Curious Hearts

Ep. 37: The Dance of Change

Welcome Back, Curious Hearts. I recorded this episode a couple weeks before you’ll hear it, and in that time there’s been a pretty significant change in my life. The details of the change don’t matter. What does matter is that I need the lesson right now just as much as anyone. When we resist change, we suffer. When we try to cling to the way things were, or what we think is “supposed” to happen — we suffer. When we try to influence, manipulate, or otherwise control other people or outcomes — we suffer. Often, by the time we let go of something we’ve been so clawed into, our hands our so sore and our claws so bloody that the pain of holding stays with us for a while. I believe all of our spiritual practices are preparing us for this truth: Change is coming. It’s coming for the things you love the most, and the things you hate. It’s coming for your body, your heart, your relationships, your career, your government, and even your identity. Whether you like it or you don’t like it, it will change. The story I share in this episode is one of my very favorites. I have spent years with it, studying it, teaching it, living it, and loving it. Like all the great stories, every time I tell it, I learn something different. I’m not sure it translates well to this format — but I hope you get something from it. Today, I am being present with what’s changing. I am releasing my attachments to the way I thought things were supposed to be, so that I can experience the joy of what is. All change brings grief. Learning to dance with grief is the path. The only thing I have experienced that doesn’t change is the Essence of Self. Call it Awareness, Soul, Spirit, Wisdom. I believe it is the drop of divinity that is present in all of us. It is the only refuge, and may all of our practice bring us back there. Home to our Curious Hearts. Chapters: 0:00 — Whether You Like It or You Don't 4:47 — The Pine Forest Sages 11:55 — Shiva Begins to Dance 0:30 — Shiva Girl and Hurricane Katrina 26:09 — The Serenity Prayer and God Is Change 🌐 Connect with Vera: veralester.com [http://veralester.com] 📅 Book a coaching discovery call: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery [http://veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery] #CuriousHearts #TheologyOfChange #SpiritualPodcast #MeaningfulWork #YogaPhilosophy #Nataraj #SpiritualPractice #PersonalTransformation #ChangeAndGrowth #BhaktiYoga #OctaviaButler This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe [https://veralester.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ep. 36: Tann Cordell-Schneider

Ep. 36: Tann Cordell-Schneier: The Breath is Everything.Tann and I had never talked explicitly about our spiritual lives, but I have known for a long time how much she listens to the world around her. She has been my primary bodyworker for many years, and her way of practicing is unlike almost any other I have know. Her ability to be still, to listen to the body, and to do less is nearly unparalleled. I always suspected there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than I was told. It’s like there is a silent orchestra in the room as she is working — and her work responding to each note. It should not have surprised me how winding and diverse Tann’s spiritual background is — but somehow, it did. Tann’s willingness to soften, to welcome the moment, to open to breath could only have come from years of letting go, and letting go, and letting go. Embodiment is an essential aspect of spiritual practice. We are not just walking heads. Our bodies and our breath can connect us to G_d as quickly as prayer. This episode is a playful, light, heavy, open exploration of just that. Enjoy. [00:01:39] A Lapsed Rabbi Father & a Jewish Day School [00:12:52] Rehab, the 12 Steps & a Higher Power [00:18:37] The Breath as Connective Thread [00:30:01] A Daily Pranayama Practice [00:49:16] Softening as Spiritual Principle [00:54:54] Getting Comfortable with the Open Path Links: 🌐 Work with Vera: veralester.com [http://veralester.com] 📅 Book a coaching discovery call: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery 🔗 Connect with Tann: https://www.tanncs.com/ [https://www.tanncs.com/] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe [https://veralester.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ep. 34: The Prayer of Brushing Your Teeth

I love thinking about meditation as “spiritual showers.”You don’t only shower once. Ideally, you shower every single day. Forever. You don’t shower well enough once that you suddenly are clean forever. That’s how meditation is. That’s how all of our spiritual practices are. The reality of this magical universe is that it is chaotic and unpredictable and random. Chaos births the dancing star, or whatever. We cannot control the universe, we do not need to manage it, but we can manage ourselves. We can tend to our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual states, and keep things in relative order. That order, even in the face of all this chaos, is the greatest example of faith I can imagine. May you find gentle order and subtle peace today. Chapters: [00:01:24] The Vedas and the origin of spiritual order [00:14:02] How we create systems of order — and when they stop helping [00:18:38] "I am not the general manager of the universe" [00:21:52] Physical hygiene as spiritual practice [00:25:28] Caring for mind, heart, and spirit [00:29:28] What it means to keep your channel clear Links: 🌐 Work with Vera: veralester.com [http://veralester.com] 📅 Book a coaching discovery call: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe [https://veralester.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ep. 35: Neel Sus

