a nine-month in-depth creative coaching journey for women

“What Marisa does is nothing short of magical. This work is life-changing.” 

-Sarah Baker, Writer

Write the book that only you can write. Paint the series you've been dreaming of. Launch your world-changing organization.  

And do it all from a place of flow and inspiration. How?  

By expanding into your truest self.

Envision a space where it’s safe to become the one you’ve always been.

The visionary. The artist. The deep-feeler. The bold thinker.

When you shift the focus from “producing” to “becoming,” you’ll break out of the old paradigm: the struggling creative, the blocked writer, the frustrated visionary.

When you dare to trust in the beauty and truth already inside you, to explore the edges of your heart and voice, to open to the unknown…

You become the creator not only of your writing or art—
You become the creator of yourself.

You become an open channel to the immense creative energy ready to move through you…

And you birth the sacred work that only you can give the world.

Because of the intimate nature of the group and the work, I like to talk to everyone before joining to ensure a good fit. Please fill out this short application and I’ll be in touch asap.

“There are no words to express how meaningful and life-changing this program has been for me. I’m eternally grateful.”
Laima Martinskis, Poet and Violinist

Live Your Creative Genius offers you a new paradigm for creativity.
One where you don’t just use creative process to produce… 

You use it to become.

This journey is a soul initiation. A homecoming to the heart. 

 And it takes place within the womb of a loving and supportive community holding you to your highest vision of yourself.

If you’re ready to transmute old patterns of self-doubt and inadequacy into creative production and self-realization, this journey is tailor-made for you.

Live Your Creative Genius is designed to help you access your greatest creativity, free your authentic voice, and deliver your unique medicine to the world.

This intimate 9-month journey is for creatives who are ready to step into the next level of their being, through bringing their unique vision to the world.  

All who identify as women are welcome.

The time has come to own your message, use your voice, give your medicine.

To create a body of work that only you can create.

Because even though you’ve done lots of personal development, and you’ve achieved some beautiful things, you know there’s untapped brilliance inside you.

Whether you’re a writer, an artist, a healer, or an entrepreneur…

Your next level of creativity is calling.

“Marisa, thank you for bringing my writing out of me and into the New York Times!”

Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD

You don’t feel seen in who you truly are.

Your authentic self feels buried beneath burdens and expectations.

You feel the pain and frustration of your deep creativity going unexpressed.

You worry that your creative potential will never be fulfilled, that you’ll die without sharing it—and this is a frightening thought.

You feel handicapped by self-judgment and comparison, or paralyzed by perfectionism.

You struggle to find the time and discipline to do your creative work, even though you know it’s the deepest part of you.

But somewhere inside you know—indeed you’ve always known—that this can change.

You can sense the power and beauty of what is ready to move through you…

It’s time to give yourself permission to embody your full truth, step into your full aliveness, and create your most brilliant work.

It’s time to awaken your gifts, to step into your JOY, to become who you've always known you could be.

Because you sense you're here to give some big medicine, and you’ve never felt more ready…

Ready to align fully with your highest purpose.

 
Ready to dedicate yourself to a project that has you waking up excited to dive in, and creating with ease.

 
Ready to feel super-engaged in creative process, in a powerful flow of expression and inspiration.

 
Ready to create a real impact in the world—to see your work out there touching lives!

“This program is honestly the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. It has changed me in a way I couldn't hope for. It has revealed me to myself."

Ornella Pacchioni, Poet, Filmmaker, Novelist

Magic happens inside the sacred circle.

And Live Your Creative Genius is just that: a sacred circle coming together for profound transformation. A circle of wise, highly creative beings helping each other achieve what has thus far only been dreamed.

A force for transformative change, and for good in the world.

A close-knit community to support you when you’re feeling challenged, and celebrate your successes when you’re riding high.

Because we all need witnessing in our gifts, attunement in our expansion, and partnership on our journey.

Together ...

We’ll rediscover our inner power, the kind that propels us forward with confidence and ease.

We’ll deeply connect with a soul tribe who will be our true advocates—and we, theirs.

We’ll face long-held fears, and do the deep work of clearing the blocks that have stopped or hindered us from giving our brilliance to the world.

You will be amazed at what you can achieve when you embrace yourself as you are, in your truest form, with all the gifts you bring.

You will become the creator you were born to be.

You will be changed.

And in turn, in your own unique way, you will change the world.

