173: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - Episode 173173: New Life Perspectives with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna - Episode 173
UK Health Radio Podcast
Liz Larson and Bill McKenna break down Dr David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness, explaining how different emotional states affect energy, behaviour and the nervous system. They outline a path from shame and fear towards courage, acceptance, love and joy, with a focus on releasing stuck emotions rather than forcing positivity.
43:14•17 Aug 2026
Climbing the Map of Consciousness with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna
Episode Overview
- Emotional states are presented as measurable levels of consciousness, from shame at 20 up to joy and serenity at higher levels.
- Lower levels such as shame, guilt, apathy, grief and fear are described as energy-draining and linked to exhaustion, brain fog and withdrawal.
- Higher levels like courage, neutrality, willingness and acceptance are framed as turning points where people begin to generate energy and become more productive and forgiving.
- Bill explains that stuck emotions are held in the nervous system and can be released, reducing automatic reactions like anger, resentment and blame.
- Love and joy are presented as natural outcomes when blocks such as shame, guilt, grief and fear are removed rather than something that has to be forced.
“What if you didn’t have any shame, humiliation, guilt, grief, blame, despair or fear… what would be left? Love would automatically show up.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and self-healing? This conversation with Liz Larson and Bill McKenna leans into that question by breaking down Dr David Hawkins’ famous Map of Consciousness, from the heavy weight of shame all the way up to love and joy. Bill walks through each level like rungs on a ladder, explaining how emotions such as shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger and pride drain energy from you and everyone around you.
He describes shame as feeling “I am inherently flawed as a being,” and grief as a place where “your life is looked at in the rear-view mirror.” It’s a tough listen at times, but anyone who’s felt stuck in addictive patterns or chronic anxiety will probably recognise themselves in these stages. From there, things start to look brighter.
Bill explains how courage, neutrality, willingness and acceptance mark a turning point, where people stop pulling energy from others and start generating it. Acceptance, at level 350, is where forgiveness becomes possible and “you become free from the binds, the handcuffs that you put on yourself to the people that hurt you.” He also links all of this to the nervous system.
According to Bill, lower states keep the nervous system jammed up, leading to exhaustion, brain fog and automatic reactions like resentment and blame. The Cognomovement system aims to clear those stuck emotions through physical exercises, so the body can relax and energy can rise. By the time Bill reaches love, joy and serenity, the tone shifts from heavy to hopeful.
He asks a simple but disarming question: what would be left if all your shame, guilt, grief and fear were gone? His answer is straightforward: love would show up by itself. If you’ve ever wondered why you stay stuck in the same emotional loops, this episode gives you a structured way to see where you might be on the ladder—and what the next step up could look like.
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