’s Change Story: How Writer’s Block and a Diet Coke Habit Led to Not Believing His Brain and Inviting in All Feelings appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode is all about memory! I’ll explore: How memory is different from other types of thought (or actually, how it isn’t) How it works in a reconstructive–created in real time–way, and what that means for us How memory for traumatic episodes is sometimes created in a different way than memory for other things How
The post EP109: Memory appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Judy came across the New Paradigm accidentally when she was googling “How to commit suicide and have it look like an accident.” In the few years that followed, she’s come to see her near constant suicidal ideation in a very different way. Those suicide fantasies went from looking like a serious problem to looking like
The post EP108: Judy’s Change Story: From Suicidal Fantasies to Peace of Mind appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if the future is nothing but your mind having a made up conversation designed to help you feel safe and secure? In that mind made conversation, your mind calls upon what it knows which, relatively speaking, isn’t much. It looks past the infinite source of all experience to focus on what’s solid and already
The post EP107: There is Nothing in Your Future appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Connie and Bill DeKramer are two incredible coaches who love health and healthy cooking. They’ve been supporting people through food and health for a long time. And, they’ve been on their own spiritual path for many years in a variety of ways. In the past several years and especially since coming across the New Paradigm,
The post EP106: Natural Weight Loss and One Step Closer to Who You Are with Connie & Bill DeKramer appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Everything is present and true at once. What we experience out of, well, anything and everything, is down to our current perspective. Sometimes we’re in perspective of separation, identity, personality, the real, physical world “stuff” in front of us. Wonderful. Other times, we’re sliding to the other end of perspective where we feel our oneness.
The post EP105: Perspective appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Nicole used to have chronic fatigue and eating disorders. Now she helps people rediscover who they are, waking up to new levels of creativity and peace. In this episode, we talk about how things changed so much for Nicole. We talk about creativity–Nicole is a writer and all-around creator. We talk about pregnancy and how
The post EP104: The Birth of Creative Ventures, Thriving Health, and Babies with Nicole Barton appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I talk about my vomit-filled writing process and how writing is like doing a puzzle. I talk about the crazy alive feeling of life creating through you which is probably the number one reason I write. I discuss stepping aside and throwing your mind a bone so that magic can work through you.
The post EP103: How I Write and What it Shows Me About my Mind appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It has been incredible watching Michele change over the past few years. Not long ago, she lived and died by her planner. She scheduled life from her estimated death date backward, to the present day. Really. There is nothing wrong with a good plan. But as she describes in this episode, it felt heavy to
The post EP102: Freedom from Planning and Control with Michele Vineyard appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Changeable is about the ironic way change works. Ironic, because the less we push, manipulate, and try to make change happen, the more we see that change is always already happening. Change is unavoidable. We simply miss it when we’re lost in our heads in our efforts. Why does it work this way? Isn’t it
The post EP101: Unchangeable appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The murder of George Floyd has rocked the world. In many ways, it’s been rocking my world and my friend Barb’s world too. In this episode, we stumble through trying to articulate what we’ve been seeing in the past couple weeks. We share our own personal insights and what this has shown each of us
The post EP100: When World Events Wake You Up: A Conversation with Barb Patterson appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The human brain hasn’t changed much in the past 200,000 years. But–you may have noticed–the world has changed a lot since then. What this means is that there are many things your brain does that were necessary and adaptive in the world of 200,000 years ago, but that are unnecessary and irrelevant today. Fear, for
The post EP99: The Evolutionary Reason Your Brain Creates Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Del grew up in some unusual circumstances and her mind did all that it could to protect her. It did all that it could to heal the hurts of the past, as minds do. As a result, Del was caught up in narcissistic relationships and codependency for many years. Now, she experiences things very, very
The post EP98: Freedom from Codependency with Del Adey-Jones appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Our experience is so much simpler than our minds will ever let us know. It’s so much simpler than our minds are even capable of knowing. When people feel badly, they ask things like: “What am I missing?” “Do I just need to see this more deeply?” “Maybe I don’t really get it?” “Should I
The post EP97: Simpler, Not More appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In the past few months, Mary has been diagnosed with skin cancer and Coronavirus. Her young son also had the virus. Oh, and she had her very first panic attack recently. All of these things have shown her something amazing. They have helped her see that she is okay. Now. Always. No matter what is