Our time is divided into modules—each of which is 6-8 weeks long—giving you the chance to go deep as we travel together:

Module One—Death and Rebirth: Learning to Receive
Where we let go of old ways of creating, and open to receiving and responding to the tremendous energy ready to move through us.

Module Two—Dancing with the Shadow: Resistance, the Inner Critic, and other Allies-In-Disguise
Where we use powerful techniques to transform obstacles into allies on the path, and blocks into gateways to our unique genius.

Module Three—The Fertile Void: Dreaming and Visioning
Now that we’re a clearer channel for creative energy, we dream and vision our way deeper into our unique genius.

Module Four—Gestation: Refining your voice, Shaping Your Work of Art
Where we give concrete structure and shape to that which is emerging.

Module Five—Birth, Emergence, and Visibility
Where we “come out” with our work in a way that is balanced, loving to the nervous system, and celebratory.

To open fully to our creativity is not just an intellectual process.

It’s a heart-body-mind-nervous system-spirit journey.

So we start from the ground up, and we work at each level.

We honor what's been blocking us, because it’s been working it’s ass off to keep us safe…

and then we use powerful tools to transform it.

We do what’s ours to do, and let grace meet us halfway.

And we stay open.  

Because what actually unfolds may be greater than we've ever dreamed.

“Working with Marisa is quite indescribable. Her process feels guided by something bigger... After working with her I feel a deep sense of clarity and flow and a shift. I sense I've undergone a magical process.”

Kele Boakgomo, founder of Yugrow

If you’re ready to bring your vision into reality, this program will give you the loving guidance, clear structure, and action-oriented support to get you there.

Because you could spend another decade or two circling around what you know you’re here to do.

Because it’s not not about taking another craft class, or scrounging up more discipline. It’s not about the old way of doing things—pushing yourself harder, applying more hours (what got you here won’t get you there).

Heck, it’s not even about finally making your dream project real.

It’s much bigger than that.

It’s about a whole new paradigm for creating.

It’s about transforming dusty old wiring to get you creating with joy and consistency.

It’s about a lifetime of giving your genius to the world 

(Yes, you have more than one project in you… and they can hardly wait to meet you!).

It’s about finally being who you came here to be, doing what you came to do—

and blowing your own socks off in the process.

You ready?

"Thanks to Marisa I started writing again after almost a decade – she has inspired me to carry on and given me the great gift of a new beginning.  I just feel so grateful to have found her.”
Lara Williams, Writer

You sell your book for six figures to a major publishing house.

You see your writing published in places like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Guardian.

You write your memoir, and sign with a prestigious agent.

You relocate the joy of creative process, and establish a productive daily practice (even if you haven’t been creating for years)

You never again doubt that you have something important to say—you greet the page or canvas or audience with a sense of excitement and possibility.

You feel the amazing vitality and satisfaction of being in deep creative flow.

These are all real results my past clients have achieved.

I’m a writer, singer-songwriter, teacher, and healer. I help creatives transform their blocks so they can give their genius to the world and feel fulfilled in their life purpose.

In 2010, a major wake-up call changed my life.

I’d just completed my MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and I’d received a Fulbright grant to India to work on my novel. Once there, years of pushing myself beyond my body’s limits caught up with me. I stopped sleeping, fell into panic, and entered a full-on breakdown.

For years, I’d been a student of vipassana Buddhism, regularly sitting long silent retreats, even teaching meditation. But when I wasn’t on retreat, my days were dominated by drive and adrenaline: organizing for social change, writing and singing about social change issues, singlehandedly trying to save the world (and myself!).

I left India and came home to wend my way through a lengthy dark night of the soul. I couldn’t write, couldn’t sing, couldn’t even work. Slowly, as I took steps to heal myself, I opened to an entirely different way of doing creativity. This was a practice grounded in receptivity, in flow, in trust in a creative force much greater than my own egoic plans.

Before long, I was creating new work, work that felt different, bolder. And I felt different while doing it: alive, inspired, powerful. I documented what I’d learned and began teaching it at Stanford and using it with my clients. In seeing their results, I realized it was time to bring this paradigm to others. Because if there’s ever been a moment the world has needed as many of us as possible drawing on our greatest creative gifts, it is now.

I’ve had the blessing of over twenty years of experience in my twin vocations, art and self-realization.

