
STOPTIME: Live in the Moment.
Ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally and winner of the 2022 Communicator Award for Podcasting, STOPTIME:Live in the Moment combines mindfulness, well being and the performing arts and features thought provoking and motivational conversations with high performing creative artists around practicing the art of living in the moment and embracing who we are, and where we are at. Long form interviews are interspersed with brief solo episodes that prompt and invite us to think more deeply. Hosted by Certified Professional Coach Lisa Hopkins, featured guests are from Broadway, Hollywood and beyond. Although her guests are extraordinary innovators and creative artists, the podcast is not about showbiz and feels more like listening to an intimate coaching conversation as Lisa dives deep with her talented guests about the deeper meaning behind why they do what they do and what they’ve learned along the way. Lisa is a Certified Professional Coach, Energy Leadership Master Practitioner and CORE Performance Dynamics Specialist at Wide Open Stages. She specializes in working with high-performing creative artists who want to play full out. She is a passionate creative professional with over 20 years working in the performing arts industry as a director, choreographer, producer, writer and dance educator. STOPTIME Theme by Philip David Stern🎶
🌟✨📚 **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/d3FLZRo)
🌟 **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)
STOPTIME: Live in the Moment.
🌀 Navigating Life’s Transitions: A Meditation for Uncertain Times 🪷
Let us know what you enjoy about the show!
Transitions are woven into the fabric of our lives, yet many of us struggle with the uncertainty they bring. Whether you're navigating a minor shift or standing at the threshold of major change, this meditation offers a sanctuary of calm amid life's inevitable transitions.
At the heart of this practice lies a powerful truth: while change is unavoidable, our suffering is optional. The meditation gently guides you to notice how your mind creates stories about change—often worst-case scenarios of loss, failure, or rejection. But what if these stories are merely rehearsals for pain that may never arrive? What if your fear stems not from the change itself but from the narratives you've constructed around it?
Through guided breathwork and mindful awareness, you'll discover the freedom that comes with releasing your attachment to knowing how everything will unfold. Rather than bracing against change, you'll learn to breathe into it; rather than clinging to certainty, you'll practice opening to possibility. The meditation reminds you that you are not lost or behind—you are whole, capable, and resilient in each moment.
Perhaps most transformative is the realization that not knowing isn't something to fear—it's the birthplace of every creative possibility. It's where new ideas emerge and where you get to write the next chapter of your story. By returning to your breath and to choice whenever uncertainty feels overwhelming, you'll cultivate a new relationship with change—one based on openness, trust, and unexpected grace.
Next time you feel that familiar tightening against life's transitions, remember: you are not at the mercy of change. You are in relationship with it, and the nature of that relationship is entirely up to you. Take a deep breath, stay open, and trust that possibility lives in the unknown.
If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!
🌟✨📚 **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
Hey there. It's safe to say that most of us are experiencing some kind of a transition in our life right now. Might be minor, might be more major, maybe it's something that's just unfolding in your life. Maybe it's already here, maybe you're anticipating it, maybe you're not even sure what it is, but you can feel it. You can feel something coming.
Speaker 1:This meditation is for staying open in the unknown. Take a moment to settle into wherever you are right now. Just allow your body to soften, allow your breath to find its natural rhythm. To find its natural rhythm. Take the time you need as you transition into this meditation. When you draw awareness around the fact that everything is a transition, you might be able to acknowledge that transitions aren't as scary, maybe, as you thought. Just keep that in mind.
Speaker 1:Let's begin by simply noticing our breath, not changing it, not forcing it. Simply observing the inhale and the exhale and the space in between. Notice yourself starting to relax, know that you are safe, that this is for you and we're not attached to getting anywhere. We're simply in the moment together. And as you listen to my voice, I want you to gently bring to mind the change that's unfolding in your life. Maybe it's already here, maybe it's happening in your outer world, or maybe it's happening on the inside. Maybe it's coming, maybe you always knew that it was coming and it's getting closer now. Maybe you're not even sure what it is, but you can feel the shift. Breathe into it. Just breathe into the feeling. Don't assign any meaning and let yourself acknowledge what is true Change is happening, and with change comes uncertainty.
Speaker 1:And with uncertainty often comes fear, and it's okay to feel that fear. It's human, it's perfectly natural. Our mind, trying to protect us, creates stories, and not just any stories. Often the worst case scenarios, we imagine loss or failure, rejection, regret. But what if we're rehearsing pain that may never come? What if the fear we're feeling isn't from the change itself but from the story we're telling about what that change might mean?
Speaker 1:Let's take a deep breath together here, inhaling for 4, 3, 2, 1, and exhaling gently for as long as you can. Now let this phrase anchor you. Change is inevitable. Suffering is optional. What we choose to do with change is powerful, how we choose to be to it with possibility. We can brace or we can breathe. We can cling or we can open, can open. Let's choose to open in this moment, right now.
Speaker 1:On your next inhale. Imagine you are inhaling possibility, space, curiosity and trust and as you exhale, release the attachment to knowing how it all turns out. Breathe in openness, breathe out control. There's no need to force clarity. You don't have to grip the outcome. You get to stand in this moment, rooted in choice, in this breath. You are not lost In this breath, you are not behind. In this breath. You are whole, capable, resilient, forceful.
Speaker 1:There is power and freedom in not knowing, because not knowing is also the birthplace of every creative possibility. It's where new ideas live, it's where you get to write the next chapter. So when the mind rushes ahead, when you run from the fear or the fear gets louder, come back to this place, come back to the breath. Come back to the breath, come back to choice, return to the quiet, knowing that you are not at the mercy of change. You are in relationship with it and whatever you want that relationship to be is entirely up to you. And the more you soften, the more you stay open, the more life can meet you with unexpected grace.
Speaker 1:Take one more deep breath in and release with a long, slow exhale. Whenever you're ready, bring yourself to where you're sitting or lying, still with your eyes closed. Draw your awareness around. What is the support of the earth beneath your feet or the pillows beneath your body of your breath that supports you from within, saying out loud or to yourself I am open to what's unfolding, I am grounded in choice and I trust that possibility lives in the unknown. Whenever you're ready, go ahead and open your eyes, gently, move your body around, notice how you feel and as you move back into your day, remember change is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Namaste, my friend.