Belonging: Conversations about rites of passage, meaningful community, and seasonal living

Anoushka Florence is a teacher, an author, a circle-tender, and a mother. She is the Keeper of the Mama’s Village, the Mama of The Goddess Space, and the author of The Women’s Circle. Her work is based on ancient spiritual feminine practices that are grounded in the belief that the power to heal comes from within.Together, we begin with the question what is circle? and spiral out to the importance of women’s circles, rituals, cleaning as clearing, ancestral lineages and more. We also discuss common questions about circle, such as— how do I find a circle near me? what if I’m an introvert? and what if I feel uncomfortable or unsafe in circle?At its center, this conversation is about how circles can serve us all well. And it’s an invitation to hear if circle is calling you.More from Anoushka:Buy Anoushka’s book, The Women’s CircleAnoushka’s websiteAnoushka’s on Instagram @thegoddessspace

Tracy Benjamin is a food photographer, stylist & blogger based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this episode, we have a tender conversation about grief, and all the ways she’s experienced it since her mom’s sudden death in 2017.Together we explore how loss can encompass our full range of emotions and impact every area of our life. Tracy shares what it feels like to be the only woman left in her family and the joys and struggles of becoming her family’s keeper — hosting their gatherings, their values, and their grief stories.We also talk about parenting our children and our selves, normalizing death in our society, grieving our dreams, letting our creative work evolve, and keeping grief weird through it all.Our conversation is hard, heartbreaking, and so, so honest. If you’ve lost a parent or someone close to you, what Tracy says will resonate deeply. And if you haven’t felt that specific grief, this episode is also a balm for the collective grief the past few years have brought us all.ResourcesJoin me for Passagecraft 🌙More from Tracy:Tracy’s blog ShutterbeanTracy’s Instagram @shutterbean

Nicole Antoinette is a writer, podcast host, and community-builder who is super into long-distance hiking. In this conversation, she tells us the story of how long solo hikes have become her spiritual & devotional practice.Together we explore the power of facing fear and discomfort, the lessons gained from embracing loneliness, and the self-trust that comes when there’s no one else to ask for answers.Our conversation is an invitation for the hikers and non-hikers among us to consider how we can deepen our devotional connections with the land and ourselves. The lessons Nicole shares support us all in being honest with ourselves and facing scary things.Resources:Becca Piastrelli: The Baby BombThru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot QuinnGeartradeThe Comfort Crisis by Michael EasterMore from Nicole:Nicole’s book How To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona trailNicole’s websiteNicole’s InstagramNicole’s gear list

Asha Frost is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) Medicine Woman (member of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation), Healer, and Spiritual Mentor. Last time she was on the podcast we discussed her viral article “Dear White Woman who wants to be like me,” and today she returns to share her new book You Are the Medicine with us.Together we explore the medicine of publishing a book. We discuss why we felt called to write, how books can be like babies, and the ways releasing our books made us more resilient. We also talk about how both our books are invitations to move at a slower, earth-pace.Our conversation is a call to recognize the postpartum grief that comes when you release a creative work. And it’s an opportunity to embrace the end of the extended winter we’ve been undergoing and to craft rites of passage for ourselves that acknowledge a new season.Resources:Episode #26: Ancestral Constellations & Conscious Dreaming with Grandmother Sarah“A Love Letter to COVID Authors” by Kaitlin CurticeMore from Asha Frost:Asha’s book You Are the MedicineAsha’s websiteAsha’s InstagramBelonging Episode #57: Web of Connection with Asha Frost

Dacy Gillespie is a personal stylist who intuitively guides us to discover the clothes we feel best in — uncovering and releasing what society says we “should” wear in the process. Together we explore the question “what do you want to wear?” and we talk about how pausing before purchasing can help us make more ethical decisions and find clothes we love. Dacy also shares why “flattering” is a fatphobic concept, how to approach your clothes when your body changes, and her advice for online shopping and creating a capsule wardrobe. Our conversation is an invitation to stop settling for clothes you don’t really like. It’s also a reminder that you have a right to feel good in what you wear. Enjoy.Links & Resources—Belonging Episode #66: Radically Claiming your Needs with Mara GlatzelDacy’s Forbes feature — How to Build a Mindful Close that Sparks JoyAtlantic article on returns & landfills — The Nasty Logistics of Returning Your Too-Small PantsBecca’s beautiful measuring tape & more options on EtsyMore from Dacy Gillespie—Mindful Closet.com@mindfulcloset on Instagram