The post EP96: Always Okay (Even with Cancer and Covid-19) with Mary Franklin-Smith appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There is no such thing as a mean or evil person. Or a kind person, a funny person, a clumsy person. There are just people–always healthy, always pure, always full of love and connection at their core (yes, even Hitler. Even serial killers), who do unkind things, and also some kind things. No different than
The post EP95: You Have No Personality (and Neither do Serial Killers) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Giles’ mum died last month…just a couple weeks before this conversation was recorded. A few days after our conversation, Giles and his sister held an online funeral for his mum in the midst of the lockdown. His experience of grief has been amazing to watch. Giles’ experience of his mother’s death has been night and
The post EP94: Grief and Death with Giles Croft appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Planning + Panicking = Planicking Are you doing it? In this episode, we look at what happens when we plan + panic = planick. But mostly, we look at how incredibly, unbelievably resilient humans are. How amazing it is that we’re making it through each day as well as we are. How we’re doing perhaps
The post EP93: Planicking appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Holly thought weight issues were encoded in her DNA. She was a person with food issues, period. There was no other possibility in her mind. She was born with food issues just like she was born with blue eyes. It was her cross to bear. Finding new ways to bear that cross was as good
The post EP92: Holly’s Change Story: The End of Dieting and the Beginning of So Much More appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
“The pursuit of balance can create imbalance because sometimes something is true.” –Daniel Okrent It always sounds funny to me when people talk about achieving balance. Or striving for balance. Or working on, or toward, balance. Balance is our nature. It is default. We don’t work toward what’s default. We stop working and find ourselves
The post EP91: Balance appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Fairly recently, Lucy decided to experiment with drinking less. She didn’t quit. She experimented. She became curious and watched what happened as she didn’t drink one time. And then another time. And then another time. She watched what happened as she came up against situations where drinking was the norm. There were a lot of
The post EP90: Lucy’s Change Story: Drinking appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Phobias are one of my favorite things to coach. They are also one of the absolute best illustrations of how our experience works. When you have a phobia, you aren’t afraid of the thing you think you’re afraid of. You’re afraid of thought. Period. It’s amazing to see how a mind defends what it believes.
The post EP89: Phobias and Other Illusions appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Marnix is a coach and author with a growing sense of joy about life. Less than 10 years ago he was depressed, anxious, and addicted. Marnix and I talk about all sorts of things in this episode. From how and why he woke up to this very different experience of life, while others too often
The post EP88: Living a Perfectly Imperfect Spiritual Life with Marnix Pauwels appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In times of uncertainty, minds can get restless. They can make up stories and scenarios in order to give you some semblance of certainty. Knowing how your mind works, helps. It helps you see what’s beyond its stories. What is beyond the mind’s stories? Now. Where we’re all okay, doing the best we see to
The post EP87: You and Your Mind in a Pandemic appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Some things in life feel like driving with your parking brake on. Other things feel simple. Effortless, even. What’s the difference? And how can we more naturally do the things that feel really hard? What if I said that no activity is inherently hard, ever? None. No exceptions. What if I said that paying taxes
The post EP86: How to Do Your Taxes (And Other Hard Things) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Imagine what it might be like to truly see your physical health as loving feedback. Not good versus bad. Not healthy versus diseased. Your health is how the energy of life happens to be flowing through you, expressing itself through your physical container, at a particular moment in time. Imagine viewing physical health challenges as
The post EP85: Health is Not Good or Bad with Scott Kelly appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There was a new mother who was very caught up in doing everything right for her baby. She saw her baby’s weight, eating habits, and moods as personal reflections of how she was doing as a parent. She worried about what people would think if her baby cried in public. Her B-A-B-Y. We talked and
The post EP84: I Know It’s My Thinking, But… appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It’s been so fun to watch things change for Tom. Shortly before we met last summer, Tom was not feeling great. It was a feeling he had expressed off and on at times in his life. His doctor called it Recurrent Major Depression. Then, as Tom says, he snapped out of it. He began to
The post EP83: Tom’s Change Story: From Major Recurrent Depression to Moods that Fix Themselves appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
At first glance, the New Paradigm can appear to be inconsistent with the idea that memories are “repressed”, or that the effects of old thought and memory are manifest in our bodies. After all, if we are 100% free and innately well, feeling only Thought energy that is constantly in motion, how would repression fit?
