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. 

The post EP347: Unraveling ego at the feeling level 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 in “extreme presence”, or what I often talk about as feeling your way through life.

You will feel this conversation as you listen. Enjoy!

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 when it didn’t feel simple – and it didn’t, always – we knew there was one thing going on: imagination. The movement of consciousness we call thought, creating realities that weren’t in the room with us. 

All of life is this way. This isn’t only true on silent retreat. All of life is unthinkably simple, yet made dramatic and personal through willfulness and positionality. 

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 what makes up the automatic fear response. Seeing this experience more clearly is what makes way for it to change. 

***

Would you like to be part of a supportive, loving community of like-minded people exploring the big questions in life?

Would you like a place you can turn for personal support on anything you’re struggling with at any time?

It’s a place to see how the things like anxiety, doubt, habits, insecurities–are actually incredible gifts. They are there to help you wake up. 

To join The Community, please go to https://www.dramyjohnson.com/thecommunity

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 belief systems, identity, positions and stances. To buck that conditioning can feel like being a leader rather than a follower.

But following and leading are really one in the same. We lead by following what is, and perhaps we follow what is as a form of leadership. At some point they completely merge such that leading and following are one single movement.

***

Beginning in March, I’ll be leading a small group mentoring program based around my Change Coach Self-Study course. 

The mentoring group is perfect for people who want some personal guidance and feedback as they learn to support others in this powerful way. You will have the real-time, personal aspects of a live training experience in a time- and cost effective format. 

You can see the full details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/coachmentoring/ 

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 horrible, right? 

There is much more Hannah can see about these topics, as well as additional questions about how things aren’t personal. We’ll look at these topics in depth in this episode. 

***

Beginning in March, I’ll be leading a small group mentoring program based around my Change Coach Self-Study course. 

The mentoring group is perfect for people who want some personal guidance and feedback as they learn to support others in this powerful way. You will have the real-time, personal aspects of a live training experience in a time- and cost effective format. 

You can see the full details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/coachmentoring/

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 in March, I’ll be leading a small group mentoring program based around my Change Coach Self-Study course. 

The mentoring group is perfect for people who want some personal guidance and feedback as they learn to support others in this powerful way. You will have the real-time, personal aspects of a live training experience in a time- and cost effective format. 

You can see the full details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/coachmentoring/

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 no peace to be squeezed out of an abstraction…

And noticing the reality in the middle of everything. There is relative peace here, now. We just need to look to reality rather than abstractions. 

***

Beginning in March, I’ll be leading a small group mentoring program based around my Change Coach Self-Study course. 

The mentoring group is perfect for people who want some personal guidance and feedback as they learn to support others in this powerful way. You will have the real-time, personal aspects of a live training experience in a time- and cost effective format.

You can see the full details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/coachmentoring/

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 what’s really happening is a subtle denying of what’s here now. It’s a subtle attachment to ‘becoming’, an attachment to an imaginary ideal. 

If you want more joy, what do you not want to feel? Can you feel that? 

Is what is right now really not joy?

***

Beginning in March, I’ll be leading a small group mentoring program based around my Change Coach Self-Study course. 

The mentoring group is perfect for people who want some personal guidance and feedback as they learn to support others in this powerful way. You will have the real-time, personal aspects of a live training experience in a time- and cost effective format.

You can see the full details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/coachmentoring/ 

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 and identity. I highly recommend experimenting with this. Even if you don’t go through all of the steps, leaning into any of them is extremely expansive. 

You can see Angelo’s playlist on Unbound Consciousness on his channel, Simply Always Awake.

The post EP338: A practice in unbound consciousness appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.