Welcome to Belonging, a podcast that explores being alive in the age of loneliness.

Becca Piastrelli is your host and guide on a journey of courageous reconnection as we explore topics like ancestral wisdom, cultivating meaningful community, living with the seasons and cycles of the earth and your body, and what it means to be a good ancestor.

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Episode #104: Madness as Initiation to Transformation with Clare Foale

Episode #104: Madness as Initiation to Transformation with Clare Foale

Clare Foale is a Mum, a creator, a space holder, a brink walker and an ocean lover, living on Garigal Country in Australia. Together, Clare and I have an open and vulnerable conversation about our experiences with delayed postpartum depression. We share the moments...

Past Episodes:

Episode #103: From a tech-paced career to an earth-paced life with my husband Tim Piastrelli

Episode #103: From a tech-paced career to an earth-paced life with my husband Tim Piastrelli

So much has changed since I last had my husband Tim on the podcast. We became parents. We decided to leave California. We bought a house in...

Episode #102: Returning the Bones of the Earth with Marysia Miernowska

Episode #102: Returning the Bones of the Earth with Marysia Miernowska

Marysia Miernowska is a teacher, author, Earth activist, green witch, folk herbalist and healer rooted in the Wise Woman Tradition of Healing. She...

Episode #101: Lessons from my journey with delayed postpartum depression

Episode #101: Lessons from my journey with delayed postpartum depression

While I often talk about mothering on the podcast, it’s been a few seasons since I shared a personal reflection on being a mother. So this episode...

Episode #100: The Women’s Circle with Anoushka Florence

Episode #100: The Women’s Circle with Anoushka Florence

Anoushka Florence is a teacher, an author, a circle-tender, and a mother. She is the Keeper of the Mama’s Village, the Mama of The Goddess Space,...

Episode #99: Keeping Grief Weird with Tracy Benjamin

Episode #99: Keeping Grief Weird with Tracy Benjamin

Tracy Benjamin is a food photographer, stylist & blogger based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this episode, we have a tender conversation...

Episode #98: Being Alone in Nature with Nicole Antoinette

Episode #98: Being Alone in Nature with Nicole Antoinette

Nicole Antoinette is a writer, podcast host, and community-builder who is super into long-distance hiking. In...

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Follow me! @beccapiastrelli

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That’s right: your internal seasons won’t always match up with the weather outside 🍂

I think we can get caught up in how we’re supposed to feel when a calendar date hits and it tells us what season we’re in.

Ex: spring should be a season of possibility and planting new seeds for our visions! 🌱 Autumn should be a season of harvesting all the we created with a feeling of abundance and gratitude. 🍁

And while I find those general themes to be guidelines for supporting me living in a seasonal cyclical way (and NOT in a robotic, static way), I know firsthand that our internal seasons don’t always match the weather vibe. I had an internal winter that lasted over spring summer and fall. I was down, internal, tender, and dreamlike - all things we might associate with the winter season. And I was doing it during a heat wave, not a snow storm.

All this to say: to acknowledge and give space to your internal seasons is to embrace a seasonal way of life. What matters is your noticing, giving care, and remembering you are not a static machine robot thing without feelings and cycling energies.

✨ I talk about seasonal living in my bi-weekly email newsletter, called Slow & Seasonal. If you’d like to receive it, check out the link in my bio ✨

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New episode alert!
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@clarefoale is a Mum, a creator, a space holder, a brink walker and an ocean lover, living on Garigal Country in Australia.
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Together, Clare and I have an open and vulnerable conversation about our experiences with delayed postpartum depression. We share the moments beloved practitioners finally helped us see we weren’t okay. The strength it took to acknowledge our pain when so many people dismissed it. The ways our depression was separate from our love of our children. And the power of letting your family witness how you take care of yourself.
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This conversation is medicine, and I hope you’ll listen to it, especially if you enjoyed my solo episode on postpartum depression.
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To have yourself a listen, search "Belonging" wherever you listen to podcasts or click the link in my bio 🎧

