This week I didn’t go to Buddhafield.

I didn’t dance in a throng of hippies. I didn’t sit round a campfire, tooting my clarinet ’til dawn. I didn’t do the hour-long improvised show that I was booked to perform. Instead I stayed at home, tending to my exhausted body. 

I didn’t have much of a choice...

...Riddled with FOMO, I resentfully rested in my tiny, hot flat.

In amongst the huffing and the puffing, I stumbled upon a week-long online writing challenge called Writing From The Body. 

This session was presented at Clownvergence, an online Clown conference, on 10th April 2026. 

Holly Stoppit, Sarah Burns, Saskia Solomons and Angela Hayes are a group of Internal Family Systems (IFS) - trained clowns and fools....

We have been exploring the meeting point of clowning, fooling and IFS in a series of playful co-created labs since 2020 and we want to share some of our findings with you! Come and discover how IFS is helping us deepen our performance work and how clowning and fooling is helping us deepen our therapeutic work.

This blog is a contemplation on the inner parts that lead us into old, familiar holes. There are snippets of my own story, an exploration of the parts that like to push me towards the pit of burn-out, and some writing / ponder prompts for you to explore your familiar holes (fnar, fnar!). There’s a classic poem about a hole in a road, and some nuggets of advice from nature, about how to stop falling into holes. At the end, there’s an invitation for you to go out into nature and ask for whatever advice you need. 

I recently got some of my words published in an actual real life book!!! Author Emma E. Redfern was writing a user-friendly guide to Internal Family Systems (IFS) when she stumbled upon one of my blogs, where I was dialoguing withy my parts on the page. Tickled by the unfolding internal conversation, Emma asked if she could lift a section of my blog to include in her book and I gratefully agreed. 

After that, I had a request from a reader to make a “how to…” guide to help them have a chat with their inner voices on the page. So we go!

This blog gives a little background about my daily writing practice, before offering you a handy 6-step guide to help you dialogue with your parts on the page. I hope it’s helpful to you!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chat with Collaborative Vocal Improvisation (CVI) legend, Briony Greenhill, exploring what might happen on our upcoming 5-day 'Performance and Parts' workshop. Here's the video and a loose paraphrased outline of what we discussed.

This blog goes out to anyone who is interested in making changes in their lives. It contains three rituals for you to: 1.) Explore your inner parts and their relationship with change 2.) Take yourself on a nature walk to contemplate what you want to let go of and what you want to draw in and 3.) Create a piece of artwork to encapsulate and activate an intention. But first, a little context!

This blog explores Flow: what it is, how to find it and why being in the Flow State might be A Good Thing To Do. There’s a video workshop, 'Exploring The Flow State Through Play and Journalling', flow poetry from past participants of Mindful Play and a story detailing a moment when I lost connection with flow and how I managed to find it again (with a little help from my friends, a tiny dog and a squidgy baby).

There’s nothing like a bit of rejection for helping us get clear about what we really want! Here is a story about how I recently received a rejection and a rundown of the OW to WOW process I put myself though (I should totally trade mark that!), which has helped me get clear about what I really want. 

This blog is an unexpected meander through the themes of effortless creativity and the power of not giving a shit. It starts with me exploring what is blocking my writing and goes off on a quest to seek wisdom from author Martin Shaw and artist Frida Kahlo. Between them, they manage to clear the block and make way for two stories about humans and animals falling in love. To end, we have a guest appearance from a bunch of unfurling baby ferns. Enjoy! Or don’t! I don’t give a shit! (I do, but I'm learning not to.)

Hello. I am Holly and I am a Public Shedder. “Shedding” is a term I got from Amy Turn Sharp (I've posted her writing below), for me Shedding means letting go of a reality that used to define me, it can be a painful process, full of grief and vulnerability. Usually considered a highly private activity, I have shed in public, on purpose, many times as a performer, public speaker and writer. I have also helped other artists to shed in my capacity as a facilitator of self-exploratory workshops and a director of comic autobiographical theatre.

This blog charts my Public Shedding journey, from novice, impulsive, not-very-aware-of-why-I-was-doing-it Shedder to professional Shedder and holder of fellow Sheddies. There are guest spots from writers Amy Turn Sharp and Jeff Foster and a couple of cameos from a friend on facebook and my Clinical Supervisor. Plus two useful lists (who doesn’t love a list?): Why Have I Been Shedding In Public? and Questions To Ask Yourself Before you Shed In Public. Enjoy!