STOPTIME: Live in the Moment.

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Feeling stuck is a universal human experience—whether creatively blocked, emotionally frozen, or simply overwhelmed by life's complexities. This gentle guided meditation creates a sanctuary where you can explore what "stuckness" actually feels like in your body and mind, without immediately trying to fix or change it.

Through focused breathing and visualization, you'll learn to create space around whatever feels constricted or immobile. Rather than fighting against resistance, this practice invites you to approach it with curiosity and compassion, understanding that sometimes what we resist most simply wants to be acknowledged. As the meditation progresses, you'll be guided to recognize that "stuck is just a story" and that movement begins with awareness.

The heart of this practice lies in its permission to soften into uncertainty. With the affirmation "I don't need all the answers right now," you're invited to trust that clarity will emerge in its own time. Through visualizing a growing light within yourself, you'll reconnect with your inner capacity that hasn't disappeared but has perhaps gone quiet amidst life's demands.

Whether you're facing creative blocks, decision paralysis, relationship challenges, or simply feeling stagnant in your personal growth, this meditation offers a pathway back to possibility. The subtle shifts you experience during these ten minutes may be exactly what you need to see your situation with fresh eyes. Take this newfound spaciousness with you as you return to your day, carrying the reminder that sometimes the smallest shift in perspective can create the momentum needed to move forward again. How might your relationship with "stuckness" change if you approached it as a messenger rather than an obstacle?

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

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A Buddhist parable called "The Dragon and the Fire" teaches us how to transform our innate qualities from destructive forces into tools for healing and renewal. The story illustrates how redirecting our natural tendencies with wisdom and compassion can lead to personal fulfillment and positive impact on others.

• A mighty dragon with tremendous strength and fiery temperament feels unfulfilled despite his power
• When trying to fight a village fire with his own flames, he only makes the situation worse
• A mountain sage teaches him that fire can both destroy and renew—it's how you use it that matters
• The dragon learns to use his fire as a tool for warmth, light, and helping rebuild the village
• By transforming how he uses his inherent nature, the dragon finds the satisfaction he had long sought

Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and remember to live in the moment.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

What drives you to create, even when the process feels lonely? This revealing coaching session features a candid conversation with a playwright who struggles with the isolation of writing while simultaneously craving the connection he feels in rehearsal rooms.

The session begins with a powerful exploration of purpose as we dive into the question that many creators lose sight of: Why do you do what you do? For this playwright, the answer emerges unexpectedly – he's compelled by a fundamental desire for connection. While he thrives in collaborative environments with actors, directors, and audiences, the solitary writing process often leaves him feeling disconnected from the world.

Through our conversation, a transformative realization takes shape. What if those lonely writing hours aren't disconnection at all, but rather the very foundation of the connection he seeks? By reframing his understanding of the creative process, he discovers that his writing serves as a conduit for connection – even when no one is reading it yet. The audience is already connecting with the idea of his work before seeing a single word.

This episode offers a profound lesson for anyone engaged in creative pursuits: understanding your core values and motivations can transform even the most challenging aspects of your craft. When you recognize why you create, you find purpose in every part of the journey. If you've ever struggled with the solitary aspects of your creative work, this coaching session might just change how you approach your craft tomorrow. What core value drives your creative life?

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

Take a breath and step into presence with this transformative walking meditation. Whether you're wandering through a forest trail, circling your office, or simply pacing your living room, this guided practice invites you to turn ordinary movement into extraordinary mindfulness.

The journey begins by establishing a conscious connection with the ground beneath your feet. Feel the surface supporting you as your breath settles your body into the present moment. As you begin moving, each inhale draws in soft, golden light while each exhale releases what no longer serves you—like petals naturally falling from a flower in full bloom.

This isn't just walking—it's breathing with the earth, expanding with every step. Your senses awaken to notice the shapes, sounds, and textures around you, whether natural landscapes or familiar indoor spaces. You become not just an observer but a participant in the breathing world around you. Through gentle mantras that sync with your breath—"I receive" and "I grow"—your walk transforms into a moving meditation that grounds you deeply in the present.

