Blog | Dr. Amy Johnson

Life With no Memory

I heard a story about a guy who had no long-term memory and very little short-term memory. He kept a journal. By the time he wrote in his journal each night, he had pretty much forgotten everything that had happened that day. He was living in a perpetual state of present moment awareness.As it turns

The Thing About Mean People

I don’t believe there are mean people. There are wounded people who appear mean. And there are insecure people who appear mean.And yet, it’s not like I remember this all the time or apply to everyone I meet. It’s easy to have compassion for some people and harder to have compassion for others. As much

How Much Pleasure will you Allow?

Sometimes a quote just speaks to you. This is one of those for me. “When you die, God and the Angels will hold you accountable for all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.” –Roger HousdenI’ve read this over and over. I sound like Meg Ryan in that famous diner scene in

Here’s how to Change Your Brain

As you’ve no doubt noticed, I talk a lot about thought. We are not our thoughts. Our thoughts are not us. Thought is habitual and über subjective.How to detach from thought. The value in observing thought without judgment.You get the picture.Aside from the amazing freedom you find when you stop taking all that mental chatter

A Story About Presence

Traveling with children is totally enlightening. I live largely in my thinking.This is my experience: Thinking…“We have three, maybe four hours between wake up time and time for Miller’s first nap. Two to three hours once you factor in breakfast and baths.What should we do?We should go to the beach. Will it be warm enough

Does a Happy Life Really = a Better Life?

There must be a rumor going around. Virtually all of my clients tell me about it at some point. The rumor sounds something like this: We should nearly-always be happy.That it’s somehow unenlightened to have bad days.That negative emotion should be quite rare and reserved for only those times when something truly horrible happens in

What’s Best vs. What you Think is Best

The two S’s: Suffering and Stuck. When you feel either, there is an excellent chance that you are holding on to something you think is best for you, but it’s not.That dream you say is yours (the career you grew up knowing you’d choose, the hobbies and lifestyle you think you’re supposed to have)…it’s not

Free Call Thursday 1/17: Outsmart your Fear with Intuition

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” ― Jim Morrison What are you afraid of?When fear takes over, most humans shift into control mode. We’ll muscle our way through, we reason, clutching, forcing, and manipulating things until the fear

Behind the Veil

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.

Find Peace in the Wisdom Beneath Thought

“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)