On the creative side, I am the author of the memoir Loyal to the Sky, which won a Nautilus Gold Award for world-changing books. My essays, fiction, and poetry have appeared in numerous publications. My songs and music videos are available on all the things. I earned my MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and I’ve received numerous fellowships in Creative Writing, including a Fulbright and an Elizabeth George Foundation grant.

On the healing side, I’ve spent the past twenty-two years exploring the mind, body, and spirit. I’ve been practicing Insight Meditation in retreats and daily life since 2002, and teaching since 2012. I am a Certified Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie, a powerful practice for questioning painful beliefs and accessing intrinsic wisdom. I also have long-term practices in Authentic Movement, Somatic Experiencing, and various forms of dance. I teach widely on creativity and transformation at venues like Stanford, Spirit Rock, Esalen, the California Institute for Integral Studies, and Gaia House (UK).

Last but certainly not least, I’ve had the great joy of seeing my coaching clients change their lives and succeed in their creative work—ranging from landing six-figure publishing deals, to signing with prestigious agents, to finally writing again after multi-year blocks.

I will offer you the best tools I’ve found, loving accountability and stalwart support, and a breathing example of someone living this path with integrity and joy.

I can’t wait to cheer you on as you reveal the great treasures of your being, dear one.

Let’s birth your creative work.

When we access our creative gifts, we access our life force.

And when our creativity flows, so do we.

We excavate old parts we thought were lost; we discover new parts we’d only glimpsed before.

When we are deeply engaged in creative work, it transforms us as we create.

Find your flow:

$9997 upfront or $10,997 in 10 monthly payments

But Marisa, that's a whole lotta Benjamins! 

It is indeed a major investment. In yourself--your authentic self and your unique genius--and in being and giving that to the world for the rest of your life. I've seen many people put significantly more money into MFA programs and emerge producing zilch. What I see in this program is that graduates come out changed, and consistently creatively productive.

I believe that artists and healers deserve to be adequately compensated for their labor. And I believe in a culture of regeneration rather than extraction. As such, this is a small program, one in which I care deeply about each participant. I am personally available to you as a guide and midwife throughout the nine months. This is what it costs for it to be sustainable on all the levels.

Are scholarships available?

For every five people who sign up (the program is capped at 10), I offer a partial scholarship of 40%. If you believe your circumstances qualify you, please apply here.

Laima Martinskis, 

Poet and Violinist

There are no words to express how meaningful and life-changing this program has been for me. Marisa gave us incredibly effective tools and methods to not only help overcome creative blocks, but also to get to the root of other problems in life—and thus offer a real possibility to solve them for good. As it turns out, the two are deeply connected.

I looked forward to each class with anticipation and excitement. Marisa led our group sessions so skillfully that they always felt like a private class, even as I benefited from the experiences of others. It was a tremendously safe and supportive space.

Before Live Your Creative Genius I was struggling with creating a regular writing practice, and questioning whether I have what it takes to be a writer. I now have a fulfilling writing practice that I look forward to every day. I’ve even started another creative practice—drawing! I have tools and methods I can use whenever I feel stuck. I have a clear vision of my next two publications, and I’ve started to translate my own poems from Latvian to English. And during the program I sent my poems to a prestigious Latvian literary journal and they were published. Yay!!!

Thanks to this program, I now believe I’ll be a successful writer. I trust in my own path and uniqueness as a writer, and I’m curious and excited to see how this path continues unfolding. Not only that, I now trust that there is a deeper purpose to my life. And I’m actually more at ease with everything in my life.

I am eternally grateful to Marisa for sharing her wisdom, and showing the way to one’s own source of creativity.

This program is life-changing. I was so on the fence about it—the time, the money, revealing myself to strangers, all of that. But I have been transformed by it. I now think about everything differently. It’s been an incredibly expansive experience of getting to know myself, and peeling back all the things that were getting in my way.

I'm in a completely different place now. I can be in relationship with my limiting beliefs, or saboteurs, in a different way, which is a huge burden lifted. I’ve been able to get very, very comfortable with my creativity and my creative projects. And to go for the things I want.

I’ve also expanded into a whole different creative approach to my life. Writing is just one piece of what I've taken from this program—I’ve started leading retreats, and I'm going in some other new directions too. I’ve also made lifelong friends, and I have these connections and support going forward. And I have the tools for the rest of my life.

