Dr. Amy Johnson Blog’s

Today I’m going to share a bit about my experience in silence. If you missed my first message about why anyone would choose to go on a silent retreat, you can read that here. And if you missed my second message about meditation on retreat and what that’s all about, read that one here. Before I share some

I’m back to speak to another common question about silent retreats – whether you need meditation experience. The real question might be: Is “meditation” what a silent retreat is all about? (If you missed the last message about why anyone would choose to sit in silence for a week, you can check that one out here.) The

I am so excited to announce my upcoming Silent Retreat, February 23 – 28, 2025, in beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Over the next several weeks I’ll speak to a number of questions I’ve heard from people who are intrigued by the idea of a silent retreat, but who are unsure why one would commit to a whole

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott Doesn’t life sometimes feel pretty complex and full? I have been contemplating simplicity recently after feeling an inner nudge to simplify my life where I can, and to slow down. During the lock downs due to Covid-19 many of us would have experienced a more simple and

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott There is a lot of emphasis on self-care today, especially for women. And this a good thing on so many levels. However like most concepts in modern life, even this can feel over complicated, or like a pressure. It can become an extra thing to do or

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano Today, I received a voice memo from a long-time client of mine. She began her message by describing a familiar experience of sadness and regret around eating too much food, followed by an even-more familiar experience of deep shame and guilt. But, something new happened today that

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Life is a constantly moving stream of experience. There will be inevitable ups and downs for us all during that experience. However, it’s possible to weather life’s storms in a more pleasant way than most people are aware of. It’s a Superpower and I’m sharing it here. I

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Alex Linares Imagine you are driving to a new city using your GPS and at first it seems to navigate you out of your home city accurately so you are closely paying attention to every direction and prompt it provides. But as you get farther from the city it

Today’s article is written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott I want you to imagine, if you will, a light bulb covered in hundreds of sticky notes. Written on the notes is a variety of words such as: “Kind”“Lazy”“Woman”“Too fat”“Stressed”“Anxious”“Generous”“Hardworking”“Intelligent”“Unfit”“Thinks of others”“Successful”“A failure”“Untidy”“Useless” The light that shines from the light bulb is covered over by all the sticky labels,

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Mental health and feelings of well-being are actually our natural state, but they get covered up through life and our conditioning, like scratches on glass distort an otherwise clear view. As newborns, we react and respond to life naturally without thought or limitation. As we grow up, we

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott We all feel overwhelmed from time to time. It’s a normal human experience. But if we feel overwhelmed much of the time this can become debilitating for our mental and physical health. Life in our society seems rather conducive to being overloaded with all we ‘have’ to

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott I recently had my 50th birthday, where this photo was taken. A half century of life lived. It’s got me somewhat reflective and contemplative. Not in a kind of “I’m going to live in a cave and meditate on the meaning of life” way. But more in a

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Over the Christmas holiday period, my husband was incredibly busy with end of year work, commuting into London early and getting home late. My teen boys wanted to stay up late, because they were on a break from school and wanted to maximise the opportunity to chill out. Several

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano Dear Body, Right now, as I type this, there are five distinct, beautiful blue bruises on your left leg from where a vein procedure was performed last week. In addition, there is a rather large pinkish-red prickly rash where the medical tape was left on a little too

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott The Cambridge dictionary definition of procrastination is: ‘the act of delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring’. I would also add to that, ‘something we believe is hard or we won’t be able to achieve or complete’. Almost all of us will have

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Once you see the inside out nature of life, it’s natural to become more tolerant and understanding, because we can only ever see the world through our own lens, or point of perspective, and so can everyone else. That still references an outward view, but from the inside

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Karli Naglick I have recently enjoyed exploring the channels of some uniquely creative YouTubers. I particularly love one channel that features three Siberian Huskies named Tikanni, Kita, and Tehya. These dogs have the most amazing “husky howls.” Kita is described as having the “classic awoo,” Tehya sounds like the

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano Many years ago, our family had to say good-bye to our sweet German shepherd, Bailey. She was the kindest, most loving dog we could have asked for. We only had her for 8 short years, but in that time, she became a true Maiorano—”one of the girls”—along

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott What if the key to happiness is about subtracting something from our life, rather than adding to it? What if “10 Steps To Happiness” really is a myth? (I wanted to use a swear word there but restrained myself!) The current consciousness of most of Western society tells us

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kristina Bruce I remember being at the end of Byron Katie’s 9-day School for The Work, and she was delivering parting words to us attendees. She held her hands up, palms facing each other at a distance apart, and then drew them closer to each other, then back out again.

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano Back in 2018, when I was struggling with anxiety and depression, I was drawn to reading biographies about people who had gone through unimaginable suffering only to emerge on the other side stronger and more peaceful and resilient than ever. In most of the stories, the people

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Anton McCarthy Some time ago, the sky was blue, and the waves were gentle. But I felt a creeping uneasiness. It was gradual at first, but my suspicion was it would build. I had become familiar with how a persistent collection of thoughts seemed to do that — hang around. How could I feel

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett I’m suggesting a trust experiment to play with. It’s a simple idea, based on how I see the World and our role in it (or life itself, in other words.) Are you serious? Throughout the day, our conditioned (survival) mind will jump in with ‘what ifs’ to help prepare

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kristina Bruce I’ve noticed a theme amongst the clients I work with who are recovering from life-long dieting and weight loss attempts: they want to be “better”. I deeply resonate with this drive, and I’m sure you can too. If not in the area of wanting to change your body,

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kelly O’Connell It all started when I crammed my daughter, her dorm gear, and my game face into my sedan and drove the short 45 minutes to Salve Regina University. After a nervous and quite prolonged drop-off, I headed home. When I turned the last corner toward my house,

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kristina Bruce I woke up really tired today. My almost 2-year old daughter is home with me for a couple weeks before pre-school starts, and as you can imagine, it’s a tad tiring. (Though we are looking cute in the picture below). See, I’m someone who needs her sleep! When I don’t

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano “This too shall pass” was once my lifeline. During moments of intense sadness, fear, and hopelessness, the simple phrase, “this too shall pass” seemed to get me from one breath to the next. My mind assured me that if I could just hold on, the uncomfortable feelings would

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett I find myself just noticing life unfolding more and more. Something has shifted so that I see myself as the ‘noticer’, or the perceiver of life, rather than the ‘doer’ more often. I first felt this shift when my Mum was at her end of life. It was as

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott My son and I went for a walk recently, and he asked if he could to listen to some music wearing the new headphones his Dad had given him. Whilst I wanted to say no…it felt far too much like he is a teenager and not 7

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Dave Fry The words may not do this story justice because it felt like swimming under giant waves in the ocean. You know when you watch the surfers fall off their boards into those rolling waves and wonder why they’re not shredded into pieces from the crushing force? Supposedly,

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Becky Gagnon The other day, I went paragliding. It was spur-of-the-moment decision. While traveling in Switzerland, I took a bus to Chamonix for the day, just to see the cute little Alpine ski town. I figured they’d have good chocolate or something. I got off the bus, and breathed in the

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Water does not resist, it flows A river adapts to whatever surroundings it comes up against and continues to flow – it will find a way to go where it wants to go. Since life, like a river, is constantly moving and changing without our direction, there’s less for

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Pam Hall I wonder what would happen if I were to deeply realize that my journey is a spiritual journey? That it has nothing to do with my weight, the way that I eat, the number on the scale, or the way my body feels. I wonder if I could

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Missy Maiorano In 2018, when I was in the throes of battling chronic hives and lip swelling, all I wanted was to have my old life back. I wanted the “happy, carefree Missy who wore cute sundresses and a bright smile.” I wanted the feelings of hopelessness and fear

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Sarah Edwards I used to have a full-blown relationship with my Apple Watch. I would gaze at it several times a minute to check how my day was going…emails, texts, step count, calories burned, my bank balance, my diary…signs of atrial fibrillation. Technology for a busy person perpetually in forward

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett We have very little control over what happens in life. I saw this when I lost my Mum. Rather than this thought scaring me, it felt like freedom. There’s less for us ‘to do’, or to manage. That doesn’t mean we do nothing, it means we can just do

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Kristina Bruce The other day I posted a video to YouTube titled “You DON’T Need to WORRY About What You Eat. Here’s Why”. It garnered a comment from someone who seemed quite upset that I was telling people not to care about what they eat (and subsequently not care about

The word ‘relax’ has taken on many meanings for me throughout the years. As a kid with energy to burn, I heard “relax”. Stop being so full of life. The adults wanted peace and quiet. Then, relax felt unnatural. As an anxious 20-something, I heard conflicting advice. “Work hard, make something of yourself, what you do now matters”.

For me, “waking up” has been a little like defrosting a freezer with a hair dryer. I’ve personally never defrosted a freezer with a hair dryer, but I’ve watched my husband do it. Heat is applied and at first, nothing appears to happen. Little by little, an inch of ice at a time becomes watery and shinier

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Lindsey Elliott I heard a statistic the other day that 95% of the thoughts we had yesterday, we will have today!! I’m not sure how this has been measured but it certainly feels true to me. No wonder that we all struggle with habits, addictions, low self-esteem, lack of confidence,

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Suzie Yeulett Your whole life is lived in the present moment. Your memories are just thoughts, carried through time into the present. The future never arrives; it’s made up of thoughts of what might happen next. You don’t need to re-suffer what has happened in the past by using your memory this

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Wendy Healy Sometimes I get a glimpse of the “Observer,” where two worlds connect and I get a real sense that there is something else running this thing called Life… Today the Observer is fully enjoying watching me teach Aqua class. I can feel her there, floating somewhere over my

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Alex Linares Today I managed to make it to hot yoga despite all my mind’s protest regarding all the other things I should do. The last few weeks at work have been testing my ability to remember this understanding, the universe asking like a toddler: how grounded are you when

Today’s article was written by Change Coach Becky Gagnon I hear this phrase often from people who want to lose weight: “I just don’t feel like myself at this weight. I want to feel like myself again.” Here’s the thing though: you ARE yourself. You are yourself. Your “you-ness” doesn’t come from your body. How could it? If it did,

In a recent LSBC call, a woman was talking about how her mind is always trying to be in control. Constantly scrambling to know everything, so that it can protect and prevent. That is its job, after all. I guess what it really comes down to, she concluded after a moment of reflection, is a deep, human

Change doesn’t happen by trying to change. Trying to change is actually the opposite of what’s helpful. Trying to change thoughts, feelings, behaviors, level of consciousness, or anything else is a rejection of what is. It’s telling life that it got it wrong; that what’s arising should not be. It’s telling life that we’re not okay with

I know someone who experiences some low energy, depression-type feelings fairly often and has for a long time.His experience of this has changed for the better over time. He resists it less than he used to. He believes his mind’s stories and judgments about “him and his depression” far less than he used to. He

Birds don’t know how to build nests. They just build nests. Nests are built as this thing we label ‘bird’ instinctually does some stuff.When it’s migration time, they don’t know how or when or where to fly. Wings are flapped and flying happens. Birds’ knowledge, their decisions, their ability, or their clarity have nothing to

Everything about our psychological experience is temporary, in motion, and relatively superficial. We feel impacted by it, no question. But the impact we feel is the moving, changing energy taking form as thoughts and feelings. It’s our psychology, our human weather. Those weather patterns move through us, we feel them, and then they’re promptly replaced

It’s fine if you’re not okay with what you’re experiencing. Really. Being okay with what’s arising is not a requirement. It’s not the ticket to freedom or the key to satisfaction or anything that dramatic. Experience doesn’t care how okay with it you are. Experience is just experience; it is thought, rising and falling. No biggie. And “okay with”

I’m not a quiet person. I’m not a guarded person or a person who loves control. I’m not a high achiever or a modest achiever or any kind of achiever. Thought that was consistent with some of those qualities moved through me in the past, and I identified with it and acted accordingly. But that no longer looks

We think we’re supposed to have a thing.Maybe your thing is being funny. Or that you have been through a lot and you come out stronger, or that you’re really good at your work.Young people are notorious for looking for their thing, as their mind scrambles to settle into some identity that will presumably keep

“Life is like arriving late for a movie, having to figure out what was going on without bothering everybody with a lot of questions, and then being unexpectedly called away before you find out how it ends.”–Joseph CampbellPractically everyone I know feels like something is a little bit off.Like they’re out of the loop, didn’t

One of the LSBC students in the 6-week course saw something very clearly in our first week in class.She said, “Even though we didn’t really talk about this, for some reason it clicked with me that all of my behaviors are rooted around various fears.”She went on to list half a dozen imagined future events

The old paradigm implies that we are our psychological experience. We are the sum of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We are the “me” identity our left-brain interpreter constructs for us. We have a personality that is stable and meaningful, that tells the world who-we-are.The new paradigm couldn’t be more different. In the new paradigm,

You are life. You aren’t a separate me who has a life, as if you’re outside of life, owning some little corner of it. There are no corners. There is no separation and so there is no one to own anything. You and life are one in the same.Life wants to live. I mean, it looks

