Spiritual Grit

The world is on fire. How can we continue to live our lives while so many lives are being lost every day? How does our passion, our calling in life matter during times like these? How do the things that light us up help fight for a free Palestine?  What about our relationships? The ones where the people we love have been silent. Not those actively advocating for the elimination of an entire people, but rather those who have not spoken out. Why have they not said anything? Do we cut them off entirely? Or can nuance be applied? The answer: it depends. In this week's episode, I explore some possibilities for these questions. Tune in to find out more!    =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Double Mission “Between Our Poles” 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.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

Who are your people now?  As the jenny-side continues to drive us down into witnessing deeper barbarity and the grief and rage mount higher and higher, we might be looking around and asking ourselves: who are our people now? Who are our truest people? And: what difference can I make, if any at all? In this week's episode, I explore ways that we can make a difference– no matter how small– in the face of despair. And how we can keep going even though our friends and family start to fall away because you can no longer stand their silence on gen-0-side. We do have support and a community. It's just a matter of remembering where to find them. Tune in today!

After the quarantine years, a lot of us have forgotten how good it feels to be in community with others. A lot of us have even forgotten how to do it. It's kind of like when you are sick for an extended period of time that it becomes your new normal and you don't know what it feels like to be healthy until the sickness goes away and then you remember. Do you remember what it's like to feel seen? To be in a group where people get you? Or what it's like for someone to train with you when you are trying to prepare for a triathlon? Doesn't it feel good to share in a commonality with others? In this week's episode, I am reminding all of us how crucial it is for us to be in community with each other so that we can grow and evolve in uplifting and unexpected ways. So that we might thrive. Because, after all, isn't that why we are here?   =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: The Seas of Mintaka “I Imagine Now For Ages” 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.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

How do we stay present for the people in our lives while we are fighting for social justice? How do we stay vigilant about not becoming consumed by our activist work? And when it comes to conscientious parenting, how much do we guide our children and how much do we allow for them to figure it out on their own? The line keeps moving… in waves. And while we ask these questions, our personal relationships start to come into question as well. Maybe some of your friends are aligned in social justice, but when it comes to genny-side, they are silent and take a step back from the front line. Tune into this week's episode as I explore possibilities for these inquiry questions.  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Loosen your grip “I Hope You Won’t See 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.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

The other day, a woman in an FB group accused me of ant!-s3m!tism because I had used the word “g3n0cide”. She was clearly speaking from a deeply wounded place, from generational trauma as a Jewish woman. And while I have compassion for her woundedness, I was not going to stop speaking the truth of what is happening in P@l-es-t!ne. But this raises the question that a lot of folks are asking: what do we do when our truth hurts others? In this week’s episode, I talk about the need for discernment and a deep connection with your intuition. If our truths are rooted deep in our heart and soul, they will not exclude others. Our truths show us that there is room for everyone. Register for my 4-week somatic writing workshop series, Speak Your Truth, which kicks off tomorrow –the winter solstice, Dec 21st! https://suryagian.com/speak-your-truth or email for more info and to register: love@suryagian.com  =============== Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: Lifting the Veil Poem: “My Body a Tree” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: ⁠leslieann.substack.com

I’m gonna let you know: this is a messy low-quality recording. So much is unfolding at once and in some cases, escalation is building quite rapidly that I didn’t have time to set up my usual mic – I just used some plug-in earbuds with a mic. This is an indication of how urgent and important it is for all of us to understand that “normal” no longer exists. That in order for us to integrate the shifts happening around us (because there’s *no way* we can avoid these shifts at this magnitude), we need to root down into our bodies and to hold fast to our spiritual practices in order to remain centered during these tsunami-like waves of change. In this week’s episode, I’m asking: how do we balance between our personal daily lives and our larger activist work? How do we make sure we don’t get consumed by both and burn out? I talk about the importance of grounding ourselves and of taking rest and how to do that in ways that feel safe. Remember: we keep us safe. It’s crucial so that we can sustain ourselves for this long fight. Liberation doesn’t happen in a day.  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: “Cucumbers and Prayers” 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.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

To put it simply: there's a hell of a lot going on right now and activism is growing exponentially. There is an urgency in the air that cannot be ignored. And with that urgency, momentum swells and we activists tend to forget that it's necessary to fill our own cup. We MUST take time to nourish ourselves, to replenish our energy, to rest and restore. This is the long game. And we must remember that we are not doing this alone. When we work in community, we can lean on each other for what we need in order to sustain this movement towards liberation. When you need to rest, know that someone will be there to pick up where you left off and will welcome you back when you are rested. This is what we need to work on remembering. Tune into today's episode for why it's important to pause and take rest –and to learn how!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: Water your garden Poem: “Why Aren't We Screaming Drunks?” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

How many of us stuff down our feelings when it comes to sadness or grief? How many of us try to hide our tears or look away when we are not able to? Our society has taught us to repress the emotions that make people uncomfortable. It has taught us that we are wrong or weak when we experience things like rage or grief. What happens when there's a buildup of these emotional energies that stay trapped in the body? When there's nowhere for them to go, the body starts to break down. Tune into this week's episode where I talk about how to discern between qualities of fear that might be haunting you from expressing yourself. And how you might move through that in order to open a valve to release tension and creates softness in your body, which leads to overall well-being.  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Oracle card: The Suit of Swords Poem: “Wow” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com Instagram: @leslieannhobayan  Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

In case y'all didn't know, eclipses are portals of transformation. Everything you hide in your shadows comes to the surface. So for those of you who watched the solar eclipse, how do you feel? In this week's episode, I'm posing some questions for deep inquiry. From looking at what stories we are addicted to about ourselves to examining the relationships of our lives, asking if they are worth nurturing or if they are draining us. Break out your journals when you listen to this one! It's time for a deep dive. 

We're living in a time where our masks can no longer hold. Curtains are being pulled back. Veils are being torn down. There's no more hiding from yourself or from the truth of yourself. Everyone is showing themselves, whether they intended that or not. Pales-tine is helping us see that. So how do we deal with the loss and ensuing grief of the lives we used to know? The ones in which we had so many friends who understood us and now are no longer aligned because they continue to insist on holding on to how things used to be when really, that's not possible. Not in the face of gen0cide. Tune in to this week's episode to find out how to move on in life without the people you thought would always be there.