The iROSE Podcast: Empowerment Through Creativity

The Creative Act of Habit Bundling

Discover how habit bundling transforms self-care from obligation into pleasure by pairing what you want to do with what you're already doing. Host Jodi Rose Gonzales reveals why this simple strategy is actually a deeply creative act—one that honors where you are while inviting in where you want to go.
Key Takeaways
Habit Bundling as Creative Composition: Habit bundling isn't just productivity jargon—it's the art of composing your life by layering experiences and creating something new while honoring what already exists.
The Neuroscience of Borrowing Pathways: When you bundle a new habit with an established one, you're building onto a neural pathway that's already solid rather than starting from scratch. Your brain loves patterns and predictability, making bundling more sustainable than willpower alone.
The Magic of "While": Shifting from "I should" (heavy, obligation-laden) to "while I'm at it" (light, pleasure-added) transforms how change feels in your body. You're not adding pressure—you're adding pleasure to something that already has momentum.
Art-Based Mindfulness as Ultimate Bundle: When you practice art-based mindfulness, you're automatically bundling multiple beneficial experiences: emotional processing, nervous system regulation, creative fulfillment, flow state, mindfulness practice, and sometimes even movement—all in one rich, layered, integrated practice.
Resources
Learn more about the Living Art Journal practice (video linked in episode description) https://youtu.be/HQ4mYsKJGSA?si=_UnIB5hnKtPVFtJA
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings
References
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery.

Creative Imagination - Building Hope's Architecture (Part 2 of 2)

In the second part of a series on hope, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores how creativity and imagination give hope its structure. Building on last week's discovery that hope is always present, this episode reveals how the simple act of “making” builds bridges between where we are and where we might be headed. 
Key Takeaways
Imagination as Rehearsal: When we envision better outcomes—even ones we're not sure we believe in yet—our neural pathways begin preparing for them. Imagination isn't wishful thinking; it's rehearsal for possibility.
Direction, Not Destination: Hope doesn't require a five-year plan or clear finish line. It just needs a sense of toward—toward ease, lightness, or something that feels more alive. Creativity lets us practice envisioning without commitment or pressure.
Creativity Builds Hope Neurologically: Even brief creative engagement (10-15 minutes) shifts our nervous system into "broaden-and-build" mode, widening our perspective and helping us notice more possibilities.
Three-Step Practice: Imagining One Small Thing
Step 1: Choose One Feeling You're Reaching For Not a big life goal—just one feeling you'd like to experience more of that feels somewhat out of reach. Maybe calm, lightness, creative flow, playfulness, or rest.
Step 2: Give It Visual Form Ask: If this feeling were a color, what would it be? A shape? A texture? Spend 10-15 minutes creating an image that captures the essence of what you're reaching for.
Step 3: Dialogue With What You've Created Ask your image: What do you want me to know? What one small step could bring me 1% closer to experiencing you? What should I remember when I forget you're possible?
Special Invitation: Final Call for HOPE Messages
Last chance to participate in this year's HOPE sculpture! Send your message of hope by November 1st—one word, one sentence, one wish, or a quote. Messages will be sealed in golden ornaments and unveiled November 22nd.
Local participants: Visit Jodi's studio during the Sturgeon Bay Art Crawl October 25-26 to write your message in person. 120 S. Madison Avenue.
Send your HOPE message through Facebook or Instagram DM at @JodiRose.Studio or by making a small donation (for supplies) HERE. Messages remain private/confidential.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings
References
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the upward spiral that will change your life. Harmony Books.
Sharot, T. (2011). The optimism bias: A tour of the irrationally positive brain. Pantheon Books.
Sharot, T. (2017). The influential mind: What the brain reveals about our power to change others. Henry Holt and Company.

Creative Glimmers - There Is Always Hope (Part 1 of 2)