As Linda woke up to the fact that her mind was trying to help her, but that its conclusions were not accurate or helpful, she was less fooled by it. She saw the wisdom in her habit.She realized that she didn’t have a hard time kicking the wine habit because she was weak or seriously

The only thing ever going on when there is any bit of discomfort or discontent is this: a thought believed.Thought arises and is viewed as all-there-is.There is never anything else going on. Thought arises and is viewed as truth. That’s it.It is that simple, but here’s why it won’t feel so simple: it will most

When we think our experience is all there is, we’re often afraid to look at it. When it feels uncomfortable or dangerous and true and personal, we numb. We avoid. We look away. We distract ourselves from our experience of life in countless ways, like staying chronically busy, needing to be surrounded by people or noise,

I talked with Clare Dimond a few weeks ago about this quote from The Little Book of Big Change:“Your habit is not “you” and it is not personal. It is simply your brain doing what it does.”We dissected this quote line by line.Your habit is not “you”. Of course it isn’t. Who or what is

The search for something that will make us feel complete can literally never be won.I’m not saying it’s difficult, it will run you ragged, or maybe try something else instead.I’m saying it’s impossible.The idea that something can be missing–the seeking itself–is the illusion of separation. It’s the illusion that there is a fragile, needy “me”

Minds think their survival, which is really the body’s survival, depends on them knowing all they can about you and your weaknesses so they can save you from future failure. One of their favorite tools for knowing the future is comparison.Comparison is how the mind secures its position as “safe” and “enough.” To a mind,

I had a falling dream the other night.My son and I were crawling across a steel beam that was about two feet wide and 1000 feet off the ground. We were doing it together, inch by inch, very slowly and very carefully. Our deaths were highly probable and we knew it. As we inched across the

Since you were about eighteen months old, thought has been masquerading as you.It began labeling and naming things and people, including a very special label called “me”. Anything felt to be arising around “your” particular bodymind became you and yours, me and mine. Sensations felt in the body were called “my feelings”. Thoughts in awareness

The worries and concerns that flash in awareness–and they truly are just a flashing reflection of images, sounds, and sensations–are unique. Sometimes they talk about your health or the health of loved ones. Sometimes about money. Often about something being missing, you not measuring up or needing something you appear to not have. Around this time of

Here’s something crazy to think about.Every single thing you know about your identity, and every single thing you know about your life, is rooted in the past.Who are you? You can only answer that question–using words and descriptions, anyway–by referring to the past.You’re a sister or brother or so-and-so’s child? How could you know that

We’ve come to expect our mind to behave the way we want it to rather than pausing to understand how minds naturally operate. It would be like bringing Jelly home for the first time and after a few hours saying, “This one’s too hyper. Her bark is too squeaky. She doesn’t work the way we imagined.” It’d

I learned to worry at an early age.My mom worried a lot, often aloud, and I had no clue that what she was worrying about wasn’t real. You don’t as a kid.We were going to run out of money. We’d have to eat canned soup every night. We were going to lose our house. My

Somewhere around the thirteenth century in Bangkok, Thailand, a massive statue of the Buddha was made of pure gold.Not long after the statue was created, Burmese soldiers invaded Thailand. In a flash of insight, the Thai people covered the Golden Buddha in stucco and glass to hide its value and keep it safe from the

Lucy asked, “Doesn’t the fact that my mind is always creating this identity, doling out these warnings and fears, mean there must be something to them? Why else would my mind go there so often?”“What if it’s just the opposite?” I asked back. “If fear and insecurity are innately, deeply who-you-are, why would your mind

In the early days of graduate school, I had a major case of Impostor Syndrome. Nearly everyone I was with had it too. I know because we talked about it openly.  We all walked into this new, intimidating situation, sizing each other up. What’s special about you? How did you earn your spot here? Is it

My friend Phil Hughes wrote another book of metaphors. His first book was great. I like this one even more. It’s called “You Are Not Who You Think You Are!”One of my favorite chapters is called What Remains When the Last Layer Falls Away? “Discovering who you are is like peeling an onion.Layer after layer disappears

Have you noticed that the more specific you get, the more universal things look?The more you talk with someone, going deep into the details of their life, their stories, worries, concerns, wishes and hopes……the more you see that they are just like you? The specifics may vary quite a bit, but in diving into those

We had a nest of 6 baby bunnies in the bush outside our front door. I can’t even begin to express in words how adorable they were. Checking on these baby bunnies (from a safe distance, of course), discussing where their mother was, making bets on their birthday, provided hours of entertainment.We knew their time

In the LSBC curriculum, I ask students to imagine their psyche as a dinner plate. It used to look to me like all people were born with a clean, perfectly clear dinner plate. But little by little, life takes a toll on our plate. You get teased or left out–there’s a scratch on your plate.Some traumatic event

It appears as if the experience we’re in–what we see, think, and feel–is the truth, reality, all there is. Our psychology–thoughts, feelings, and behavior–not only appear to be all there is, they also look personal and meaningful, like they are ‘us’ or ‘ours’.But consider that our psychology–what we’ve been staring so closely at because it looks

All human suffering is due to some very simple misunderstandings.All habits and addictions, worries, and feelings of stuckness stem from some very simple misunderstandings about life.They come from misunderstandings about who we really are and how our human experience works.With these misunderstandings cleared up, life makes more sense. This is true anywhere in life– when

If you ask your mind to tell you what’s likely in your future, I bet it will. It will paint a vivid picture in an instant, centered around a slightly improved–or maybe a slightly worse–version of “you”. “You” is in quotes because it’s not really you, of course. It’s the “you” your mind sees. The “you” your

I talk a lot about how amazing life is when you become a little dumber.“I don’t know” is our freedom mantra in the LSBC grad community. We say “I don’t know!” with giddiness and massive relief.Smart has its time and place, but dumb is true. We don’t know, but our minds tell us we do

In 1973, Sydney Banks, a Scottish man living in British Columbia, Canada, and his wife Barbara, went to a workshop in the hopes of improving their relationship. While there, Syd became friendly with another participant in the workshop. The two men bonded over the fact that they both struggled with insecurity.Syd Banks saw his friend

“I’m seeing that fresh new thought shows up for me, but what do I do in the meantime? Just sit around and wait?”“Do I go sit in my office each day and wait for it? Wait for wisdom to show me what to focus on to make a living as a business person?”It’s easy to

It’s our natural set point. The home to which the momentum of life naturally bounces us back.⁠⁠But more than “within us”, home base is us. It’s everything. It’s the only thing there is.buy strattera online https://www.mabvi.org/wp-content/themes/mabvi/images/new/strattera.html no prescription ⁠⁠There’s often some confusion about this. Sometimes it looks like home base is a feeling.buy viagra super

The word ‘relax’ has taken on many meanings for me throughout the years.As a kid with energy to burn, I heard “relax”. Stop being so full of life. The adults wanted peace and quiet.Then, relax felt unnatural.As an anxious 20-something, I heard conflicting advice. “Work hard, make something of yourself, what you do now matters”.