Conversations with folks like Neel are the reason I started this podcast. I wanted to normalize spiritual life. It’s so much more common to hear people share deeply personal stories — we talk about finances and sex and taxes and death so much more than our grandparents. We were taught not to talk about politics or religion. We talk openly about our politics these days. But somehow, spiritual life is still so private. Religion is complicated -- its need to be right divides us. I believe sharing our spiritual life, our spiritual experiences, while our deeply held spiritual beliefs bring us together. Neel shares one of my favorite meditation truths: we don’t practice to become something we’re not. We practice to let go of all the things that get in the way of who we are meant to be. I’ll say up front: Neel talks fast. It’s a reflection of how fast his mind is. All our minds move so fast. Meditation shows us that, eventually just allowing the mind to rush while we stop trying to catch up. We just let the mind run, and allow ourSelves to rest. My suspicion is that Neel’s urgency and speed are central to his success in starting and growing a business, and allows him to shift and pivot as the technology world does. Meditation allows for all the unnecessary racing to fall away, so that the real urgency of the work — solving problems, serving clients, building teams — can shine. And, clearly, thrive. There’s so much else in this conversation for you — gems about non-attachment, spiritual parenting, and finding and following purpose. So delighted to share this conversation with you. Can’t wait to hear your takeaways and insights. Keep your heart curious and your mind quick, Vera Chapters: * [00:02:54] Growing up culturally Hindu in small-town South Carolina * [00:09:42] The path from nihilism to entrepreneurship — and Katrina * [00:16:46] What Neel’s spiritual practice looks like today * [00:24:56] Dharma, karma, and running a business with spiritual principles * [00:33:24] Raising kids with purpose without the pressure * [00:49:33] “Stoic Christian Hindu agnostic” — how Neel defines his faith Links: 🌐 Work with Vera: http://veralester.com 📅 Book a coaching discovery call: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery 🔗 Connect with Neel Sus: https://www.instagram.com/neelsus/ [https://www.instagram.com/neelsus/]🔗 Learn more about Susco: https://suscosolutions.com/ [https://suscosolutions.com/] #CuriousHearts #SpiritualEntrepreneur #HinduPhilosophy #TranscendentalMeditation #Dharma #BhagavadGita #FourAgreements #SpiritualGrowth #MindfulLeadership #MeaningfulWork #SpiritualPractice #ImmigrantStory #SpiritualParenting #PersonalDevelopment #VeraLester #NeelSus #SpiritualPodcast #MantraMediation #ConsciousLeadership #StoicPhilosophy This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe [https://veralester.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ep. 33: Sierra Austin-King

One of the greatest gifts of my work is the people: they’re people doing extraordinary work who are committed to their own growth. Sierra is no different — but in additional to all of that, I feel eternally humbled that she trusts me. I officiated Sierra’s wedding at Congo Square in New Orleans. If you don’t know Congo Square, you should: it’s the birthplace of all American music. Enslaved Africans had one day off a week on Sundays, and it was there in Congo Square that they gathered to sign, dance, and feel the freedom in their spirits. Those rhythms blended with Carribean and Latin American sound to eventually inform Jazz, the Blues, and what we now call Rock’n’Roll and Hip Hop. All of it. The music matters to me, because of how those beats and voices carried forward ancestral wisdom, grief, and hope. The energy in Armstrong Park, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter, is palpable. I was not sure it was appropriate for me - a white lady born in Virginia - to interface with those energies, but Sierra trusted me. That was the beginning of our incredible collaborative work - which we talk a little more about in this episode. Dr. Austin-King is an expert in Black feminist thought, and brings it down to earth in her everyday life. This is an episode about how to stay connected to the generations that came before us, and how to wisely navigate the world for the future generations. I especially loved hearing from Sierra about how she’s teaching her kids about a spiritual life that is grounded in family history. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. * 00:00:25] Introducing Dr. Sierra Austin-King * [00:05:45] Growing up: folk traditions, ancestral altars & Catholic school * [00:13:50] What Sierra’s spiritual practice looks like today * [00:21:14] Rest as birthright & the body as ancestral altar * [00:24:56] The spiritual principles guiding her right now * [00:34:23] What healing actually feels like — and why it’s hard This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe [https://veralester.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]