Asian Heart Mind Body Collective

7: Curiosities Are Not Coincidences - Ancestral Wayfinding & Somatic Forgiveness

From childhood inquiries about death to spiritual expeditions through the greater Los Angeles (Tongva) area in their youth to a spiritual butt kicking as an adult in the corporate world. We journey through inabel uytiepo’s story and their connection to their ancestors. Curiosities are not coincidences. We also hear insights about inabel’s somatic forgiveness work and their ancestral wayfinding collective. 

Show Notes: 

• Guest bio: inabel uytiepo, CBMA | CMT | CCHT inabel (they/siya) is a Pilipinx-Chinese intuitive healing artist that works with individuals, groups and organizations through grief, rage and confusion in order to enliven our full selves with clarity, power and strength in the communities we work and play in. inabel disrupts the dominant narrative by sharing divergent ways of being via deep collective care, somatic forgiveness journeys and ancestral wayfinding. inabel is one of five co-conveners for the cross-racial solidarity grassroots organization Peoples Collective for Justice and Liberation. As a teacher/speaker, wholistic health practitioner and community care facilitator, inabel often works with queer/gender queer professionals and academics, especially Pilipinx, Asian lawyers and creatives. Visit healingisgiving.com and wayfindingcollective.com follow inabel on IG @healingisgiving
• Hilot Healer
• Artist Way 
• Decolonization
• Wong Kim Ark, United States vs Wong Kim Ark
• Dominant Narrative 
• Malunggay
• Global North

6: From Nebraska to West Oakland, Confronting Anti-Blackness & Healing Centered Youth Engagement

Adele and Danielle are joined by community advocate Chris Nguon who shares an unexpected heart-wrenching story about his first few days of life and his family’s connection to Mc Donald’s. Chris’ personal story takes us from Nebraska all the way to West Oakland where he grew up. He shares intimately about the challenges of unpacking his relationships with his refugee parents to help heal cycles of intergenerational trauma. As a Cambodian man, Chris talks about navigating the reality of anti-Blackness within himself and the community at large to build cross-cultural solidarity in West Oakland neighborhoods. He also introduces the framework of “healing centered engagement” as an approach to supporting the flourishing of young people on their own life journeys. At the end of the show, Chris introduces a delightful tea meditation to demonstrate the interconnection of tea ritual between all cultures. 

 

Show Notes: 

• Chris Nguon, MSW is an Oakland native and graduate of the University of California-Berkeley. An avid learner and community advocate, Chris, whose family is from Cambodia, has held numerous community-based roles as a public service professional, spanning commitments in elementary schools, affordable housing, recreational centers, residential services, and family resource centers throughout various neighborhoods in West Oakland. Chris firmly believes that healing centered engagement, cultural competency, and centering community are the foundational hallmarks of impactful work.
• Flourish Agenda (@flourishagenda) - Healing is the most radical act in social justice because it confirms our right to be well.
• The Carma Chronicles Podcast
• Lincoln Families Oakland 

5: Herbalism & Healing Cultural Disconnection

The hosts are joined by herbalist Rebekah Sze-Tung Olstad to explore her fascinating healing path to reconnect with her mixed-race Chinese ancestry. Her adventure takes us to Cuba where she learns about plants for the first time and has a mysterious remembering. Rebecca discusses how plants have helped her cultivate deeper relationships with her ancestors. She also shares her community work to organize folks longing for cultural gathering and healing through arts, cooking, astrology, and magic. Finally, Rebekah suggests practices for reciprocity and respect of the land and indigenous peoples. At the end of the show, Rebekah leads us through a sweet plant meditation where we actually sit with plants from our home.

Show Notes: 

• Rebekah Sze-Tung Olstad (she/her) is an herbalist and cultural organizer grounded in love for the earth. Through her herbal practice Red Autumn Apothecary she supports people in their emotional, physical and spiritual health, teaches classes and workshops, and makes herbal medicine. 
• More about Rebekah here: www.redautumnapothecary.com
• Rebekah’s Instagram: @red_autumn_rebekah
• Info about the Ancestral Apothecary - https://ancestralapothecaryschool.com/
• Prayerful journey to restore salmon runs, protect water and indigenous life - http://run4salmon.org/
• Refinery Corridor Healing Walks with Idle No More SF Bay - http://www.idlenomoresfbay.org/
• Contribute to Shuumi Land Tax through the Sogorea Te' Land Trust - https://sogoreate-landtrust.org
• Map the indigenous lands - https://native-land.ca/
• Thank you to Lucy Saephan, audio editor, and Tosh Tanaka, sound mixer! 

4: Finding Our Original Medicine, Reconciliation, & Forgiveness

Guest Speaker Carol Cano joins the hosts to share her fascinating journey of finding her original medicine at a monastery in Thailand. As a Buddhist and Indigenous teacher, Carol shares her nuanced perspectives on the dark night of the soul, important strangers, grief work, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Carol suggests ways for listeners to create their own sacred spaces and leads us through a beautiful visualization and meditation called The Four Rivers of Intelligence. 

