Blog | Dr. Amy Johnson

Musical Miller (and the Biggest Lie about Music since Milli Vanilli)

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

The Story of Little Mind and Big Mind

Let’s talk about two minds: Little Mind and Big Mind. Little Mind is your personal thinking. It is the thinking that you grab onto and identify with; the subjective, biased thought that occurs to you and results in your own unique view of reality.Big Mind is…well…it’s not that. It’s something else; something a little less

How to Bring Up Children who Aren’t Afraid of Emotion

It seems that every time I hear useful advice about how to influence children, it always comes back to the same thing: Whatever it is you want your kids to do, do it yourself. (This applies to relationships with anyone, by the way. Give what you want to get. Be the change you want to

Why Life gets Easier When you Steer Clear of Self-Help

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

Why I’m Naming my Book Being Human (even though you told me not to)

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

One More Time… What’s my Default?

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

Can’t we all just Get Along?

There are some people you can’t easily avoid, much as you might like to. That’s the bad news.The good news is that they don’t have to get under your skin quite the way they do. No offense, but they get under your skin because of how you think about them, not because of who they

So What if You Don’t Know?

“Sometimes questions are more important than answers” –Nancy WillardIt always amazes me how much meaning people attach to the innocent little state of uncertainty. Actually, “I don’t know” is an innately neutral statement of fact pertaining to a single moment in time.There is never anything inherently bad, scary, or ‘wrong’ with “I don’t know” and

Healthy Suspicion

“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

“Making up” Your Mind. And Allowing it to Change.

There’s nothing more attractive than a mind that’s willing to change. Because think about it—a mind that is fluid and moving, not dug in, entrenched or made up, is a guarantee that your experience is going to change. It’s a promise that you won’t stay upset for long, that things are always changing, and that