The post EP82: Are Memories Repressed and Stored in our Body? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I’ve seen so many people suffer over the idea that they don’t know their “purpose”. It’s not purpose’s fault. But “purpose”, or better yet “soul purpose”, as Kirk Souder often talks and writes about it, just sounds so big. So important. And sometimes so mysterious. We make up how it would look and feel if
The post EP81: Listening to Your Soul and Blowing Your Own Mind with Kirk Souder appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I talk with Teri Whiteman and Claudette Dietlin about Nature. Human nature. Mother nature. “Inside” nature. “Outside” nature. Same same. No, seriously. Same same. We humans are nature, and we operate by the same Principles as nature. Do you know that? Like, really know it? The difference between you and a tree
The post EP80: The Nature of You: How You and Nature are One and the Same with Teri Whiteman and Claudette Dietlin appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Okay, so they aren’t exactly “right” and “wrong”, but there are two very, very different ways we tend to “wait for insight”, each with their own set of consequences. Are you waiting the easy, helpful, guided way? Or the powerless, insight-come-save-me way? Listen in and find out!
The post EP79: The Right Way–and the Wrong Way–to Wait for Insight appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
So many things in life look like either/or. It’s either black or it’s white. It’s either up or it’s down. When we’re thinking conceptually, life is full of either/or. Full of two things that seemingly can’t both be true. That appears to be the case when our intellect is engaged, and we’re view life through
The post EP78: And appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This is Part 2 of Dave Fry’s conversation with me. I hope you’re enjoying the tables turned! Check out Part 1 of this conversation here: https://dramyjohnson.com/2019/12/ep76-dave-fry-interviews-me-part-1-of-2
The post EP77: Dave Fry Interviews Me: Part 2 of 2 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Dave Fry is interviewing me in a very long episode that we’ve split into two parts. Dave came to me with the idea of him interviewing me a couple of months ago. He already had a list of questions he’d love to ask, if I agreed. I was hesitant…only because I feel like you all
The post EP76: Dave Fry Interviews Me: Part 1 of 2 appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Tammy had an eating habit for 40 years. She tried everything. I do mean everything. She lists many of the things she tried in this episode (and then she sent me a long email with 20 more things she tried, but forgot to mention). Then Tammy came across the New Paradigm and things began to
The post EP75: Tammy’s Change Story: The 40-Year Eating Habit that Never Was appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Phil had a somewhat distant relationship with his father for as long as he can remember. When Phil was in his 20s, his father disowned him and they didn’t speak for 10 years. Phil thought he was over it. He had forgiven his father and moved on. Until he realized there was more on offer.
The post EP74: How Your Parent Can Completely Change (Even When They Don’t Change At All) with Phil Goddard appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It’s another Surprise episode! This one is a replay of Episode 23 from around this time last year. I wanted to republish this episode because…it’s so funny….of all the somewhat deep things I talk about, people LOVE dysfunctional family bingo! I can’t even tell you how many emails I get from people every year, every
The post Special EP: Dysfunctional Family Bingo appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I recently had the opportunity to share the New Paradigm at the UK’s National Health Services (NHS). In this episode, I’ll share how that opportunity came to be and what I learned from my time there. I’ll discuss: The massive (yet seemingly subtle) difference between knowing that all people are full of mental health right
The post EP73: What I Learned Sharing the New Paradigm with NHS appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, we explore preferences. How do you know you like or dislike the things you say you like and dislike? It’s such a strange question, I know! It can be incredibly freeing to look at how much of our lives is conditioned…not just how we think, feel, and behave, but even our preferences.