 

Show Notes: 

About Guest Speaker Carol Cano (https://www.carolcano.com/)

About Braided Wisdom (www.braidedwisdom.org)

About Angeles Arrien, Carol's beloved late teacher (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angeles_Arrien)

About Jack Kornfield, Carol's mentor and teacher (https://jackkornfield.com/) 

About East Bay Meditation Center (https://eastbaymeditation.org/) 

3: Healing & Anti-Oppressive Integrative Systems Therapy

Guest Speaker Helen Hyun-Kyung Park joins Danielle and Adele to discuss her response to the violence happening in Asian communities. She dives into how we can bring the warrior spirit into our lives and the importance of healing in relationship and community. The hosts also dig into Helen’s expertise on different therapeutic, somatic, and indigenous modalities for healing personal and racialized trauma in the body. Helen closes the show by leading us through a beautiful meditation practice called the Seven Homecomings. 

Show Notes: 

• Guest Speaker Helen Hyun-Kyung Park (LCSW, MFA) is a therapist, clinical social worker, and meditation teacher. She currently serves as Director of Community and International Training and Clinic Therapist at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City. As a clinical social worker and family therapist, Helen draws upon her experiences in the arts, contemplative practice, and social justice activism to create a way of working with clients that is integrative, holistic, and anti-oppressive. She is currently pursuing clinical training in Indigenous Focusing-Oriented Therapy, as well as facilitating a think tank with fellow therapists, artists, and technologists to explore possibilities for transdisciplinary practice and communities of care. She teaches meditation and maintains a small private practice in New York City. Prior to becoming a family therapist, Helen was an arts educator and program facilitator in New York City public schools. In this field, she created innovative learning programs and curricula for BIPOC, LGBTQ, and neurodiverse students. As a media artist, Helen created community-based projects that fostered critical dialogue and collective healing. Helen received her MSW from New York University, MFA from University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a Fulbright Fellow alumna (Republic of Korea). More information about her practice: https://www.mindfulfamiliesproject.com/index.html 
• Lama Rod Owens is a teacher and author. Information about his teachings and books: 
  • https://www.lamarod.com/ 
• Resmaa Menakem is a trauma specialist, healer, and author. Information about his books and somatic abolitionism and healing:  
  • https://www.resmaa.com/ 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dAAWgpokvo 
  • https://educationforracialequity.com/offerings/foundations-in-somatic-abolitionism/ 
• Resources about the Vulnerability Cycle in relationships:
  • http://www.kfr.nu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Vulnerablility-Cycle.pdf 
• Resources about Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy: 
  • https://focusinginternational.org/about/aboriginal-focusing-oriented-therapy-initiative/ 
  • https://www.focusingtherapy.org/for-clients/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F--2UES2N8w
• Resources about Spiritual Bypassing: 
  • https://tricycle.org/magazine/human-nature-buddha-nature/ 
  • https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-spiritual-bypassing-5081640
• Seven Homecomings Practice & Meditation with Lama Rod Owens:
  • https://austinzencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Seven-Homecomings-Practice-Lama-Rod-Owens.pdf 

2: Self-Care in a Time of Turmoil & Violence

To celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage and Mental Health Awareness month, this short episode introduces a few sacred rituals including a land acknowledgement and ancestral welcome. The hosts briefly discuss the struggle and value of self-care in Asian communities during this difficult time in the world. The discussion is followed by a guided meditation and a dedication of merit and farewell to the ancestors.

 

Show Notes: 

• For more information about the land acknowledgement, ancestral welcome, and dedication of merit, click here.
• To honor and respect an effort by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander leaders to address the invisibility of their distinct experiences when grouped with ‘Asian’, we decided to change our podcast name to "Asian Heart Mind Body Collective" from "API Heart Mind Body Collective". The term Asian Pacific Islander (API) misrepresents the particular nuances of the Pacific Islander voice, experience, and identity which can lead to erasure or tokenization. We apologize for any harm this may have caused. 

1: Who Are We & Why Are We Here?

Meet your podcast hosts, Adele and Danielle. Learn a bit about their stories, why they started the podcast, and why the title API Heart Mind Body Collective. Hear why they intentionally chose April 30, 2021 as the date for their first episode release. Finally, you'll be invited to practice a short mindfulness meditation, led by Danielle.  

Show Notes: 

• About Braided Wisdom 
• About Teacher Carol Cano  
• The music you heard in this podcast came from a cassette tape recording of a live performance in Vietnam that Adele's mother's friend, the late musician, Mr. Nguyen Tuc, gave Adele. This song is the base sound track for Adele's first film, El Paso Vietnam. The tape was labeled "Khong Minh Tao Cam Dan Tranh". The instrument is a Vietnamese Dan Tranh instrument. Email Adele at lostpicts@gmail.com if you want to hear the whole track.