🚀Sign up for the In-Person Workshop with Analisa, “Unlocking the Power of Desire,” May 1st!!
🚀Get Analisa's signature practices to unleash your star power + take aligned action towards your soulful ambitions: HERE
Analisa’s Post Partum Depression
The prevalence of trauma and PTSD and the available healing methods
Meaning of, “The ecological is personal, and the personal is ecological”
The power of nature in healing us from pain
The hope of neuroplasticity!
Talk therapy and trauma
Steps we can take to help the planet
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Analisa interviews Greg Wrenn, a former Stanford lecturer and author of "Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis," which explores healing from childhood trauma through nature and psychedelics. Greg talks about how mental health issues represent a significant yet often overlooked crisis impacting countless individuals.
Many of these challenges stem from childhood experiences, evolving into traumatic events that shape adult life. While therapy and coaching offer pathways to recovery and healing, the natural world has an undeniable power to facilitate healing processes. With its calming and rejuvenating properties, nature often plays a pivotal role in restoring mental well-being.
He shares more about this from his latest book, where he documents an evidence-based account of his quest to heal from complex PTSD by turning to endangered coral reefs and psychedelic plants after traditional therapies failed—and his awakening to the need for us to heal the planet as well.
Grab His latest book, Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis Here.
Visit Greg’s Website
Follow Greg on Instagram
Soulful Ambition is a show for big dreamers about choosing to live inside out & acting upon your deepest longings, from starting your dream business to starring on Broadway, from sacred activism to being a radiant, aligned parent, and everything in between. The manifestation of your desires is your destined path and the medicine and magic that the world needs.
🚀Sign up for the In-Person Workshop with Analisa, “Unlocking the Power of Desire,” on May 1st!!
🚀Get Analisa's signature practices to unleash your star power + take aligned action towards your soulful ambitions: HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Noticing in the body if it feels safe to dream big
Building a healthy relationship with your desires
How to cultivate the practice of feeling your longing
Allowing your desire to be the fuel for your deepest longing
Being turned ON by your own desire
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Analisa shows up in a real and transparent way and unpacks in real time how she’s feeling disconnected from her dreams.
Through her own example, Analisa talks about giving yourself permission to notice if it even feels same to long deeply, to be where you are, to begin to embody your desire and fully inhabit your current space. Drawing from her heartfelt experience, she unveils the transformative power of slowing down, feeling deeply, and nurturing the relationship with your desires. Living from a place of soulful alignment is about embracing your longing and taking action from a place of authenticity, clarity, and resonance.
Analisa then invites you to self reflect on your current relationship with your desire. Do you trust it? How can you nurture this relationship?
Finally, Analisa shares a practice to begin to become turned on by your passion. Your desires are the fuel that propels you forward with energy and vitality. So, learn how to tap into your desire and allow yourself to be guided by the energy that lights you up and inspires each step toward realizing your aspirations.
This is an episode for anyone longing to build a relationship with their desires, get clear on what they really want, and go after their dream or vision!
Soulful Ambition is a show for big dreamers about choosing to live inside out & acting upon your deepest longings, from starting your dream business to starring on Broadway, from sacred activism to being a radiant, aligned parent, and everything in between. The manifestation of your desires is your destined path and the medicine and magic that the world needs.
🚀Sign up for the In-Person Workshop with Analisa “Unlocking the Power of Desire” May 1st!! Early bird ends 4/15
🚀Get Analisa's signature practices to unleash your star power + take aligned action towards your soulful ambitions: HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Embracing messy emotional expression
Ritualizing the embodiment of emotions
The power that unfelt emotions have over us
Feminine/masculine energies are ungendered
Bringing creativity into your love life
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Analisa interviews Madelyn Moon, a voice in the world of feminine-masculine relationships. Madelyn shares her personal journey of moving away from perfectionism and embracing full emotional expression, even the messy and untamed parts. She discusses the importance of ritually enacting and embodying challenging emotional states like anger and fear, rather than suppressing them. Madelyn emphasizes creating safe containers and "bookends" to explore these states without projecting onto others.