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After taking a few years off from hosting in-person experiences, I’m so excited to announce that The Rooted Magic Retreat is happening again January 5-8, 2023 on the soft and wild land of northern California, and I’ve got an epically enchanting experience planned. ✨
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A sacred weekend where you will experience the weaving of your ancient wise self into your modern life + remember how to access deep and lasting connection.
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Early January can be so focused on hitting the ground running and #goalcrushing. But you and I know the truth of living a seasonal life is this:
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The dream must come before the seed can be planted.
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This retreat is a space for you to dream in your seeds for the coming year - by remembering your roots and tending to them in a nourishing and communal space.
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Let's come together. Let's deepen our roots. Let's remember our magic.
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During this retreat, we'll be:
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- Gathering together in circle under the first Full Wolf Moon of the year
- Taking space to reflect, journal, and journey together on the dreams taking seed in the coming months
- Getting our hands into ancestral folk practices to cultivate a deeper sense of earth and community connection
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We will be staying at a 5-acre, high-end wellness and retreat center on the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok people (in Nicasio, CA). We will be gathering to eat in the main house, circling together in the exquisite 30-foot yurt, and sleeping in a beautifully restored barn, main house, and there are a few glamping tents as well. At night, we can gather around the outdoor fire pit, cozy up on the couches in the main house with a cup of tea, or take a dip in the hot tub.
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If you want to join us, check the link in my bio or send me a DM! Looking forward to gathering under the soft pines with youuuuuu 🌲

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✨Good witness - it’s an art that takes time and practice to refine. ✨

I literally caught myself this morning with a friend who wanted to vent to me responding with a related story. She heard it gracefully, but as soon as I was done talking I realized it wasn’t what she asked of me.

So much of what we want from each other is to be deeply heard and help and seen as the heroes of our own stories. Even as tears and snot are running down our faces, we don’t want to be fixed or told that our emotions are too much or bowled over with someone else’s related experience.

And sometimes….we all need a little reminding. If you are the person doing the sharing, let them know what you are needing (“I would love for you to simply listen”) and if you are the one doing the listening, ask what they are needing (“Are you looking for advice or reflections? Or do you need me to simply listen?”).

This simple method of communicating can go a long long way toward building intimacy and trust in adult friendships and community building efforts. 🤜 🤛

✨For more shares about friendship and community, follow me @beccapiastrelli or sign up for my newsletter - called Slow & Seasonal - link in bio.✨

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@ashleyburnettco and I chat about doing business with the seasons 🍂

…plus she’s got an awesome free workshop coming up!

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Fall Equinox Feels, am I right? 🍂

I love how our bodies yearn for the next season. And I know fall coziness is a big desire for a lot of us! How are you welcoming the season?

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Here in the northern hemisphere, the autumn equinox is a time of equal balance of day and night before the dip down into longer nights and shorter days.
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From an agrarian ancestral perspective, the autumn equinox is a time to count our blessings and feel the abundance of life before the decline of the light. This is a powerful time to face your fears to remind your inner wise self that death always leads to rebirth and the light always comes after the dark.
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So I invite you to join me in this ritual to face the coming darkness. Take a look at all the steps and - should you want to adapt it for your space, your community, or your preference - do just that.
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Remember you are the crafter of your rituals - a sacred life is your birthright.
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**And if you want to learn more about ritual, seasonal living, and rites of passage, sign up for my free newsletter, called Slow & Seasonal. Link is in my bio or head to beccapiastreli.com/subscribe**
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A word about ritual craft…
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Those prompts again:
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What is your intention with this ritual?
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How do you already or how would you like to embody your intention with this ritual?
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How might you adjust it or add to it to expand the meaning of it for you?
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**And if you want to learn more about ritual, seasonal living, and rites of passage, sign up for my free newsletter, called Slow & Seasonal. Link is in my bio or head to beccapiastreli.com/subscribe**
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I was so caught up in the fact that it's fire season in California that I nearly forgot to notice the beauty and plentifulness of these harvest times - despite the heat waves and dry grasses and scratchy throat from smokey air.
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This land is exquisite and I love it.
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Beginning my months-long goodbye tour to this place as we prepare to migrate east brings sob to my throat. I am doing my best to cultivate intimacy and care as the seasons turn towards darker days and the rains to come - we hope we pray. @eliza.feelings introduced me to Terry Tempest Williams' Erotics of Place - we call to the land - and the land calls back. And right now I am in a long, slow, grief and devotion filled goodbye to this precious precious place.