Lisa Olivera is a writer, therapist, and creative who shares work centered around radical acceptance, cultivating compassion, and integrating our stories and full humanity. She is also a new mother, just five months postpartum at the time we recorded this episode.Together we talk about the pressures and expectations of motherhood, the deep joy and grief of becoming a parent, and how having two tiny eyes on you all the time invites you to embody your values and step into your integrity. We also share our experiences of how becoming a mom made us change plans, say no, and honor our energetic capacities — even if it means disappointing people or ourselves in the process. Our conversation is an invitation to love your life, grieve your dreams, feel the depth of each moment,  and be fully human. Listen as we rewrite the story of motherhood together.Resources Belonging Episode #54: Finding Connection in Isolation with Lisa Olivera“Matrescence” is a term coined by Dr. Alexandra Sacks. Learn more in her TED talk.Episode #78: Non-Linear Reciprocity and Skills to Traverse Change with Jessie Harrold“From the time of birth to the time children are 3 years old, one MILLION neural connections are made in their brain each SECOND.” from Rachel Garcia Seliga @innatetraditionsMore from Lisa Olivera: Lisa’s book, Already Enough: A Path to Self-AcceptanceLisa’s substack

Belonging is back! After my winter hibernation, I find myself craving a little vernal worship. So this episode is all about ancestral rituals and practices for spring.First, I share lessons I learned while wintering, including my stepping away from social media, making my life small, and my seasonal self-care wheel. Then we dive into the pleasure of seeds, greens, flowers, eggs, honey, and milk. I offer my favorite practices for planting, cooking, nourishing yourself, and connecting with ancestral rituals for spring.“You are the seed. I am the seed. We are encoded with the DNA of all that came before us. We are the heirloom seed. What needs to be activated in us now? “ResourcesMy winter self-care wheelReel for making pestoNettle soup recipe (with potatoes)Marysia MiernowskaSister SpinsterBloom Generation FlowersBelonging Episode #77: Mothering the Mothers with Rachelle Garcia SeligaBelonging Episode #69: Motherhood, Grief, and the Grandmother Hypothesis with Amber Magnolia HillMedicine Stories Episode #67: Harvesting Light: The Alchemy of Sun & Human w/Nadine Artemis

I've gotten several audience questions about seasonal rituals, so in this episode of Belonging, I thought I would address seasonal rituals for the time that I'm currently in: rituals around winter.First, I invite you to notice what winter looks and feels like where you live (not everywhere looks like a Bavarian ski village in December). Then, I invite you to notice what winter is energetically in your body. Reframing winter as the dream time. I also share my rituals of being dreamy and doing less, being with fire or flame, working with pine essence, winter kitchen magic, sauna or bathing magic, tracking the sunlight, and easeful intention setting.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/winter-rituals-and-practices/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/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/

Then Belonging Podcast episode is about adult friendships — how to cultivate them and why they're so dang hard to create and maintain. I dedicate a whole chapter to community in my book, Root & Ritual, particularly as it relates to friendships, but it's one of the topics I get asked about most, so I thought I'd bring it here to the podcast as well. I share about the importance of human connection (even if you're an introvert), making meaningful connections, feeling mistrust in building new relationships, the practice of fertile listening and witnessing, the lingering effects of the Burning Times, disclosure and agreements, not only using social media to keep up with friends, and making new friends in a new place.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/adult-friendships/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/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/

I've gotten some questions from Belonging podcast listeners about rites of passage, especially if you've left a religion that previously offered a sense of rites of passage and ritual, or how to cultivate rites of passage when we don't have that religious or cultural foundation. This is something I've touched on before on the Belonging podcast, and I'm sharing my thoughts now after going through a major rite of passage myself. I share how I'm fulfilling my need for ritual and community witnessing around pretty important things that are happening in my life, what to do when you're feeling a lack of rites of passage in your life, using social media as a way to be witnessed in the midst of a transformation, the three elements of a rite of passage, and creating a ritual for a past rite of passage that didn't get recognition at the time.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/rites-of-passage/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/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/