I can't imagine a better guide than Marisa. She does what needs to be done in order to get to the place that you need to go. She has a gift, an incredible gift of wisdom, and soulfulness, and insight. I don't know anyone else who does what she does. She works magic. I wish I’d met her fifty years ago! But I'm grateful that I got to do this work now. It's life-changing.

Sarah Baker

Writer, Editor, Coach

Carolyn Walker

Artist and Farmer

I signed up for the program because I was struggling. I've been a painter on and off for a long time, but I was struggling with feeling like I was an artist, and bringing it into my everyday life. I wanted it to be the structure that I created my life around rather than something on the side.

This program has changed me. I now believe in myself as an artist, and I don’t falter when life takes over in some ways. I know that it’s always there, that I have the resource within myself to return to what I am actually here for. I got so much out of the program. I got a practice. I got great feedback about what I was doing. I got a community. I got the benefit of Marisa’s numerous tools, not only for tapping into creativity, but for healing the wounds that get in our way.

And I loved how regular it was. The group itself is an amazing container, and the consistency of it gave me a framework, kept me in that space where I knew myself in a certain way, in the way that Marisa could see us, even when we couldn't.

Marisa is an amazing teacher, an amazing spirit, an amazing inspiration. In our one-on-one sessions, she would find the thing that needed to be teased out and bring it into the light. And the way she handled the group sessions was masterful. She has such depth of wisdom and spirituality and creativity.

If you’re thinking about the program, my advice would be: Do it. Because it’ll definitely change your life, and change your connection to yourself. Your stuff is going to come up, yes. But if you're even thinking about it, then that’s what you want. Because you're shaking things loose, and letting go of what doesn't work anymore. And it's going to change you.

I signed up for Live Your Creative Genius because I felt that I was not living as my true self, even with therapy and lots of other work. I was afraid at the beginning. But this program is honestly the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. It has changed me in a way I couldn't hope for. It has revealed me to myself.

Before entering the program, I’d published a novel, and directed two movies that were shown in festivals. But I always had the sensation that I was not actually creating what I am meant to create. And I had always the feeling of being slightly detached from my work.

Thanks to the program, I am able to feel represented by my work, to feel the importance that it has. It helped me gain connection with my work and therefore be more trustful in my process. And I’ve gone more in depth in my craft. I’m now mostly doing very important projects for myself, in a very honest way. And I’ve realized how much joy, pleasure, depth, and importance my work has. So I’ve been changed as an artist in a very joyful way. I don’t have the idea anymore that my projects are bigger than me; it’s like we’re collaborating together, playing together. Live Your Creative Genius removed my fear, and gave me a lot of confidence and clarity in what I really truly want to do, what I am here to do.

On a personal level, what I got out of the program is a remedy to my loneliness. I don't feel lonely anymore! I have gained friends, both outside and inside of me. I have gained confidence, clarity, courage, and a deep connection with nature and the divine that is with me every day. I am taking forward the ability to dance with life! And the pleasure of being alive, and the feeling of being supported by a group of amazing beings. And faith. And a connection with my body, and a lot of pleasure and joy and wisdom in that, and of course in my creativity. So I have been impacted in ways both practical and much deeper.

Marisa is an amazing guide. She is very dedicated, very available and understanding. I don't know how she is able to hold space for all of us to be in such a safe and creative and deep place, but she does. Somehow it always felt like every class was happening at just the right moment for me.

If you’re thinking of doing the program, I'd say do it. It's the best thing I've done in my life. I would say trust the thing that makes you potentially consider the idea of doing it—because this is the right thing speaking.

Ornella Pacchioni

Poet, Filmmaker, Novelist

I signed up for the program because I knew I had much more inside me that wanted to come out into the world. I've had a book inside of me for many, many years. I'd gotten tired of hearing myself tell people I was going to write it. I knew I needed support, and structure, and guidance.

Marisa is masterful in creating the space for us to realize our potential and act upon it. Thanks to Live Your Creative Genius, I'm in a completely different place. There are a lot of things that have shifted, the most noticeable being that I'm less self-critical. When something didn’t go as I hoped before the program, my default response was: What’s wrong with me? Why am I not further along? That kind of response just doesn't come up now. There’s much greater self-acceptance and much greater acceptance of circumstances.

I’ve also let go of certain beliefs and patterns which didn't serve me or my calling, and weren’t aligned with this work being out in the world. Now I am much more likely to say no to projects that are not aligned with my mission and my calling.

