David L Johns LMHC

11/17/2025

The past is not a compass for your future. Give yourself permission to chart a new course!

11/17/2025

11/13/2025

https://buff.ly/gNJDh57

There are many ways you can calm your body and make your brain feel safer to reduce anxiety and improve your mental health.

11/09/2025

Researchers have shown that writing down simple, specific things you are grateful for every day trains your attention to find more good.
That shift is not just mood fluff. It changes how your brain searches for and rewards positive information.
Start small. Spend ten minutes each evening and list three precise things you noticed that day.
They do not need to be huge. A warm cup of coffee. A text that made you laugh. A moment when you helped someone.
Do this consistently for three weeks, and you will notice your stress ease, your sleep deepen, and your default thoughts tilt toward possibility rather than scarcity.

The mechanism is straightforward. Attention sculpts neural wiring. When you repeatedly focus on positives, the brain strengthens pathways that notice and savor them.
That increases feel-good neurotransmitters and lowers the automatic fight or flight response. It is practical neuroscience, not mysticism.

Try it tonight. Write your three items, no filter, no pressure, just truth. Do it for 21 days and treat the result like an experiment on yourself.

If you want a faster mood reset and a lasting habit, this is the simplest clinical-grade practice I know.
Save this post if you want an easy daily tool to improve focus and calm mornings. Tag someone who should try this for a month.

Verified Sources:
Harvard Medical School.
Nature.
National Institutes of Health.
University of California, Berkeley.

11/04/2025

Your brain’s job isn’t to make you happy, it’s to keep you safe.

That’s why it constantly scans for threat, not possibility.

Negativity bias is the tendency to remember, predict, and focus on what could go wrong more than what could go right.

It once kept us alive in the wild. But in the modern world, it often just keeps us anxious, hesitant, and limited.

When you think “what if I fail?”, your amygdala signals potential threat, activating the stress response and releasing cortisol.

This can have a direct impact on how you function as your attention narrows and the brain prioritises safety over creativity or long-term reasoning.

When you shift to “what if it all works out?”, amygdala activity decreases and the prefrontal cortex — the centre of logic, planning, and creative problem-solving — becomes more active.

This shift is often accompanied by increased dopamine, enhancing motivation and cognitive flexibility.

So the next time your mind spirals into worst-case scenarios, pause and redirect it. Train your brain to expect safety instead of threat and see how your life improves.

10/30/2025

Transcendental Meditation doesn’t ask you to clear your mind, it effortlessly settles your nervous system. No concentration. No breath control. Just a simple technique that actually works whether your thoughts are quiet or loud.

09/25/2025

I am thankful for all of these.....

08/27/2025

Thank you to Teri Pichot for this

08/12/2025

Brain Fog

Ever feel like your brain’s moving through molasses? That’s brain fog—and if you have anxiety, it’s more common than you think.

When you’re stressed, your brain shifts into threat mode, scanning for danger instead of helping you remember where you left your keys, or what you were just saying. Add stress hormones into the mix, and your mental clarity takes a hit. The good news: Brain fog from anxiety is temporary. You aren't cognitively declining.

Here’s how to help it lift:
1. Stop testing your memory or clarity
2. Calm your body with slow breathing or a gentle walk
3. Prioritize good sleep
4. Reach out for support if you need it

Your brain isn’t broken—it’s just tired. Treat it with care, and the clarity will come back.