Madelyn explains that feminine and masculine refer to different aspects of consciousness and expression, not gender itself. She advocates reclaiming these terms from cultural assumptions. Towards the end, Madelyn shares about her current intention to prioritize home life and potentially starting a family. She discusses finding more sustainable business models to create space for this new phase.
This is an episode for anyone longing to embrace and be true to all aspects of themselves!
Madelyn Moon is a leading voice in the world of feminine-masculine relationships, devoted to serving women in liberating their expressive, artistic hearts with themselves, with partners, and with the world. Her work and story has been featured in hundreds of podcasts as well as various publications such as BBC, The Huffington Post, Teen Vogue, Thought Catalog, Nylon Magazine, The Daily Mail, Vice, Greatist, Men's Health, PEOPLE and ABC News Nightline.
Madelyn is the host of the top 100 ranked podcast, The Madelyn Moon Show, and the author of the best-selling book on conscious intimacy, Artist of Love. She teaches live programs, workshops and courses year round.
Grab her free gift 50 ways to be Creative in Love Here.
Follow Madelyn on Instagram and visit her website.
Soulful Ambition is a show for big dreamers about choosing to live inside out & acting upon your deepest longings. From starting your dream business to starring on Broadway, from sacred activism to being a radiant, aligned parent and everything in between. The manifestation of your desires is your destined path and the medicine and magic that the world needs.
🚀Learn more about working with Analisa HERE.
🚀Get Analisa's signature practices to unleash your star power + take aligned action towards your soulful ambitions: HERE.
Episode Highlights:
From Atheism to all things subconscious, energetic + mysterious
The beauty of embracing grief, rage, and pain
Unshaming ourselves
Practical embodiment practices to move stuck emotions + energy
The four biggest fears causing you to reject your fullness
Episode Summary:
Analisa invited dear friend and soul sister, Leona Waller, to unpack last week’s episode around shadow work to make it even more practical and applicable to listeners' everyday life. Leona shares her journey from neuroscience to becoming an embodiment facilitator and how she went from a devout atheist to being devoted to her own soul and shadow work. Analisa and Leona share how they recognize their shadowselves and different tools and practices they both use to integrate the dark, uncomfortable, painful parts of their human. Embodiment is a big piece of their discussion and listeners will leave with an understanding of what it is and ways to practice it today! They turn the discussion to our four main fears: humiliation, alienation, loss, and persecution and how to reframe them as initiations to build the stamina to shine!
Leona Waller is a neuroscientist turned embodiment facilitator and revolutionist.
Follow her on Instagram and read her brilliant writing on substack.
Soulful Ambition is a show for big dreamers about choosing to live inside out & acting upon your deepest longings. From starting your dream business to starring on Broadway, from sacred activism to being a radiant, aligned parent and everything in between. The manifestation of your desires is your destined path and the medicine and magic that the world needs.
🚀Learn more about working with Analisa HERE.
🚀Get Analisa's signature practices to unleash your star power + take aligned action towards your soulful ambitions: HERE.
Episode Highlights:
From a PhD to washing dishes
Integrative Thinking rather than positive thinking
Shadow work: repression to expression
The bridge between our human selves and our Divinity
Understanding our Golden Shadow
Episode Summary:
In this episode Analisa interviews Xavier Dagba, a life coach, shadow work facilitator, and mystic. Xavier shares his journey of leaving his PhD program to follow his inner calling, facing fears of failure and rebuilding from the humble job of washing dishes. Through experiencing his own health issues and repressions, Xavier came to shadow work, integrating the darkness to clear trauma and embody wholeness. Now with a large following, Xavier stresses integrating all parts of oneself, using "integrative thinking" to move collective evolution forward. He and Analisa discuss welcoming your pain and discovering the balance between accepting where you are and excitement for where you want to be. Listen to learn tools to connect to your highest self and navigate your life from a fully aligned place.
Xavier Dagba is a shadow work facilitator, writer and mystic. He offers transformative online courses, coaching and workshops. Known for helping people heal and integrate their fragmented parts to fully embody their power, Xavier is considered a leader in the field of shadow work. His "Awaken Your Golden Shadow" course has supported thousands.
