Could silence be your best friend?

I used to keep my mind and body busy to avoid moments of silence. I was uncomfortable being with myself. Constant busyness, distraction, and restlessness left me exhausted at the end of the day.

We can be afraid of slowing down. We run from ourselves. In order to avoid feelings, we disassociate and check out. But what if we’ve got it all wrong? Is peace found in the opposite direction, through exploring silence?

If you are restless, discover the way of silence with my guest Dr. Amy Johnson. You can become more present, connected, and creative.

Amy Johnson, PhD is a psychologist, coach, author, and speaker who shares a groundbreaking new approach that helps people find lasting freedom from unwanted habits, anxiety, and self-doubt via insight rather than willpower.

She is the author of Being Human, The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit, and Just a Thought: A No-Willpower Approach to End Self-Doubt and Make Peace with Your Mind. In 2017 she opened The Little School of Big Change, an online school that has helped thousands of people find freedom from anxiety and habits and live a more peaceful life.

Her most recent course, Resting in Restlessness, explores silence in a way that Adyashanti calls “True Meditation.” Discover what feeling your way through life could do for you. Find inner freedom.

I highly recommend her monthly community. Find more details here: https://dramyjohnson.com/about-dr-amy/

Do you like to journal?

What if writing could be your guide toward spiritual evolution?

Your journal practice could help you clarify your thinking, drop limiting beliefs, and connect more deeply to yourself. You just have to do it in this way . . .

My guest, Maria Iliffe-Wood, and I discuss writing from clarity. This conversation is for writers who want to improve their writing. It is for those who want to write more with fewer inner blocks.

Listen if you want to write from your soul.

Learn to write with a higher intention. Discover how you can approach the page in an open and curious way.

Writing can be your best friend.

Maria Iliffe-Wood is a British author whose daily writing practice has been foremost in her life for many years. Writing, for her, is more than craft—it is a way of making sense of the world, a source of resilience through dark times, and a means of connecting with others on the deepest of human levels.

She is the author of four books and a contributor to three anthologies.

Maria is the founder of IW Press, a partnership publishing company established in 2020, and teaches Jack Grapes Method Writing alongside Jules Swales.

She has supported and published multiple books, guiding writers from dream to finished manuscript. One writer described the process as “finding their wings.”

Maria believes that stories, whether poetry, memoir, or fiction, have the power to heal, inspire, and connect us. Through the work she does with IW Press, she champions the voices of those who feel called to write, ensuring their stories find their way into the world.

She leads multiple writing workshops coming up in the new year. Find our more at https://www.julesswales.com/class/entry-level-class/

She will also be doing the Writing from Mind class again in 2026. I will be there. Please join us!

Maria’s website: iliffe-wood.co.uk

Her books: Coaching Presence, The Daily Yarns, A Caged Mind, This One Life

What is joy made of?

If you understand the anatomy of joy, you can be in touch with it more of the time.

Joy is not something you create. Joy is within you, an innate resource that you can tune into.

Joy is not about escaping suffering and challenges. It is a quieting of the mind and “being with it.” Presence brings us into alignment to our joyful center.

“Joy lives in the heart.”

If you want more joy in your life, listen to a conversation I had with Qigong Master Teacher, Vicki Dello Joio. Her name means victory of joy. For more than 45 years, her brand of brilliance has empowered wellness-motivated and spiritually-inclined seekers and speakers to infuse body-mind-spirit practices into their very cells so they can tap into their birthright of joy — use it as a fuel not just a goal — for a lifetime.

“We have all kinds of feelings and emotions, and they all belong. Joy is the seed and essence of all of it.”

Join us for a Qigong movement practice to cultivate more joy at the 22:00 minute mark.

FInd Vicki at yourpowerpresence.com or https://www.vickidellojoio.com/

My name is Rich Life and this is the Releasing Mental Tension Podcast.

Become a part of a transformative conversation that helps you to relax into presence. The conversations I have in this space are based around the 3 Principles understanding of Sydney Banks, and enlightened Scottish mystic.

The 3 Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought help us understand the nature of our experience. Those who explore this understanding find that their lives transform. Listen for a richer experience of life.

Please help me reach more people with the message that the core of who you are is peace, love, and connection. Comment, like, and subscribe.

Visit my blog at richliferealization.com