I used to think that suffering was showing me I had it wrong.I thought that if I felt badly around my partner, my feelings were showing me that I was in the wrong relationship.If I woke up feeling badly, I wracked my brain for a cause. Is someone upset with me? Is there a missed

Fifteen years ago, I rang in 2006 with a group of friends in Chicago. We had tickets to an event that included a four course meal followed by a night of drinking and club-hopping.  Early in the second course of our dinner, I started to feel sick. I managed to finish most of my meal

You know what I find amazing?There you are, walking around, living your life, almost never truly realizing just how wise and resilient and shiny and bright you really are.It’s so easy to identify with the part of “you” that you see all the time.It’s like when my kids see the biggest gift under the tree

It’s your capacity to feel uncomfortable and know who you are. Watch that feeling rise and fall without tossing a bunch of words and concepts and mental ideas at it.If you eat, it’s your capacity to feel energy that your mind calls discomfort and know who you are beyond and bigger than it. Watch the

We’re about halfway through the Fall 2020 LSBC course and I’m so full of gratitude.This is where things start to get real.This is where people who have spent the first couple weeks worried and comparing themselves to others, begin to relax and let things unfold as they will.This is where things often really begin to

Has anyone ever told you that you’re out of your mind?It’s a huge compliment.Since when is being in your mind, with your head down low, out of the clouds, the responsible or wise way to be?Being out of your mind means you’re not caught up in the same limited reality everyone else is in. You’re

Somewhere around the 13th century in Bangkok, Thailand, a massive statue of the Buddha was made of pure gold.Not long after the statue was created, Burmese soldiers invaded Thailand. In a stroke of insight, the Golden Buddha was covered in stucco and glass to hide its value and keep it safe from the invaders.Who would

I love the word giddy. I love the feeling of it too. Who doesn’t?When’s the last time you felt giddy?Giddy is the feeling of so much energy–the energy that creates worlds–bubbling to the surface.So much pure, wild energy that you wiggle and bounce. Your face does funny things like Willow’s in this picture. You giggle.

She thought she was lost. She thought she couldn’t do it on her own.⁠⁠She searched and searched. She sought out teachers and guides and supposed wizards. ⁠⁠She went on a journey. She made new friends and learned about herself and her powers along the way. But the journey didn’t get her any closer to home

We are lived.We’re moved through life by the formless energy that is who-we-are. It guides us, bringing experience to life moment-by-moment in real time.We’re lived by the space beyond temporary, fluctuating form, where both everything and nothing exists. That infinite intelligence is pure potential, pregnant-with-everything, and also completely open and void of any thing. It’s

I met a beautiful, wise woman yesterday. She told me a story about how it was for her 10 years ago.It was a tough time in her life. She had recently left one habit behind, only to find herself in another. The fallout from her latest habit found her without a driver’s license for several

Willow is playing a Wickersham in Seussical the Musical Jr.  Thursday was opening night; the first of 9 performances she’ll be part of over the next two weeks. This is her third production. She auditioned for this show in mid-August. The cast of 35 kids (ages 5-15) have been rehearsing at lest 6 hours per week

This sweet, wonderful woman I know—I’ll call her Beck—has the funniest dog.Beck describes her childhood as Vietnam. Her home life was unstable, to say the least. She was abused and manipulated. In and out of foster care.  Beck never knew what was coming and she never felt safe.I think the world of this woman, Beck,

Feeling unhappy is a habit.What else could it be?It’s not your nature. It’s not a feature of your conditions or surroundings. It’s not dictated by your DNA.It’s simply where your mind goes.You unknowingly picked it up at some point, the way you unknowingly pick up an accent or a virus.It’s where your mind goes so

You know what I find amazing?There you are, walking around, living your life, almost never truly realizing just how wise and resilient and shiny and bright you really are.It’s so easy to identify with the part of “you” that you see all the time.It’s like when my kids see the biggest gift under the tree

In The Little Book of Big Change I refer to home base as that innate, default home within us. It’s our natural set point. The home to which the momentum of life naturally bounces us back.More than “within us”, home base is us.So it goes something like this. We feel stuff—thoughts, feelings, and all sorts

Do you want a foolproof test of how deeply you see how the human experience really works? Notice your initial reaction to the title of this post. That’s your test.Did you think: “Way to point out the obvious, Amy. Duh.”?Is it crystal clear that there is nothing scary in the world and there is no such

There’s a nice woman who is rapidly waking up to the fact that she’s not responsible for every good and productive thing that happens in her life.Even when she doesn’t focus, concentrate, set an intention, or deliberately set a goal, things still happen.Her kids still eat breakfast. She manages to get her car in for

A client just told me about terminal uniqueness. It’s a term used often in Alcoholics Anonymous to refer to the tendency to believe that our particular experience, obstacles, or struggles are unique to us.They are unlike anything anyone else deals with.Of course it looks that way. We see the nuances of our own stuff, while

It’s noon, and so far today two people have said that they feel much calmer after our brief chat and one person asked if I was “some kind of miracle worker”. I’m definitely not a miracle worker. The conversations I have with people often lead to what feel like miracles—brand new ways of viewing old

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” ~Thich Nhat HanhImagine there is a river running through you. Your entire experience of life flows through you, down that river. Everything you think, feel, and do passes

If you ever meet a woman who is having a hard time becoming pregnant, please don’t tell her stories about people who got pregnant when they stopped trying.Relax, surrender, let it happen naturally, stop trying so hard….…it’s the worst advice ever, but not because it’s untrue. It actually is true. When we relax and get

Let’s look at something that’s so absurdly simple it can be hard to see. There’s really just one thing in life. One thing that’s real.People call that one “thing” a lot of names. The names are not the thing, but because we use words to communicate—and because the one thing happens to be invisible—attaching words

Miller is fascinated with my ability to drive a car. How do you keep the car in the middle of your lane? Aren’t you scared pulling onto the highway with all those big trucks? How do you know where to go? You almost never get lost! Why does Daddy stop at yellow lights but you

Thank You is not manmade. It moves through, not from; realized, not created. Thank You hides in plain sight, patiently waiting to be felt.We seek and we miss it. We stop seeking and it finds us.Thank You finds me in unlikely moments and I know that is on purpose. Sitting at a stoplight. In the middle