Take the course and learn more about Xavier here and follow him on Instagram.
Soulful Ambition is a show for big dreamers about choosing to live inside out & acting upon your deepest longings. From starting your dream business to starring on Broadway, from sacred activism to being a radiant, aligned parent and everything in between. The manifestation of your desires is your destined path and the medicine and magic that the world needs.
Welcome to Soulful Ambition, formerly known as A Balancing Act, Analisa's latest iteration of her work in the world.
Not to become a manifesting babe/bro striving for individual success, but because your dreams are your destined path and the medicine that the world needs.
To learn more about Analisa and how you can work together: www.analisaleaming.com
IG: www.instagram.com/analisaleaming
Performers get your free Between Gig Guide here for powerful tools and practices to support you in staying aligned and to unleash your star power!
Visit www.analisaleaming.com to coach with Analisa, receive updates about the podcast, and future events!
Episode Highlights:
✨ Analisa shares why she's ending her journey with ABA + where she's heading! (spoiler: it's still a podcast for you!)
✨ An invitation to examine where you're being called to expand
✨ Blow up limiting beliefs + redefine success
✨ Embracing expansion
✨ Living aligned with your Soulful Ambitions
Beloved listeners, this is the final episode of A Balancing Act. Today Analisa shares how this came to be since and invites you to examine your own journey and see if you've outgrown anything or are ready to expand. As always, she shares vulnerably and transparently. Analisa unveils the name of the new podcast, which will begin at the middle/end of March, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the first episode!
Analisa ends with massive gratitude for all of you that have been a part of the journey!
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
🚀 Get your free Between Gig Guide Here
💛 Learn more about working with Analisa Leaming here.
Episode Highlights:
✨ An update on A Balancing Act podcast + where it's heading
✨ Embracing the in-between
✨ Tangible ideas and practices to keep the flame alive
✨ Connecting daily with your Soul
✨ Using your creative gifts to be in your Star Power
In this episode, Analisa Leaming reflects on the closing of the season and teases the upcoming transition and expansion of the podcast. Analisa discusses the importance of the in-between show period and offers practical steps for navigating this time. She also emphasizes the practice of being with discomfort and connecting with the soul on a daily basis. The episode concludes with exercises on writing the current chapter of your life and crafting and committing to your character.
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Analisa is joined by guest Joshua Townsend, an expert in creative development and story coaching. They discuss the importance of understanding the elements and how they relate to the creative process. They delve into the characteristics and challenges of each element (earth, air, water, and fire) and provide practical tips for working with each element in a creative context. In this conversation, Joshua Townshend and Analisa Leaming discuss various aspects of the creative process and personal growth. They explore the importance of understanding characters and how they present themselves versus who they truly are. They also delve into the concept of the short game versus the long game, emphasizing the need for patience and authenticity in pursuing creative endeavors. The conversation then shifts to the ultimate game, which involves maintaining passion and desire while remaining detached from specific outcomes. They discuss the path of mastery and the importance of breaking the paradigm of 'if-then' thinking. Finally, they touch on the power of breathing and the skills that artists develop throughout their journey.
Learn more about Joshua Townshend here.
Take Joshua's creative element quiz here.
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
In this short + sweet solo episode Analisa explores two ways of managing energy while you await your audition.
It's easy to be swept up and deeply affected by frenetic energy and most performers are sensitives/empaths.
These kinds of practices are imperative so that we can stay in our own alignment. Listen and give them a try today!
Also, we know this, but these practices serve FAR beyond Ripley and Pearl. May it serve!
Take this quiz before next week's episode!
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming HERE.
Inside this episode:
This episode is a follow up to Eleri Ward's powerful conversation last week. Analisa goes deeper into two main themes: the indestructible core and the power of not taking anything personally. She then explores the fear of humiliation and how it's holding so many artists back. Analisa shares that she, too, is very much a student of this topic and goes into her favorite teachings on humiliation, pride, perfectionism and true humility. Anyone struggling with perfectionism, taking up space, and being their full self will find gems and actionable steps within this episode!
Soul Nourishment in this episode:
Caroline Myss Entering the Castle
Jason Mraz Making it Up
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming HERE.
