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.

 

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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! 

 

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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. 

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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.

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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.