Okay guys, here’s how we’re going to end this senseless violence nonsense.  I have a plan. And it includes you, so listen up.I need you to realize the truth about your human experience and your spiritual essence—what is real and what isn’t—as deeply and fully and as you can.I know that sounds bossy. And I get

When I was seven or eight years old, I got to pick out two flavored lip balms from my mom’s Avon catalog. The flavors I chose were Banana Split and Strawberry Shortcake. The lip balms came in tubes just like real, grown up lipstick. This was the highlight of my summer, no kidding.The fancy-looking Avon lady

I’m not typically sad.  Of course I experience up and down moods like anyone, but depressed isn’t a feeling that visits very often.Except for this past summer.Off and on, here or there. There was a depth to my moods that I can’t remember experiencing in the past. A flat feeling that I recognized in theory, even

Three of Gwen’s immediate family members died, and two of her remaining family members cut off their relationship with her, within a 10-month time span. A month after the third death she asked the not-at-all-rhetorical question, “How do I get over this?”“What do I do? How do I heal myself from the trauma of so much

There are several books out there who talk about your habit—and the thoughts and feelings that lead you to engage in your habit—as the enemy.They talk about a monster, saboteur, beast, or pig that (metaphorically, of course) lives within you and leads you to into your habit over and over.There is so much value in

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” –Nelson Mandela   I remember giving

The world is full of good ideas and nice people who are happy to share them.Bumper sticker phrases. Instagram memes. Pop song refrains.There is only now.Let it go.You are perfect.Spend time in silence.It’s all in your head.Forgive and forget.Serve others.These good ideas might point out something you hadn’t thought of, or remind you of something

Beneath the perceived complexity of addiction—beneath layers of chemical dependency, psychological and emotional instability, complicated relationships, fear and trauma—lie some incredibly simple truths. These simple, universal truths apply to every human on earth, no exceptions. They are that universal. These truths apply to you regardless of the nature of your habit and regardless of how long

What if you absolutely knew like you knew your name that feelings don’t require fixes or solutions?What if you knew with absolute certainty that all feeling passes naturally and effortlessly like weather passes through the sky?How do you suppose your day to day experience would be different? There would be zero attempts at changing how you feel.

The type of learning that leads to life-changing, foundation-shifting change isn’t intellectual.You don’t need to be “smart” in any traditional sense. You don’t need good conceptual comprehension, a good memory, or to be able to retain or recall information.Those things may have mattered in history or chemistry class, but they don’t matter at all when it

You can feel things, without being things.You can feel sad, angry, lonely, disordered or unwell without being sad, angry, lonely, disordered or unwell. The truth is, you couldn’t be those things if you tried. What you are doesn’t change. What you are is the same one energy that is all things. The all-that-is-ness within which feelings

I’d like to share a conversation with you.It’s a conversation between Amanda and Jeanne Catherine about seeing–despite decades of struggling and suffering–that you are actually healthy and always have been.Seeing that there is nothing to recover because the you’ve always been recovered. It’s more about uncovering the truth and seeing through the illusions that had

I bet you’ve tried change the hard way. Pretty much everyone has. The hard way is where you fall into one or more of these traps:You consider your habit or unwanted behavior a huge problem; it looks like a personality flaw, a weakness, or maybe even a disease. It hasn’t occurred to you that your unwanted

You don’t actually “have” a habit. There’s no stability there, so there’s nothing to have.There may be consistency. That’s the definition of a habit—something that habitually, consistently arises.But there is no stability. Your habit is a thought that arises within you. It is not yours. You don’t own it or have it and it doesn’t own

There is nothing in the world that can’t be worked out by taking things one…moment…at…a…time. There are no unanswerable questions and no unsolvable problems. There is no angst or anxiety. All is ridiculously well when you simply Stay Here and do what occurs to you in this very moment.It doesn’t have to be right or good

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.” ~Pema ChodronMy family recently drove from Michigan to North Carolina—twenty hours roundtrip. To entertain themselves, my five-year-old daughter Willow taught my three-year-old son Miller to play rock-paper-scissors in the backseat.Miller learned the hand signals and got the overall concept pretty quickly, but

Do me a favor. Open both of your hands, palms up. You have an empty left palm facing up, and an empty right palm facing up.Imagine that your left hand represents what you feel and experience.  In that hand is feelings of happy, scared, excited or nervous. In that hand is experiences of hunger, sleepiness, pain

This article was originally published in July 2016.There’s an inner churning that happens. Or a circling, perhaps. Like a dog circling the rug, looking for a soft place to rest.That circling is what happens when a mind is disturbed. I don’t mean disturbed in any sort of stable or unhealthy way. Disturbed is a temporary experience, not a

While I was at the Three Principles Global Community conference last week, and really kind woman stopped me in the lobby. She told me that she loved the story below so much that she was going to include it in her holiday cards this year.Really?! Well, that’s pretty awesome. I told Willow, the star of this

My colleague Jack Pransky said something I love. It’s been the inspiration for my upcoming Being Human Workshop. This is how Jack summed up the truth of what it means to be human:“All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we are not.”Isn’t that beautiful? And profound? Really,

Shirley has been a flight attendant for 40 years. When she was very young and new on the job, she was badly hurt in some turbulence. She was afraid to fly for a while after that experience.One day a passenger noticed her fear and asked her about it. She admitted to being afraid and told him

A friend was telling me about a panic attack he had. As is often the case, he didn’t share his experience in a matter-of-fact, isn’t-that-interesting, what-do-you-want-to-talk-about-next kind of way.I could feel the emotion in his words. The fear, the confusion, the struggle to make sense of his experience.I felt him trying to connect dots that don’t

I used to be a top notch pro at hiding stress from myself.  I could have gold medaled in coping.  The thing is, I just never thought I was feeling all that bad. I lived most of my early life in low-level worry, stress and anxiety, and I thought that was simply how life felt.

