Changeable Podcast

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 fro...

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 feeli...

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 it’s given her.  OCD forced Aneta to re-examine everything she thought she was and 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 The post EP253: A listener question about physical imperfections  appea...

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 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 The post EP251: When you know you’re here for more: A bigger view of purpose and what’s in the way wit...

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 The post EP250: How to stop being so hard on yourself appeared first on Dr. Amy...

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 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 The post EP248: Feeling is not in your body appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson .

Have you noticed this story? It’s a sometimes obvious, sometimes incredibly subtle storyline that 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 The post EP246: Noticing the story that says everything would be b...

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. 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 The post EP244: Welcoming versus wallow...

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 The post EP243: I don’t know where I’m going, but I know how to get th...

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 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 The post EP241: A coaching session on feeling stuck and avoiding life 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 The post EP239: A coaching session on having bad days appeared first on Dr. Amy Jo...

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 The post EP238: Welcoming What Arises Part 3: Q&A appeared first o...

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 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 The post EP236: Welcoming What Arises Part 1: Why we don’t app...

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 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 The post EP234: A coaching session on feeling tortured by your mind appeared fir...

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 The post EP233: Desire, Fulfillment and Energy appeared first...

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 The post EP232: How You’re Living in the Past and Not Realizing It (Special Rebro...

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 stu...

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...