In this episode with Eleri Ward:
✨ Eleri's journey from musical theatre showcase to critically acclaimed recording artist + finding HER voice
✨ Having "Healthy Delusion" in the entertainment + theatre industry
✨ Cultivating an indestructible core
✨ The power of not taking anything personally
✨ Reframing being told "You Don't Fit/We don't understand you"
Analisa stumbled across this reel of Eleri's on Instagram and was blown away by her story and her talent. She was thrilled to sit down with her and learn about her journey from her musical theatre showcase at Boston Conservatory where she didn't receive an offer from an agent to recording and producing her full length indie-folk Sondheim album, “A Perfect Little Death,” in her closet.
After gaining a viral TikTok following, it was released by Ghostlight Records and has been hailed as “a harmonious marriage of musical theater and indie folk music, with hauntingly beautiful arrangements” by Forbes and “an incandescent new record, something genuinely new” from American Theater Magazine.
Eleri speaks to the mindset that allows her to show up fully and unapologetically. She shares the pitfalls she sees in the musical theatre industry where it's easy to give up your power and self-belief and the necessity to build and maintain and indestructible core. This episode is a jampacked with motivation, inspiration and encouragement for owning your unique voice and path and believing in yourself no matter what. It's a perfect episode to have bookmarked before auditions or in a time when you need a reminder of claiming your own greatness.
Follow Eleri
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.
Analisa has been podcasting since 2016 and this is the first time she's shared her own unique path to Broadway and beyond. She shares her early influences, experiences in college, auditions, and survival jobs in New York City. Analisa discusses the heartbreak and soul-searching moments in her career and the pivotal decision to consider a different path. Tune in for a very special behind-the-scenes episode!!
Highlights from Analisa's Story:
Tune into Episode 37 to hear the journey from NYC to Colorado!
Time Stamps:
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Establishing a practice to manage challenges + setbacks without letting it derail or defeat you
Making peace with where you are
The power of shifting from a mindset of “should” to “could”
How to identity the voice of your intuition + developing a playbook for your best self
Episode Summary:
In this episode Analisa interviews Wendy Braun, an accomplished actress and breakthrough coach of Actor Inspiration. Wendy talks about the importance of developing a practice to navigate disappointment and setbacks in the industry without letting it derail or define you. Wendy and Analisa share stories from their careers of discovering the balance between finding peace with where they are and excitement for where they want to be. Wendy reveals her process for helping lead her students to creative breakthroughs. Listen to this episode to learn tools and insights for connecting to your highest self and navigating your career from a fully aligned place.
Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro to Podcast and Wendy Braun
3:00 Speaking with authority through mastering disappointment
5:23 Finding the good where you are
12:12 Reaching the highest level doesn’t cure the insecurities
21:54 Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
24:09 Journaling from your highest self
26:38 Daily practice for expanding into your highest self
32:00 How to identify your intuition / inner voice
34:59 Shifting shoulds to clouds
38:54 4 questions to ask yourself to create a breakthrough
43:10 A best self playbook
50:00 Working through the emotions we don’t like
53:08 A practice for artists and wild dreamers to start the new year with
59:45 Finding community to help you do the work
About Wendy: Accomplished actress Wendy Braun has enjoyed a dynamic career, recently appearing on four seasons of the celebrated Netflix series, Atypical, as well as guest appearances on This Is Us, Grey's Anatomy, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Criminal Minds to name a few. With over 80 TV + Film credits, over 100 commercials and thousands of voiceovers, Wendy has also combined decades of invaluable professional experience with her passion for inspiring others.
She is also a Breakthrough Coach and the CEO + founder of ActorInspiration.com, and was recently featured in Forbes for her game-changing Success Breakthrough Workshop online course (now in over 25 countries) and powerful guided meditations that have helped thousands of creatives overcome obstacles and create new levels of success, joy and fulfillment. Known as a powerhouse global speaker and the guiding light behind many success stories, Authority Magazine declared Wendy one of their “Inspirational Women In Hollywood.”
Her clients include Series Regulars, Broadway performers and Award-Winning stage and screen actors, as well as directors, producers, writers and entrepreneurs.
