Spiritual Grit

This year is about spiritual and material abundance! But if you’ve got limiting beliefs that keep you small, it’s kinda hard to receive that abundance. In this week’s episode, I talk about how the subconscious can hold us back and how you can shift those beliefs. Relatedly, this year is also about rest, about creating more space for dreaming and intuitive guidance. Tune in to find out how rest can help you shift your perspective and release limiting beliefs. —-------- My first effort at building community for 2024 is offering online yoga nidra classes.   Now, you might be thinking: What's yoga nidra? Or: That's nice. Or: Oh, that sounds so amazing and totally what I need right now, but I can't because [insert excuse here].   Let me answer the first question: what is yoga nidra? Without getting too technical or esoteric, it's pretty much you lying down all comfy while listening to me guide you through a meditation journey. What's not to love about that?   As for the other two thoughts, let's consider this: capitalist society doesn't want you to rest. It banks (literally) on you to keep going, to keep working, to keep producing. Capitalism treats us like machines, not humans whose bodies operate in cycles of active states and rest.   So if you're saying “I'd love to rest but I have this giant to-do list to tackle”, then ask yourself what are you prioritizing and why? No judgement. Just an invitation to get curious about the choices you make, the patterns you find yourself in, and why they happen.   It's time to rest, friends. And not just the “I'm gonna take a nap" kind of rest. This is a “reset, a restoration, a softening and a letting go kind” of rest. It's an effective way to release all of the old energy of last week and get a clean slate for this coming week. Plus you'll feel ready for bed! Doesn't that sound heavenly?   Here's the 411: Sundays, January 14, 21, 28, 2024 8-8:45pm ET on zoom $20 / class And here's where you can sign up: https://suryagian.com/yoga-nidra  =============== Today’s poems/ Books mentioned: Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

Can you believe it? It’s our 200th episode! What an amazing feat! One that I did not anticipate for sure! To celebrate, I pulled two tarot cards for us: one as a reflection of the 2023 vibe and one for the flavor of what 2024 will be like. I think you’ll LOVE what came forward. I know I did! Listen in as I go IN-DEPTH about how we can learn from the fire that was 2023 and take it as fuel to keep going in 2024, which has so much promise according to the cards! And as part of the celebration, folks on my mailing list will get a free guided meditation for easeful sleep! Hooray! Not on the mailing list? Subscribe now and you’ll get the free gift too! (Valid until Jan 10th. Sign up here: https://suryagian.com/subscribe or email us at love@suryagian.com Just note that you might not get the recording until after the new year as we are closing the office 12/25/23-1/1/24 for the holidays.)

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

In this episode, I pull back the curtain on what it's like to speak your truth. It may look easy, like no big deal. But it's not. Especially when there is a lot on the line. On the outside, folks might look like they have it together. But on the inside, it might be a different story. Tune in to find out what it's like to speak your truth (while I also drop a few big truth b*mb$) and questions to consider when you want to step forward and speak out. To find the folks I mentioned, you can connect with them on Instagram here: @sarahofmagdalene @kimsaira  =============== Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: Seven of Wands Poem: “Trying To Wear Pants” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

In this week's episode, I'm talking about how important it is to have nervous system resilience when speaking your truth. It's okay if your voice shakes. What's key is being able to bounce back after feeling so vulnerable. Listen in to learn the four stages to help strengthen resilience so that you can speak your truth.  =============== Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: Justice Poem: “Cucumbers and Prayers” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

Why is it important to speak your truth? Does it really matter? The short answer: absolutely! What can you do to assure your body that it's safe to speak the truth? How can you support your nervous system? Listen in to find out! =============== Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: King of Swords Poem: “A Cushion For Your Head” by Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

Here's a "Best of" episode! A lot of people talk about boundaries and having the need to set them. But what does that actually mean? And what are boundaries anyway? What do they look like and why does it feel so hard to set them and hold them? In this episode, I get into the details of the different kinds of boundaries we can set in our lives,  the reasons why some boundaries are more porous than others, and why it is important for us to have clear and defined boundaries, particularly for us empaths and women of color. People-pleasing behavior is no accident. Listen in to learn how the mind, body, and spirit connection is essential to boundary setting and how a resilient nervous system is the bridge to it all.

This episode's oracle card is The Great Severing. Feels forboding. How do we stay open to love when we are wounded? In a time when things start to feel hopeless or pointless, it's even more important to keep going. But how? How do we stay the course? What does self-worth have to do with it? How can ritual help us? Tune in to find out!  =============== Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: The Great Severing  Poem: "What do White Birds Say?” By Hafiz ===============  Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

In this episode, I'm in conversation with JS Park, a Korean American hospital chaplain based in Florida whose compassion has made an incredible impression on so many people, including myself.  J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, former atheist/agnostic, sixth degree black belt, suicide survivor, Korean-American, and follows Christ. He. is author of The Voices We Carry: Finding Your One True Voice in a World of Clamor and Noise. Published by Northfield/Moody. He is currently serving at a 1000+ bed hospital, one of the top-ranked in the nation, and was also a chaplain for three years at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. We talk about compassion and grief, which do not have clear definitions or prescriptions for embodying them. Both grief and compassion look  different for each individual person. It's not a one-size-fits-all. We also talk about how we might hold compassion for those whose beliefs are rooted in our oppression. And how we might identify this collective grief we are currently feeling but can't quite name. Listen in as we dive into how we can human better together. Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Oracle Card: Trust the Timing Poem: "Torso of Air" by Ocean Vuong   Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned: Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com JS Park Website: https://jsparkblog.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jspark3000/?hl=en

In this week's episode, I am speaking with poet, extraordinaire, Diamond Forde. Our conversation centers around how poetry saves us. And that is not hyperbole. How poetry brings us back to our humanness. We also talk about this now moment as we bear witness to the atrocities against P@lestin!ans. How we are being pulled to publicly grieve, something that is unfamiliar to us. How do we remember to be human to each other again? How can we provide care? Listen in as Diamond reminds us: You don't have to hold grief on your own. Listen to be in community with us. Let us steep ourselves in poetry and hold each other in grief. I'm inviting you to join me in Create Against Destruction, a 6-week container for women / femmes / nonbinary writers of color to come together in community and process and integrate and move through the complexities of our human experience.   In those 6 weeks we'll sit with fear, anxiety, grief, joy, hope, and empowerment. Sometimes separately, sometimes together, sometimes all at once. This is an invitation to gather together in support and in witness. This is a place for co-creating, co-writing, and care for each other. To build something in the face of destruction. To insist that we are here, that we exist, that we matter, and what we have to say matters. To witness and to be seen. To be held. We start next Thursday, Nov 9th because time is of the essence. It might not feel like we're doing anything to make change when we are writing or caring for ourselves, but I contest this belief. Our individual actions, our individual energy adds and influences the collective, even if we can't see it. HOW you are BE-ing matters. It always has. Link in bio. About Diamond Forde: Diamond Forde is a Black poet and the author of Mother Body (Saturnalia Books, 2021), winner of the 2019 Saturnalia Poetry Prize. The recipient of awards and fellowships from the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the College Language Association, Great River Review, Callaloo, and Tin House, she lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Diamond Forde Website: https://www.diamondforde.com/published-works Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PoemsAndCake/