

Belonging: Conversations about rites of passage, meaningful community, and seasonal living
Becca Piastrelli
Welcome to Belonging, a podcast that explores being alive in the age of loneliness. Becca Piastrelli is your host and guide on a journey of courageous reconnection as we explore topics like rites of passage, cultivating meaningful community, seasonal and cyclical living, and what it means to be a good ancestor in these times. She has thought provoking conversations with friends, teachers, elders, and ancestral medicine keepers to help support you in bringing more meaning and connection to your life. She also pops in here and there to share updates and learnings from her own story because we were meant to do this together - cosmically holding hands as we walk the spiral of life. You can expect to be challenged by new (or old) ideas, face your beliefs and what systems informed them, get curious and brave to tell the truth about the deeper, harder things, and feel comforted in the knowing that you don’t have to navigate it all alone.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 17, 2018 • 1h 23min
13. Miscarriage & Grief with Jenni Heffernan Brown
In this episode of Belonging, I'm welcoming my first guest, Jenni Heffernan Brown, to talk with me about a subject that we've both experienced and supported each other through: miscarriage. We're talking about the multifaceted layers of grief, experiencing grief with a partner, allowing family and friends to (imperfectly) hold you when you're going through difficult times, and some things you can do to help a friend who is navigating the waves of miscarriage.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/miscarriage-grief/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Dec 3, 2018 • 37min
12. The Wisdom of Evergreens and the Cailleach in Winter Folklore
As we enter the winter season, let's take a moment to tap into the Ancestral folklore perspective of this time of year. As the days get colder and darker, it's important to lean into both community and rest. In this episode of Belonging, we're looking at some of the winter folklore associated with this season that the ancestors leaned on to cope with feelings of despair and darkness during the winter season. We're looking at the wisdom of the Evergreens, the Callieach, and the connection to light and fire.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/winter-folklore/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Nov 19, 2018 • 36min
11. Cultivate a Meaningful Holiday Season
The holidays are upon us, so in this episode of Belonging, I’m talking about cultivating a more meaningful relationship with the winter holidays. This is the time of year when seasonally and energetically we really want to go within. But often we feel pressured, frenzied, and can cross boundaries in preparing for the season and getting caught up in the commercialized aspects of the holidays. So let's talk about setting intentions and planning for and cultivating a more meaningful, aligned relationship with these next few months.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/meaningful-holiday-season/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Oct 29, 2018 • 39min
10. Ancestral Connection through Folkways
We've talked about tracing ancestry through DNA, we've talked about non-linear ancestral time, and we've talked about ways to connect to your ancestry through pilgrimage and exploring the lands they came from or settled on. Now in this episode, let's explore the ways we can connect to our ancestry through folk ways—song, dance, story, and food.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/ancestral-connection-folkways/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Oct 22, 2018 • 35min
9. Choosing the Journey of Decolonization
Today's topic might feel a little heavy and make you a little bit uncomfortable, but I'm asking you to trust me. We're going to dig into what decolonization is and how you can examine your own part in colonization, the part your ancestors may have played in colonization, and how to move forward to make things right today.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/journey-of-decolonization/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Oct 8, 2018 • 30min
8. Ancestral connection beyond the DNA test
When it comes to connecting with our ancestors, it's a lot deeper than mapping our genealogy or taking a DNA test. In this episode of Belonging, I'm digging into the why being able to map genealogy comes from an immense place of privilege, the beauty of making pilgrimages to the lands (both indigenous and otherwise) of your ancestors, and how to connect with your ancestors through dreamwork and ancestral foods, song, and dance.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/ancestry-beyond-dna/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Sep 24, 2018 • 28min
7. Embracing Ancestral Time
Let's take a moment to drop out of linear time and explore spiralic, ancestor time. In this episode, I'm digging into our connection to our ancestors through this concept of ancestral time and how in doing so, our lives are very much still entwined with those of our ancestors through the cycles we experience every day.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/ancestral-time/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Sep 10, 2018 • 10min
6. The Importance of Intergenerational Sisterhood
When it comes to belonging and creating circles of sisterhood, we tend to gravitate toward spaces of sameness, so in today's Belonging episode, let's talk about creating intergenerational sisterhood. It's important to diversify your circles to get different and new perspectives on the life you're living. There are so many ways to find diversity in sisterhood, but today's let's talk about creating sisterhood within the full spectrum of maiden, mother, and crone.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/intergenerational-sisterhood/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Sep 3, 2018 • 11min
5. Seasonal Self-Care
Let's talk about seasonal self-care and living seasonally! Life for our ancestors was dictated by the seasons, so aligning ourselves with the seasons now might feel familiar in our bones. Today we're honing in on this transition point between Summer and Autumn and how this might be affecting our energy, creativity, and desire for rest.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/seasonal-self-care/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Aug 27, 2018 • 13min
4. Productivity & Focus in a Distracting World
We are living in the most distracting of times, so let's talk about productivity and focus. But first, let's go back to the Industrial Revolution where we learned the mindset that quantity is better than quality, and where our value of how much we can output in a short of time was born. Productivity is important, but rather than work ourselves to exhaustion, it's important to make it work within the seasons and cycles of our lives.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/productivity-focus/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/