🎉YOU’RE INVITED! Join Wendy for an impactful + empowering Success Breakthrough Experience, a Free 5 Day Virtual Event, designed to help you release blocks, re-imagine what's possible and learn the exact steps to making this your best year yet.
➡️ Join the party here: Actorinspiration.com/bestyearyet
🎁 FREE GIFT: Enjoy a free guided meditation to help you create success while you sleep and wake up each morning feeling renewed, refreshed and confident.
➡️ Download "Creating Success While You Sleep” here: ActorInspiration.com/sleep
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Harvest Wisdom/Plant Dreams: A Soulful Approach to Year-End Reflections and Intention on Dec 29th
Embrace the spirit of self-discovery and artistic growth as we bid farewell to the year and set our sights on new beginnings.
Join as we revisit a cherished discussion with Jack Plotnick, whose wisdom on overcoming mental barriers in acting remains evergreen as we step into the new year. Jack shared his concept of the ego as your vulture, which is a game-changer for actors looking to shed their limitations. He also highlights the emotional rollercoaster that comes with the pursuit of acting, from the search for validation to the exhilaration of creative freedom.
This episode brilliantly outlines how actors can navigate their mental labyrinths and emerge with a renewed sense of purpose and creative liberation.
Episode Highlights :
Your “vulture” and how it can help actors overcome mental barriers
Authenticity in auditions and the role of spontaneity in performances
Unpacking Want VS. Need
Focusing on outcomes to enjoy the process of acting and auditioning
Leveraging social media and online platforms to gain visibility and opportunities
High stakes in characters' desires to enhance comedic and dramatic acting
Dedication and resilience required to thrive in the acting industry
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE
Download Jack's Ebook New Thoughts For Actors
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
New Year Workshop: Harvesting Dreams/Planting Wisdom Dec. 29th Reserve your spot here.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
The power of rituals in seasons of transition
A journal prompt: “If I were heading back to New York City, what would I do?”
Dissecting the “Old Way” of working and birthing the “New Way”
Having self-compassion and really loving on our insecurities (“I see you!”)
The push/pull of under- and over-compensating, playing too big and too small
Getting lit up by your Why—awakening the energetic body
Following Soul Breadcrumbs
Feeling full OF yourself!
Being congruent, bringing fullness to every area of a “big, rich, beautiful life”
In this week’s solo episode, Analisa pulls back the curtain a bit during this season of transition, bringing us along as she journals on the prompt: “If I were heading back to New York City, what would I do?” Analisa explores what her Old Way of approaching this might look like, and then digs deep and dreams big—what could be the New Way? How can we feel fierce self-compassion for our fears and insecurities, and then hold space for even bigger and fuller dreams? Analisa follows “soul breadcrumbs” that come up in her journaling, and walks us through getting to her “Why”--listen as it awakens her energetic body and lights her up in real time!
Analisa also shares exciting news about her upcoming two-hour workshop, "Harvesting Wisdom and Planting Dreams”: it’ll be a perfect container to build on these ideas, explore, and get curious–what is it that wants to be created through you in the New Year? Grab your journal, give this a good listen, and get ready to go deep!
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
New Year Workshop: Harvesting Dreams/Planting Wisdom Dec. 29th Reserve your spot here.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Finding the gifts in disappointment
Learning that “you are not what you do”
Broadway stories from Rebecca, The Little Mermaid, Phantom, & Hello, Dolly!
Uncovering our true purpose
Honoring our deep desires
Building community and nurturing Soul
Becoming a Leading Lady
Sierra’s mantra: You Are Enough!
In this episode, Analisa re-airs her first interview with Broadway star and soulful human Sierra Boggess! Join them in the Rosalie dressing room at School of Rock for a fun and vulnerable conversation about “doing the work” and finding our true purpose in what we do—and bringing that alignment into every aspect of our lives. Sierra and Analisa open up about their shared experience with the cancellation of Broadway’s Rebecca, and discuss how they have learned to embrace frequent disappointment in this business and not “go into the dark.”