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Have a question (existential or logistical) about seasonal/cyclical living and community building?

I have SO many tips and tidbits here on my feed - particularly in my reels.

You can also subscribe and listen to my podcast, Belonging, with over 100 episodes from both me and interviews with folks with valuable insight. (Remember, we humans learn best from stories not lectures).

I also send out an email newsletter, called Slow & Seasonal, about 2 times a month that is filled with information, ritual, and stories to support you exactly where you’re at. The link is in my bio.

And lastly, follow for more stories, tips, and inspiration + reach out if you need some guidance.

Happy to help + with you on the journey 🍄🔥🤍

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I don't often talk about my 17 year partnership with Tim - mostly because I'm a somewhat private person and I'm not in the business of relationship coaching or advice giving. I do, however, get a lot of curiosities and questions about the nature of my relationship and how it's all going. And, seeing how I've been sharing recently about my personal experiences with PPD and the rite of passage that has been stepping into motherhood, I thought it would be interesting to interview my partner to get his perspective on the life we are co-creating.
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I last had Tim on my podcast several years ago, where we talked about building a life as two extremely different people - where one is engineer minded and the other is me. �;)
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So much has changed since that last episode. We became parents. We decided to leave California. We bought a farm in upstate New York.
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It feels like so much is different since that last episode three years ago. So this week I’ve invited Tim to come back to the show for an open conversation about our family and how we navigate change.
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Together we discuss why having our daughter was a catalyst to slow down, how we handle the tension between his tech-paced career and our earth-paced life, and the many challenges of facing sleep deprivation & postpartum depression together.
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Tim also shares about his experience with men’s work and men’s retreats, and how his relationship with Atlas has evolved since she was born. And we both open up about how we return to each other when we feel distant or disconnected.
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To have yourself a listen, search "Belonging" wherever you listen to podcasts or click the link in my bio 🎧

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IN A CULTURE BEREFT OF SPACES AND PROCESS OF SUPPORT FOR THE LIMINAL OF OUR LIVES, THERE IS RITUAL 🕯️
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Ritual can be big and small - what matters is that it grounds your feet as you take each brave step.

Lighting a candle in the cool air of the morning.
That first sip of coffee as you look out your window to notice the weather.
The flowers you place in a bud vase on your kitchen table.

All can be done with a prayer for moving you forward through the middle space - with more wisdom, with more knowing, with more purpose.

Meaning is everywhere, and we are the ritual crafters of our time. Our descendants will tell these stories around their fires.
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If you are curious about crafting your own rituals to honor the massive transitions that we all naturally move through, I invite you to join me for Passagecraft on Sept 18th. It’s a workshop to help you reclaim the meaningful moments of your life and craft the ritual you crave. You can sign up in my bio or Passagecraft.com.

#ritualcraft
#ritual
#sacredlife
#sacredfeminine
#witchythings
#witchy
#ritesofpassage
#rite
#matrescence
#simpleritual
#ageofloneliness
#ancestralhealing
#revillaging
#seasonalliving
#livingwiththeseasons
#ancestralways
#reenchantment
#bringbackthevillage
#liminalspaces
#theliminal
#liminality
#liminal
#myriteofpassage