The post EP72: Do You Even Like What You’re Eating, Drinking, and Buying? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Surprise! It’s Wednesday and I’m here with an episode for you. The episode that follows is actually Episode 19, which originally aired this week last year. Even if you listened to it then, consider giving it another listen. One of the things that so fun about this New Paradigm, aside from all that it opens
The post Special EP: Gratitude and Contentment in the New Paradigm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
“The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” That’s only true in terms of stories our mind tells. The way our mind talks about anything is the way it talks about everything. But we’re never locked into those stories. In this episode, we explore the stories minds tell when we’re feeling threatened
The post EP71: Self-Sabotage and the Ways We Pout appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Diane’s mind used to constantly ask ‘what if?’ What if something bad happened? What if she felt anxious in public? What if it was too hot outside? What if it was too cold? And then she was introduced to a ‘what if?’ question on the other side of things. A ‘what if?’ question that pushed
The post EP70: Diane’s Change Story: How Two Words Changed Everything appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It looks like things outside of us can trigger experience within us. A fight with your partner triggers the desire for a drink. The smell of food triggers a binge. Work stress triggers a feeling of overwhelm. And it really looks like some experience triggers more experience. A memory triggers a rush of anger. Hormones
The post EP69: There is No Such Thing as a Trigger appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There is one simple little misunderstanding that precedes most suffering. One simple little trap we tend to fall into, that leaves us confused and uncomfortable. The good news is that this trap is very changeable. Seeing it as a trap allows you to sidestep it much of the time. The other good news is that
The post EP68: The Biggest Trap of All appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It’s a great question, isn’t it? Who cares about our essence, our nature, our core, when your body has an illness? Or when your mind isn’t working the way it ‘should’, or when your life circumstances are the worst you can imagine? What good is innate health when everything that’s physical and human is falling
The post EP67: What Good is Innate Health when my Mind or Body are Broken? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
If you’ve listened to Changeable, you know that what’s ultimately behind deep, lasting change is insight. Glimpsing truth beyond the appearance of things. Seeing something about who we are and how we work. Seeing it, sensing it, feeling it…not necessarily acting or “doing” our way there. The new paradigm looks far beyond our behaviors or
The post EP66: Releasing What Is In The Way with Hale Dwoskin appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
As we see ourselves and our experience in a brand new way, things that used to comfort us don’t in the same way. Old identities and plans no longer fit. That’s a beautiful thing! Old, limiting concepts are falling away. Although it’s a wonderful sign of change, it’s definitely not always comfortable. Listen in to
The post EP65: When Old Comforts No Longer Comfort appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Back in April, Teri had a major disappointment. It threw her for a loop. She went through all the feelings. She thought this disappointment shouldn’t affect her as much as it did. After all, she has this new paradigm understanding. What good was it if she was suffering this much? When Teri’s mind settled and
The post EP64: When Hard Things Happen with Teri Whiteman appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
I constantly hear people talking about how important it is to “be okay with” their experience. They want to accept what is. Be okay with. Feel a certain way about [fill in the blank]. That looks like the ticket to freedom, the key to satisfaction, the way we experience peace. Except it’s not. Not really.
The post EP63: You don’t Have to be Okay with your Experience appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
“Mental health is designed into us.” I know this to be true. But for some reason, it stopped me in my tracks when Julieanne said it in the first few minutes of our conversation. Julie talks about how so much of the change in her life came from every day interactions. Not from learning or
The post EP62: Realizing that Mental Health is Built into our Design with Julieanne Chazotte appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Our understanding of how human beings work is undergoing a pretty massive transformation. Love, compassion, and understanding used to look like qualities we could bring into our lives to combat the very real problems of separation, confusion, and disconnection. Now we know that love, compassion, and understanding are who we are. They can’t be absent.
The post EP61: The Old Understanding vs. A New Understanding appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, we explore exactly how to stay stuck in a habit. Step by step. (Because I love steps). How to dig your heels in and stay right where you are. Do these 5 things and I can pretty much promise you’ll be as stuck as ever. Don’t do them…and you just might start
The post EP60: How to NOT Break a Habit appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
For decades, Susan rarely left her house. She couldn’t bear to have visitors. Service calls were routinely cancelled last minute. Friends and family knew to keep a distance while she coped with her anxiety the best she could. Little by little, as Sue immersed herself in the New Paradigm understanding, she began to see things
The post EP59: Susan’s Change Story: Agoraphobia appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Years ago, I wrote an article about how my little dog Buddha dug into my lap during fireworks season. She’d claw and scratch and burrow her way into me, running for her life from the loud booms all around. Except, she obviously wasn’t running for her life. She had no idea that she was 100%,