It has been a joy and a privilege to work with Marisa, and witness her do her magic. I’m profoundly grateful for her gifts, her support and belief in me. And to be in the company of such extraordinary women, whom I've truly come to love, is a gift I hadn't even imagined I’d receive. We have created a community and a connection that I know will be lifelong.

Michelle Buck, 

Clinical Professor of Leadership at Northwestern University and Author of forthcoming book, Brave Voices: Creating Inclusive Cultures of Courageous Conversations

Meghan O’Neill

Writer

I signed up for the program because I'd been really struggling to put words on paper. I had signed up for a number of writing classes over the years, I really wanted to write, I really believed I could write, but I couldn't move any further than a few words on a page. I’d tried many times to do it and not been successful.

The program changed me a lot. The unique value of it—it sounds so simple, but it’s so powerful: I developed a creative practice, I began to think of myself as an artist and a writer, I began to understand that as part of my life, and not just something that happens when I sit down at a keyboard. I learned how to locate within myself both the ability to do it and to identify what my blocks were, and then move through them.

It changed me as a writer by taking me outside of my head and into my body, and helping me synthesize all parts of myself in my work. And it changed me personally by helping me connect to my own deeper knowing, and also to the people around me. I am taking forward a writing practice I developed over the nine months that is really suited to my own style and needs and life. And also the resources and the tools to evolve it when I need to.

It's an incredibly unique program, and Marisa is an incredibly unique guide. Not only did she midwife my creative practice with me, but she empowered me to midwife my own creative practice moving forward. And the group was just wonderful--women from all over the world, all ages, all walks of life, powerfully coming together. It’s magical.

"I signed up for Live Your Creative Genius because I was feeling very stuck in a rut. Raising small children and dealing with aging parents in the context of the pandemic and wave after wave of bad news– I felt like I was drowning. When I heard Marisa talking about the program on a podcast I felt like she was talking directly to me. I intuitively knew that I had a lot more to give. I was desperately trying to redefine my own place in the world, and I wanted to get back in touch with myself. I wanted to give myself the gift of making space for my own growth in a supportive, loving, gentle environment.

Marisa is wonderful – she is authentic, caring and insightful in her guidance. She created a safe container and modeled gracious and loving presence. I learned so much from her. In the program I found a space that allowed me to tune into my own voice, so I could get clear about what it means to define myself as a creative person. I came in without a specific project in mind. I had the seeds of a lot of different ideas for things that interest me and over the course of the program my thinking and feeling shifted away from being completely product-oriented to focusing on committing to practices that allow creativity to flourish, without needing to know exactly what it would look like at the outset.

Emerging from the program, I feel more aligned with the rhythms and the seasons of my life, able to believe that the sources of my own creativity will never disappear. I have more compassion for myself. My understanding of myself as a creative being in the world has shifted, which allows me to trust my own voice and have patience with myself as I learn to express my unique perspective. And perhaps most importantly, I continue to create myself as a joyful, present, intentional woman, and I am more able to create the relationships I desire with my husband and with my daughters.

If you’re on the fence—I know it can feel like a giant leap, and maybe it is, but there is an invisible safety net waiting to do so much more than just catch you. You might even remember that you can fly."

Sharon Michal Hollombe,

Educator and Writer

Cindy Trummer, 

Writer and Producer

I signed up for the program because it had been years since I'd written consistently, and
I felt like the creative part of me was dying. I was focusing everywhere else—my family, my husband, my aging mother. Finally I chose myself.

Live Your Creative Genius gave me the structure and container to focus on me and my creativity. It also gave me a sense of community. We became a tight-knit family, like a very close group of sisters, which has been so life-affirming. I believe these connections will last a lifetime.

Marisa is phenomenal at holding space in a way that allows us to express who we are, to be vulnerable and open, just dive in and explore. In every one-on-one session with her, we’d hit on something I'd never seen before—even though I’ve spent a lot of time working on myself. Each of our sessions gave me this kind of gift, a jewel.

Along with insights into who I am and why I create and what has been in the way, I've learned grace. I've learned to give myself a break, and look at the process differently, and not beat myself up about it. That ease and grace is a greater gift than any I’d imagined I’d get. I am truly grateful.

Copyright © Marisa Handler. All Rights Reserved