Advertise on podcast: GRACEPILLED with Hanna Williams

SIGN UP FOR ATTENTION 101 (reclaim your agency for change)  sign up here Starts January 6th!  Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, conflict school, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Connect with Monica Alanna  Instagram:  @rooted.relating (coaching/grief counseling) @magicksalt (handmade jewelry, art, writing) www.magicksalt.com In this episode, Monica interviews me about what it’s really like to live and work online as a creative & mentor. We talk about our digital duplicates, attention fatigue, curating our algorithms with intention, the tension between analog life vs. digital life, what it means to be authentic on social media, and how I think about creativity, boundaries, and running Gracepilled as a business. It’s an honest look at identity, influence, and staying human on the internet. Digital duplicates & online identity — how the internet forms a version of us, how others perceive that version, and how it affects real life.Attention, distraction & notification fatigue — the constant pull of screens, digital audits, and reclaiming focus.Analog vs. digital media — the sensory and emotional differences between reading physical books, using Kindles, and engaging offline.Creativity, authenticity & running an online business — how I create content, use data, navigate the algorithm, and balance privacy with visibility.Influence, boundaries & staying grounded online — curating your algorithm, resisting comparison culture, and choosing how you want to show up on the internet.

Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, conflict school, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Connect with Monica Alanna  Instagram:  @rooted.relating (coaching/grief counseling) @magicksalt (handmade jewelry, art, writing) www.magicksalt.com Today’s episode is a conversation with my friend & colleague Monica Alanna about the strange and complicated world of digital spaces. We personify the platforms we use every day—Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube—as if they were people, each with their own archetype and flavor. We explore how these apps shape culture, attention, and even our sense of self, from the pull we all experience of wanting to peek at the comment section arguments to the addictive, casino-like design of social media apps that keep us emotionally hooked. Along the way, we talk about digital “duplicates,” cancel culture, distraction, and what it takes to build real boundaries with screens. It’s funny, it’s sharp, and it gets into the gray areas of how technology can be both a tool and a trap. I think you’ll leave this one reflecting on your own relationship with social media—and maybe even laughing about it too.

Connect with Ramon, my guest: instagram the drama of the planets [his book of poetry] Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) In this episode of GRACEPILLED, I sit down with poet, philosopher, and teacher Ramon Parish (a.k.a. Uriel Jones), whose journey weaves together stargazing, philosophy, poetry, and spiritual practice. Ramon recently released his first poetry collection Drama of the Planets, and in this conversation, he shares the stories, influences, and practices that shaped both his art and his spiritual path. We talk about: How Ramon’s early stargazing experiences sparked a lifelong sense of spiritual purposeWhy he sees philosophy and poetry as core spiritual practicesThe influence of Rastafari, music, and mythology on his worldviewThe role of movement, meditation, and community in his spiritual growthBalancing tradition with adaptation in spirituality, and why conduct and justice matter just as much as consciousness

Connect with Cindy: Instagram: @clairvoyantcounseling Website  Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Today’s guest is Reverend Cindy Pincus—minister, death doula, and someone who I now consider a spiritual comrade. We originally met at a First Friday art market in Denver when she walked straight up to my table and picked up my “Money + the Spiritual Path” zine. I remember thinking, this person has sparkles around them. And I was right. In this conversation, Cindy shares the wild, beautiful, and unexpected path that’s led her through Christian seminary, Indigenous ceremony, psychic training, and years of hospice and hospital chaplaincy. She speaks with rare clarity about death, grief, ministry, and spiritual courage—and about the surprising places her deepest convictions came from. (Spoiler: one involved a protest, a votive candle, and a head injury.) There were a few things said in this interview that blew my mind — I hope you love it! We cover: Cindy’s surprising journey from culturally Jewish roots to Christian ministryWhat it means to have a conversion experience in the modern worldHer years working with death—hospitals, hospice, and the spiritual wisdom of the dyingWhy she believes Jesus was psychic (and probably a witch)The beauty and power of not looking away from grief, endings, and the collapse of empire