The post EP58: You Have No Idea How Safe You Are appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Crystal Saltrelli is a well known health coach who helps people with a stomach issue called gastroparesis. When Crystal began coaching around this issue, her support centered mostly on diet and lifestyle. It didn’t take long for her to see that stress or “mindset” as she called it at the time was playing a big
The post EP57: How the New Paradigm Changed the Way a Health Coach Views Health with Crystal Saltrelli appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
If you’re scanning these show notes for the one word that is the key to everything you’re looking for…I’m not going to include it here. You have to listen to the episode to find out. Do you have a guess though? It’s the key to everything you’re looking for and the worst advice you’ll ever
The post EP56: This One Word is the Key to Everything You’re Looking For. And, it’s the Worst Advice You’ll Ever Hear. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Emillie has been around this understanding for a while. She was in and out. She’d hear something profound and helpful, then fall back toward her long-time disordered eating habits and assume she had lost whatever it was she heard. But after a while, something interesting began to happen. Even though Emillie was still binge eating–worse
The post EP55: Emillie’s Change Story: Binge Eating appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I talk about the feeling of hunger. As I experiment with feeling of hunger (as opposed to quickly trying to “satisfy” it so that it will go away), things have opened up that I never imagined. I feel stronger. Safer. Far more peaceful and less shakable. My capacity to feel anything and
The post EP54: Hunger appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Before Patricia came to the New Paradigm, she was having frequent panic attacks. She went to the ER regularly, sure each time that there was a physical issue that needed to be addressed. She had trouble leaving the house without water, an energy bar (“just in case I got stranded”), and some sort of self-help
The post EP53: Patricia’s Change Story: Panic and Worrying about What Others Think appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Are you ready for some light, summer listening? You’re in the right place! Because this episode is all about the fact that you’re going to suffer in life. And you’re going to die. It’s a given. It’s also a given that you’ll not suffer in life. You’ll feel lots of stuff…some you like and some
The post EP52: You’re Going to Suffer and Die appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
You might know that I’m a huge Lisa Esile fan. Lisa was essentially silent for a year or more of her life. In that time, she did very little and very little “input”. What she saw about how her mind works, and what’s there beyond her mind, is pretty awesome. I especially love the affection
The post EP51: What’s There When You Stop Moving with Lisa Esile appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
You are lived. Stuff occurs to you and you act on it, with very little input required by you. You see things. You know things. And, at the very same time that you’re being lived by life, your mind is narrating the whole thing in that opinionated way it often does. Your mind is making
The post EP50: We’re Lived. And then We Think. (Life is not a Riddle) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
This episode is a little different than most. In this episode, I talk with Nicola Bird. And we’re not talking to you. Nic and I have a conversation, practitioner-to-practitioner, about what it’s like to do what we do. Our “jobs” are essentially to point people toward an invisible realm. To gently turn them away from
The post EP49: A Day in the Life of an Anxiety Coach with Nicola Bird appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Our experience almost always looks like it’s about something, right? It looks to us like we think about stuff. We feel emotions over what happened or about what’s coming up. Human brains love stories. Human experience typically includes a logical storyline and a bunch of reasons for why we’re thinking and feeling the way we
The post EP48: Your Experience isn’t About what it Appears to be About appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
It happens all the time. You hear something and your mind quiets. Maybe something falls away…a habit, a line of thinking, an obsession or worry is no longer there. Life looks and feels different and you’re thrilled. You’re changed! Cured! Fixed! And then--inevitably–thinking comes back. Why didn’t your insight last?!? If you’ve been there, this
The post EP46: Why Your Insight Didn’t Stick appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Horizontal change starts with what you know, and moves you toward a place you can see. It’s linear. Incremental. Often effortful. Horizontal change is you bettering, or improving upon something. Vertical change isn’t about what you know and it doesn’t take you to some finish line you can currently see. It’s all about the “I
The post EP45: Horizontal vs. Vertical Change (and What They Mean for your Freedom) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode of Changeable, Jack and I talk about how life is an illusion. What does that mean? Jack and I explore what this great illusion means for our opinions of ourselves, our relationships, our habits…even those glimpses we catch of ourselves in store windows (you’ll see what I mean). Especially listen when Jack
The post EP44: Life is an…illusion? With Jack Pransky appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What is health? What is wellbeing? How do you know if you’re healthy and well? Turns out, the way we answer those questions has huge implications for how well we feel. I talk with John El-Mokadem in this episode about massively expanding our concept of what health and wellness really are. We talk about how
The post EP43: Being Well is Not the Same as Being Cured with John El-Mokadam appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Harry claims that all problems in life come from overthinking. All problems? Really? I play devil’s advocate a bit in this one as we discuss the single, common source of all suffering. I love Harry’s personality and the way he talks about this understanding. He is fun and light and always puts the feeling first.
