Episodes

  • Mehregan: The Iranian Holiday of Harvest and Justice

    Mehregan: The Iranian Holiday of Harvest and Justice
    Oct 7 2025
    In this episode of Halva for the Heart, I invite you into the ancient Iranian holiday of Mehregan - a celebration of light, justice, truth, and friendship.

    I share the mythic story of Kaveh the Blacksmith and Fereydoon’s uprising against the tyrant Zahhak as told in the Shahnameh, and reflect on what these ancestral teachings offer us today: how we resist tyranny, anchor ourselves in community, and transform our grief into courage.

    I also speak about the upcoming Palestine Grief Circle on October 10th, a virtual space I’m co-facilitating with my friend Shivani (listen to my interview with them in episode 8). This donation-based offering is a way to honor our shared grief and fight for collective liberation, and to remember Mithra as the honored god of Mehregan and the guardian of truth and justice, and allow him to guide us in standing for what is sacred.
    👉 Join the Palestine Grief Circle

    Throughout the episode, I share ways you can celebrate Mehregan from wherever you are: creating a sofreh or altar, honoring the changing light, and tending the threads that bind justice, grief, and love.

    In this episode, I reflect on:
    • The mythology of Mithra, Kaveh, Fereydoon, and Zahhak
    • How Mehregan invites us to act for justice and truth
    • The connection between grief work and liberation
    • Simple seasonal and altar practices for Mehregan
    If you'd like to go deeper with the themes of Mehregan, I invite you to download the Mehregan Guidebook or join us in Dard-e Del.
    👉 Note: The Mehregan Guidebook is free for Dard-e Del members

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
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    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
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    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    37 mins
  • An Interview with Woman Life Freedom

    An Interview with Woman Life Freedom
    Sep 18 2025
    Three years have passed since the Woman Life Freedom uprising erupted in Iran with the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini. As an Iranian in diaspora, this movement changed me—it filled me with so much hope, and it also left me with heavy grief that I still carry today.

    In my work as a death doula, I guide people at the end of their lives through a process called a Life Review: reflecting on unfinished business, regrets, accomplishments, and hopes for what comes next. In this episode, I bring that same practice to a cultural scale, sitting with the Woman Life Freedom movement as if she were a dying person—asking her the questions I would ask someone nearing the end of their life and imagining how she might respond.

    This episode is both reflection and an invitation to honor the grief and legacy of Woman Life Freedom, and to consider how we carry her memory forward in Iran, in diaspora, and in ongoing movements for liberation around the world.

    If you're Iranian in diaspora and looking for community, joi us in Dard-e Del ❤️‍🩹

    📸 Cover image by Laura Acquaviva

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    26 mins
  • Longing for Homeland

    Longing for Homeland
    Sep 5 2025
    In this episode of Halva for the Heart, I share some tender reflections about home, homeland, and the grief of not quite belonging anywhere. After nearly ten years in Korea, I’ve realized I will always be a guest here—and that realization has stirred up so many questions for me: If not here, then where? What does it mean to feel at home in my body? What does it mean to be a settler on Turtle Island? And can I still call Iran my homeland if I’ve never truly known its land?

    Throught the episode, I read from Stephen Jenkinson’s Die Wise and talk about how his words opened up new ways of thinking about home, land, and obligation. I also share stories from grief circles and community conversations, where we explore how food, seeds, and even longing itself can be ways of being in relationship with the land we come from.

    If you’ve ever wrestled with homesickness, with the ache of displacement, or with the question of how to pass something on to the next generation—you’re not alone. This episode is me sitting with all of that, out loud.

    Mentioned in this episode:
    • Interview with Sama of Reyhan Herb Farm
    • Interview with Mina Sharif and her book Your War, Our Lives
    • Dard-e Del: a online support space for Iranians in Diaspora ❤️‍🩹
    • Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson
    • Nine Keys from Narinder Bazen


    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    43 mins
  • Playfulness of Grief: Letting your inner child lead

    Playfulness of Grief: Letting your inner child lead
    Aug 27 2025
    In this episode of Halva for the Heart, we explore a radically different approach to grief—one that invites your inner child to lead the way. I share how my own grief has shown up in playful ways—like dancing with the memory of my mother—and offer an invitation for you to imagine your grief as a childhood friend asking you out on a “play date.”

    If you’ve ever longed for a lighter, more curious way to be in relationship with loss, this episode offers a gentle doorway into play, wonder, and childlike connection with your grief.

    Upcoming events
    In Seoul: Poetic Play Grief Ritual with Mallory Dowd on September 7
    Register at https://ritual.hafezdeathcare.com

    Online: Fibers of Grief every first Thursday of the month
    Register at https://fibers.hafezdeathcare.com

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    22 mins
  • Navigating Afghan Diaspora Identity with Mina Sharif

    Navigating Afghan Diaspora Identity with Mina Sharif
    Jul 30 2025
    On this episode of Halva for the Heart, I am thrilled to be interviewing Afghan-Canadian author Mina Sharif.

    Mina spent 15 years living and working in Kabul, Afghanistan. She’s the author of Your War, Our Lives, a short story collection that brings heart, humor, and nuance to everyday life in Afghanistan during the international occupation. Through her work, she shares the quieter, more human sides of conflict, and what it means to belong to more than one place at once.

    In this conversation, Mina and I speak about her new book (comes out August 1, 2025!), the diasporic experience, and how fully embody your heritage identity, even if others say you "don't count".

    You can purchase Your War, Our Lives ar Mina's website: www.minasharif.com
    And follow Mina on Instagram

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Ancestral Wisdom with Shivani

    Ancestral Wisdom with Shivani
    Jul 23 2025
    On this episode of Halva for the Heart, I am joined by my friend and fellow death doula Shivani Narang. Shivani is a death worker, a grief worker, and a postpartum, abortion, and post-abortion doula who is deeply connected to their ancestors. Their work is an act of devotion.

    In this conversation, Shivani and I speak about surrendering to the wisdom of our ancestors and allowing them to guide our death work. We also discuss magic of grandmthers and great-grandmothers, and how we stay connected to our ancestral homelands while having grown up in the US.

    You can connect with Shivani Narang on their website and on Instagram @deathworkwithshiv
    Also follow their new podcast series @of.sweetness.and.spirit

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    55 mins
  • Meditation for the Iranian Diaspora

    Meditation for the Iranian Diaspora
    Jun 25 2025
    In this special episode of Halva for the Heart, I offer a guided meditation created specifically for the Iranian diaspora.

    Since Israel's attack on.Iran, many Iranians—myself included—have been struggling with emotional overwhelm, fear, grief, and dissociation. In response, I’ve been hosting grief support spaces for Iranians, and this meditation emerged from those gatherings.

    Rooted in the teachings of Valerie Kaur, Holly Truhlar, and my death midwifery mentor Narinder Bazen, this episode is a somatic, ancestral, and heart-centered meditation practice. Please find a quiet, comfortable place to rest. Bring your grief, your tenderness, your longing. It's all welcome here.

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    22 mins
  • Being a Death Doula in a Time of War

    Being a Death Doula in a Time of War
    Jun 19 2025
    In this episode, I discuss the recent Israeli bombings happening throughout Iran and how my work as an Iranian-American death doula can help me support my community in this moment.

    If you're Iranian, join us for Dard-e Del three times a month. Learn more and signup here. Let us support each other 🫂

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
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    31 mins