Changeable Podcast

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? Betsy wrote to me about the devastating loss that happened in her life just before her food struggles began, and that she believes herself to have a rotten core and take up too much space. She also said she knows that quiet space beyond thought, but only for fleeting moments. There was so much in Betsy’s question that cuts straight to the root of so many innocent misunderstandings that many people share. I’m so grateful for her allowing me to create this episode around it. I hope it will be helpful to Betsy and to everyone who listens. ***After a very long, very virtual two years, the amazing LSBC Live event is back! We’ll gather in person from June 3 to 5th in Chicago for 2 ½ days of connection, exploration, and a lot of hugs, laughter and insights around this year’s theme, Life Appearing as Everything.I would love to gather and immerse in this conversation with you in Chicago in June. For full details and to save your seat with early bird pricing, visit https://dramyjohnson.com/lsbclive2022/ The post EP194: How Can My Weight Problem be Thought When It’s a Physical Reality? 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 event that is happening, or might someday happen. They began to see how all three of their minds did virtually the same things. They all scanned for symptoms, discounted clean bills of health given to them by doctors, engaged in rituals and superstitions they believed would keep them safe…Seeing how alike they were to each other had an amazing effect of helping them see that none of this was about them or their health. It was all a mind doing what minds sometimes do.Oh, and then one of them had a heart attack (her biggest health fear) and ended up in the hospital. You’ll want to hear what they learned from her.If you’re struggling with health anxiety or you know someone who is, please check out this episode and the health anxiety course created from this workshop: https://www.dramyjohnson.com/freedomfromhealthanxiety There is so much in this conversation that will be incredibly helpful for anyone, whether you’ve ever experienced health anxiety or not.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 everything far before thoughts and concepts. And it is thoughts and concepts too. Aliveness if being overlooked, always. And it’s also completely unavoidable. ***After a very long, very virtual two years, the amazing LSBC Live event is back! We’ll gather in person from June 3 to 5th in Chicago for 2 ½ days of connection, exploration, and a lot of hugs, laughter and insights around this year’s theme, Life Appearing as Everything.I would love to gather and immerse in this conversation with you in Chicago in June. For full details and to save your seat with early bird pricing, visit https://dramyjohnson.com/lsbclive2022/ 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 something that makes a little more sense”. Isn’t that how it goes? We’re always looking to pad our nest with the “right” things. At first, they’re often physical circumstances like the “right” job, relationships, skills, traits, or body.As we see that those things will never bring lasting peace, we move on to less tangible things like a quiet mind, equanimity, forgiveness, or acceptance. Those don’t do the trick either because they are no different than the first set of nest padders, really. Some “unexplainable restlessness” will always prompt the mind to keep looking. Always, because this is what a mind is. It’s a movement toward more and better that does not need to change.  ***After a very long, very virtual two years, the amazing LSBC Live event is back! We’ll gather in person from June 3 to 5th in Chicago for 2 ½ days of connection, exploration, and a lot of hugs, laughter and insights around this year’s theme, Life Appearing as Everything.I would love to gather and immerse in this conversation with you in Chicago in June. For full details and to save your seat with early bird pricing, visit https://dramyjohnson.com/lsbclive2022/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. From feeling hopeless in the me-and-my-life experience, to experiencing hope, was huge. And, there often comes a time when those ideas and concepts that we were once so expansive begin to feel limiting. We outgrow them, in a sense, which is expansive in itself. In this episode, I share how many concepts that were once helpful handholds can come to feel like limitations, and how that’s excellent news. I also share the story of a woman whose worst fears came true and how that catapulted her far beyond hope, wisdom, or any conceptual handhold into the space beyond all ideas. ***After a very long, very virtual two years, the amazing LSBC Live event is back! We’ll gather in person from June 3 to 5th in Chicago for 2 ½ days of connection, exploration, and a lot of hugs, laughter and insights around this year’s theme, Life Appearing as Everything.I would love to gather and immerse in this conversation with you in Chicago in June. For full details and to save your seat with early bird pricing, visit https://dramyjohnson.com/lsbclive2022/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 question, right?We live in a thought-created, survival-focused story that is a story, full of me-and-my-life implications, past and future, cause and effect, and lots of meaning. That’s not at all the same as saying that we’re making it all up. And it’s definitely not the same as saying that we shouldn’t feel the way we do or that things could be different, which is how it’s often heard.I hope what I share with this listener resonates with you and helps you see the oneness and the story in a more expansive way.  The post EP189: Listener: “Is Childhood Abuse Also a Story?” 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 change it. It can hurt me. It’s either for or against me.That’s a lot to put on a concept. It feels heavy, personal and problematic, and that’s one very common experience, for sure.But what if “mind” is an unreal concept? If there is no mind that’s the stable source of things, there is only thought arising. Thought arising as This. There is no solid source, no explanation, no continuity, no cause and effect. Just this. That’s an experience too–one I’d suggest that’s closer to our primary experience, before concepts are learned–that is very worth exploring. The post EP188: The Mind Isn’t a Real Thing 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 think they should. She shares how our ‘should’ stories are just that–stories. Things are just happening the way they are happening…and then a mind tells a story about what it all means. When we believe those stories, we become afraid. And impatience is rooted in fear. I absolutely love how Jess points to how innocent and well-meaning, yet misguided this is. And how clear-up-able it is too. Having just a tiny glimpse of our children’s innate health (of anyone’s innate health, for that matter!), opens up so much.Listening shifts. Impatience falls away. Our connection gets to deepen in unspeakable ways as we see that all is well now. Our children are safe in what they are feeling, always. If you’d like to hear Jess share at length about patience, parenting, resilience, and so much more, please check out her digital course called Uncovering Patience: A Simple Guide to Bringing Out the Best in Your Child Without Losing Your Cool.https://dramyjohnson.com/uncoveringpatience/This course goes much more deeply into the topics she discusses in this episode. You can see more about Jessica here: https://www.parentingwithclarity.comThe post EP187: Uncovering Patience with Change Coach 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 consider that maybe her bigger nature is something beyond thought and belief, that was not part of her experience and as such, it didn’t really help her at all.So, we talk about that. I try to help Alice see that there is more to life than nicer thoughts and beliefs, while being very aware that that doesn’t look like a reality to her. I love Alice’s honesty and openness. What you’ll hear here is just 25 minutes or so of our 60+ minute conversation, but I think it will be very helpful for others to hear how Alice opens to these ideas that feel like a pipe dream to her. If you haven’t heard EP181, you might listen to that one before, or even after, this one. ***The BRAND NEW, updated LSBC starts TODAY! Enrollment closes on Thursday, February 10th. I’d love to share this brand new course with you! https://www.thelittleschoolofbigchange.com The post EP186: Listener: “I’m a Prisoner to my Thoughts and Beliefs” 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 to do x” and then thought either saying “Yay, I did it!” or “Boo, I failed”?What if the very real feeling of exerting willpower is just a story we’ve been taught to tell? An I-am-making-it-happen story. That would actually make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it, given that we all know that no matter how much willpower we appear to have, we don’t have access to it all the time? The results of “willpower” are inconsistent at best. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t truly exist? The post EP185: There is no such thing as willpower appeared first on Dr. Amy Johnson.