The post EP42: Do All Problems in Life Really Come from Overthinking? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There are so many safety nets built into our human design. Seeing more about how we work…the forgiving, safe, self-correcting, can’t-be-damaged design we’ve all been blessed with…does a lot for us. But perhaps one of the most notable things it does is that it allows us to feel secure. When we feel secure, we are
The post EP41: Having a Secure Attachment to Life appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Jen had trouble sleeping for a long time. Seeing something about how her experienced worked helped...a lot. In this episode, Jen and I talk about some of the things she came to see about how her mind and body work, and the role the “insomnia” label played in her sleepless nights. Life is fluid. You
The post EP40: A New Look at Sleepless Nights with Jen Lucas appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if all of the stuff you think you think…is not really you at all? Your opinions, preferences, obsessions, worries… I know they take up a lot of room in your mind. They sound and feel like you. But when I’m listening to others go on and on about how they feel and what they
The post EP39: Do You Really Think That? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In Part 2 of my conversation about guilt with John Flaherty, we go deeper into where guilt comes from, why it is so pervasive, and how guilt is ultimately changeable. This conversation can be so huge for all of us, but especially if guilt is something you feel weighing you down. If you missed Part
The post EP38: How Guilt is Changeable. Part 2 of my Conversation with John Flaherty appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Changeable is about the way humans work. The way we’re inherently free, inherently healthy and at peace. And how, in our every day lives, we don’t always feel those things. We feel dis-ease, suffering, trapped. What traps us? It’s always thought-brought-to-life that appears personal and real. That thought takes many forms. In today’s conversation, I
The post EP37: How Guilt is Changeable. Part 1 of my Conversation with John Flaherty appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Minds do some predictable things. They bring up regrets and past mistakes, they predict the future, they compare and contrast, they fear, they judge… These aren’t meaningful. It’s not personal to you when your mind is the one doing them. These are universal mental activities. That means you don’t have to tune in so closely.
The post EP36: That’s Just What Minds Do appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Erika Bugbee is the teen whisperer. She’s also the parent-of-a-teen whisperer. Erika works with teens and their parents in ways that look like magic, but are deceptively simple and full of common sense. She talks about liking your teen when it sometime feels difficult. Having goodwill in your relationship. And how understanding what a teen’s
The post EP35: How Teenage Angst and your Relationship with your Teen are Changeable, with Erika Bugbee appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Jason shares a pretty incredible transformation. Jason was put on anti-depressants at age 9. In his teens and early 20s he was a heroin addict, in and out of jail, and homeless at times. Jason quit drugs with the help of a 12 step program, but swapped heroin for food and other
The post EP34: From Addiction and Depression to True Inner Peace with Jason Shiers appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Barb Patterson has coached business leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs for a long time. Originally from the Old Paradigm. And now from the New Paradigm. She helps people in business see what’s beyond and before their skills, business plans, personality types, and strategies. And she sees incredible transformation. Not just incremental change, but true transformation…higher levels
The post EP33: How the New Paradigm Transforms Work Performance and Leadership with Barb Patterson appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
We’re at the end of February and I really hope you’re seeing feelings and emotions in a new way. A way that’s safe. Impersonal. Full of wisdom and intelligence. Kind. If you’re even a tiny bit less afraid of what moves through you than you were in January, that’s amazing. In this episode, I share
The post EP32: What it’s like to NOT fear feelings. Part 4 in the Feelings February Series. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Amanda Jones is a coach in The Little School of Big Change who is now free of nearly two and a half decades of eating disorders and depression. As she shares in this episode, her entire 23+ year eating disorder was one giant attempt to manage her feelings. The more we attempt to not feel,
The post EP31: More Feeling Management = More Problems. Part 3 in the Feelings February Series with Amanda Jones appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In Part 2 of this month about feelings, I talk with my friend and colleague Gail Brenner about what feelings actually are. That might sound like an odd topic. But have you ever stopped to really consider what feelings are? What they are made of? We know how they feel. We know what our mind tells
The post EP30: What Are Feelings, Really? Part 2 in the Feelings February Series with Gail Brenner appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In the October class of The Little School of Big Change, an innocent enough question was posted on our forum, meant for me to address in our upcoming group call. It said: “Can you say a bit about how feelings are safe?” On that particular November day, this super typical and relatable question blew my
