by Dr. Chris Johnson | Apr 1, 2025 | Consciousness, Mindfulness, Practice
Have you noticed how challenging it’s become to simply pause? The world just keeps spinning at a dizzying pace, heightening my longing for a break. How about you? We’ve explored themes of heartbreak as a bridge to living deeply and powerfully in service of...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Mar 1, 2025 | Embodied Leadership, Mindfulness, Practice
Over the last few months, I’ve heard many comments from my clients like these: “I just don’t feel productive unless I’m checking things off my list.” “It didn’t feel good, but I kept pushing through — I had to.” “My days have been maxed out with wall-to-wall...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Feb 1, 2025 | Learning, Mindfulness, Passion
My husband texted me an unattributed quote last week, telling me, “This sounds like you.” “My desire to be well informed is currently at odds with my desire to stay sane.” He was right, it did sound like me in my attempts to not act on impulse to scream or throttle...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Jan 1, 2025 | Mindfulness, Practice, Resilience
Every year, as December closes, I reflect. It’s not formal—just a look back at the highlights and lowlights to guide the year ahead. But this year it hit differently. Harder. Heartbreakingly. It started in spring with the swirl of tension and “othering” in our...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Nov 1, 2024 | Learning, Mindfulness, Practice, Resilience
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Doom Loop lately. We’re in a frenzied state – across the country – of collective dysregulation for many reasons, but especially the November election last week. We’re edgy, off balance, angry. Some believe that democracy is at...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Oct 1, 2024 | Embodied Leadership, Mindfulness, Purpose
Many small towns in Illinois have quaint village squares with green space surrounding a central meeting location or fountain. Around the perimeter are civic centers, courthouses, churches, bakeries, and restaurants – places people often frequent and enjoy with...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Sep 1, 2024 | Consciousness, Learning, Mindfulness
I don’t know about you, but when I check my financial portfolio to see how it’s doing, I feel dopamine dread if the numbers go down or a surge of dopamine delight if the numbers go up from one quarter to the next. If they’re down, it’s clear that the...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Aug 1, 2024 | Consciousness, Mindfulness, Practice
It came to me as a surprise, the sudden awareness of my felt need for rest. I had known the year would be full of challenges, what with the bumps and scrapes of being newly married, the on-the-ground care in support for my parents; with my dad’s ill health and...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Jul 1, 2024 | Embodied Leadership, Mindfulness, Practice
Not long ago, on a phone call with vendor, while attempting to articulate a situation gone south, I was interrupted mid-stream with a torrent of words – an imagined finger angrily wagging in my face. The voice booming through the speaker on my phone was saying:...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Jun 1, 2024 | Embodied Leadership, Mindfulness, Practice
I was lucky to have been raised on a Midwestern gentleman’s farm. My sister and I had plenty of fresh air, trees to climb, and stars to gaze upon in the black night sky. My parents built an extraordinary home, nestled in a verdant valley a quarter mile off the...
