Spiritual Grit

As empiré continues to crumble, it doubles down on its destruction by taking as many with it as possible. This is akin to the death rattle. Gasping for its last breath. As people living in the center of empiré, we must remain steadfast in our resolve for a liberated world. But how?Community and creativity. The key is to remember that we are not alone and that we have the power to create. And creativity doesn't just mean painting or writing or theater (which are all excellent things!), but it can be as simple as making a meal for yourself or for another person. Tune in to hear more about how this does not just mean survival, but thriving amidst the upheavals that include violence and tragedy.And yes, if you want to connect: reach out to me at leslieann @ suryagian.comSpotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu⁠ Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520⁠  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The Page of CupsPoem: “Faith” by W. Todd Kaneko=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: ⁠suryagian.com/subscribe⁠ and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com⁠Instagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: ⁠leslieann@suryagian.com⁠Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy⁠Kundalini Yoga Classes: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini⁠Speak Your Truth: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth⁠

Happy New Year listeners! Welcome to a fresh new start! I don't know about you, but I am glad to see 2026! In this week's episode, I'm talking about the difference between setting intentions and making resolutions (don't even bother with the latter). And using goals as a place for your focus rather than a marker of achievement. This year needs to be different. This year is about community and sharing, kindness and compassion–and of course LOVE! – all the soft things that we cannot assign metrics to. In order to build a world that is truly liberated, we need to work towards right relationship with each other as well as with mother Earth. Tune in to hear more!Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu⁠ Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520⁠  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Ace of PentaclesPoem: “Televangelism” by K-Ming Chang=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: ⁠suryagian.com/subscribe⁠ and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com⁠Instagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: ⁠leslieann@suryagian.com⁠Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy⁠Kundalini Yoga Classes: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini⁠Speak Your Truth: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth⁠

Three hundred episodes! Can you believe it?? How did we get here? What an amazing feat! Never did I ever imagine that I would have a podcast let alone release 300 episodes! To celebrate, I have invited my writer-friends and fellow Pinays, Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor and Tamiko Nimura! In this episode, we talk about what has kept us steady and tethered during this year of upheavals and drastic change. With the new moon and the winter solstice approaching this weekend, we also talked about what seeds we want to plant for the coming season and new year. Bring a cup of tea and tune in to this episode to feel uplifted by listening in on a chat with good friends. Here's to 300!Tamiko Nimura’s forthcoming book, A Place For What We Lose, is due out April 28, 2026 from University of Washington Press. Pre-order your copy today and take advantage of their 40% off sale! Go here: https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295754758/a-place-for-what-we-lose/ ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Three of Swords (Reversed)"Samadhi" by Vikus Menon=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth About Tamiko NimuraTamiko is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, community journalist, editor, and educator with experience in higher education, the arts, public history, and Asian American communities. Her forthcoming memoir, A Place for What We Lose: A Daughter’s Return to Tule Lake, will be published by the University of Washington Press.She is the author of Rosa Franklin: A Life in Health Care, Public Service, and Social Justice (Washington State Legislative Oral History Program, 2019) and co-author of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Acts of Wartime Resistance (Chin Music Press/Wing Luke Museum, 2021).For eight years, Tamiko coached writing and literature students across a wide range of academic and non-academic settings. Since leaving academia in 2011, she has expanded her work to include public history, social media support, blogging, grant writing, and writing for newspapers and magazines.For more than a decade, she has written a commissioned monthly essay series on Japanese American history, arts, and culture for Discover Nikkei, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest and Washington State.Her areas of specialization include diversity and equity, higher education, Japanese American history, writing and editing, grant writing, publishing, food writing, proofreading, and Asian American issues.===============About Rebecca Mabanglo-MayorRebecca Mabanglo-Mayor’s non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I-IV, and her poetry and essays have been collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles. She has been performing as a storyteller since 2006 and specializes in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history.Rebecca, as Rebecca A. Saxton, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, her BA in Humanities from Washington State University in 1998, and her MA degree in English with honors from Western Washington University in 2003.

In this week's episode, I’m talking about the challenges of balancing the material with the spiritual in this overwhelming world. How can we remain true to our spiritual practices while the external world inundates us with so much noise that we lose track? How can we hear what our ancestors are trying to tell us if we don't sit still for one goddamn minute? Tune in to remember why we’re here and what we’re meant to do, how to navigate the material world while staying rooted in our spiritual purpose.Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: King of Pentacles (Reversed)“Forgive the Dream” by Hafiz=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

This week, the new moon in Scorpio is asking us to release the things that are holding us back, to let go of the old so that the new can be planted in fertile soil. In this week's episode, I'm asking: how do we know what is weighing us down? How do we know what we are supposed to release? And then: how do we step into our life's purpose? Do we even know what our life's calling is? Does it matter? Why does it matter? Tune in to find out!Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The Eight of Cups “I Hope You Won’t Sue This Old Man” by Hafiz=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

Midlife is chock full of surprises. Identities falling away, unknown futures ahead. What's not to love? Haha! But more importantly, how can you ground yourself and hold yourself through the portals of change and transformation that are inevitable? How can you lean into trust of yourself and the universe? Can you allow yourself to surrender to the natural unfolding of your life's purpose as you make your way toward elderhood? Get curious! Play! Experiment! Get comfortable with the uncomfortable! And know that our community, aka the MCCollective, is walking right alongside you! Listen in to get a glimpse into how to do just that.Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu⁠ Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520⁠ =============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: ⁠suryagian.com/subscribe⁠ and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com⁠Instagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: ⁠leslieann@suryagian.com⁠Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy⁠Kundalini Yoga Classes: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini⁠Speak Your Truth: ⁠https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth⁠