How can we get to the bottom of what really motivates us to do what we do? How do we trust, in the low moments, that there is something else there for us? How do we build support networks and handle jealousy and competition, especially in the age of social media? Analisa and Sierra share many beautiful stories and wonderful resources as they talk “getting clear on the core of what we’re doing”—all in pursuit of becoming expansive human beings! Originally Aired May 18, 2018
Time Stamps
0:00 Intro, New Year Workshop + Welcome to Sierra back to the Rosalie dressing room
6:01 The saga of Rebecca and gifts from a disappointing year
13:56 Trusting that the “universe is conspiring in your favor”
16:21 Processing crummy feelings: “While I’m down here, what am I supposed to learn from this?” (and doing it “sober”)
29:46 Sierra’s network of support (and intro to The Paradox Process!)
41:36 Getting back into alignment, allowing creative opportunities to flow into your life
46:35 Same desires, shifting priorities – going from “What job am I doing next?” to “Why am I here?”
48:15 Sierra’s low point and the 5 questions to discovering your purpose
55:00 Sierra’s transition away from “living unconsciously” and learning to lead a company (The Little Mermaid)
1:05 Two sides of the coin: “I’m jealous” AND “Oh, I can dream bigger!”
1:11 Social media and “being ruthlessly onto ourselves”
Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:
Wayne Dyer: “The Power of Intention”
Thomas Jones, The Paradox Process
Adam Leipzig’s TED Talk: “How to know your life purpose in five minutes”
Gabby Bernstein: “Judgment Detox”
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
In today's episode Analisa is talking about something no one likes talking about publicly, especially in our shiny-only-post-the-highlights-social-media world.
Have you ever gotten the thing you were desiring (a gig, a job, a raise, etc.) only to feel disappointed, let down, or disillusioned afterwards? Not that this feeling lasts, necessarily, but sometimes it can be quite jarring!
If you're listening along this season you know one of the biggest themes has been accepting our humanity. So just naming this as it arises is powerful. Normalizing it, too. This is a very common experience.
This can be incredibly liberating. No gig is perfect. No contract is the answer to all of your problems. Our baseline level of wellbeing will return.
So the aim of this short minisode is that it will leave you pondering how to be more sourced from within, not waiting for something "out there" to embody the light that you are. Be "full of yourself" today. Dance with creativity. Laugh. Cry. Live Awake.
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach . This season is designed to inspire creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Learn more about Analisa and working together here.
Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming HERE.
Get your free audition meditation & stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Looking at your dreams through the lens of the enneagram
Your unique vice turned to virtue
A story of an actor who left New York and found creative success on their own terms
How to use the enneagram as an acting tool
Episode Summary:
In this episode Analisa interviews Elizabeth Newcomer, Actor turned Enneagram Coach. Analisa and Liz talk in depth about each type to help you identify your own number and Liz explains the core desires of each type as well as their greatest virtues and vices. Throughout their conversation, Liz and Analisa share stories of how the enneagram has helped them follow their big dreams and navigate interacting and communicating with others. Listen to this packed episode to learn how the enneagram can be an incredibly powerful tool and how to see beyond the “box” that personality types often lead us to feel trapped in.
Time Stamps
0:00 Analisa’s Intro
3:00 Elizabeth’s journey from actor to enneagram coach
8:30 Letting your dreams be a north store to guide you
13:29 Introduction to the enneagram and how it can help us or hold us back
16:48 Overview / definition of what enneagram is
20:38 Liz’s recommendation for how to find your type, examples of 2s, 4s, and 9s
26:36 The Body Triad: 1, 8, and 9
28:14 The Head Triad: 5 (motivated by knowledge), 6 (preparedness), and 7 (options)
30:55 Taking action upon your deepest callings through the lens of your enneagram
31:40 Vice to virtue, is an action in alignment with where you want to go
32:11 How this looks for the Heart Triad: 2 (the giver)
37:20 Type 3 (the performer) Type 4 (the dreamer)
40:53 Head Triad: Type 5 (the observer) Type 6 (the questioner) Type 7 (the adventurer)
44:39 Body Triad: Type 8 (the challenger) Type 9 (the peacemaker) Type 1 (the perfectionist)
51:20 Using the enneagram as an acting tool
54:40 Using the enneagram to work through triggers and find growth
1:02:35 Wrap-up, how to find & follow Elizabeth
Take The Narrative Enneagram test HERE
Take the Riso-Hudson RHETI test HERE
Follow Elizabeth on Instagram @liz.newcomer
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
This week’s solo episode is an interactive inner exploration. You’re invited to be an active participant, grab a journal or sit and close your eyes. You’ll pause and check in, without judgment, how you’re currently doing and feeling. Analisa guides us on this journey & asks us deep questions to find the answers within by tapping into our inner wisdom.You’ll leave the episode feeling deeply empowered and connected to yourself, feeling inspired and lit up from within!