The post EP29: Are Feelings Safe? (Part 1 in the Feelings February Series) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Can you choose to see yourself as worthy, successful, competent? Can you choose what you believe? Can you consciously get yourself into a feeling or state where you’re experiencing and creating more of what you want in life? I’m sure the answer to these questions is ‘sometimes’. That seems to be the answer to most
The post EP28: How Choosing what to Believe and Raising your Vibration are Old Paradigm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I talk with Lana Bastianutti and Linda Ford about a topic that affects everyone. It’s a topic that looks wildly different in the New Paradigm than in the Old Paradigm. Confidence. Who has it? Who doesn’t? From where does it originate? What does it look and feel like to be confident? Is
The post EP27: Confidence in the New Paradigm, and How Changeable It Is. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Who are ‘you’? Is there even a ‘you’ that exists outside of your ideas about ‘you’? These are the kind of questions my friend Phil spends his time pondering. He’s explored this issue of personal identity with some of the best teachers in the world, and he’s seen a lot in the course of his
The post EP26: The Ultimate Addiction is to the Idea of “You” appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Why does the average New Year’s Resolution last only 17 days? Jump on my metaphorical elevator and let’s go for a ride to find out! Up levels of consciousness. Down levels of consciousness. Different consciousness means different realities, different issues, different degrees of clarity and confusion. What does this have to do with ending habits
The post EP25: The Average New Years Resolution Lasts 17 Days. What Consciousness has to do with it. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In 1990, Dr. Joe Bailey was told that his book The Serenity Principle—which applies this New Paradigm to addiction treatment—was about 20 years before its time. Here we are, 29 years later. Are we ready now? Listen in as Joe talks about what this New Paradigm brings to world, the impact he’s seen it have
The post EP24: Is the World Ready for the New Paradigm? with Dr. Joe Bailey appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
“If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family” –Ram Dass Few things bring up as much emotion as family. In this episode, I talk about a game I learned long ago that led to a big insight about how I felt around my family. I’ve shared this game around this time of year for
The post EP23: How Even Your Experience of Your Dysfunctional Family Can Change appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
One of my favorite topics to explore from within the New Paradigm is decision making. Decision making in the Old Paradigm is all about empowerment, choice, and going after what you want. Uncertainty is something you solve for by taking action. Decision making in the New Paradigm leads us in a very different direction. Do
The post EP22: Decision Making and Uncertainty in the New Paradigm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In the Old Paradigm, it looks like we have problems that need fixing. Problems that are special and unique to us; different from everyone else’s problems. In the New Paradigm, we see that’s not the case. We’re all the same and what we’re up against is all the same. Sometimes that’s clear. Most of the
The post EP21: Your Problem isn’t Special (The one criticism I received in this run of The Little School of Big Change) appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, Natasha asks a very important question. Some might say it’s THE MOST important question. The only question we ever really need to ask. Who is it that’s aware? Listen in as Natasha Swerdloff and I discuss who is aware, and some other things that open the door to enormous change. You can
The post EP20: How Knowing Your True Nature Creates Change with Natasha Swerdloff appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In honor of US Thanksgiving this week, this episode explores how gratitude and contentment look from the New Paradigm. Because they look a bit different than in the Old Paradigm. The Old Paradigm is all about doing. Adding. Bringing in more of what we want. The New Paradigm acknowledges that nothing need be added. You
The post EP19: Gratitude and Contentment in the New Paradigm appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode I talk with Rebecca Perkins and Bea Arscott, a mother and daughter duo who share this New Paradigm really beautifully…particularly with regard to their experience with anorexia. Several years ago, Bea was diagnosed with anorexia and struggled with that for many years. Which means Rebecca had her own struggle—a daughter with anorexia—for
The post EP18: Recovery from Within with Rebecca Perkins and Bea Arscott appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Do you know what your feelings are showing you? If they provide feedback that guides us through life, do you know how to read that feedback? The Old Paradigm had it wrong. It taught us to read our feelings in a way that actually isn’t accurate; a way that has created endless confusion and complication
The post EP17: How Life is Providing Constant Feedback appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I share Sherry’s story. Sherry experienced a lot of anxiety. And a lot of anxiety and fear of her anxiety. As she began to see more about who she really is and what her thoughts and feelings really are, she was far less afraid of her feelings. Anxiety as a chronic, habitual
The post EP16: The Anatomy of Anxiety appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode of Changeable I talk with Annie Grace, author of This Naked Mind. Annie used to drink a lot, and now she doesn’t. It didn’t resonate with her to label herself an alcoholic or go to meetings and talk a lot about it (although those are helpful things to do for some people).
