Changeable Podcast

The discussion dives into the power of genuine teachings that promote peace and presence in life. A participant shares her journey with overeating and anxiety, revealing how emotional awareness led to transformation. The conversation encourages moving beyond intellectual concepts to engage with real experiences, emphasizing the importance of sensory awareness. There's also an invitation to join an annual Summer Book Club, exploring direct teachings on self-awareness and being present.

Dive into the idea that our learning is ultimately about simply being, not about future achievements or insights. Discover the irony of striving for understanding while the true essence lies in accepting the present moment. The discussion emphasizes the importance of relaxing into reality and shedding self-judgment. It's a refreshing reminder that life isn’t just about 'doing,' but more about 'being' in the here and now.

In this enlightening conversation, Chris Niebauer, an expert in cognitive science and author of 'No Self, No Problem', challenges the concepts of ownership and success as mere illusions. He emphasizes the difference between abstract thoughts and genuine experiences, highlighting how societal constructs shape our identities. Niebauer encourages mindfulness and grounding in reality, warning against the dangers of attaching too much meaning to thoughts. With a touch of humor, he also shares insights from his journey in writing a new book while engaging with the community.

Notice that the more attention is in abstraction, the harder things feel. More abstract, more problems. Really, all problems are abstractions. You can’t find a problem outside of abstraction.Me-and-my-life is the ultimate abstraction. When we live with attention there, as we so often do, life feels extremely hard. Even when it’s good, it’s not that good. There is another way. Reality. Coming out of abstraction, out of imagination, and into reality.I’ll walk through several specific examples of how this looks in this episode. ***If you benefit from this podcast, I would be so grateful if you’d leave a quick review on itunes.  Listener reviews go a very long way in attracting brand new listeners to this way of seeing things. Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed it already. And if you’d like to be part of a supportive, loving community of like-minded people exploring the big questions in life; a place you can turn for personal support on anything you’re struggling with at any time, please consider joining The Community.Go to https://www.dramyjohnson.com/thecommunity  to see moreThe post EP357: More abstract, more suffering appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.

In this episode, we’ll look at breaking down experience – seeing beyond abstract words, descriptions and meaning to touch into what’s really going on…or something closer to it, anyway.  I use the example of the feeling of needing to get up and do something productive. What is this experience? What’s it made of? What’s actually going on here as we burn through the layers of concept and abstraction?This way of looking at experience is universal. You can look into any experience in this way to see something closer to what’s-actually-here.***If you benefit from this podcast, I would be so grateful if you’d leave a quick review on itunes.  Listener reviews go a very long way in attracting brand new listeners to this way of seeing things. Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed it already. And if you’d like to be part of a supportive, loving community of like-minded people exploring the big questions in life; a place you can turn for personal support on anything you’re struggling with at any time, please consider joining The Community.Go to https://www.dramyjohnson.com/thecommunity  to see moreThe post EP356: Breaking down the experience of needing to be productive appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.

Today’s episode offers a challenge: let everything be exactly what it is.  This is how life gets really simple. It’s what we’re all looking for, except we often have no idea this is what we’re looking for. We think we’re looking for something different. Better. Improved. So we live in abstracted ideas of how that might look. We constantly push and pull on experience trying to make it match our thoughts about it. This can stop. This is your challenge. The post EP355:  A challenge: Let everything be exactly what it is.  appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.

This episode shares a guided meditation I created for the Resting in Restlessness course.  The guidance will help you feel into sensations and sound. I recommend using this guidance as a starting off point, then exploring silently on your own.The post EP354: Guided Meditation: Feeling What Is appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.

