In today’s episode, I am joined by Johannah Reimer to talk about holding circle for our girls and the female-bodied youth that are in our lives. Johannah is a soulcentric educator, ceremonialist, teen mentor, and an artist of many trades. Trained as a Waldorf teacher, Johannah has been working with children of all ages for over 20 years and holds a particular passion for tweens/teens striving to meet their developmental needs for mentorship and initiation in a culture that has forgotten how to do so. Johannah founded Wakeful Nature & Girls Group as a means to fill the initiatory void for girls crossing the threshold of childhood into adolescence with guidance, ceremony, and community.

Johannah and I share our passion for the healing that can happen through circling and ceremony and in this conversation I get the change to get nosey about her incredible work facilitating girls groups, the impact this work has on her as a space holder and so much more. Above all, Johannah calls for the ‘village aunties’ to step up, cultivating more awareness around what today’s generation of girls is moving through and weaving together multi-generational embodied wisdom.

Tune in to hear more from us on:

• Remembering how to be village aunties and engage in re-villaging work
• Creating a safe space for younger girls
• The challenges faced by girls in today’s society
• Working with the elements and ancestral remembrance
• Ritualizing the first bleed and normalizing menstrual cycle awareness through storytelling and archetypes
• Modeling imperfection and the human experience as a facilitator
• Allowing the girls to grow capacity within circle
• Experiencing grief as a facilitator whilst also carving the new path for ritual and ceremony
• Stepping into our role as matriarchal leaders and how we can move into a post-patriarchal society

Resources + Links

• Find Johannah’s work on wakefulnature.com and Instagram @wakeful.nature
• Find out more about Johannah’s Girls Group Facilitator training
• Learn how to craft a meaningful rite of passage for your daughter’s menstrual cycle with Johannah
• Book: ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt
• My book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self
• Connect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelli

Timestamps

[0:00] Introduction

[09:43] Remembering How to be Village Aunties

[12:17] Challenges Faced by Girls in Today's Society

[18:00] Creating Safe Spaces for Girls through Long-Term and Ongoing Support

[26:48] Social Media Use by Teens and Navigating Belonging and Connection

[34:32] Ritualising & Normalising the First Bleed through Ceremony + Ritual

[40:22] Being a Girls Group Facilitator

[43:47] Moving into a Post-Patriarchal Society

In today’s episode, I am answering listener questions. Topics range from sharing my personal viewpoint on religion and spirituality, navigating different roles and jobs during my day and in my life and dive deep into circle-related questions too.

Tune in to hear more from me on:

• The role religion and spirituality played during my upbringing and today
• The journey from my old-school DIY blogging days to my online work now, and how working with my hands was the pathway to exploring community and belonging
• Navigating different jobs and roles as a human being and practicing flexibility
• Knowing when it’s time to let go and honoring the power of an ending when it comes to friendships - and also knowing when you’re witholding and taking responsibility
• Claiming the term ‘circle’ and holding space for all peoples
• How circle needs to offer the opportunity for equality and the space for consent, also in the context of sharing

Resources + Links

• Episode #125: Turning Circle Conflict into Deeper Intimacy With Ginny Muir
• Episode #123: The Meaning of Time With Becca Rich
• My book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self
• Connect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelli

Timestamps

[01:00] Do you practice any religions or spirituality?

[06:23] Your work used to be more focused on hands on elements and literal making. How do you still integrate that into your day to day life?

[11:24] How do you juggle/hold all of your different jobs and roles? Both big picture and like a “day in the life” type thing.

[14:55] How to know when to let a friendship go or how do you do it?

[18:23] Is it possible to start a successful circle with non-circley friends?

[22:05] Does it always have to be everyone shares? Other prompts for shyer or younger?

In today’s episode, I am joined by my friend Amelia Hruby. Amelia is a feminist author, educator, podcaster and founder of Softer Sounds podcast studio (who used to edit this podcast too!). I brought her onto the podcast today specifically because of her amazing podcast ‘Off the Grid’, which is a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients.

Even if you don’t identify as a small business owner - there’s something about what Amelia shares about leaving social media in this episode that transcends it all and will leave you feeling inspired to explore your virtual presence.

Amelia opens up about the impact that leaving social media has had on her life and makes the beautiful connection between her patterns of anxious attachment and how that showed up in her virtual presence too.

Tune in to hear more from us on:

• The loneliness that can arrive when leaving social media
• The struggle of finding community outside of the virtual landscape and finding a sense of belonging without it
• The need of being seen in this day and age
• How personal and emotional well-being can be so attached and influenced by our online presence
• How our seasonal and hormonal cycles can impact our relationship with social media
• How the platforms are designed to lead us down a path of misinformation, toxic algorithms and capitalism

Resources + Links

• Amelia Hruby’s podcast ‘Off the Grid’, her website AmeliaHruby.com and her podcasting studio Softer Sounds
• Amelia’s membership ‘The Interweb’, dedicated to support small business owners move their business off of social media
• The Off the Grid episode with Nicole Antoinette: ‘How much is Enough: Money & Social Media’ membership ‘interweb’
• My book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self
• Connect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelli

Timestamps

[0:00] Introduction [11:01] The Decision to Leave Social Media [13:16] Anxious Attachment to the Online Sphere [16:37] Life after Leaving Social Media [19:56] Creativity in Business w/o Social Media [20:56] Loneliness and Virtual Community [24:34] Running a Business outside of Social Media [27:27] Finding Community outside of Social Media [29:00] The Need to Feel Seen [36:44] Curation Online [40:40] Aggravation of Wounds of Belonging by Social Media [48:36] The Harmful Ways the Algorithm Preys Upon Vulnerabilities [52:46] The Impact of Culture and the Joy of the Internet [53:41] Bringing Intention, Awareness and Agency to the Virtual Landscape [54:16] Choosing a Different Path and Finding Liberation [54:55] Main Takeaways [56:36] Amelia’s Work and Offerings