Connect with Aiden, my guest:  Instagram: @aidenarata https://aidenarata.com/ YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY (her book!) Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Today I’m joined by writer, poet, and internet oracle Aiden Arata. You might know her from her dreamy, timely memes, her prose that cuts through the screen of your phone, or her completely surreal yet relatable guided meditation reels on instagram. Aiden’s new book of essays, YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY, came out just two days ago—and I haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait to. I can only imagine that it will feel like a voice memo from a highly perceptive friend, sent from the edge of a spiritual breakthrough that happened alongside the produce rack at the grocery store. In this conversation, we talk about the dread that surrounds creative work, the porousness required for both art and intuition, and what happens when you accidentally end up at a 14-hour-a-day solitary retreat in France. We also get into spiritual hysteria, memes as mystical artifacts, and the healing power of finally feeling seen. This one’s funny, strange, and full of surprisingly delicious nuggets of gold. I hope you love it. we cover: – the dread that creeps in around creative work, especially writing, and how the language of the internet (short, catchy, algorithm-friendly) can distort your voice and make deep work feel impossible – the porousness required for both creativity and spirituality—and how curating your sense impressions can be a way of clearing space for awe, intuition, and your own mind to come back online – the shift from trying to use spirituality to fix yourself, to actually having a relationship with yourself—and how that changed everything (with the help of therapy, trauma work, and a more compassionate view of mental health) – Catholic roots, spiritual hysteria, gold + gore aesthetics, and the unexpected joy of accidentally ending up in a 14-hour-a-day silent monastery retreat in France – what the internet can be (divine connection through memes, shared humanity), and also what it is becoming (a pipeline for paranoia, commodified enlightenment, and people falling in love with chatbots)

Connect with Diana, my guest:  Instagram: @ddamascenaa patreon.com/ddamascenaa ddamascenaa.com Connect with me, Hanna, your host: Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) In this episode, I talk with Diana Rose about what it means to truly human. We start with a beautiful story she shares about choosing connection instead of isolation while navigating complex grief, and how that reflects the deeper healing work she’s done—work that’s allowed her to stay in relationship, even when things are hard. We also talk about the dream of village life and what it means to be supported by a web of people who are in mutual care with one another. Diana shares how her spiritual worldview formed outside of formal tradition, what led her to astrology, and how she uses it as a tool to help people release internalized “shoulds” and understand their own nature with more compassion.

Connect with Rami:  Instagram: @ramidreams ramidreams.com (booking, live programs, etc) Enrollment for Rami's school ends July 8th Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled We cover: The emotional and existential challenges of running a spiritual business, including the unexpected inner work around self-worth, shame, and the discomfort of marketing one's offerings with integrity.Authenticity in leadership and marketing, especially the importance of being your full self (including humor, messiness, and vulnerability) in your public presence so clients meet the real you—not just a shiny persona.The delicate dance of sharing personal process online, exploring how to discern when something is "cooked" enough to serve others, versus when it’s still raw and may unconsciously ask your audience to hold you.Projections, pedestals, and the myth of the perfect spiritual guide, including how to recognize golden shadow and navigate others’ expectations without fragmenting your identity or hiding your humanity.The spiritual necessity of creative expression, especially in the digital age—seeing Instagram and social media as modern landfills where we can still perform sacred service, wake people up, and keep the river of spirit flowing through us.

Connect with Yumi, my guest: Instagram: @yumisakugawa Website Affirmation deck Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) In this episode of Gracepilled, I sit down with interdisciplinary artist and author Yumi Sakugawa (she/they) to trace the spiraling, unexpected path of her spiritual life—from childhood flashes of psychic imagery and goth teenage atheism to meditation, soul retrieval, and ancestral reclamation. Yumi is the author of beloved illustrated books like There Is No Right Way to Meditate and Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Believer, and exhibitions at the Smithsonian and the Japanese American National Museum. But today we go beyond Yumi’s amazing career accomplishments and explore their inner world. We talk about a recent health scare that became a surprisingly spiritual wake-up call, and how discipline, fueled by the powers of Virgo, interacts with creative ritual. We talk about their dark night of the soul experience teaching english in Japan, finding meditation through Eckhart Tolle and David Lynch, and how grief led her deeper into ancestral connection with her Okinawan roots. Yumi also shares the story of a traumatic ayahuasca ceremony—something she’s never spoken about publicly before—and the long, slow, embodied healing that followed. And, full disclosure, in telling this story and discussing it, neither of us are suggesting there is anything wrong with plant medicine or ayahuasca, we are simply exploring what that was like, and some potential aspects of modern Ayahuasca usage that aren’t so commonly discussed. We cover:  Spiritual emergence through crisis: Yumi shares how a painful post-college experience teaching abroad in Japan led them to meditation, marking the beginning of their spiritual path.Creative discipline as ritual: She talks about her workshop “Discipline is Pleasure” and how creative practice, health routines, and spirituality all benefit from intentional containers of time and attention.Lineage, colonization, and ancestral reclamation: They reflect on visiting their paternal homeland of Okinawa and how it catalyzed a deeper connection to their ancestral roots and the region’s spiritual and political history.Ayahuasca, trauma, and healing: Yumi opens up—publicly for the first time—about a devastating ayahuasca experience, soul fragmentation, and the long arc of recovery supported by their community and energetic healing.Art, intuition, and the evolution of purpose: She reflects on how her creative journey has shifted from needing to prove herself to trusting intuition, play, and her unique voice.

Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Connect with John, our guest:  Instagram: @saint_rainey His book: Finding God, Losing God, Becoming God His podcast: House of Saint Rainey Today, I’m joined by John Rainey—author, seeker, and explorer of unity consciousness. Once a devoted Christian, working as a youth pastor, his search for deeper truth led him beyond the walls of his religion and into the wild, uncharted expanse of direct experience of the divine. His journey to me is the perfect example of how deep questioning can lead someone to the truth — a potent question he asked himself one day changed the course of his life. But I’ll save that story for the interview. Let’s get into it.

Connect with our guest, Aidan:  www.aidanwachter.com/ bluesky www.patreon.com/aidanwachter Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Aidan Wachter is a self-described “mongrel animist” and magical practitioner whose path has been shaped less by systems and more by direct experience, dirt, string, and a willingness to listen deeply to the spirits that walk with him. In this conversation, Aidan shares how punk rock led him to magic, how a major breakdown clarified his role as a teacher and healer (even if those titles make him cringe), and why the tools we already have might be more than enough. We talk about animism, autonomy, spiritual hoarding, ancestor complications, embodied spirit work, and the dangers of trying to fix spiritual problems with material logic. If you’ve ever felt allergic to orthodoxy but deeply drawn to the unseen, you’re going to love this one. We cover: Aidan’s post-breakdown reorientation toward teaching and healing, and how embracing his role in community helped him recover and recommit to his workThe animist foundations of his magical practice, and why he moved away from ceremonial systems in favor of direct, embodied, earth-based approachesHis philosophy of working with fewer tools, but going deeper — learning from the practices themselves rather than accumulating more techniques or spiritsThe distinction between relational magic and spiritual consumerism, and why knowing “who brung you to the dance” matters more than finding the perfect deityHow worldview is the hidden architecture behind both magic and everyday reality — and why interrogating our inherited beliefs is essential for real changeHis experiences with spirit communication, trance work, and ancestor relationships — including the beauty, the conflict, and the negotiation involvedThe importance of sovereignty when working with spirits, and how spiritual agency and personal boundaries are crucial, even (especially) in non-ordinary states

Connect with Dr. Rev. Solstice, our guest: Instagram: @solstice_of_anahata His book: Black Gītā Youtube Book w/ him Spotify Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Today I’m sharing a conversation with someone I’ve really been looking forward to talking to—Dr. Rev. Solstice of the Anahata Lineage. He’s a spiritual counselor and speaker on behalf of the Most High, and what I love about this convo is how much ground we cover. We talk about his journey from childhood Christianity to militant atheism to Buddhist study to the kind of grounded, love-soaked, non-dual mysticism he lives and teaches now. He shares some beautiful re-interpretations of scripture, including what it really means to “love your Judas,” — which syncs up nicely with the philosophy of Grace in my tradition — and finally, we also get into the trap of being “anti”—how sometimes resistance just recycles the very energy we’re trying to move beyond. You can find Solstice and his talks on YouTube, follow him on Instagram, and book him for talks, workshops, one-on-one counseling, or guided meditation. His book Black Gītā is out now and you can also stream his music wherever you listen. We cover: Solstice's spiritual evolution from childhood Christianity, to militant atheism, to Buddhist studenthood, and finally to a grounded, non-dual, love-centered worldview.The idea that everything—yes, everything—is God, including darkness, discomfort, and so-called “evil.”A radical re-reading of the Bible through the lens of mysticism, metaphor, and personal development.How New Age material helped Solstice reconnect with the Bible in a more empowering and embodied way.The concept of “Love Your Judas”: seeing betrayal, pain, and hardship as portals to transformation.The distinction between sociological consciousness and love or God-consciousness—and why the latter is more liberatory.The limits of resistance: how being “anti-” something often recycles its energy and keeps us bound to it.