Marie experiences extreme reactions to certain noises, sometimes referred to as misofonia. This makes life very hard in many ways, especially at work and in close relationships. If this is neurologically-based sensitivity, can Marie’s experience of it change? Absolutely. Everything is made worse by our resistance and suppression. I’ll share how Marie can be in these experiences in “slow motion” as they arise. ***If: You feel addicted to your phoneYou find yourself wanting background noise because silence is uncomfortable You experience anxiety  or compulsive behaviors such as excessive snacking, picking, drinking, shopping, scrollingYou rarely feel present. You’re often seeking – looking ahead, dreaming about or waiting for something other than what is, spiritual seeking, planning…My newest 6-week course, Resting in Restlessness, is perfect for you.Through a combination of teachings, experiments that we’ll do together and between classes, and group calls, you’ll be supported as you lean into this feeling we call restlessness. What if, in exploring the thoughts and sensations that make up restlessness, you find that you can actually rest in these feelings rather than compulsively distract from them? I am so excited to support you as we watch our comfort with What Is grow. Go to dramyjohnson.com/restlessness to see the full details. 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.

In this conversation with Piers Thurston, Piers shares how everything is a mirror.  As he explains, this is particularly seen in other people and in our wants and desires. What we see as others is an opportunity to look at how the idea of me is showing up. Same with what we want – looking more closely at the “cleanness” of those wants reveals so much.We also talk a lot in this conversation about feeling, as that looks to me to be the primary “way” we dip into the beneath-abstraction, subtle essence of life where these patterns can be revealed. Piers shares his views on this which are so helpful to hear. You can see more about Piers and find his podcast, Quality of Mind, at https://piersthurston.com/***If: You feel addicted to your phoneYou find yourself wanting background noise because silence is uncomfortable You experience anxiety  or compulsive behaviors such as excessive snacking, picking, drinking, shopping, scrollingYou rarely feel present. You’re often seeking – looking ahead, dreaming about or waiting for something other than what is, spiritual seeking, planning…My newest 6-week course, Resting in Restlessness, is perfect for you.Through a combination of teachings, experiments that we’ll do together and between classes, and group calls, you’ll be supported as you lean into this feeling we call restlessness. What if, in exploring the thoughts and sensations that make up restlessness, you find that you can actually rest in these feelings rather than compulsively distract from them? I am so excited to support you as we watch our comfort with What Is grow. Go to dramyjohnson.com/restlessness to see the full details. The post EP352: All of life is a mirror with Piers Thurston appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.

What is this feeling we call restlessness?  It feels like something is off. There’s an agitation or irritation interpreted as something that can’t be felt; something needs to be different. . That’s part of it, and most of us live with that feeling much of the time. But then there is the movement away from that feeling. Jumping up to be productive, eating, buying, scrolling, researching, fixing…The initial feeling + the resistance of it – seen in the attempts to solve it or distract from it– are indistinguishable. Before long, we simply see ourselves running. Running from what? We can’t remember. Restlessness is behind so much suffering. In this episode we’ll look at what it really is, I’ll share my experience with it over many years, and you’ll see how how feeling the raw sensations of it is all there is to do. If you’d like to explore restlessness in a very deep and supported way, please check out the upcoming course Resting in Restlessness: The solution to end compulsive scrolling, eating, buying, anxiety and constant seeking: https://dramyjohnson.com/restlessness/***If: You feel addicted to your phoneYou find yourself wanting background noise because silence is uncomfortable You experience anxiety  or compulsive behaviors such as excessive snacking, picking, drinking, shopping, scrollingYou rarely feel present. You’re often seeking – looking ahead, dreaming about or waiting for something other than what is, spiritual seeking, planning…My newest 6-week course, Resting in Restlessness, is perfect for you.Through a combination of teachings, experiments that we’ll do together and between classes, and group calls, you’ll be supported as you lean into this feeling we call restlessness. What if, in exploring the thoughts and sensations that make up restlessness, you find that you can actually rest in these feelings rather than compulsively distract from them? I am so excited to support you as we watch our comfort with What Is grow. Go to dramyjohnson.com/restlessness to see the full details. The post EP351: Resting in Restlessness appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.