Episodes

  • Ep 277 - The secret to community and community building
    Jun 26 2025

    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

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    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

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

    • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth


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    26 mins
  • Ep 276 - Remembering Your Humanity Through Ritual
    Jun 19 2025

    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!



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    Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:

    • Tarot/Oracle Card: Knight of Cups

    • “A root in Each Act and Creature” by Hafiz

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    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

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini


    Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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    37 mins
  • Ep 275 - Focusing On Your Lane
    Jun 12 2025

    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.com

    • Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

    • Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini


    Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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    38 mins
  • Ep 274 - How our life’s purpose and gifts lead to liberation
    Jun 5 2025

    “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.

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    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.com

    • Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

    • Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

    • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth


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    30 mins
  • Ep 273 - What needs to be released and what needs to be nurtured?
    May 28 2025

    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!


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    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.com

    • Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

    • Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

    • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth


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    28 mins
  • Ep 272 - Best of Spiritual Grit - What Feeds You?
    May 22 2025

    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!

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    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.com⁠

    • Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

    • Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

    • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth


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    33 mins
  • Ep 271 - Materiality, money, and being human
    May 15 2025

    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/d0789e32


    If 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.com

      • Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

      • Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

      • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

      • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

      • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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    29 mins
  • Ep 270 - Inspiration and Community
    May 8 2025

    It's a challenge to find inspiration while living in the center of a crumbling émpîre. It's a challenge to remain hopeful while despair pulls us down as the gën/oside in Pal/est/ine continues. But we must continue to dream and imagine - what does the new liberated world look like? How do we keep hope? The short of it is: we need each other more than ever. Tune in to this week's episode to hear more!


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    Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:

    • Tarot/Oracle Card: Page of Wands (Reversed)

    • “Migratory Daughter” by Kenji Sy Lu

    ===============

    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

    • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

    • Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini


    • Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth
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    31 mins