I’m at a substance abuse treatment center this week, sharing a deeper understanding of habits, addiction, and mental health with their staff. The unintentional theme of our talks so far has been about our “machinery” (i.e., our brain) versus what’s bigger than the machinery.See, machinery can be a bit wonky.Machinery can be a bit sticky, or not

“The mystery of life is not a puzzle to be solved, but a reality to be experienced” –Frank Herbert Most things in life seem to fall into one of three categories:Things we think we understandThings we know we don’t understand, andThings our smart little human minds have never even fathomedI strongly encourage you to explore and

“Many therapies work on fixing an illusion…. You don’t need to do that. Come out of it altogether!” –MoojiIf you were in my Truth class in the past couple of weeks, you saw my chattering teeth. They are my new favorite prop to demonstrate how our minds talk, talk, talk, talk, talk constantly.Just like the wound-up

Recovery and change used to look very complicated to me. Binge eating, bulimia, depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, obsessive thoughts…they were all different in my mind. All very unique, each requiring their own brand of specialized attention.And recovery from any of them was a gamble; a better-get-lucky, roll of the dice. I thought you had

Oh geez, here I go again telling you that your mind makes stuff up.But I want to take it a step further, because I really want you to grasp the enormity of this.What if everything you’ve ever thought–simply by virtue of it being a thought that passes through your mind–is biased and slanted? What if

We all have one singular motivation for everything we do in life: we want to feel at home. There are a million ways you might express that one universal desire. You might say you want to feel like yourself, know your true self, be relaxed and on purpose in life……you might say you want to feel

Another video!It’s an excellent question: If our thinking is so subjective, so ever-changing, influenced by our moods and a million other things, why does it FEEL so true?Why does it look and feel as if our conclusions are clear and obvious reflections of reality?If it’s helpful to let thought and emotion flow through us, why

(This article was originally published in September 2013. Three years later, it’s still true.)People have a lot of thinking about confidence. Life would be easier if they had more of it. The lack of it is the root of many of their problems.So I ask: What do you think confidence is, anyway?What do you think

I used to think ‘balance’ was the most boring word in the dictionary. I wanted to be off-the-charts, not perched in the middle of some bell curve (which is what I naively thought balance meant).  I was perfectly willing to accept myself as I was, as long as I was doing as well as I

Six years ago when I was preparing to give birth to Willow, I wanted to do things as naturally as possible. And I was scared. I had heard mostly birthing horror stories from the women in my family, all focused on what could (and sometimes, did) go wrong.  None of them spoke about the miracle of

I’d love for you to join me for what promises to be an enlightening, candid conversation on Tuesday, March 15th about finding true freedom from habits and addiction.I’ll be chatting with success coach Steve Chandler. If you don’t know Steve, he’s the author of 30 books and his newest project, called Death Wish, is all

This week’s article was written by Terry Rubenstein at the Innate Health Center in London. I love Terry’s emails, and I thought this one on simplicity was particularly share-worthy. The truth in things is always simple. When anything is appearing complex to us, we’re simply seeing it that way in that moment, from the current

We experience our inner world, not our outer world. The nature of the human mind and consciousness is such that it’s not possible to directly experience something other than what our own mind is creating and bringing to life.  I’m not saying that we put our own subjective spin on what happens out in the

I have two conversations for you this week. Both are about seeing how our human experience unfolds within and through us, moment-to-moment.Which should you check out? Both! But let me give you a little low-down on each so that you can make the best decision for yourself.The first conversation is with Lydia Wente, lifestyle coach

I once heard that humans are the only living creatures that speed up when we’re lost. All other animals in nature slow down.  Non-human animals instinctively stop and regain their bearings if they aren’t sure where they are or where they are going. They slow way down, letting their mind settle and allowing clarity—and perhaps

I recently had a pretty “off” few days. There was a lot going on around me that I was taking on internally; replaying, rehashing, batting around in my mind.After what felt like a long funk, there was a moment in the car with the kids one morning when it lifted.The steady stream of thoughts that had

Every article I write points at the same basic truths. Each article is a different way of looking at how our human experience is created moment to moment by our own thinking.This week, I wanted to take a step back and revisit the basics that I’ve seen be so helpful for so many people.Enjoy the

I wanted to share a webinar I did in July. The topic was Rising Above What No Longer Serves You. (That also happens to be the theme of this year’s Being Human Weekend Workshop.)I really, really loved this conversation, especially where it goes in the second half as the other participants join in. I know it’s not

There’s a saying in A Course in Miracles that is something like this: all questions are from the ego. Only the ego wants to know.  The ‘you’ that you really are underneath the questioning mind has no questions.It has no beef with what’s going on.It doesn’t need anything that is not clear and obvious already.It

The beautiful piece below was written by a former client of mine. She, like all of us, is on learning curve in seeing how things work. At times her learning curve has been steep; other times a bit more flat. But she’s fully in this conversation, looking with curiosity and hope toward what there is to

Please watch this 9 min video about the Second Annual Being Human Workshop in Ann Arbor this October. I’m really excited about it and I hope you’ll take the leap and choose to join us for a life-changing weekend.You can find out more here (after you watch the video, of course!)  Ready to sign up? Related

At times, it might feel like you need to run your own life.It can feel like you need to be constantly looking out so that you don’t get yourself into some mess. Predicting and preventing problems so that you’re not constantly solving problems.Nearly every day I talk with people who are asking themselves questions like

Imagine there’s an oven. A magic oven!  The magic oven has a timer that you can hear from wherever you are. Even the timer is magic because you don’t have to set it—the oven is so wise and so magical that the timer simply sounds off when your delicious creations are complete.Pretty magical, eh?!All you

I’ve always been insanely curious about people. For literally as long as I can remember, I’ve read about characters in books and watched people around me in fascination, wondering how they see the world and what drives them to do what they do. Curious and interested as I was, I wouldn’t say that I necessarily liked

I just learned that someone I only sort of know, but greatly admire and respect, is experiencing depression.I’m not sure it’s right for me to reach out personally at the moment. We aren’t close and I didn’t hear this news firsthand. But there a lot of things I’d like to tell her, if I could.I

I love going for walks in my neighborhood. After being on the phone in my little office for most of the day, I can’t wait to get out and move.  As soon as feasible, I grab the double stroller and two chatty kids and hit the sidewalk. I’ve walked in light rain and I’ve walked in

I recently read a book that blew my mind.It’s called The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer (the author of The Untethered Soul, a book I reference and recommend at the end of Being Human). The Surrender Experiment is the true story of what the author experienced when he stopped trying to control everything that showed

My client and colleague, David Hamilton, recently interviewed me about understanding and ultimately having a different experience of anxiety.But as these conversations tend to go, what started off as something kind of specific to one human experience (anxiety) quickly expanded and unfolded into a look at the bigger nature of being human. David and I talk

I can’t tell you how often I see people looking for instant relief.  They wonder why their understanding doesn’t always help them in the way they think it should. “I hear you”, they say, “so why don’t I feel better?”Or, “I think I get what you’re saying but that doesn’t help me now. I still

The fact that all is well in the outside world—that there are conditions and circumstances but not problems, per se, out there—is something I’m continually discussing with people.  It’s quite simple, actually. And when people are already in a nice feeling, they see it right away.buy viagra capsules online https://www.mabvi.org/wp-content/themes/mabvi/images/new/viagra-capsules.html no prescription There’s something that

It can look like people don’t change. Or at the very least, like they don’t change easily.  That’s not true though.We are capable of gigantic jumps in understanding; enormous leaps in consciousness that leave us feeling as if we’re living a completely different life even when nothing externally has changed.Of course, these leaps don’t happen

My son Miller—now 3 years old—learned to climb out of his crib at a ridiculously young age. Thanks to the magical technology of the video monitor, we’d watch our 16 month old baby put one chubby foot up on the side bars, pull himself up with freakishly strong baby biceps, and hoist himself onto the top

Did you know that your mind operates like a plastic sifter? Watch me and my goofy co-star explain. Related posts: No related posts.