I can't not talk about Mamdani’s win. This is a huge example of what is possible when we come together in solidarity. In this week's episode, I'm talking about hope and inspiration, practicing discernment between what is yours and what is not yours, and working towards reclaiming our innate power. When we stand firm and proclaim our truths, and when we come together to help each other out, all things are possible. You can heal your trauma while also stepping into your power. You can build while tending to your wounds. Listen in to hear more! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The King of Wands “I Want Both of Us” by Hafiz=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

What do comics, writing, and Pilates have in common? None other than this week's guest, Mel Hilario! In this episode, we talk about all kinds of things from intuition to creative expression to somatic practices and everything in between! Including what it's like to be a daughter of Filipino immigrants who don't understand what we do in our lives. Join us as we continue the celebration of Filipino American History month with this episode!We embody many different roles and I have likened this existence to that of our ancestral lands: an archipelago. Tune in to hear how we link up all of our multiple passions and identities into who we are being. And how that in and of itself is a form of resistance.Mel Hilario Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Agent-Cupcake/Mel-Hilario/9781637158760Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Queen of Cups“The Sorcery” =============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth ===============About the Guest: Melanie “Mel” Hilario is a writer who empowers readers by helping them understand the world around them, blending genres and transforming traditional character archetypes into fully realized people, with their own quirks, language, and interior lives. Mel received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, has been a recipient of the Elizabeth George Foundation grant and residencies at VONA (Voices of our Nations Arts), Las Dos Brujas Writers Workshop, Writing by Writers, and Hedgebrook. She has developed characters for toy lines, masterminded educational workbooks, and written wrenching essays, most recently for the Kindred Souls anthology, Angry Women. Along with Lauren Davis and Katie Longua, Mel is part of the Eisner-nominated team, Triple Dream Comics. Together, they created the middle grade graphic novels, "Debian Perl, Digital Detective" and "Agent Cupcake." Their short story, "Traitor, Trickster, Dummy, Doll" appeared in The Nib and was nominated for the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Short Story.When she isn’t writing fiction, nonfiction, and comic books, Mel is in martial arts or ballet class, teaching Pilates, or attempting to stay off social media and failing miserably. She lives in Oakland with two of the largest cats her friends have ever seen.

Continuing with our celebration of Filipino American History month, I've got a special guest today who is an artist, death doula, and spiritual ceramicist, Marjorie Milloria!In this episode, we talk about connecting with our spiritual and cultural inheritances, the healing practices we engage with, what it means to remember, and how this can help us towards collective liberation. We also talk about what it's like to go “home” and this continual search for belonging as daughters of the diaspora.And believe it or not, the fight for liberation starts with the practice of pouring liquor for each other and passing the glass around card tables full of salty snacks. Tune into this lively and nourishing conversation about topics that range from soju & lambanog (coconut “moonshine” ha!) to finding out we went to the same Catholic grammar school! All is not lost, friends. Remembering connection and community care are the keys to getting us through to the other side.Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Hermit (reversed)“The Gardner” by Rabindranath Tagore=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth ===============About the Guest: Marjorie Grace Milloria is an artist, death doula, and Craigslist queen who uses creation as prayer, art as activism, and connection as medicine. Her work is informed by her study of native Filipino healing and customs, and guided by the Filipino concept of “kapwa” or “the shared self.” In addition to performance and grief facilitation, Marjorie (apparently) hand-makes sacred pottery. Through channeling ancestors and Spirit, the pieces she creates are prayers made manifest with carvings inspired by “batok” or “patik,” the ancient practice of Filipino tattooing.Marjorie’s artistry is devoted to honoring the divinity of all (and not some), and rooted in her passion for deepening collective relationship. Her prayers are that we remember that joy is resistance, and that in all things, we return to love as many times as we can.

This week I have a guest! Yay! As part of Filipino American History month, I am featuring a Filipino guest each week during the month of October. This week, I am talking with Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, poet, writer, and storyteller. Our conversation touches on spiritual inheritance & practices, our relationship with cultural identity & the land upon which we live, and our mutual obsession: K-pop demon hunters. (Because, I mean, how could we not talk about that? It has all the topics that we're curious about!)Tune in to hear all about it! From cultivating and strengthening your intuition to Rebecca's brag about Kpop Demon Hunters, you'll be entertained while also enticed to dig deeper within. Because that's how we roll - light laughter and deep inquiry.Blog: https://rebeccamabanglomayor.com/#blog Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520  ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Queen of Cups“Aswang Paces Outside of Kaiser Permanente Hospital” by Rachelle Cruz=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth ===============About Rebecca Mabanglo-MayorRebecca Mabanglo-Mayor’s non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I-IV, and her poetry and essays have been collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles. She has been performing as a storyteller since 2006 and specializes in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history.Rebecca, as Rebecca A. Saxton, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, her BA in Humanities from Washington State University in 1998, and her MA degree in English with honors from Western Washington University in 2003.