Are You There, Universe?

How do friendships evolve as we get older? And what did it mean to be accountable to our friends during a pandemic? Jaimie and Sunny discuss their philosophies on friendship and how it may have transformed over time.   ____   Follow and subscribe to some of our favorite podcasts, also featuring badass Asian women duos! Spotify: Add to Cart Podcast with SuChin Pak & Kulap Vilaysack IG: @addtocartpod Spotify: Bitch Talk with Erin & Ange IG: @bitchtalkpod  

In this episode, Jaimie and Sunny explore the history and uses of the tarot as both a divination and self-reflective tool. Listen to Sunny give a tarot reading for both Jaimie and the AYTU collective!    -------   The COVID-19 crisis in India has not gotten much better, as it nears a total of 25.5 million infections and nearly 300,000 deaths. With overcrowded hospitals and massive shortages of oxygen and other lifesaving supplies, India still needs our help.  If you have the ability to donate, we encourage you to do so at covid.giveindia.org  During this episode, Sunny delivers a tarot reading using a deck by Barbara Walter, who reflects a uniquely feminist perspective of tarot along with multicultural religious and pagan symbols from around the world. What you won’t hear, though, is that Sunny did another separate reading for Jaimie using a specifically AAPI deck, created by the Asian American Literary Review. Check out that full reading, which will be posted on our IG live! And if you’re interested in other tarot decks, check out Brown Girl Tarot, created by Amanda Michelle Jones, a healer who uses social work, tarot, and astrology to help people through art therapy. You can find out more at browngirltarot.com. 

Jaimie and Sunny interview one another as they reflect on both their self-care rituals and the evolution of their friendship since starting the podcast together. They share the lessons of language, purpose, and heritage that they’ve learned along the way as well as their interpretations of sisterhood.  _____   Donate to https://covid.giveindia.org/ Check out Lanshin products at https://www.lanshin.com/ Follow us on Instagram @areyouthere.universe

After engaging in another 21-day mindfulness journey created by Deepak Chopra, Jaimie and Sunny delve into critiques laid against the mindfulness industry and how it has been co-opted by capitalism. They share their own conflicting experiences and thoughts about how mindfulness has become a multi-billion dollar industry.    Specifically addressed in this episode are the following articles: “The Mindfulness Conspiracy” by Ronald Purser, published by The Guardian; “Fuck Mindfulness Workshops” by Tithi Bhattacharya, published in Spectre Journal Sunny and Jaimie also reference The Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies’ mindfulness practices, as well as Dr. Gail Parker’s book, Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma.

In this previously recorded interview episode, Jaimie and Sunny talk about the joys and pitfalls of being a high-achiever with special guest SuChin Pak, veteran journalist and co-creator of the podcast “Add to Cart.” In exploring the “hungry mindset” that could potentially lead to burn-out, they also reflect on the material and immaterial things they turn to that help nourish our spirit.   Check out the podcasts Add to Cart (@addtocartpod) and The Other Story with Jenn Gottesfeld wherever you listen to podcasts!

Complex problems require creative solutions, but what does it mean to really think outside the box? How can we remove the barriers that prevent us from experiencing creative fulfillment? Jaimie and Sunny delve into how the mind is already geared for creativity and how mindfulness can enhance this gift that is within us all. // Learn more about #CreatorsForJustice at https://www.creatorsforjustice.com/.  Some organizations to follow, amplify, and/or donate to:  Stop AAPI Hate CAPE  Gold House  NextShark  Dear Asian Americans  Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund  Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta    Trainings: Bystander Intervention Virtual Trainings (Hollaback and AAJC) Various Harassment training see below (Hollaback) Stand Up Against Street Harassment, March 26 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Bystander Intervention Training To Stop Anti-asian/American And Xenophobic Harassment, March 29 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

In this second part of their lively conversation with special guest energy healer and astrologer Camellia Lee, Jaimie and Sunny delve into the topic of dreams and what it means to dream as a multi-dimensional collective.

Special guest energy healer and astrologer Camellia Lee joins Jaimie and Sunny to discuss how to figure out your life purpose (figurative and literal), in ways that not only honor your lineage, but also liberate you from conventional narratives of success.

Jaimie and Sunny discuss the joyful and creative aspects of honoring their ancestors and collective histories. From the annoying but ultimately valuable aspects of our personalities that we inherit from our parents, to the more light and profound details of our past that we want to bring into the future, this episode considers the meaning of inheritance beyond narratives of trauma and injury. 

In this reflective meditation, Sunny guides you through an imaginative journey where you can experience forgiveness, release any tension in your heart chakra, and feel your heart open to more love.

