The Art of Asmita: When Your Personal Story No Longer Fits

The Art of Asmita: When Your Personal Story No Longer Fits

In this week’s episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores asmita—the yogic concept of identity and self-story. Drawing from yoga philosophy, trauma-informed neuroscience, and the surprisingly meaningful story of a beloved suitcase named Penélope, Jodi examines what happens when an old identity no longer fits the life we are being called to live. This episode offers a compassionate look at the roles, beliefs, and self-definitions we carry across seasons of life. Together, we'll explore why transitions can feel so uncomfortable, why the brain resists updating its self-concept, and how honest self-examination can help us move forward with greater clarity and intention. You'll also receive a reflective art-based mindfulness prompt designed to help you examine the baggage you are carrying into your next chapter. Key Takeaways Identity is not the same as the Self. Asmita refers to the stories, roles, and definitions we accumulate over a lifetime. While these identities help us navigate the world, suffering can arise when we mistake the story for who we truly are. The brain is wired to protect familiar identities. Neuroscience shows that the self-concept functions as a stabilizing force. When life asks us to outgrow an old role or story, the nervous system often responds as though something important is being threatened. Transition requires inventory. Before we move into a new chapter, it is often necessary to examine what we are carrying with us. Some beliefs, roles, and identities still belong on the journey. Others may have quietly outlived their usefulness. Connect With Us We’d love to hear your reflections on this episode. Share your experience inside the iROSE Society, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram. Resources & Links Guided Meditation on Insight Timer: The Art of Asmita: When Your Personal Story No Longer Fits [https://insighttimer.com/jodirose/guided-meditations/the-art-of-asmita-when-your-personal-story-no-longer-fits] Make a Donation: If this work supports you, you’re invited to give back: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS] Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society [https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society] Join the weekly live practice (Attend Open Studio): Drop-in registration: https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend [https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend] Four-session package (discount): https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true [https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true] Disclaimer This content is intended for educational and reflective purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing distress or need support, please reach out to a licensed mental health provider or a trusted professional in your area. This follows the Episode 78 structure almost exactly, while incorporating the new messaging emphasis on identity, transition, and self-trust.

The Art of Viveka: How to Hear Yourself in a Noisy World

In this week’s episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores Viveka—the yogic practice of discernment. Drawing from yoga philosophy, trauma-informed neuroscience, and personal experience, Jodi explores how chronic stress narrows perception, amplifies mental noise, and gradually disconnects us from our own inner wisdom.  This episode offers a compassionate reminder that discernment is not a dramatic spiritual achievement. More often, it arrives through the unglamorous interruptions, frustrations, symptoms, and threshold moments that invite us to pause and listen more deeply. You'll also receive a reflective art-based mindfulness prompt designed to help you distinguish between the noise in your life and the quieter signal underneath it. Key Takeaways Discernment begins with listening. Viveka is the capacity to distinguish between what is true and what is merely loud. It helps us separate conditioned patterns, external pressures, and survival responses from our deeper inner wisdom.  The body often speaks before the mind understands. Physical symptoms, exhaustion, anxiety, overwhelm, and disruption are not always obstacles. Sometimes they are important signals asking for our attention.  Chronic stress makes discernment more difficult. When the nervous system is stuck in survival mode, perception narrows and the signal-to-noise ratio shifts. The noise becomes louder while inner guidance becomes harder to hear.  Threshold moments are rarely glamorous. The most important turning points in life often arrive disguised as inconveniences, interruptions, frustrations, health concerns, or ordinary moments that refuse to be ignored. Connect With Us We’d love to hear your reflections on this episode. Share your experience inside the iROSE Society, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram.   Resources & Links Guided Meditation on Insight Timer: The Art of Viveka: How to Hear Yourself in a Noisy World Make a Donation: If this work supports you, you’re invited to give back: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS] Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society [https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society] Join the weekly live practice (Attend Open Studio): Drop-in registration: https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend [https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend] Four-session package (discount): https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true [https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true] Disclaimer This content is intended for educational and reflective purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing distress or need support, please reach out to a licensed mental health provider or a trusted professional in your area.