HOPE lives in the same quiet places as gratitude and contentment—woven through your ordinary moments, hiding in plain sight, and more abundant than you realize. In this uplifting episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores how hope isn't something we need to conjure or achieve, but something already present in our daily lives. This episode introduces a two-part series on hope, creativity, and the practices of mindfulness and community building.
Key Takeaways
Hope Is Always Present: Like gratitude and contentment, hope is already woven through your ordinary moments.
Glimmers Build Hope: These small moments are evidence that life is still offering you something; noticing them creates an upward spiral of hope.
Hope as Cognitive Process: Hope isn't primarily an emotion—it's a biological intervention. When you set even the smallest intention and take a step toward it, your nervous system registers that you're moving forward, not stuck.
Special Invitation: Build HOPE In Community
Jodi is continues her annual tradition of HOPE—and you’re invited to join in. Send your message of hope for the new year (one word, one sentence, or one small wish) by November 1. 2025. Messages will be sealed in golden ornaments and woven into HOPE's gown, then unveiled November 22nd. You will receive digital images for your use and reproduction.
Local participants: Join the Sturgeon Bay Art Crawl October 25-26 to write your message in person
Send JODI your HOPE message through Facebook or Instagram DM at the handle @JodiRose.Studio or by making a small donation (for supplies) HERE. Messages will remain private/confidential.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings
References
Dana, D. (2020). Polyvagal exercises for safety and connection: 50 client-centered practices. W. W. Norton & Company.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Top-notch research reveals the upward spiral that will change your life. Harmony Books.
Lopez, S. J. (2013). Making hope happen: Create the future you want for yourself and others. Atria Books.
McCraty, R., & Childre, D. (2010). Coherence: Bridging personal, social, and global health. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 16(4), 10–24.
Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249–275. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1304_01

Creativity and the Quest for Contentment

In this soul-stirring episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales asks a profound question: What is self-work really for? Through the ancient yogic principle of santosha (contentment), Jodi challenges the "best self" narrative that has turned healing into another form of productivity. She explores how creativity can be a pathway not to becoming someone else, but to finding peace with who you already are.
This episode is for anyone exhausted from the self-help hamster wheel, tired of treating growth like something to hack or optimize. Jodi reveals how the simple act of creating—without agenda or improvement—can be the most direct path to the contentment we've been seeking everywhere else.
Key Takeaways
The Myth of the Better Version: Most healing narratives sell us the story that there's a "better you" waiting in the future, making us more restless rather than at peace with who we are now.
Santosha as the Art of Enough: This yogic principle teaches contentment that comes not from having everything you want, but from wanting what you have—recognizing fullness in this moment, as you are.
Creativity as Being, Not Becoming: When we create, we're not trying to transform into something else—we're practicing presence and wholeness exactly as we are in that moment.
Art Prompt: Creating Your Symbol of Contentment
Create a simple symbol that feels like peace to you—a candle flame, tree with deep roots, spiral, heart, or circle. Don't overthink it; let something emerge that feels like "enough."
Once you have your symbol, engage in a conversation with it:
What would it say about contentment, rest, and the art of being enough?
What 1-3 actions does it offer to help you experience more contentment?
What do you want me to know about who I already am?
Write using stream of consciousness, preferably with your non-dominant hand, from the perspective of your drawing.
Closing Wisdom
You are not a project to be completed, a problem to be solved, or a rough draft of someone better. You are whole right now—imperfect and complete, wounded and sacred, growing and enough.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings

Creative Rhythms - Reimagining Balance at the Fall Solstice

In this episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales challenges the traditional concept of "work-life balance" by exploring the fall solstice—nature's perfect demonstration of dynamic equilibrium. 
Drawing from Dan Sullivan's book "10x Is Easier Than 2x" and the Greek concepts of chronos versus kairos time, Jodi introduces three types of time that serve different purposes in creative life: Performance, Focus, and Renewal. You'll discover why these don't need to be equal and how honoring natural creative seasons can lead to sustainable productivity and fulfillment.
Key Takeaways
Dynamic vs. Static Balance: True balance is like a mobile that constantly adjusts, not a scale that stays level—it requires responsive attention rather than rigid equality.
Three Types of Creative Time: Performance Time, Focus Time, and Renewal Time (recharging) work best in dynamic relationship, not equal distribution.
Seasonal Creative Rhythms: Our brains naturally fluctuate with seasons.
Art Prompt: Balance 
Explore the theme of balance through creating a physical mobile, stacking objects, or working in two dimensions with painting, drawing, or collage.
Dialogue with Your Artwork:
What wisdom do you have to share?
What 1-3 specific actions can I take to create better dynamic balance?
Anything else?
Write responses using your non-dominant hand for deeper insight.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings
Referenced Book: Sullivan, D. (2023). 10x is easier than 2x: How world-class entrepreneurs achieve more by doing less. Hay House Business.

