These meditations were featured in (or were inspired by) the Powerful Pause online meditation sessions I run for Spotlight, where we come together to meditate regularly.

I recommend listening to these meditations with headphones. Please do not listen to these meditations whilst driving or when operating heavy machinery!

Powerful Pause: ‘Home’

This 20-minute meditation is themed around the idea of 'home' and uses the breath to anchor your awareness in the present moment.

Powerful Pause: ‘Reignite’

This 20-minute meditation is themed around the idea of reigniting something that is important to you. This might be reconnecting to your passion and purpose as a performer, or it could simply be rediscovering what is important to you. The meditation features a gentle body scan where we bring our awareness to each part of the body, which helps to aid relaxation.

Powerful Pause: ‘Presence’

In this 20-minute meditation we explore the feeling of presence and the impact it can have on our bodies and our minds. When we feel present we also feel more grounded and joyful. We are most ourselves when we are in the present moment. So the aim of this meditation is simply to invite you to get curious about what it feels like to live in the present moment.

Powerful Pause: ‘Pre-Audition’

This 10-minute meditation may be helpful to listen to before going into an audition. You may also find this meditation helpful if you’re about to do a self-tape, or if you simply want to take a moment for yourself on set. In fact you can listen to this meditation at any time in your life when you want to feel calm, confident and grounded and in touch with your true self. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Silence’

In this 20-minute meditation we explore our relationship with silence. Is silence something you welcome into your life? How does silence make you feel? Can you think about a time in your life when silence felt like a gift? In this 20 minute meditation we spend some time getting grounded and centred by relaxing the whole body before going on a short journey to a place of inner-silence and calm.

Powerful Pause: ‘Light’

In this 20-minute meditation we take our inspiration from the soothing, receptive and cooling qualities of the moon. So on days when you’re feeling depleted or overstimulated, this meditation will help you to tap into a receptive, cooling and inwardly focused energy, helping you to feel calm and centred. You may find this meditation particularly helpful to listen to on days when you’re feeling hot or overheated. It aims to support you to slow down, to listen to your own needs and to be receptive to change.

Powerful Pause: ‘Inner-Leader’

This 12-minute guided visualisation is designed to reconnect you to the part of you that is wise, compassionate has clarity and always honours your truth. Your ‘Inner Leader’ is the chooser within who knows how to make those life affirming choices which lead you to the fullest experience of your life.

When we’re faced with challenges, stress or uncomfortable situations, our saboteur or inner critic can be activated. The saboteur or inner critic’s purpose is to ensure our survival by keeping us safe, but we may find ourselves falling into old (often unconscious) self-sabotaging behaviours. Sometimes doubt, anxiety, worries or fear can creep in, preventing us from moving towards what we really want. This visualisation can be a helpful antidote to the saboteur or inner critic because it is designed to reconnect you to the true essence of who you are. 

Many thanks to fellow coach and friend Jessica Circe for generously sharing this meditation with me.

Powerful Pause: ‘Post-Audition’

This 15-minute meditation may be helpful to listen to after an audition to help you to develop a positive post-audition mindset.

Once an audition is over it can be hard to let go of it without an answer, closure, or some sort of clarity. This meditation is designed to help calm the mind from any repetitive thoughts by bringing you into the present moment. We then use a gentle body scan (or Yoga Nidra) to notice any thoughts, feelings or emotions which might be present. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Range’

This 25-minute meditation is designed to get out of your head and into your body which is one of the key steps to feeling more calm and grounded. We also take a little bit of time to reflect on the gifts that can come from adversity and how this can expand our range.

Powerful Pause: ‘Creativity’

This 30-minute meditation is designed to help you to grow and expand your creativity through connecting with the breath and the body. We’ll also get curious about the range of our creativity and how this can be expanded by the connection we have with ourselves. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Choice’

In this 30-minute meditation we get curious about what choice means for you as an actor or performer. We also explore where we make choices from and how just by choosing to listen to ourselves we are much more able to honour what’s really important to us.

Powerful Pause: ‘Envy’

This 18-minute meditation is designed to help with envy. Feelings of envy or jealousy can come up a lot when you’re an actor or performer but it’s usually just a sign that you care deeply about something. In small doses envy can actually motivate us to move towards what we want. With conscious awareness we can use this energy of envy to help us to move forward. And that’s what this meditation is all about.

Powerful Pause: ‘Pre-Audition for Young Performers’

This 12-minute meditation is recommended for ages 8+ and is designed to help calm and centre young performers before an audition or self-tape. Parents and Guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. You may like to follow up this meditation by asking your child the following questions:

• What do you do really, really well?

• What one thing do you really like about yourself the most? Why do you like that?

• What do you love doing the most? Why?

• How do you feel now?

• What’s one thing you learnt (or that’s different) from doing this meditation?

Powerful Pause: ‘New Beginnings’

This 25-minute meditation is themed around the idea of ‘New Beginnings’ and was written to celebrate the beginning of 2022. It is designed to calm a busy mind by gently guiding you back to yourself. We also get curious about how each new breath creates space for new awareness by bringing us back to the present moment. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Calming Nerves for Young Performers’

This 12-minute meditation is designed to support young performers who might be feeling a bit nervous or worried - particularly if they have an audition, self-tape or performance coming up. This meditation is suitable for ages 8+ and parents and guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. You may like to follow up this meditation by asking your child the following questions:

• What worries did the special magic clouds carry away for you?

• What’s the best thing about the special magic clouds?

• How do you feel now?

Powerful Pause: ‘Deep Relaxation for Sleep’

This 35-minute meditation is designed to help you to unwind and let go of the day, helping to aid a restful night’s sleep. We use a progressive muscle relaxation technique to help release stress and tension out of the body. We recommend finding a cosy and comfortable place where you can lie down for this meditation. You may also like to have a blanket or a cover over you.

Powerful Pause: ‘Confidence for Young Performers’

This 13-minute meditation is designed to support young performers to feel more confident in themselves and their abilities. It helps them to reconnect us to the part of them that knows that anything is possible and to keep trying - even when things don’t go to plan! This meditation is suitable for ages 8+ and parents and guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. You may like to follow up this meditation by asking your child the following questions:

• What are you learning about your confidence spark?

• What do you do really, really well?

• How do you feel now?

Powerful Pause: ‘Celebration’

There may have been times when things didn’t go to plan. Maybe there were some days when you felt like giving up. But you didn’t. You’re here. So in this 20-minute meditation you’re gently invited to celebrate all parts of you. Because all parts of you are worthy of celebration. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Togetherness’

Inspired by the tragic events in Ukraine, this 30-minute meditation focusses on togetherness and how it makes us stronger and more resilient. It’s designed to calm and soothe the nervous system and can be helpful to listen to when things in our lives (and the world) are feeling out of control.

Powerful Pause: ‘Pre Self-Taping’

When you’re self-taping at home you may find it harder to switch off as you’re having to wear lots of different hats. It’s important to learn how to get out of your head so that you can really connect to the character and the scene(s) that you’re embodying. This 15-minute meditation is designed to help you to feel more present and connected to what you love doing so that you can bring your very best self to your self-tape audition. 

Powerful Pause: ‘Energy

In this guided meditation we tap into the energy of our senses. This mindfulness practice is all about pointing our attention towards different senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, and our thoughts. This practice can really help us to find some calm and relaxation during our day.

Powerful Pause: ‘Future Focus’

This guided meditation is all about the future and getting some focus on where you’re going. The idea of this is that if we can visualise our future, we’re much more able to consciously create it.