Inner Intimacy: Reclaiming Wholeness

Over the past 20 years of recovery, I have had the privilege to be a witness to many human beings courageously grappling with their own self- loathing, challenges and grief. Their stories stayed with me and offered me insights into what it means to be a truly ‘whole’ human. In this book, I explore that it’s never too late to have a life that is not fuelled by so much compulsive and sometimes destructive doing, that you forget how to be kind and tender with yourself. What recovery requires, is willingness to admit powerlessness and that life in its current form has become unmanageable. This book is written as a support to those recovering, whether from an addiction or from life, inviting a going within, sensing and exploring how to embody ageless presence.

Inner Intimacy requires authentic stillness and holds at its centre a quality of invitation and receptivity, of drawing in healthy closeness, as opposed to the grasping and pulsating nature of its opposite, noise, which is perpetually and relentlessly seeking for attention and validation outwardly. Life is calling, inviting us to cultivate inner intimacy. All we need is a map. Together, let’s explore this sacred terrain. 

About the Author

Mandy Johnson is a Mindfulness-based Recovery Coach, Supervisor and Facilitator with an undergraduate degree from UCT in Industrial Psychology and Sociology. Mandy completed her Graduate Diploma in Counselling (Coaching) through Sacap (South African College in Applied Psychology). She is credentialled as a Master Practitioner Coach (CMP), with COMENSA (Coaches and Mentors South Africa) and has completed her Post Graduate Certification in Mindfulness-based Interventions at Stellenbosch University through the Faculty of Medicine.

She has been in recovery for over 20 years and her focus is primarily geared towards supporting recovery from co-dependency and the adult child syndrome. During a 30-day silent retreat in 2018, Mandy faced a crisis of confidence with mindfulness, suffering a reactivation of old trauma, which resulted in an intense period of re-building herself and regaining balance. Through the support offered by Cheetah House and by Willoughby Britton, she was able to make meaning of the crisis and is now determined to make sure that trauma-informed ways of teaching are at the forefront of all mindfulness programmes. Mandy, through her work, highlights the dangers of long retreats for traumatised individuals, especially when working with the Adult Child syndrome and its many manifestations, including addiction and co-dependency.

She is currently part of the Cheetah House care team, offering resources to clients who suffer adverse events from meditation and retreats. It has afforded her the rare opportunity to learn from pioneers in this field and to explore new modalities, treatments and interventions.