Creative Refuge - A Love Letter to Life's Weary Travelers

In this deeply nurturing episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales offers a tender embrace to those carrying invisible burdens and running on empty. Through the lens of trauma-informed neuroscience and yoga philosophy, Jodi explores how small, intentional creative acts can serve as medicine for exhausted souls who have forgotten what it feels like to be replenished. This episode offers the gentle reminder that creativity isn't frivolous; it's a pathway back to wholeness and a gentle rebellion against a culture that only values what we produce.
Key Takeaways
Weariness as Witness: Your exhaustion is not failure—it's evidence that you have traveled far and deserve nourishment, not judgment.
Creativity as Medicine: Small creative acts shift our nervous systems from fight-or-flight into the rest-and-digest response, creating space for healing and remembering who we are beneath our responsibilities.
Sacred Rest: Through the yoga principle of ahimsa (non-harming), Jodi reframes pushing through exhaustion as a form of self-harm we've been conditioned to call strength.
Permission for Wholeness: You don't have to earn rest, creative expression, or wholeness—you already deserve them.
Five Doorways Back to Yourself
Light One Candle - A simple ritual to shift your nervous system toward calm and remind you of the light still inside you.
Move One Part of Your Body - Not a workout, just one embodied moment to reconnect with your physical presence and interrupt the stress cycle.
Choose One Decadent Thing - An intentional act of pleasure that reclaims the radical act of presence in your ordinary day.
Make One Mark - A doodle, word, or line that serves as proof of life and awakens your creative essence.
Name One Gratitude Out Loud - Speaking appreciation into the world to shift the quality of your inner and outer space.
Closing Invitation
Rest is allowed—not earned, but allowed. Small creative acts are medicine, not indulgence. Wholeness is your birthright, not something you must prove you deserve.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society
Upcoming Masterclasses: https://jodirosestudio.com/offerings

Cognitive Dissonance – When You’re Ready to Move Forward But Can’t

In this episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores the painful paradox of knowing where you want to go but feeling like something invisible is holding you back. Through the metaphor of “driving with the parking brake on,” Jodi unpacks the mental roadblocks and limiting beliefs that keep you stuck—even when you think you’re ready for change.
Drawing from personal experience, case studies, and the Lumine framework she developed, Jodi shows how creative practice can illuminate hidden tensions and help release the mental blocks that hold you back. You’ll also receive a guided art prompt to map your internal tension and discover what might be possible when you let go of your invisible limitations.
Key Takeaways
Cognitive Dissonance & The Parking Brake Metaphor: Feeling like you’re pressing forward but resistance keeps you stuck—a perfect analogy for mental roadblocks.
The Role of Creative Practice: Making internal conflict visible through art allows you to externalize, examine, and ultimately release it.
Transformation in Action: Real stories of people who released their “parking brakes” and stepped into new careers, relationships, and creative breakthroughs.
Art Prompt: Mapping Your Internal Tension
Explore the felt experience of cognitive dissonance—the tension between your desire and your current reality.
Choose expressive materials such as charcoal, clay, or torn paper. Let your process embody resistance and release.
Ask yourself as you work:
What does this resistance feel like in my body?
What voices or stories come up?
What would it feel like if the brake was released?
When you finish, dialogue with your artwork:
What wisdom do you have to share?
What 1–3 actions can I take to address my cognitive dissonance?
Write your responses with your non-dominant hand for deeper insight.
Resources
Learn more about Lumine, the framework that helps you release mental roadblocks: jodirosestudio.com/lumine
Join the iROSE Society: jodirosestudio.com/society
Explore upcoming Offerings & Masterclasses: jodirosestudio.com/offerings