Beyond Morning Pages: 5-Point Journaling for Manifestation and Growth Mindset

In this week’s episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores why traditional journaling practices can sometimes leave us circling the same thoughts, frustrations, and mental loops — and introduces a simple framework for using journaling as a daily practice of manifestation, emotional regulation, intentionality, and creative alignment.  Rooted in both yoga philosophy and neuroscience, this structured reflective practice combines top-down processing with bottom-up, felt-experience awareness to support greater clarity, emotional regulation, growth mindset, and intentional direction.  Key Takeaways Journaling can become repetitive over time. Top-down journaling practices often excavate what the thinking mind is already holding, which may reinforce familiar emotional and cognitive loops. 5-Point Journaling combines top-down and bottom-up processing. The practice moves from mental clearing into embodied intention, gratitude, future pacing, and nervous system regulation. The brain responds to vividly imagined future experiences. When paired with felt emotional states, future-oriented journaling can help the nervous system rehearse toward desired outcomes. Sankalpa is intention seeded into the body. Rather than wishful thinking, this yogic framework uses embodied awareness and emotional congruence to support direction, clarity, and aligned action. Connect With Us We’d love to hear your reflections on this episode. Share your experience inside the iROSE Society, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram. Resources & Links Five Point Journaling Video Tutorial: https://youtu.be/z_d_dM9u4JY [https://youtu.be/z_d_dM9u4JY] Make a Donation: If this work supports you, you’re invited to give back: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS] Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society [https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society] Join the weekly live practice (Attend Open Studio): Drop-in registration: https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend [https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend] Four-session package (discount): https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true [https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true] Disclaimer This content is intended for educational and reflective purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing distress or need support, please reach out to a licensed mental health provider or a trusted professional in your area.

The Art of Santosha: Contentment is the Body’s Exhale

In this week’s episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores Santosha — the yogic practice of contentment. Drawing from yoga philosophy and trauma-informed neuroscience, this episode examines how contentment can function as a nervous system reset — a quiet shift toward calmness, regulation, and inner steadiness. You’ll also receive a reflective art-based mindfulness prompt designed to help you identify the sensory experiences, objects, and rituals that create the felt experience of contentment in your own life. Key Takeaways Santosha is not forced positivity. True contentment is not the mind talking itself into peace, but the body recognizing moments of enoughness through sensation. The body often experiences contentment before the mind explains it. Warmth, rhythm, softness, beauty, and familiar sensory experiences can quietly regulate the nervous system. Contentment shifts attention toward abundance. As we begin noticing the many small places where we already have enough, the nervous system gradually experiences greater steadiness and ease. Connect With Us We’d love to hear your reflections on this episode. Share your experience inside the iROSE Society, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram. Resources & Links Guided Meditation on Insight Timer: The Art of Santosha: Contentment is the Body's Exhale [https://insighttimer.com/jodirose/guided-meditations/the-art-of-santosha-contentment-is-the-body-s-exhale] Support this work: If this work supports you, you’re invited to give back: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS] Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society [https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society] Join the weekly live practice (Attend Open Studio): Drop-in registration: https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend [https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend] Four-session package (discount): https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true [https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true] Disclaimer This content is intended for educational and reflective purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing distress or need support, please reach out to a licensed mental health provider or a trusted professional in your area.

A Living Art Journal: This Practice Meets the Body Before the Mind

In this week’s episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales introduces the practice of the living art journal — a temporary, nature-based form of art-making that combines sensory awareness, found objects, and creative reflection. Unlike traditional journaling or sketchbook work, the living art journal uses gathered materials from the natural world to create impermanent compositions that reflect emotional experience, memory, and inner process.  Through story, yoga philosophy, trauma-informed neuroscience, and art-based mindfulness, this episode explores why the living art journal can be especially powerful during seasons of grief, overwhelm, resistance, or emotional numbness. By working through both bottom-up sensory awareness and top-down meaning-making, this practice helps quiet the nervous system, externalize interior experience, and reconnect people with parts of themselves that language alone may not fully reach. Key Takeaways The living art journal works through both the body and the mind. Sensory engagement helps regulate the nervous system while reflection and composition support meaning-making and insight. Found objects can help externalize emotional experience. Natural materials often carry sensory and emotional associations that make interior experience easier to witness and work with. The gathering process is part of the practice. Walking slowly, noticing details, and handling objects with care activates bottom-up regulation before the composition even begins. Impermanence is part of the healing. Returning materials to the earth or allowing the composition to change over time invites reflection on release, transition, and presence. Connect With Us We’d love to hear your experience of this episode. Share your reflections inside the iROSE Society, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram. Resources & Links Guided Meditation on Insight Timer: A Perfect Pause | Jodi Rose Gonzales [https://insighttimer.com/jodirose/guided-meditations/a-perfect-pause] Support this work: If this work supports you, you’re invited to give back: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DDV9BL8EWTCJS] Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society [https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society] Join the weekly live practice (Attend Open Studio): Drop-in registration: https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend [https://jodirosestudio.as.me/attend] Four-session package (discount): https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true [https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/fe78de7d/?productId=2123153&clearCart=true] Disclaimer This content is intended for educational and reflective purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing distress or need support, please reach out to a licensed mental health provider or a trusted professional in your area.