Decolonizing Spirituality, Sacred Sound & Building Communities of Care with Stephanie Keiko Kong

What if the most radical spiritual act available to you right now is saying hello to your neighbor? In this episode, Eileen is joined by Stephanie Keiko Kong — public speaking and digital marketing strategy coach, theater artist, yoga therapist, and community weaver whose practice centers BIPOC, femme, and queer thought leaders. Growing up in Hawaii with a deep land-based relationship to the natural world, Stephanie brings a perspective on spirituality that is at once ancient, practical, and quietly revolutionary. This conversation wanders beautifully in ways that will light up your mind and body. From Sanskrit mantra and self-hypnosis to the psychedelic power of group singing, from the colonization of our bodies to the radical simplicity of hyper-local community care. It's one to sit with and return to. In this episode: - Growing up in Hawaii with a land-based spiritual practice and the heartbreak of realizing not everyone lives this way - The divine mundane: how a cup of tea, a Beyonce song, or a slice of bread can be a portal to the sacred - Years of dedicated Sanskrit mantra study and the humbling moment of realizing she'd been missing the whole point - The "transcendence bias" hiding inside Western interpretations of Eastern spiritual traditions - Self-hypnosis, group singing, and drumming at 147 BPM... a few of the many doorways into non-ordinary states of reality - Why plant medicine is compelling for so many Westerners, and what it offers that hasn't yet been colonized - "Severance from land is empire's first consent violation" — a teaching from Ihilani Cho that reframes everything - The magic of hyper-local community care and why change at that scale is both simple and inevitable - Curiosity as a revolutionary practice, a spiritual foundation, and the prerequisite for genuine compassion - Playing Hamlet as the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival's first ever non-binary Hamlet, and what that meant for the queer arts community in Honolulu *"Thank you for staying curious in a world that would rather have you smile and nod and shut up."* — Stephanie Keiko Kong Find Stephanie on [Instagram](@PonyPonytail) Sign up for Stephanie's email list at her website  Check out Stephanie's upcoming program Liberatory Leadership beginning in late July Join me for the next Wheel of the Year Ceremony Subscribe to Eileen on Substack Take the Which Witch Are You Quiz Order [Awaken to the Magic Within](⁠https://www.myluminouslife.ca/awaken-to-the-magic-within⁠) Connect with Eileen on Instagram  Follow Eileen on Insight Timer  Send Eileen an [email](eileen@myluminouslife.ca%E2%81%A0)