Time Stamps
0:00 Analisa’s Intro: An Invitation to Pause
3:43 Of Course We’re Gonna Get Knocked Out of Alignment
5:15 How Is It Feeling, Right Now?
7:17 Am I Getting Caught in Busywork?
9:20 Are You Acting From High Vibe? Milk it!
11:36 Are You Called to Just Be?
13:10 The Quality of Seeking External Validation
15:00 Let Me Give Myself Space to Say It Out Loud
17:07 I Don’t Want to Create From Here!
19:39 Mind, Can You Soften?
22:06 An Invitation Home
24:10 I Want My Body to Sing that Song
26:19 This Deep Trust
27:45 What Do I Know Now that I Didn’t Know Before?
28:57 Being Able to Receive Means Slowing Down Enough to Listen
31:00 You Really Do Have All the Answers Within
Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:
Wanna find out your enneagram number before next week's podcast with an enneagram coach? Here are two tests we recommend:
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Grab a limited time 1:1 session with Analisa here.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
How trauma can make it hard to go after big dreams
How our big dreams can inspire healing
What is trauma?
Brain- and Body-based healing modalities
The role of feeling our feelings
The stories we tell ourselves and how to rewrite them
Neuroplasticity and the science of memory
In this episode, Analisa invites Marissa Ghavami, Iranian-American, queer artist, advocate and creator to the podcast. This is a rich and vulnerable discussion about Marissa’s experience healing from trauma, and how it has been fundamentally intertwined with their journey towards big, ambitious dreams.
Marissa and Analisa share their thoughts and experiences with “getting comfortable with the discomfort of this business,” and they engage with a wide range of questions:
How can folks healing from trauma engage with their feelings and body sensations safely–something we’re asked to do every day as actors? What’s the difference between brain-based and body-based healing modalities and practices? How does having these skills show up in our daily lives and careers?
It’s a beautiful conversation between two smart and soulful creatives—listen as they marry the ideas of trauma-informed emotional resiliency with the neuroscience behind memory and grief, and share how diving deep into these ideas is further enriched by their spiritual practices. Come back to this episode anytime you need a reminder that the stories we tell ourselves about our feelings can be rewritten!
Topic Shift Time Stamps
0:00 Analisa’s intro and invite to a 1:1 session
4:27 Welcome, Marissa!
6:19 Acknowledging the role trauma plays in taking action towards our souls’ longings
10:22 Marissa’s journey (big dreams, what got in the way, coming back to themself)
17:59 Engaging with trauma and experiencing stress as an artist
20:00 Brain- and body-based healing modalities: going beyond “just change your mindset”
25:01 Fawn responses: your “survival-brain” is a protector
28:30 “What if we allowed ourselves to feel whatever we were feeling, fully?”
33:33 Our feelings vs the stories we tell about them (and what we make them mean)
36:24 “It’s not magical thinking – it’s neuroscience!!”
38:40 Having a spiritual practice
43:51 Brain science! Memory, grief, and trauma
50:26 An example: Marissa’s current process for managing a trauma response
54:40 Post-traumatic growth – being the author of your own story
56:16 “This skill is needed for the craft of acting” - feeling deeply and creating space for healing
Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Sign up for a 1:1 Session with Analisa!
