
Spiritual Grit
Welcome to Spiritual Grit, the podcast where we talk real-talk about spirituality through the lens of activism and social justice. What happens when activism and spiritual practices collide? What sparks of change call for the grit we need to create meaningful strides in social justice. I'm your host, Leslieann Hobayan, poet, priestess, activist, professor, hip hop dancer, and bad-ass mama. Join me as we dive in to learn more about our deepest selves so that we can be better ancestors to create a stellar world for our descendants. Grab your dancing shoes and let's get groovy with the grit!
Latest episodes

Jul 17, 2025 • 37min
Ep 280 - Why bother? Because even the little things matter
How many of us let things slide? Maybe it's a question you had that you thought was too unimportant to ask. Or maybe you feel like no matter what you do to try to change a situation, it won't matter. I know a lot of folks feel like nothing they do is stopping the G side. So why bother? In this week's episode, I talk about how the little things do matter. That they build momentum which then becomes a movement. We need to demand better of ourselves in order to create the world we want to live in. Tune in to learn how and what community has to do with it. Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The Ten of Cups“We Might Have to Medicate You” 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

Jul 10, 2025 • 34min
Ep 279 - Discern and Be Intentional With Your Focus
Does it feel like the world is ending? That all hope is lost? It's time to pause and take a step back. Ask yourself: where are you placing your attention? Is it on the death and destruction? Or are you also seeing the joy and progress of our collective efforts towards liberation? Where we place our attention, energy flows. Can we be intentional without focus? Can we stay informed and bear witness to the atrocities while at the same time, pay attention to the wins both big and small? And how do we do this? Tune in to learn more! ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Three of Wands“Our Hearts Should Do This More” 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

Jul 3, 2025 • 25min
Ep 278 - Working On the Subconscious: Why It Matters
Did you know that your subconscious runs 95% of your life? It's the little man behind the curtain. Have you ever wondered why you have a 500-item to-do list? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we put so much on our plates? And why is there so much urgency? In this week's episode, I talk about why it's important for us to be aware of this and how we can bring the subconscious to our awareness. This inner work is intertwined with activist work. Tune in to hear more and what you can do about it to help create a liberated world!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

Jun 26, 2025 • 26min
Ep 277 - The secret to community and community building
Everyone's talking about community and how we need it in order to survive the fall of empire. But how do we actually find it? How do we create it and sustain it?In this week's episode, I'm talking about what community can look like and what is needed in order for it to become the very thing that helps us through these upheavals *and* help the fight for collective líberätion and a free Paléstïnê. Tune in!Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Eight of Pentacles“Some Fill with Each Good Rain” 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

Jun 19, 2025 • 37min
Ep 276 - Remembering Your Humanity Through Ritual
In a world that moves at lightning speed, it is easy to forget ourselves. As the géno/side in Pal/estí/ne continues, many have been desensitized and disconnected from their humanity, their empathy. And still others choose to look away and stay silent (likely because they've lost their humanity).In this week's episode, I'm talking about our natural instincts to care for one another, how we can reconnect and remember who we are, and how ritual can help. Tune in!===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Knight of Cups“A root in Each Act and Creature” 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

Jun 12, 2025 • 38min
Ep 275 - Focusing On Your Lane
Where are you placing your focus? What is your part in the collective fight for liberation? In this week's episode, I talk about how it's important for us to ask lots of questions. How we need to remember that there is much more beyond the frame of our screens. It's not all death and destruction. There is joy and love to be found. Where are we focusing our attention and energy? What do we want to amplify in our lives? I also talk about our roles in the fight for collective liberation. It is inefficient to try to do everything (not to mention disheartening when you don't see immediate results). So what is your part in all of this? What lane are you in? Tune in to hear more about how to find your purpose in all of this and how to stay focused.Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The Page of Pentacles“The Heart is Right” 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

Jun 5, 2025 • 30min
Ep 274 - How our life’s purpose and gifts lead to liberation
“What is your purpose?” This question stresses out a lot of people. There seems to be a lot of big expectation applied to this question. But maybe it's not that deep. Maybe it's not as magnanimous as we think it is. Tune into this week's episode as I offer different ways of considering our life's purpose… and how that can help our efforts towards collective liberation, even if our efforts feel too small or insignificant. It all matters. Even the smallest of purposes. ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Temperance (Reversed)“She Responded” 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

May 28, 2025 • 28min
Ep 273 - What needs to be released and what needs to be nurtured?
There are things in our lives that have been there for so long we can't imagine life without them, whether it's a relationship, a job, or even a particular way of doing things. What will life look like without capitalism, for example? What are new ways of interacting with each other?Sometimes this thing can be what holds you back, what weighs you down or keeps you small. Other times, it can be the thing that asks you to rise to the challenge, to grow and evolve. How do you discern between the two? Or better yet: are we even paying attention to these things in our lives at all?In this week's episode, the King of Swords offers us insight on this dilemma, inviting us to connect our book knowledge with our spiritual and emotional intelligence. Tune in to hear– in real time how– I come to a decision about the podcast, thanks to this tarot card.*Omg y'all! I have an opportunity to walk a path towards my dream! But I need your help getting there. Anaphora Arts’ novel writing bootcamp is that path. This GoFundMe will help me get there: https://gofund.me/d0789e32 Please consider contributing because you want to amplify writers of color whose voices will change the world for the better! THANK YOU! ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: The King of Swords“An Old Musician” 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

May 22, 2025 • 33min
Ep 272 - Best of Spiritual Grit - What Feeds You?
With so many blazing fires in the world and the constant upheaval in our daily lives, it's easy to get overwhelmed by what we think needs to get done. What protest do I go to? Do I sit and meditate to help the collective frequency? Do I do both? How? What if nothing I do actually affects any kind of change? But the real question is: how can we focus on what feeds and nourishes us? Yes, we must continue to fight for collective liberation. And yes, we have to tend to the daily responsibilities of caring for ourselves and our families, but can we do them in ways that allow us to feel fed by them? Can we reframe washing dishes into a kind of meditation, for example? When it comes to being a human in the world, are we choosing actions that help to create the life that we envision for ourselves? Or are we doing things out of obligation, things that feel like we *should* do? These are questions I'm asking all of us in this week's episode. Tune in to hear more! ===============Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Nine of Wands (reversed)“Counting Moles” 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

May 15, 2025 • 29min
Ep 271 - Materiality, money, and being human
What's your relationship to money? What about all of your possessions? Have you examined the importance you might place on these things? Why is it important? Does it bring up stickiness or discomfort? Can money do good and heal the collective? (And I don't mean this in the literal sense.) How can this kind of inquiry help the fight for lîbérätîon?While we're at it, I talk about my GoFundMe page, why I'm running a fundraiser for myself, and what kinds of questions that brings up for me and for the collective. If you'd like to support me and the pursuit of my dream to become a novelist, you can donate here:https://gofund.me/d0789e32If you've benefited from and learned from me on this ad-free podcast, please consider a donation to support my endeavor. Thank youuuu!!Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Four of Pentacles (Reversed)“Our Hearts Should Do This More” 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