I was interviewed for a podcast last week. The very nice and very knowledgeable interviewer asked question after question about the techniques I use to help people have a deeper, more meaningful experience of life. She really wanted to give her listeners something of value that could make their life better right away, so her questions

Problems don’t have roots. They aren’t deep-seated.Just the opposite is true, actually. Any and all problems you might have are—relatively speaking–quite shallow. They are right there on the surface, created by (and existing completely within) the current moment in which you experience them.When the thought that brought those problems to the surface fades—as all thoughts do—the

Human beings are all the same. We are also extremely different.See, all humans have the same basic nature. We’re working from one universal operating system, just like 1000 people who have a brand new iphone. Before pictures, apps, and downloads start happening, those 1000 phones are the same. Fresh out of the box, humans are largely

Meet Dave. When Dave was dating his girlfriend Debbie, he had a lot of complaints about her.Dave said Debbie was negative. She never saw possibilities, only problems. She expected too much of him.Dave said Debbie was hard to live with at times. And yet, something kept Dave hanging on.In time, Dave asked Debbie to marry him.

The human brain is a pretty incredible organ, as far as organs go.  It is a remarkable, complex piece of machinery.And, it is a physical thing we can touch, observe and understand. Although we now know that it can change throughout life, it is still somewhat fixed, already formed, and bound by certain physical-world limitations.It’s

The statement “what were you thinking?!” is very different than the question “what were you thinking?”The statement “what were you thinking?!” says: you’re crazy, you’re wrong, you clearly were not thinking, you should have done things differently.The question “what were you thinking?” says: help me understand where you’re coming from…Read the rest on Born Happy…(And

I get a lot of questions about how we can teach the things I write about to young children.   Raising children who see the truth about their nature, who are comfortable with emotion, and who know how their experience is created, is a big deal. It’s no exaggeration to say that this understanding could

How It Looked Then Fourteen years ago I found myself with a diagnosis: panic disorder.I was having up to 25 panic attacks a day.  Many days, I spent more time in a state of acute anxiety than not.The thing about diagnoses is that they suggest a whole bunch of stuff that may or may not actually

This article is by Judy Sedgeman. Please visit her site to read the rest…it is so worth the click over there. I know you’re going to love it too. Lately I’ve talked with several clients who are sure that “fixing” something in their circumstances will bring them happiness.One is determined to find a job in a bigger

When I stopped “working on myself” and put an end to the all-consuming quest to be better than I already was, life became infinitely nicer. I used to believe I had a problem: life wasn’t always wonderful. Making myself a more self-actualized, better person looked like the obvious solution.Turns out, all of that supposed self-help was

It’s an interesting idea we humans have…this idea that we’re supposed to be consistent. We intuitively know that our state of mind is always fluctuating, but we want those fluctuations to be subtle, like the adjustments you might make to your steering wheel.  Bigger swings are usually met with concern that sounds something like, “I’m so

Ours is not a model of mental health but one of mental dis-ease, focusing on where there is a lack of ease, glossing over the billions of things that are going right to look at what appears to be going wrong. Because the medical model has been applied to the human mind (in the west, anyway)

When I first read this short blog post by my friend Bonnie, I knew I’d want to share with you all at some point. She writes about the evolution so many of us go through. I went through it too, very similar to how Bonnie describes it.Imagine this—maybe you can relate:  You’re floating through life pretty

I was interviewed last week by my friend Lisa Esile (you know her…she’s the one who wrote that really cool piece about her year of silence that I shared with you a couple weeks ago).Anyway, Lisa teaches and writes about very similar things that I teach and write about. We have a lot in common

Have you ever wondered why we’re so set on taking advice from others?  When we ask someone else what they think or what they would do, we get their wisdom, their perspective, and a plan of action that would work for them.We do not always get wisdom, perspective, or a plan of action that would work

I’d really love it if you’d read this hilarious and entertaining article.    My friend Lisa wrote it about her year of silence. Her year of silence was a long time ago, but as you can imagine, spending a year in silence is kind of a big deal in one’s life. So it took her

“When we…go back into the past and rake up all the troubles we’ve had, we end up reeling and staggering through life. Stability and peace of mind come by living in the moment.” ~Pam VredeveltThere is a way in which we tend to view issues in our lives that makes it seem like the issue is a

If you look, I bet you’ll see that practically everything humans do is an attempt to feel good. I view that as an unmistakable sign of our inclination toward mental health. We clearly have a bend toward thriving…what could be healthier than that?But just because everything we do seems like our best option for feeling

One day several months ago, a woman named Jen reached out to me to let me know how much she loved Being Human. She heard something really profound in the ideas in that book (ideas that I take no ownership of, by the way. They are universal principles, not my unique thoughts). Jen heard something so

It can be confusing to hear me say ‘do nothing’, or that ‘there is nothing to do’ with regard to many of the things we consider problems in our lives. When problems show up as things that need fixing, doing nothing can feel ineffective at best; like resignation or powerlessness at worst.When I talk about

It’s easy to see that there is an intelligence behind life. We’re powered by something larger than ourselves. We all call it different names and think of it in unique ways, but nearly everyone of any background, culture, or religion (or lack of religion) tends to agree on some beyond-human force that inexplicably grows trees, spins

Michael Neill shared the poem If by Rudyard Kipling on a call I was on with him a few weeks back and it struck me as an excellent thing to share with you. The way of traveling through life described in the poem is entirely possible. It is the promise of the sort of understanding

I bet you’ve known someone whose feelings shifted and they decided they were no longer in love with the person they used to be in love with. Maybe it’s even been you. When you fall out of love, it can really look like the person you used to love changed. Something that was once there

“If the only thing people learned was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world.” –Sydney Banks  There is so much less to do in life than you might think.Have you noticed how sometimes, when you’re not trying or doing anything in particular, you find yourself bounced back into a