Episode Bullet Points
In this short solo episode Analisa helps you love on your Little Self. She also opens up the conversation to you, the listeners: is there anyone out there with the research know-how to look at these universal struggles from a social sciences perspective? Topics covered in this episode include:
The need for “Little Self” to be witnessed
The unique wounds of high performers
Letting go of the need to fix
Loving the part of yourself that wants love
Episode Summary
This week’s solo episode is a powerful exploration of an expansive question: what if your human aspects (fear, self-doubt, anxiety) aren’t a problem to be fixed? Analisa brings her wild and silliest self to guiding you through choosing to love those Little Self expressions. This episode can be used as a meditative guide to finding that love for yourself. There is also a beautiful meta thread of how Analisa chooses to share and create the podcast itself.
Topic Shift Time Stamps
0:00 Analisa’s Intro: different ways to play
2:48 Behind the curtain: two episode ideas
5:10 Analisa’s Love Bomb
7:04 Questions from Little Self & the need to control
9:09 Pause & Love the Fear
11:23 Toddlers: Before “Not Good Enough”
13:39 Enneagram Episode Sneak Peek
14:43 A Question for the High Performers
17:02 Can you feel a softening?
19:35 Love instead of fixing
20:50 Wrap Up
Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
Alignment Before Action free online workshop Nov. 2nd!!
Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming or Soulful Creatives Circle HERE.
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa & A Balancing Act HERE.
Episode Highlights:
The need to be “the best”
The “Little Self’s" need to be seen
The trap of toxic positivity
Pep talks + reframes might not be the solution
The gifts of jealousy, need, and comparison
A practice for making space for those “cringe-y” feelings
In this deeply vulnerable solo episode, Analisa explores the “cringe-y and crunchy” feeling of jealousy. How can we honor the part of ourselves that wants to be the best? When & how can we make space for the fear of not being the best? Can we answer this ego with love? Analisa shares her own stories of grappling with this, in the context of coaching a client through it. She even guides us through a practice of holding space for these shadows. Bookmark this episode to listen the next time you are in final callbacks with your bestie, or doubting your place “in the room.”
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Free workshop Nov. 2nd, 2023: Alignment Before Action!!
Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming or Soulful Creatives Circle Member HERE.
Episode Highlights:
Elena’s journey
Planting the Role in Your Voice as a Garden
Proving vs Sharing
The Gift of Perspective Shifts
“It’s Not Fair That You Can’t Do It All”
The Gifts of Motherhood
Audition Friendships
The Difference between Ambition & Lack
In this episode, Analisa interviews Elena Shaddow, Broadway actor, voice teacher, wife & mother. This intimate conversation between friends with mirrored life paths covers so many juicy topics. Both Analisa and Elena have been the standby for Kelli O’Hara, and have led shows in their own right. This interview covers the origin of their unlikely friendship: meeting at an audition where neither booked the role. What does it mean to be known as someone’s understudy? How do you deal with the ego aspect of it? How does motherhood affect a leading lady’s career? Analisa and Elena also riff on the importance of coming to the work fed: differentiating yourself from the roles you play by leading a full life outside of the industry. These two brilliant teachers lead by example, sharing vulnerably, with great humor, and plenty of juicy Broadway stories. This is an episode you’ll want to listen to again - and send to your favorite actress-mama or wunderstudy!
Topic Shift Time Stamps
0:00 Analisa’s Intro
5:17 Interview Begins
8:18 “I got into a Broadway show!” “Yay!” “I’m the understudy!” “Oh.”
10:38 The Days of Wine & Roses story: Stepping in to Standby
13:51 Learning a Role = Planting a Garden
16:23 “I Honor Me”
21:07 Turning Down Broadway
24:20 What Must it Be Like, As A Standby On Opening Night?
27:30 The Full Ego 180
30:11 Where did husband and babies come into the journey?
36:55 Balance: Is it season by season?
42:53 It’s Just Unfair That You Can’t Do It All
45:35 There’s More To Be Gained From Saying Yes
49:25 The Need to Be Different: Going On as the Understudy
57:11 You Probably Never Doubt Yourself - No!
63:39 The Fear of Taking a Break
66:43 Understudying Is Not a Dirty Word!
Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:
Elena Shaddow: https://www.elenashaddow.net/
Will Buck Coach/Composer: willbuckmusic@aol.com
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.