The practice concludes not with an ending but a continuation. Place a hand on your heart, feel the living rhythm within, and carry this spacious awareness into whatever comes next. This meditation demonstrates that mindfulness doesn't require special circumstances—just your willingness to be present in the simple act of walking. Ready to transform your next walk? Listen now and discover how your everyday movements can become your most profound meditation practice.

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

We explore how easily we can lose ourselves in others' expectations and how anchoring into our purpose—our why—can transform everything from writing to living authentically.

• Your "why" serves as the anchor in everything you do
• When you connect to your purpose, the "how" naturally reveals itself
• We are contextual beings, different in every moment and circumstance 
• Our "best self" looks different day to day, and that's perfectly normal
• We often overshadow ourselves with our strengths because others expect it and "it works"
• Developing a language to express our effective states could transform creative teamwork
• Purpose isn't something to pressure yourself to find—it's a natural evolution of what lights you up

This is your reminder that your best is allowed to look different every day. Let's dive in.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

This guided meditation offers a compassionate approach to anxiety, creating space for gentle release and return to the present moment through breath awareness and body scanning techniques.

• Acknowledging anxiety as a valid experience, not something to push away
• Using the breath as an anchor with extended exhales to activate the relaxation response
• Moving through the body to identify and release areas of held tension
• Naming specific fears without letting them take over
• Recognizing that you are the awareness behind your anxiety, capable of release and worthy of peace
• Returning to daily life while maintaining the calm awareness cultivated in meditation

Take a moment today to practice this meditation whenever anxiety arises, remembering that peace is closer than you imagine.

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

Ready to transform your relationship with abundance in just ten minutes? This guided meditation takes you on a journey through powerful breathwork specifically designed to release old patterns of lack and fear while opening you to receive more in every area of your life.

We begin with the grounding Four-Four-Six breath pattern – a simple but profound technique that activates your parasympathetic nervous system, allowing your body to release tension and your mind to let go of limiting stories. As you move through each cycle, you'll feel a growing sense of spaciousness where abundance can naturally flow.

Then we shift to an energizing three-part breath that awakens your entire system. Through a series of short, quick inhales followed by one extended exhale, you'll stimulate the energy centers in your body that correspond to receiving. This ancient technique was traditionally used to prepare for manifestation practices, as it creates the perfect energetic state for calling in what you desire.

The journey culminates with powerful affirmations that land deeply in your newly receptive state. "I am open to receive," "I trust in the flow of abundance," "There is more than enough for me and for all," and "I am worthy of all that I desire" – these statements become more than words; they become your lived experience as you embody them fully through breath and intention.

Whether you're facing financial challenges, seeking greater fulfillment in relationships, or simply wanting to expand your capacity for joy, this meditation offers practical tools to shift your energy immediately. The final reminder that "you are the source" serves as the perfect anchor to carry this abundance consciousness into your day.

Try this practice first thing in the morning to set your energetic tone for the day, or anytime you notice scarcity thoughts creeping in. Share your experience with our community and let us know how these techniques have impacted your relationship with abundance!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

Ever stood frozen at the edge of sharing your creative work, paralyzed by what others might think? You're not alone. 

The moment we consider making something private into something public, our brains construct elaborate stories about potential judgment, criticism, and rejection. But what if these "high stakes" are merely illusions? This coaching conversation dives deep into the psychology behind our fear of being seen and offers a powerful reframe: stakes only exist if we decide they do.

When that voice in your head grows louder, telling you to stay hidden, it's actually a sign you're approaching something deeply important. "Fear is a mask for desire," as we explore in this episode. That protective instinct intensifies precisely when you're closest to what you truly want. Understanding this pattern can transform how you approach vulnerability and creative expression.

We also confront the "grandiose thinking" that makes us believe others are deeply invested in judging our work when, in reality, most people are far more concerned with their own lives than with critiquing yours. The truly important question isn't what others might think, but rather: What about the stakes of regret for not trying at all?

Whether you're a creator, performer, entrepreneur, or simply someone who hesitates to speak up in meetings, this episode provides the perspective shift needed to move past fear and into authentic expression. Ready to rewrite the stories that keep you playing small? Listen now and discover what becomes possible when you release the imaginary stakes holding you back.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟 
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇 
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?** 
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern** 
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg