Curious Hearts

In many ways, Seán is the reason Curious Hearts exists. He was my first yoga teacher, and he led my teacher training, and has been a mentor and now a friend for many years. His commitment to anti-dogmatic practice is imprinted on everything I do, and without that north star, I would not be doing what I do today.

In this episode, Seán and I talk about singing a lot. Like, a lot. Kirtan — the traditional Indian practice of singing the divine names of God — and it’s American spin-offs have been central to my personal practice for years.

“The soul is in the voice,” is a quote I heard years ago on On Being with Krista Tippett. And that has been my experience. The voice is a pathway to Spirit, and our spirit, faster than almost anything else I know.

It would be impossible for us to have this conversation without talking about grief. Seán has known too much of it, but his take on how it creates a deeper inner-space was tremendously soothing for me to hear.

If you’ve ever practiced with Seán, you know he’ll often leave you thinking for a while after class about just one tiny thing he said. This interview is no different.

I hope you enjoy!

00:00 Welcome and Sean’s spiritual roots

03:00 Growing up anti-dogma and wary of spiritual authority

10:00 Love, heartbreak, and choosing a heart-led life

18:30 Discovering yoga, Bhakti, and creative healing

24:45 Singing as a spiritual practice

31:30 Grief, loss, and the expansion of the inner life

41:00 Aging, seasoning, and earned wisdom

49:00 Voice, vulnerability, and communal singing

57:00 Devotion as a lifelong experiment

Connect with Seán:

If you’ve never had the pleasure of singing with Seán and the band, check out their website to get a taste: https://seanjohnsonandthewildlotusband.com/

Read more about his teaching and explore the Asheville Yoga Center: https://youryoga.com/blog/teacher-feature-sean-johnson/

Get jealous of the line-up at the Ayurprana Listening Room: https://ayurpranalisteningroom.com/

Or explore the courses at Ayurprana Plus: https://liveayurprana.com/

Connect with me:

If you’re curious about Kirtan or practicing Bhakti yoga, I’d love to have you in class anytime. Kirtan is the first Monday of every month, and you can see my class schedule at Wild Lotus Yoga: https://wildlotusyoga.com/

If you’re yearning for more meaningful work, I’d love to help you find it. When our outer life is in sync with our inner life, it’s a truly magical experience. I believe each of us have a Divine Call, and I’d love to help you hear and follow it. Find a time to chat here: https://veralester.as.me/Coaching-Discovery

If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe! Rate the podcast, or share it with a friend. Your support and participation is essential to Curious Hearts, and I'm so grateful for it.

My concept of the Divine and my relationship with It has changed over the years. As I grow and change, how I understand this vast unknowable mystery also changes.

This is one of many places where religion and spirituality diverge. In our current world, I am aware of how risky it is to say that we cannot know God. Our limited human brains cannot fully fathom the unlimited immensity of Divine Power.

Paradoxically, when we admit and accept our human limitations, our relationship with the Divine can expand exponentially. We not longer are restricted to one face, one definition, or one path to know the Infinite.

In this episode, I’m exploring one of my favorite spiritual puzzles: is there one infinite divinity? Or an infinity number of divinities?

Have thoughts? I’d love to hear them! Feel free to comment, reply, or contact me privately at [email protected].

Know someone who’d benefit from this episode? Share it!

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and why this conversation feels tender

02:30 God as mystery, not certainty

05:50 A childhood parable about many paths

09:40 From one God to many

15:00 Infinite divinities and being held

22:30 Living inside the questions

Work with Me

If you’re craving support on your spiritual path or feeling called to more meaningful work, you can explore ways to work with me at veralester.com.

I met Michelle Cassandra Johnson through her anti-racist work for yoga studios, and have had the privilege to work with her over the years as her work as evolved — including doing deep grief work, ancestral work, and watching as she has developed a deep spiritual relationship with her beehives.

This conversation is gem, just like Michelle. We talk about the relationships built with our ancestors, and how important their protection and guidance is for both of us in this wild world. She shares about how she started working with the bees, and everything they teach us about community care and interconnectedness.

What I can’t convey is the energy of sitting with Michelle. It comes through some in this recording, but if you can be with her in person — I highly recommend it. Her mixture of depth, groundedness, ethereal magic, and a spiritual lightheartedness is not to be missed.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and setting the container04:50 Growing up in the Black Baptist church12:55 Devotion, questions, and spiritual lineage23:10 Yoga, order, and discernment in chaotic times41:20 Mary Magdalene, refuge, and non-ordinary reality47:30 Bees, collective care, and tending the hive

Thanks for listening! Share this with your feed if you enjoy our conversation:

Connect with Michelle:

You can learn more about Michelle Cassandra Johnson and her work as a writer, teacher, and spiritual guide at michellecjohnson.com. Peep her calendar to see if she’ll be near you soon.

More about Curious Hearts:

I’m cooking up a community that fall be under the Curious Hearts umbrella, launching later this spring of 2026. If you want to hear more, just click here: https://mailchi.mp/veralester/curious-hearts

This is a quick episode because there isn’t must to say: instead, it’s time to DO.

If you’re at home, find a blank piece of paper and some colored pencils or crayons. Or open the cabinet and cook something without a recipe. Make up a new song. Write a poem.

Your access to creating something is the connection to your inner spark of the divine. That magic is available to you anytime, anywhere.

Just begin.

Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.

I hope your holidays are bright and restful, and I’ll see you on the other side.

One of the gifts of my work is getting to connect with other deep thinkers and feelers about the nature of the divine.

What is “god?” When that word gets stuck in my throat, why is it getting stuck? What is our calling as divine beings in these human vessels? What do we owe each other?I think Court and I visited a lot of these topics in the course of our conversation. I love that I was deep in Swampy Louisiana, while he is up in Expansive Montana. Our backgrounds and lived experience are quite different — but I learned a lot about faith and practice in this conversation.

My biggest take away? “Jesus broke bread with Judas, too.”

I’m curious: What’s your biggest takeaway from this conversation?

Connect with Court

🔗 Website: https://www.campcounselorcourt.com📬 Newsletter: https://www.campcounselorcourt.com/#newsletter📸 Instagram: @campcounselor.court🌱 Patreon (free and paid tiers): https://www.patreon.com/cw/CampCounselorCourt

Work with Me

As we move into the Winter Solstice, I hope you have time to pause and reflect.

My 2026: A Year of Intention workshop is waiting for you on January 11. Get more details here: https://wildlotusyoga.com/event/a-year-of-intention-workshop/

If you’re craving support on your own spiritual path, or feeling called to explore meaningful work, or deeper alignment in your life, schedule a chat with me: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery.

This episode marks six months of Curious Hearts.

It’s become a welcome ritual for me, even in the months where it has felt harder to get my thoughts together. This episode is one that I tripped over a few times before I could get it recorded.

To me, this principle is both essential and challenging. It is, perhaps, the first principle I’ve shared so far that might feel more challenging that comforting. In order to have a rich and deep spiritual life, we must be willing to lean into the discomfort sometimes.

The idea that “there is only one of us” has the potential to bring us great relief and ease. When I apply this principle to my business life, it takes all the sting out of rejection and frees me from fear in risk taking. In my personal life, it’s a constant reminder to hold everyone close — because how I treat everyone else is how I treat myself.

As we enter into the holidays, I hope you will offer more patience and generosity to everyone around you — including, and especially, yourself.

00:00 Welcome and why unity matters03:52 How we treat ourselves and others07:11 There is only one of us09:12 Jung, yoga, and shared consciousness21:03 Unity without losing individuality33:14 Compassion, accountability, and healing

I am offering my New Year’s workshop again in 2026 — on January 11, 2026 we’ll design A Year of Intention. Check out more and register here: https://wildlotusyoga.com/event/a-year-of-intention-workshop/

As your year comes to a close, if you are finding yourself longing for a fuller life —professionally or spiritually — I’d love to help. Find some time at veralester.as.me/Coaching-Discovery.

#curioushearts #unity #spiritualpractice #interconnection #collectivehealing #innerwork

Paige and I met at a workshop, and we were instant kin. She has a kind of grounded magic to her, a realness, on top of decades of yoga practice.

I had the privilege of sitting by her side weeks after her husband died, and talking about the complications of grief. We could talk about how all our old practices had lost their juice, and how grief stripped us of what we knew.

In this episode, we talk a little about that grief — but mostly about how House of Blues led her to yoga, how nature is the best and clearest teacher, and the medicine of ritual.

Watching Paige evolve over the last few years inspires me, and I think this episode will inspire you. Her grounded presence is a gift, and I’m delighted to share it.

Connect with Paige

📸 https://www.instagram.com/pbp.writer/

🕉️ https://www.dayayogashala.com/

Work With Vera

2026 is around the corner. I’m leading a mini-retreat at on January 11 called 2026: A Year of Intention. Find out more: https://wildlotusyoga.com/event/a-year-of-intention-workshop/

If you’re searching for meaning, craving spiritual grounding, or navigating a transition of your own, schedule a time to connect: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery.

📸 https://www.instagram.com/verarocks.

Want to support this work? Leave a review of the podcast, and share it with someone you think needs to hear it. <3

This episode is an exploration of the spiritual powers of gratitude, and why it’s archetypal across so many traditions — as a strong suggestion if not a requirement.

May your day be full of reminders to feel grateful for everything you might otherwise take for granted, and may your gratefulness reflect itself into how you view yourself and the world.

If this posts resonates, I invite you to share with someone you’re grateful for today:

In this episode we explore:

• Why gratitude shows up in every spiritual lineage• How gratitude regulates the nervous system• The difference between saying “thank you” and feeling thankful• How gratitude makes space around grief, heartbreak, and personal disasters• The “advanced practice” of being grateful for what didn’t work out• A guided meditation for connecting with the felt sense of gratitude

Whether you observe Thanksgiving or not, this is an invitation to step into the deeper layers of gratitude—not as a remedy, but as a way of being present with your life.

Resources mentioned:• Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott• The Science of Gratitude, a well sourced white paper about the study of gratitude, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, produced by the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley

Work with me

If you’re seeking support on your spiritual path or wanting to find meaning in your work, you’ll find ways to connect with me at veralester.as.me/Coaching-Discovery.

If this episode resonates:

Follow the show • Leave a review • Share it with someone who may need it.

Your presence here matters. Keep turning towards meaning.

This episode is full of full-belly laughs and deep conversations about spirit and just how hard it is to be in the world right now. I am honored to call Reverend jessica young chang a dear friend, and I am so excited to share this conversation with you.

There’s nothing else to say about it besides — you need to listen to this. I think I will need to listen and re-listen to it many times in the coming months.

Things we talked about

* Jessica’s essay on being a Black woman in a yoga class, Open Letter to my (white) yoga teacher: https://www.adevotedyogi.com/blog-1/2017/11/17/open-letter-to-my-white-yoga-teacher

* Chicago Women’s Health Center

* Tejas Yoga, Chicago

* A People’s History of Christianity by Diana Bass

* The Barmen Declaration

Connect with Rev. jessica young chang:

* Instagram: @revjessyc

* Website: https://www.adevotedyogi.com/

If you’re in Columbus, go visit her at https://www.first-church.org/

To connect with Vera:

* Schedule an inquiry: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery

* Read more: veralester.com

* or send me a message 💌

Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.

To get to my own spiritual path, I first had to clear away the overgrowth of my brain. I am a smart person, but I was also raised by parents who valued education. I am incredibly grateful for that, and I still find a tremendous joy in learning new things and wrestling with complicated concepts.

But one of the side effects of my rigorous academic upbringing was my reliance on logic and rationality to meet every challenge and solve every problem. It worked really well, until it didn’t.

So much of my personal and spiritual growth has been about unlearning my reliance on intellect, and learning new ways to connect, understand, and grow.

Paradox is the fastest way through the intellectual brambles to my wisdom path.

In this episode, I share the definitely of paradox, along with a few personal and universal examples. (Hint: if you’ve ever fallen in love, you understand paradox.) I also explain why I value paradox so much that I include it in my 12 core spiritual principles.

Are you enjoying Curious Hearts? Why not share it:

Mentions & References

* Laura Lundgren’s review) Madeline L’Engle

* Becca Rich (ep. 2 of Curious Hearts)

* Douglas Brooks (tantric philosophy, sammelana)

* Ramana Maharshi (the thief and the policeman)

* Rumi (“out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field.”)

* Flatland by Edwin Abbott

Thank you

If you’re craving spiritual guidance or looking for more meaning in your work, reach out, or find ways to work with me at veralester.com.