After the Healing - The Strange Courage of Readiness

In this profound episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores the tender territory between restoration and emergence—that vulnerable space where healing transforms into readiness. Through the metaphor of sandhill cranes hesitating before takeoff, and grounded in research on upper limiting and positive psychology, Jodi reveals why feeling clear and capable can sometimes feel more terrifying than feeling lost.
This episode is for anyone who's done the inner work, nourished their creative wellspring back to health, and now faces the beautiful terror of stepping into their luminous self without apology.
Key Takeaways
The Paradox of Readiness: Feeling ready can be more frightening than feeling stuck because it requires us to take a stand and be visible in our clarity and capacity.
Luminosity Fear: The deep-seated anxiety that emerges when we approach our full brightness—the fear that we might be "too much" for the world to handle.
The Vulnerability of Clarity: When we become clear about who we are and what we offer, we lose the protection of ambiguity and must risk being truly seen.
Courage Over Fearlessness: The courage to be luminous isn't about eliminating fear—it's about feeling the fear and choosing expansion anyway.
Art Prompt: Creating Your Luminosity Portrait
Create a visual representation of yourself at full brightness using materials that feel radiant to you—metallics, bright colors, or textures that catch and reflect light. This isn't a traditional self-portrait, but an abstract expression of your authentic power and expanded presence.
Begin by centering yourself and connecting with your sense of authentic power—the power to be fully, unapologetically yourself. 
When finished, spend time appreciating what you've created without judgment, then dialogue with your luminosity portrait:
What wisdom do you have to share?
What 1-3 specific actions can I take to honor my readiness?
Anything else?
Write your responses with your non-dominant hand for deeper insight and to help you slow down.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society
Upcoming Masterclasses: https://jodirosestudio.com/offerings
Referenced Research
Hendricks, G. (2009). The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level
Kasser, T. (2002). The High Price of Materialism
Brown, B. (2010). The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

The First Sip - How Creative Nourishment Changes Everything

What if the profound changes you seek begin with something as simple as remembering to drink from your own creative wellspring?
In this deeply nourishing episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores the deep transformations that unfold when you take that first conscious sip from your own creative source. Through story-telling and research on flow states and positive psychology, Jodi reveals how even the smallest acts of creative self-nourishment can create ripples that extend far beyond your art practice.
This episode is for anyone who's ready to move from surviving to thriving—and ready celebrate the subtle but profound shifts happening within.
Key Takeaways
The Physiology of Creative Restoration: Brief encounters with creative flow shift your entire nervous system and release neurochemicals that promote wellbeing, creating an upward spiral of creative capacity.
Ripple Effects Beyond Art: Creative nourishment restores energy, increases mental clarity, strengthens boundaries, and allows joy to return—changing how you move through the world.
Recognizing Your First Sips: Awakening curiosity, shifting relationship with time and energy, and the quieting of your inner critic signal that creative restoration is beginning.
Art Prompt: Mapping Your Restoration
Create an image about nourishment. Focus on using materials or processes that feel nourishing to work with—perhaps natural objects, bright pastels you can smudge and smear, or whatever helps you feel fueled through the felt experience.
When finished, appreciate what you've created without judgment, then dialogue with your artwork using these questions:
What wisdom do you have to share?
What 1-3 specific actions can I take to continue drinking from the creative wellspring?
Anything else?
Write your responses with your non-dominant hand for deeper insight and to help you slow down.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society
Upcoming Masterclasses: https://jodirosestudio.com/offerings
Referenced Research
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Amabile, T. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
Fredrickson, B. (2001). The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology

Drinking from Your Own Well - A Guide to Creative Self-Nourishment

What if your creative well hasn't run dry... but you've simply forgotten the path back to your own source?
In this nurturing episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales explores the essential art of creative self-nourishment for those who've spent years caring for others while forgetting to tend their own creative needs.
Through the story of Dorothy, a retired nurse rediscovering her love of quilting, and grounded in research on compassion fatigue and self-compassion, Jodi reveals the profound difference between having an empty creative well and having one you've simply forgotten to visit.
This episode is a gentle invitation for anyone who's been the reliable one, the caregiver, the person everyone turns to—while somehow losing touch with what nourishes their own creative soul.
Key Takeaways
Your Creative Well Isn't Empty: There's a crucial difference between creative depletion and simply forgetting to nourish yourself from your own source.
The Four Springs of Creative Nourishment: Permission, Gentleness, Community, and Curiosity are the essential elements for returning to your creative wellspring.
Micro-Nourishment Matters: Small moments of creative attention—arranging flowers, choosing beautiful colors, taking photos—can begin to restore your connection to creativity.
Self-Nourishment Enhances Caregiving: Tending to your own creative needs actually improves your ability to care for others, not the reverse.
Art Practice: Finding Your Wellspring
Create an image of your creative wellspring using any materials you prefer. Then dialogue with your creation using these questions:
What wisdom does your wellspring have to share?
What is currently making you feel like your well is running dry?
What 1-3 specific actions can you take to return to your creative source?
What would help you feel replenished?
Write your responses with your non-dominant hand for deeper insight and to help you slow down.
Resources
Join the iROSE Society: https://www.jodirosestudio.com/society
Referenced Research
Neff, K. (2011). Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
Brown, A. (2021). Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Cameron, J. (1992). The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity