Spiritual Grit

Spiritual Grit

Welcome to Spiritual Grit, the podcast where we talk real-talk about spirituality through the lens of activism and social justice. What happens when activism and spiritual practices collide? What sparks of change call for the grit we need to create meaningful strides in social justice. I'm your host, Leslieann Hobayan, poet, priestess, activist, professor, hip hop dancer, and bad-ass mama. Join me as we dive in to learn more about our deepest selves so that we can be better ancestors to create a stellar world for our descendants. Grab your dancing shoes and let's get groovy with the grit!

Episodes

August 28, 2025 36 mins

We're all struggling in our personal lives, from financial strain to job insecurity and beyond. AND there are so many fires burning both in our communities and at the collective level. So how do we navigate it all? How do we keep going and not burn out?

In this week's episode, I'm talking about how the global and the local are intertwined, how what we do on the personal level affects the collective in ways that we may no...

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What does our inner world have to do with our external actions? What does meditation have to do with activism? How can we discern between my inner voice and the voices of others? 

In this week's episode, I'm talking about the connection between spiritual practices and external activist action. Also talking about a longing for home and how we can find it in meditative practices. Tune in to learn more! 

Spotify: https://open...

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When we practice mindfulness, we can pay closer attention to how we move in our lives. And when we have that power, we can choose how to take aligned action and create the life we want along with the liberated world we dream of.

In this week's episode, I highlight the importance of relationship audits, intentionality, and mindfulness in the continuing work towards collective líberätion. Tune in!


Today’s poems/ Books mentioned...

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What does it matter whether or not we have a spiritual practice? Does that truly make a difference as we fight for collective liberation? The short answer: yes! The longer answer is in this week's episode. 

How do spiritual practices help us with our activism? Why is it important for us to connect with our interior world? How do we even do that? Tune into this week's episode where I offer some practices to help fortify us as...

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The pace of life keeps rapidly increasing. Many of us feel like we can't catch up, like it is a race uphill with no end in sight. But what if you rested? What if you took the time to just pause and look around? To tune into your body and understand how the external changes are affecting internal ones. Who we are being is changing, whether we like it or not. How you handle it is the key. Tune in to hear more!

 

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With each passing day as the situation in Gázä becomes more and more dire, it is hard to not feel the energetic shift of dramatic loss. In Buddhist tradition, the soul wanders 49 days after death. Imagine: so many ghosts have been wandering around for the past 22 months. What energy imbalance are we grappling with?

As the gee-side continues, it is also hard to hold respect for those who have remained silent or have looked away. 

In t...

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How many of us let things slide? Maybe it's a question you had that you thought was too unimportant to ask. Or maybe you feel like no matter what you do to try to change a situation, it won't matter. I know a lot of folks feel like nothing they do is stopping the G side. So why bother? 

In this week's episode, I talk about how the little things do matter. That they build momentum which then becomes a movement. We need to...

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Does it feel like the world is ending? That all hope is lost? It's time to pause and take a step back. Ask yourself: where are you placing your attention? Is it on the death and destruction? Or are you also seeing the joy and progress of our collective efforts towards liberation? 

Where we place our attention, energy flows. Can we be intentional without focus? Can we stay informed and bear witness to the atrocities while at the ...

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Did you know that your subconscious runs 95% of your life? It's the little man behind the curtain. Have you ever wondered why you have a 500-item to-do list? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we put so much on our plates? And why is there so much urgency? 

In this week's episode, I talk about why it's important for us to be aware of this and how we can bring the subconscious to our awareness. This inner work is intertwined with...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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June 12, 2025 38 mins

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...

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“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 insignifi...

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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 ris...

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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 l...

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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 ...

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May 8, 2025 31 mins

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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April 29, 2025 33 mins

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 l...

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How do you tune into your intuition and allow yourself to be guided by the Divine if you are too tired? How do you stay steady during these upheavals as émpîre crumbles? In this week's episode, the Hierophant comes to reflect the current time and invites us to examine our limiting beliefs. And in this examination, I am calling for true care of ourselves and of each other. What does this look like? And does it help the fight for...

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As émpïré continues to tumble down, it's hard to avoid feeling overwhelmed and helpless. This distracts us from our work towards liberation AND from living our lives. How do we stay sane amidst it all? How do we balance between being fully present in our daily lives and fighting for collective liberation? How do we manage the range of feelings and emotions while staying grounded? Tune into to learn a few tools that can help you sta...

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