Pay Attention

Holly McNeill
  • 5.0 (4)
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Pay Attention is a podcast dedicated to a journey from the chaos of the mind to the clarity of the open heart. As a seasoned architect turned teacher and spiritual guide, Holly McNeill spent two decades while working full time and as a single mom exploring neuroscience, psychology, Buddhism, and spirituality all to uncover the transformative power of the present moment. Here you'll find practical tips and insights on how the mind works, why you get stuck, how to break free, how to create space for real change, and what lies beyond the chaos. All here to help you build a life of clarity, peace, and purpose.

  1. S2:E12 The Hidden Battle: A Veteran's Journey Through Trauma, Psychedelic Healing and Hope with Maria Gonzalez

    3D AGO ·  VIDEO

    S2:E12 The Hidden Battle: A Veteran's Journey Through Trauma, Psychedelic Healing and Hope with Maria Gonzalez

    Did you know 22 veterans take their lives every day in the U.S.? In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Pay Attention, Holly sits down with Maria Gonzalez to explore the hidden toll of trauma on veterans and their families. Maria shares her family's journey through years of chronic pain, emotional volatility, and the invisible weight of unresolved trauma that so often goes unseen. What began as physical suffering gradually revealed something much deeper—wounds that traditional treatments were not reaching. Maria speaks candidly about her husband Gabe's struggle as a disabled veteran, the terrifying moment when their family reached a breaking point, and the desperate search for help that led them to an unconventional path: psychedelic-assisted healing outside the United States. What followed was not a magic fix, but a profound shift—one that opened the door to healing, new patterns, renewed connection, and a restored desire to live. Together, Holly and Maria talk about PTSD, depression, chronic pain, caregiver trauma, and the complicated reality of loving someone who is suffering in ways you cannot fully see. They also explore the importance of preparation and integration, and why healing does not just affect the individual, but the entire family system. This episode is both heartbreaking and hopeful. It is a conversation about invisible wounds, the limits of conventional care for some people, and the possibility of transformation when the right kind of support finally reaches the root of the pain. Maria also shares how she and Gabe are now turning their experience into service through Operation Solace, helping other veterans access life-saving retreats and reminding families that they are not alone. If you have ever loved someone who was silently struggling, or if you yourself know what it feels like to search for relief and find none, this episode offers something essential: honesty, compassion, and hope.

    36 min
  2. S2:E11 What Your Dreams Are Trying to Tell You (Part 2)

    MAR 24

    S2:E11 What Your Dreams Are Trying to Tell You (Part 2)

    What if recurring dreams held the key to understanding who we truly are—and what we're here to do? In this follow-up to their first conversation on dream tending, host Holly McNeill invites dream tender and therapist Valerie Johns back for a raw and revealing live dream tending session. If you've ever wondered who Holly really is beyond the mic, this is the episode. It's raw, unpolished, and deeply personal—and through the process, Holly learns more than she expected. Together, Holly and Valerie explore: ·       How live dream tending can reveal hidden wisdom within recurring dreams ·       Why dreams often uncover unresolved identity, self-worth, and the longing for mentorship ·       How the ego loses control in the dream state—and why that matters for personal growth ·       How some dreams come from the collective unconscious, calling us to healing and action in the world This isn't just a conversation—it's a vulnerable, transformative experience that invites listeners to tend their own inner landscapes with curiosity and care. ✨ Haven't listened to Part 1 yet? Go back and start there for Valerie's full introduction and insights into dream tending. Connect with Valerie Johns: 🌐 valeriejohns.com 📷 Ihttps://www.instagram.com/valeriejohnsla/ 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-johns-66155216/