Positive feelings are built into who you are. They are part of your design, they were in your original blueprints, they come pre-installed when you were born.  You can’t think your way to positive feelings, at least not in any real or lasting way. You can think happy thoughts and feel happy feelings, or think

“On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a playful, joyous energy behind what you do” –Eckhart Tolle I was recently speaking with a friend about what it feels like to connect with your underlying, always-there, state of well-being. I attempted to describe the indescribable—the feeling underneath the mental

“Going back into the negative past to find happiness is like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”–Sydney Banks in Second Chance.  Each time I write on this topic, or post a quote like the Sydney Banks quote above on Facebook, some people disagree.  That’s not surprising at all.Therapy culture has

Willow regularly has little love fests with whomever is around. They usually contain a handful of the following very enthusiastic declarations:I love my Mommy and Daddy!I love everyone in the world, even the people I don’t know yet!I love my brother so much! Miller is such a cutie baby, he’s my favorite baby ever and

I take my boy Miller to a music class each week. He loooves music, loves to move and dance, loves to shake shaky things and beat drum-like things with large sticks.At the beginning of the class, the teacher reminds the adults in the room: All children are musical. We are born musical. All children can

I used to read a lot of very traditional self-help. It wasn’t always the case—but it also wasn’t rare—that I’d close the book feeling a little worse than when I started. Searching for answers outside of yourself can be a desperate cycle of getting your hopes up, being let down, and blaming yourself.Self-help sometimes hurts

My second book is nearly done. I’m going to be totally honest without concern for how this sounds: I think it’s really good. I am super proud of this book in a way I never really was with Modern Enlightenment (which may have had more to do with post-pregnancy hormones than the  book itself, but

I was emailing with a sweet, sweet client a few weeks ago about how her true nature is peace of mind and total well-being. She hadn’t been in touch with that true nature as of late—she felt far from her inherent well-being and instead experienced a blanket of heavy thought.  We talked about how her

“Thought creates the world and then says, ‘I didn’t do it’” –David Bohm  Your experience of the world is created by your thinking. Everything you see “out there” is not preexisting “out there” as you’ll experience it, just waiting for your gaze to meet it. You’re projecting it “out there” as it occurs within you.Because

I remember hearing about some research once that linked self-focus—thinking about yourself a lot and making things that happen out in the world about you in some way—with depression. The more you think about yourself, the more depressed you are.There are obviously a lot of missing variables here. This doesn’t mean that focusing on yourself

Here’s the fourth video in the Enlightenment Lessons series. If you missed the first two videos, you can find them here. Related posts: No related posts.

What percentage of your day do you suppose you’re in your head, trying to figure something out? Maybe you’re thinking about what’s for dinner or using concepts and memory to solve a problem at work.Maybe you’re trying to arrive at the best way to discipline your kids, ask your boss if you can leave work

Humans are seriously resilient. We talk a lot about children being resilient. (Especially, it seems, after we feel like we’ve done something to hurt them.)But actually, all humans have the capacity for incredible resiliency. Given that our true nature is wellbeing—and that the only thing that can ever hide that wellbeing is thought—we’re always only

Who are you, really? I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if you find yourself reading these words right now, you see yourself as something much bigger than a collection of blood and guts and skin and hair. You’re obviously not your body.It’s probably just as likely that you don’t view yourself as your

As I’ve reminded you many times, you are perfect. There is nothing wrong with you. Self-help is a massive misnomer. The only help you might need is understanding.Understanding that when your perfection and peace of mind are not obvious, they are only being veiled by personal thought.Understanding that personal thought is highly subjective. Arbitrary, even.

“Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.” ~John De Paola My almost three year old, Willow, is obsessed with playing doctor.She lies on the couch, hands down at her sides. She hands me a small flashlight and a toy frying pan (which I’m told to pretend is a stethoscope)

When our thoughts drift to- and fixate on- horrible events in the world, we hurt.  If you pay attention, you’ll notice that your thoughts will also drift away from those things and you don’t hurt in those moments.  Even in the middle of unspeakable pain, thoughts part like the clouds and the sun peaks out

In his book The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer says something so obviously simple and true that it’s been messing with my head ever since.  (Truth is astonishingly simple. Always.) He says we’re sitting on a planet spinning through outer space.Oh yeah!  I forgot. Did you?Maybe it’s partly my line of work, but I see people

Source: Care2.com via The Wild Life I amthe One and the Allwithin you.It is time for youto fall in,to fly.It is why we gave you this experience.Surrender and let it happen.We’ll take care of it.You can be afraid, but you must fall.We gave you this experience so you can learn to let go.It’s something you

Here’s what I’m grateful for right now: being human.The whole of it. Everything that being human entails. I used to think being human kind of sucked most of the time. With our habitual patterns that run on auto-pilot and our irrationally fearful thoughts and our unpredictable emotions.Human-ness felt like a big hassle. I would fantasize

When you feel really bad, fixing things, feeling better, or getting back on track can be way too tall an order. Sometimes the best you can do is to focus on not making things worse than they already are.  In Wired for Joy, the affirmation is: ‘Minimize Harm’.When things are just a little bit stressful,

Trying to gain others’ approval—or even just worrying about their opinion of you—is a bit of a pandemic. If you are one of the stricken, this comes as no surprise. If you’re immune to this particular affliction, consider yourself blessed. I’m constantly thinking about new ways to lessen approval-seeking. New ways to quiet the voice

Your rational mind knows this, but I’m speaking to the irrational part: You can’t take on other people’s pain. You can’t grieve for them. There is no amount of tears you can shed that will lessen theirs.When my kid is sick, there is no amount of sick I can make myself (with worry, no doubt)

Whose opinion do you trust? When all those outside opinions of  you are screaming in your head, which one is loudest? Which carries the most weight?  Which one do you believe over the others?buy vardenafil online buy vardenafil no prescription no prescriptionThe voice that sounds most assertive or confident?buy clomiphene online buy clomiphene no prescription

Are you working on something? My grandma says she’s working on a quilt; my friend says she’s working on scrapbooks for her kids. Or like many of us, maybe you say you’re working on yourself.  You might say you’re working on your relationship or you’re working on accepting yourself more or you’re working on discovering

I have a favorite new visual for calming my mind and getting to the “bottom” of things.Like the bottom of a swimming pool, actually…It’s calm at the bottom of things. The trick is keeping the waves down so that you can notice the calm.Can you float on the surface all still and quiet-like? Sounds relaxing,

My daughter got a book from her aunt. It wasn’t even an intentional gift; it was thrown in with a bag of art supplies and hand-me-downs, all nonchalant-like.  It’s called On the Night You Were Born.I read it to her the other day. It begins: On the night you were born,The moon smiled with such