In this episode of The Spiritual Artist Podcast, CJ Miller speaks with coach and author Joey Lott about the actual nature of experience, the limits of the thinking mind, and the freedom that becomes possible when we stop trying to control every sensation, emotion, or moment of discomfort.

Joey shares his own journey as a long-time spiritual seeker who once believed peace would come through elevated states, spiritual practices, and finding the “right” answer. Over time, he discovered that true freedom did not come from escaping experience, but from becoming genuinely curious about what is actually happening in the present moment.

Together, CJ and Joey explore chronic tension, social media triggers, somatic awareness, creativity, and the courage it takes to live from the unknown. Their conversation invites listeners to stop collapsing life into labels and instead remain open, curious, and alive to the mystery of direct experience.

Three key themes emerge throughout the conversation:

• The actual nature of experience — learning to meet life directly rather than immediately labeling or resisting it. Joey invites us to look beneath labels like anxiety, depression, stress, or pain and ask, “What is actually here right now?” Instead of rushing to fix, explain, or escape discomfort, he suggests meeting experience with curiosity.

• Staying with the question — discovering that openness and inquiry can sometimes be more transformative than rushing toward certainty or answers. Rather than using questions only to find quick answers, Joey describes inquiry as a living practice. The question itself can open space, soften urgency, and keep us from collapsing life into rigid certainty.

• The body as a doorway to aliveness — recognizing chronic tension, bracing, and overthinking while allowing the body to reconnect us with presence and authentic living. Joey talks about chronic bracing, tension, and the way many of us live from the thinking mind. By noticing the body and allowing feeling to reawaken, we begin to experience life more directly, even when it feels messy, uncomfortable, or unknown.

CJ and Joey also discuss creativity as a spiritual practice, the role of music and memory in awakening aliveness, and how true creativity often emerges from stepping into the unknown rather than repeating what is already familiar.

For more information about Joey’s work or to schedule a coaching session, visit joeylott.com. His book, “The Best Thing That Never Happened,” is on Amazon.

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Want to learn more about CJ Miller? Check out his Spiritual Artist Retreats, 1:1 Personal Coaching, and Speaking Engagements at www.spiritualartisttoday.com. His retreats are designed to help you reconnect with your Creative Intelligence and express your true artistic voice. You can also find his upcoming schedule there, and his book, The Spiritual Artist, is available on Amazon.

Have you ever had a week where you questioned whether your work even mattered?

In this deeply personal episode, CJ Miller shares a raw recording captured just minutes after receiving a handwritten letter from a young artist on the West Coast who had read his book, The Spiritual Artist. The unexpected letter arrived during a week filled with doubt, uncertainty, and questions about purpose. What CJ discovered inside the envelope moved him to tears.

The letter speaks about creativity, surrender, solitude, spiritual identity, emotional sensitivity, and the longing to create from something deeper than recognition or success. It also reflects on artists like Kandinsky and Georgia O’Keeffe, the pull of New Mexico, and the search for a more meaningful artistic life.

This episode is not polished.
It’s human.

A conversation about what happens when something you create quietly reaches another person in a profound way.

Sometimes we never know if our words, paintings, podcasts, or presence matter.

And then one day…
a letter arrives.

Want to learn more about CJ Miller? Check out his Spiritual Artist Retreats, 1:1 Personal Coaching, and Speaking Engagements at www.spiritualartisttoday.com. His retreats are designed to help you reconnect with your Creative Intelligence and express your true artistic voice. You can also find his upcoming schedule there, and his book, The Spiritual Artist, is available on Amazon.

In this episode of The Spiritual Artist Podcast, CJ Miller sits down with writer, actor, and creator Lyn Alicia Henderson for a heartfelt conversation about Affirmative Prayer, intention, and the deeper power behind words. Together, they explore the idea that prayer does not have to belong to organized religion or rigid doctrine. At its core, prayer can simply be understood as a conscious declaration of truth, alignment, and connection. Lyn Alicia beautifully reframes prayer as something much closer to affirmations, intention-setting, and speaking from an awareness of the greater Creative Intelligence already moving through life.

Throughout the conversation, CJ and Lyn Alicia discuss how many people have become uncomfortable with the word “prayer” because of painful religious experiences, yet still embrace practices like affirmations, mindfulness, and visualization without realizing they arise from many of the same spiritual roots. Lyn Alicia explains that Affirmative Prayer carries a different feeling because it is not begging for something outside ourselves. Instead, it is recognizing and declaring the qualities already present within us through our connection to Spirit. The discussion moves naturally into nature, consciousness, energy, and the interconnected intelligence visible throughout creation. From the migration of birds to the balance of ecosystems, CJ shares how observing nature helped him understand Spirit as a living demonstration rather than merely an abstract belief.

The episode also explores the emotional and even physiological effects of prayer and intentional thinking. Referencing ideas connected to the HeartMath Institute, Lyn Alicia describes how practices rooted in love, compassion, gratitude, and affirmative language can influence both our internal state and the atmosphere around us. She speaks about prayer not as helpless pleading, but as a grounding practice that harmonizes the mind, body, and emotions during uncertain times. The result is an uplifting and practical conversation that invites listeners to move beyond fear of spiritual language and rediscover prayer as a deeply human act of alignment, clarity, and conscious intention. For more information, you can follow Lyn on TikTok by searching for @pry.slay76 or on Instagram at @lynalicia.

Want to learn more about CJ Miller? Check out his Spiritual Artist Retreats, 1:1 Personal Coaching, and Speaking Engagements at www.spiritualartisttoday.com. His retreats are designed to help you reconnect with your Creative Intelligence and express your true artistic voice. You can also find his upcoming schedule there, and his book, The Spiritual Artist, is available on Amazon.