Connect with Bob, our guest: Instagram: @bobpeck His book: Original Sin is a Lie His podcast: Karmic Relief Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) RUN TOWARDS THE HARD SH*T (4 week conflict course) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Today, I’m joined by Bob Peck—author, award-winning filmmaker, mystic, and, dare I say, spiritual comedian. Fascinated by spirituality and philosophy from a young age, Bob has approached the spiritual path like a true connoisseur of the vast wisdom smorgasbord that is world religion. His deep knowledge of many traditions makes him a grounded and insightful guide, as he has demonstrated in his book Original Sin Is a Lie. With a warm heart, Bob invites us to explore the territory beyond dogma and uncover our true selves. Let’s get into it.

SIGN UP FOR RUN TOWARDS THE HARDSH*T www.hannawilliams.com/conflict Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Connect with Monica Alanna  Instagram:  @rooted.relating (coaching/grief counseling) @magicksalt (handmade jewelry, art, writing) www.magicksalt.com What happens when everything goes wrong — not metaphorically, but physically, viscerally, unavoidably wrong? In this episode, I sat down with Monica to talk about the night she shattered her leg on a sheet of ice… and the months of healing, surrender, and unexpected grace that followed. But this isn’t just a story about a medical emergency. It’s about what it means to truly need help. What it feels like to slow down when our culture demands speed. What communal care actually looks like — not the fantasy of “the village” many of us pine to return to, but the messy, beautiful, real thing. What the village will actually be like. We talk chronic illness, advocating for yourself in a broken healthcare system, receiving love when you're used to giving it, and the weird, tender tension of being both grossed out and grateful at the same time. This conversation is funny, raw, and deeply human. Content warning for medical details — some of the things discussed are a bit… body horror… but if you’ve ever felt like your body or life betrayed you, or wondered how to keep showing up for others and yourself, this one’s for you. We cover: What it’s really like to need help and receive careThe tension between hyper-independence and community supportAdvocating for yourself in broken systems (like healthcare)The messy, unglamorous reality of “the village”How crisis can reveal — and reshape — our relationships

Connect with my guest, Nataraj: Instagram: @nataraj.chaitanya natarajchaitanya.com patreon Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) RUN TOWARDS THE HARD SH*T (4 week conflict course) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) - Today, I’m joined by Nataraj Chaitanya—a seasoned yogi, philosopher, and teacher with over two decades of experience in classical Tantra, Mantra, Bhakti, and Yoga philosophy. Beginning his meditation and yoga practice at the age of 13, Nataraj has dedicated his life to sharing his embodiment of the transformative teachings of tantra, leading retreats, workshops, and teacher training programs worldwide. Now, as you’ll hear, Nataraj is my spiritual brother. We share a lineage — both of our gurus were disciples of Swami Muktananda, so we both have been influenced quite strongly by the flavor of his unique transmission. In future episodes, we want to speak more about the guru disciple relationship and how interesting and transformative it can be to hold a teacher in both their holiness and their humanity. But for now, we can all be blessed by the nectar of Nataraj’s presence. Sometimes when I speak with him my mind goes completely blank — but in a blissful way. I only ever have this experience with my own guru. So, that’s just to say that the Grace he radiates is not only palpable, but poppin. Enjoy!

Connect with me, Hanna, your host:  Instagram: @grace.pilled hannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc) patreon.com/gracepilled (join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!) Connect with Meredith, our guest:  Instagram: @gravesmeredith -- Today, I’m joined by Meredith Graves—musician, writer, and lifelong student of not only magic and all things western esotericism, but a deep devotee of awe and wonder. Known for her fierce presence in punk music and independent media, Meredith’s life has always been centered around her spirituality — like a nymph leaping from one career to another, it’s not about her role in the world. It’s about the way she engages with life, what she courts in all of her actions. A true, esoteric householder, if you ask me. As a dedicated magician, she weaves together art, ritual, history, and the hidden currents of the mystical traditions that penetrate every aspect of our lives. Like, no joke. Western civilization is quite literally a magical working. Now, Meredith is the epitome of a one line in human design, an encyclopedia of occult knowledge. We always have so much fun talking to each other — and so, this episode is actually part two because the first interview ended up getting published on my patreon. That one is a bit more biographical if you want to hear more about Meredith’s story. This one is a bit more like two nerds bouncing ideas off of each other for like two hours. So buckle up! Let’s dive in.