The post EP15: How Alcohol Addiction is Changeable with Annie Grace appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I clear up some confusion. You see, in the Old Paradigm in psychology, there is A LOT to do. It’s a full time job, turning thoughts around and breathing just so and riding waves of emotion…making sense of the past and meaning for the future, and processing…well, whatever people process. In the
The post EP14: Is it Okay to Use Tools and Techniques? Or Am I Supposed to Do Nothing? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
My guest on today’s episode is Fernanda from Life on Tellus. Fernanda is classic high achiever, as you’ll hear from her shortly. She’s mastered many things in life and she’s just getting started. But all of that achievement used to look necessary, like it was what she had to do to be acceptable. And that
The post EP13: How Achievement, Mastery, and Productivity go through the roof in The New Paradigm with Fernanda –Life on Tellus appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I tell you about my favorite metaphor of all time. It’s an illustration that makes clear what I humbly believe…just may be…the MOST important thing you can ever, ever know. Intrigued? You should be! It’s seriously good stuff that will clarify a lot. This truth has been square one for freedom from
The post EP12: The Most Important Thing You Can Ever Know appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
My guest in this episode is Mary Schiller. Mary lived with the quite extreme symptoms of PTSD for 30 years. She was diagnosed dozens of times and told by prominent psychologists that she was “unhelpable”. Then Mary came across The Three Principles and this New Paradigm and within 6 weeks, her symptoms were vanishing. What
The post EP11: What is a Diagnosis, Really? appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
There is one simple reason why anyone has any habit, addiction, anxiety, or other recurring issue. It’s not about your past or your personality. It has nothing to do with your family history or your genes or your environment. It’s a deeper, more basic reason than that. Listen to this episode for the no-exceptions-answer to
The post EP10: Wonder WHY You Have a Habit or Addiction? Here’s WHY. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
The Three Principles is an understanding behind the New Paradigm that I speak so much about in Changeable. In this episode, I speak with Rohini Ross about The Three Principles and how they provide a brand new direction when it comes to how human beings experience change. Rohini has a very deep understanding of these
The post EP9: How Three Little Principles Lead to Profound Change with Rohini Ross appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Procrastination is a habit that is really ironic. It looks like the problem is all about (not) doing. All about too much inaction…too little action. So of course, we push harder. We force more. We set rigid objectives and consequences. We download productivity apps and find accountability buddies, all in the name of focusing on
The post EP8: The Ironic Truth About Procrastination appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode of Changeable you’ll hear about my client Bethany who was caught up in a binge eating habit for many years…and who is now completely free of that habit. You’ll go on a backstage, insiders-only tour of a habit. How and why it starts, what it’s built upon, and how it ultimately falls
The post EP7: The Anatomy of a Habit appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When a student in The Little School of Big Change said that particular thoughts and feelings ruin her entire day, it was a totally human and relatable statement. And also one that got me thinking: how are we seeing our experience for a thought or feeling to ruin a day? What is it that we’re
The post EP6: You Aren’t What You Experience with Amanda Jones appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
Would you believe me if I told you that you that your habits, addictions, obsessions and compulsions weren’t about you? What if they say absolutely nothing about your character or your weaknesses or your past or your flaws? Can you imagine the impact of seeing that the things you are caught up in aren’t the
The post EP5: Your Problems Aren’t About You appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What can a child show you about living freely, without habits, anxiety, and other issues? Everything. Children show us how we come “out of the box”, before our mind creates thought and then forgets it was the creator. This episode will remind you what your out-of-the-box settings really are, and how easy it is to
The post EP4: Want to Break a Habit? Watch a Kid. appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
In this episode, I dive further into the New Paradigm that Changeable is based upon; the new paradigm that shows us how deep and lasting change comes from insight and seeing things clearly, rather than action and doing things differently.
The post EP3: A New Psychology appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
When we take action to try to change our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, we’re interfering where we don’t need to. We’re interfering with a system that clears and corrects and changes perfectly—on its own. Discover in this episode how your mind clears itself, and that there is actually nothing to fix.
The post EP2: Your Mind Fixes Itself appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.
What if most of what we’ve been told about how change works is wrong? What if we have it backwards, and the things we’ve been told lead to deep and lasting change don’t, really? What if that’s why change seems so difficult and short-term? Change is ironic. In many ways, the less we do, the more we change. Listen in as I discuss the ironic way change really works.
The post EP1: The Ironic Way Change Really Works appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.