Jaimie and Sunny discuss how their conceptions of healthy and unhealthy relationships have evolved over time and how those changes affect their relationships now. They meditate on the labor and skills that come with loving another person and how they reflect the complexity and sheer wonder of connection. In this episode, Jaimie and Sunny reference the insights of Sheleana Aiyana, founder of @RisingWoman, and Virgilio G. Enriquez, author of From colonial to liberation psychology: the Philippine experience.Donate to Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019Donate to The Okra Project: https://www.theokraproject.com/Donate to Dream Defenders: https://dreamdefenders.org/donate/ For more information about hate crimes committed against Asians and Asian Americans, and to report an incident, visit https://www.standagainsthatred.org/ and @stopaapihate.You can find more resources, readings, and places to donate regarding anti-Asian violence here:Vice: Asian Americans Are Calling on Allies in Response to a Wave of Violence: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdw4z/attacks-on-elders-asian-american-community-racism-covidAsian Americans Advancing Justice: https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/covid19Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-cause-against-antiasian-violence?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

What does it mean to feel grateful in the midst of loss? Jaimie and Sunny discuss the transformative power of gratitude and how it builds the capacity to feel contradictory feelings at once. Join their last episode of Season 1, as they discuss the things they are most grateful for… and discover it’s not what you may think.

Jaimie and Sunny discuss their experiences of imposter syndrome and how it can be delicately embedded in structures of racism and sexism. What does it mean to acknowledge the depth of pain that is feeling like an imposter? What does it mean to cultivate a sense of belonging and heal from that pain? Also referenced in this episode is Steph Teodocio Fajardo’s YouTube video on imposter syndrome. 

In this special bonus guided meditation episode, Sunny guides you through a visualization practice for moving through the feeling of exhaustion and allowing that feeling to transform into feelings of hope and opportunity. 

What does it mean to embrace a love ethic? To use it to heal from collective histories of betrayal? Jaimie and Sunny explore the cycles of pain and shame that inform both American history and their individual personal identities. They discuss the wisdom of Black feminist sage bell hooks and how those cycles might be broken.  In this episode, we reference the following texts and spiritual leaders:All About Love by bell hooksThe Cultural Politics of Emotion by Sara AhmedIngratitude: The Debt-Bound Daughter in Asian American Literature by erin Khuê NinhBetrayal and Other Acts of Subversion by Leslie Bow

Jaimie and Sunny interview Dr. Anita Vasudevan, a registered yoga teacher and resident physician interested in Integrative Medicine that's focused on underserved populations, with a specific emphasis on nutrition, physical activity, and mind-body practices. Tune in to gain scientific and spiritual perspectives on the meaning of health and wellness and how it relates to matters of social justice. Works cited in this episode:Why Religion and Spirituality Matter for Public Health: Evidence, Implications, & Resources, edited by Doug Oman (book)Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators, by Bruce McEwen, Ph.D. (review article)

Jaimie and Sunny answer questions submitted by listeners (you!) ranging in topics from understanding the difference between mindfulness and spirituality, meditating and practicing mindfulness for beginners, finding perspective during the pandemic, and exploring magical moments through synchrodestiny.  

In addition to touching upon some of the themes discussed in The Law of Attraction & Aligning with the Universe (Part 1), Jaimie and Sunny examine what it takes to heal their wounds around love and friendship, especially as it relates to their personal identities and collective upbringings as Asian American daughters. 

In this episode, Jaimie and Sunny give their takes on the concept of the “Law of Attraction,” and discuss the tension between materialistic survival and emotional fulfillment. They explore the blockages we experience as we rediscover our own worthiness of love, forgiveness, and compassion, and consider what it means to surrender to a benevolent universe.

What company do you keep in your mind? In this episode, Jaimie and Sunny unpack the internal stories our mind creates, both consciously and sub-consciously. They explore how we can shift our perspective so that we’re no longer giving in to fear nor accepting how others view us, as our reality. As we reclaim power over our own stories, we can begin to heal and transform.

Amidst global conversations and direct actions surrounding racial justice and activism, Jaimie and Sunny reflect on the role mindfulness can have not just in processing painful feelings but in sustaining social justice movements. Touching on issues of burnout, allyship, and internalized oppression, this episode reveals the power of mindfulness to move us into action in response to subtler and subtler forms of violence.This episode draws on the insights of the below texts and resources, though they are not explicitly cited throughout:Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo FrierieMethodology of the Oppressed by Chela SandovalMelancholy of Race by Anne ChengAll About Love and The Will to Change by Bell Hooks“Healing Collective Trauma” Interview with Thomas Hüble: https://youtu.be/mExBoPftp8I“Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex from an Indigenous Perspective”: http://www.indigenousaction.org/accomplices-not-allies-abolishing-the-ally-industrial-complex/comment-page-1/ 

Two college friends from Duke University reconnect after 8 years over a mindfulness and meditation social experiment. Through this chance encounter they reminisce about the disappointments and revelations of their twenties that brought them to seek spiritual answers and renew their sense of empowerment and purpose.