Sometimes another person’s courage, creativity or refusal to remain inside one identity awakens something that was already waiting within us.

After attending an evening in conversation with Suzy Eddie Izzard, Ashley reflects on inspiration, sideways thinking and the confidence we sometimes borrow before we can fully experience it as our own. She returns to a moment in the late 1990s when Suzy’s comedy gave her permission to discover her own silliness - and asks what the people who inspire us may be helping us recognise within ourselves.

Moving from Suzy’s many creative “citadels” to Michael Jordan’s willingness to become a beginner again, this episode explores novelty and neuroplasticity, beginner’s mind and Steven Pressfield’s concept of Resistance.

It also brings some essential Neurodivergent Nuance: not every feeling of resistance means we are afraid of our potential. Sometimes it is burnout, pain, sensory overload, executive dysfunction or a sign that we need more support. How can we tell the difference between a protective warning and an old prediction about what might happen if we allow ourselves to be seen trying?

Through Aware, Allow, Align and From Mask to Map, Ashley explores how we can honour the part that hesitates while allowing another truth to exist beside it: we can feel frightened, unfinished or uncertain - and still take one honest step towards what matters.

The episode closes with a neuroscience-informed guided practice, The Future Self Who Has Already Begun, inspired by Dr Tara Swart’s perspective-shifting future-self exercise.

You do not need confidence for the whole road. You need only enough to begin.

Explore Ashley’s meditations, Yoga Nidras, nervous-system practices, courses and Bedtime Alchemy sleep stories on Insight Timer:

https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy

Find out more about Ashley’s work:

https://www.integrativeiom.co.uk

Our Sponsors:

🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy

🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com

🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

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