    39 min
  3. S2:E10 What Your Dreams Are Telling You with Valerie Johns

    MAR 17

    S2:E10 What Your Dreams Are Telling You with Valerie Johns

    To stay in the world of dreams just a bit longer, this week on Pay Attention we're going back to the archives to revisit an earlier conversation on dream tending with Valerie Johns. What if your dreams weren't random at all, but meaningful messages from the deepest parts of you? This episode originally aired in Season 1 as Episode 24. Unlike traditional dream interpretation, Valerie's approach to dream tending encourages us to form a relationship with our dreams—to listen, explore, and allow the subconscious to speak. In this conversation, Holly McNeill sits down with Valerie to explore how dreams can support emotional healing, personal clarity, and spiritual growth. Together they discuss: • Why we forget our dreams—and how to start remembering them • Why recurring dreams and nightmares may actually be calls for attention • How the ego has no control in the dream world—and doesn't like it • How some dreams may arise from the collective unconscious, pointing us toward healing and action in the world ✨ Part 2 of this conversation will re-air next week with Holly and Valerie joining live. If you're curious and don't want to wait, you can find it now in the archives as Season 1, Episode 25, where Valerie leads Holly through a live dream tending session. Connect with Valerie Johns: 🌐 valeriejohns.com 📷 / valeriejohnsla 🔗 / valerie-johns-66155216

    25 min
  4. S2:E9 Gateway to the Inner Self: What Lucid Dreams Reveal About Consciousness

    MAR 10

    S2:E9 Gateway to the Inner Self: What Lucid Dreams Reveal About Consciousness

    What happens when awareness awakens inside a dream? In this episode of Pay Attention, Holly McNeill continues her exploration of consciousness — not just in the waking world, but in the landscapes we enter each night. She sits down with Robert Waggoner, one of the world's most respected lucid dreaming educators and former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, to explore what lucid dreams reveal about the deeper architecture of the mind. Lucid dreaming is more than flying or controlling dream scenes. It is the moment we recognize, within the dream itself, that we are aware. And from that awareness, something extraordinary happens: belief shapes experience instantly. Together, Holly and Robert explore: What lucid dreaming truly is — and why it has been scientifically validated How belief and expectation shape both dream reality and waking life The role of attention and emotional stability in sustaining lucidity The mysterious "inner awareness" that can respond from beyond the thinking mind How lucid dreaming can support healing, insight, and creative expansion What it means to practice "lucid living" beyond the dream state If much of what we call identity operates below conscious awareness, the dream state may offer a rare and direct encounter with the forces shaping our lives. As Holly often reminds her listeners: when we understand how the mind works, we begin to see where we have agency. Tonight, as you drift to sleep, you might ask yourself — what would happen if you knew you were dreaming?

    43 min
  5. S2:E8 Dear Universe: The Story We Inherit — and the One We Choose

    MAR 3

    S2:E8 Dear Universe: The Story We Inherit — and the One We Choose

    Following last week's open and expansive conversation, this episode turns gently toward something powerful: choice. Holly sits down with psychotherapist and poet Robby Cale for a reflective conversation that begins with his spoken-word piece, "Dear Universe," and unfolds into an exploration of the stories we inherit — from our upbringing, our environment, and the identities handed to us before we ever knew we had a say. Together, they explore perception and perspective, inherited belief systems, nervous system awareness, and the quiet but profound shift from living on autopilot to living with intention. Because while we may not choose the story we're given, we always have agency in how we continue it. The episode closes with a live poetic reflection — a reminder that becoming the light is always an option.

    36 min
  6. S2:E7 When The Soul Speaks, Listen: Proof You're Not Crazy with Cheyenne Moore & Ann Arnd-Caddigan

    FEB 24

    S2:E7 When The Soul Speaks, Listen: Proof You're Not Crazy with Cheyenne Moore & Ann Arnd-Caddigan

    Is it a mental health crisis, or is it a spiritual awakening? In this live episode of the Pay Attention Podcast, host Holly McNeill is joined by guest host Cheyenne Moore and Dr. Margaret Arnd-Caddigan to explore the intersection of spiritual awakening and mental health. We tackle the terrifying question many ask during a Kundalini awakening or deep spiritual journey: "Am I going crazy?" Cheyenne shares her first-hand account of a Kundalini energy unraveling, heart expansion, and the terrifying beauty of surrender. Dr. Margaret brings decades of psychology experience to explain how mystical experiences differ from psychosis and offers clinical discernment. Together, they examine where spiritual awakening and mental health intersect and how to navigate it wisely. If you have ever felt your world crack open and questioned your sanity, this conversation offers steady ground. You are not broken. You may be expanding. In this video, we discuss signs of spiritual awakening, the difference between mental health struggles and spiritual emergence, and how to find grounding when the soul speaks. #spiritualawakening #kundalini #mentalhealth #psychology #payattentionpodcast #healingjourney #consciousness

    38 min
  7. S2 E6 How Lucid Dreaming Heals Trauma & Anxiety with Clare Johnson

    FEB 18

    S2 E6 How Lucid Dreaming Heals Trauma & Anxiety with Clare Johnson

    In this episode of Pay Attention, Holly sits down with Clare Johnson, PhD, one of the world's leading voices in lucid dreaming, for a deep conversation about the dream world. Discover how conscious dreaming can be a powerful gateway to healing, insight, and awareness. Key Topics Discussed in This Video: Healing Through Dreams: How the dream world serves as a powerful space for emotional healing and self-discovery.  Overcoming Trauma: Dr. Clare shares how lucid dreaming helps resolve nightmares, grief, anxiety, and long-held emotional patterns. Conscious Engagement: Learning to work with the subconscious mind rather than trying to control it forcefully. The Science of Sleep: A deep dive into REM sleep, hypnagogic states, and why awareness persists even in deep rest. Fear & Intention: Understanding how dreams respond to our fears and how to set positive intentions. Personal Journey: Holly reflects on her own experiences with altered states of awareness and their role in personal growth. Bridge to Awareness: Viewing sleep not as an unconscious void, but as a bridge between science and lived experience. This conversation invites you to see your sleep as a living, intelligent landscape that guides you toward a deeper understanding of yourself.

    39 min
  8. S2:E5 The Invisible Made Visible - Awareness Felt Through Energy & Art

    FEB 10

    S2:E5 The Invisible Made Visible - Awareness Felt Through Energy & Art

    Last week, we explored what research is revealing about the mind–body connection—and how science is beginning to build a bridge toward contemplative practice and lived experience. This week, we step into the experience itself. In this episode, Holly is joined by Marc Noël, a Belgium-based artist, therapist, and creator of Quantum Paintings, whose work sits at the intersection of energy, consciousness, and art. Marc's paintings may be analyzed or interpreted—but ultimately, they are meant to be felt. Created through intentional presence and infused with chi, his work invites a direct, embodied experience of awareness that many describe as grounding, calming, and deeply familiar. Working intuitively with energy and intention, Marc draws from an early understanding of presence and awareness that has been familiar to him since childhood. Also returning to the conversation is Ann Van de Winckel, PhD, founder and Director of the Brain–Body–Mind Lab at the University of Minnesota. If you listened to last week's episode, you know that Ann is conducting research in NeuroArts and body awareness that draws directly from Marc Noël's quantum paintings—helping bridge lived experience with emerging scientific inquiry. Together, they explore how art can act as a doorway into felt experience—supporting regulation, restoring connection to the body, and offering access to states of clarity that are often difficult to reach through cognition alone. Through Marc's creative work and Ann's research, embodied experience and scientific inquiry meet, inviting the analytical mind to soften as awareness is seen, felt, and experienced directly. This conversation moves beyond explanation and into experience. It invites listeners to consider how awareness can be felt, how healing can emerge through presence, and how art may help make the invisible visible—within the body, the mind, and the human experience itself. Learn more about Marc at his websites: WEBSITES  https://mapeinturequantique-fushigina.com https://fushiginachoowa-marcnoel.com https://myquantumpaintings-marcnoel.com   Reach him at his email:   EMAIL mapeinturequantique.fushigina@gmail.com   Subscribe to his Youtube channel:   YOUTUBE  https://www.youtube.com/@mapeinturequantique.fushigina

    51 min
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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Pay Attention is a podcast dedicated to a journey from the chaos of the mind to the clarity of the open heart. As a seasoned architect turned teacher and spiritual guide, Holly McNeill spent two decades while working full time and as a single mom exploring neuroscience, psychology, Buddhism, and spirituality all to uncover the transformative power of the present moment. Here you'll find practical tips and insights on how the mind works, why you get stuck, how to break free, how to create space for real change, and what lies beyond the chaos. All here to help you build a life of clarity, peace, and purpose.

Information

  • Creator
    Holly McNeill
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    54
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Pay Attention