Slow-Living as a Way Home

When Water Teaches You To Let Go

What have you been holding that is ready to be released?
For years, I held everything. The grief. The anger. The fear. The sadness. I held it in my jaw, my shoulders, my chest, my stomach, in all the places the body stores what the mouth refuses to say.
I thought I was being strong. I thought if I just kept holding, kept enduring, kept swallowing it down… eventually it would go away.
But it doesn't go away. It becomes weight. It becomes exhaustion. It becomes that feeling of being tired in a way sleep can't fix.
In this episode, I share what water taught me about the opposite of holding — flowing. Not falling apart. Not losing control. But letting what needs to move… finally move.
We explore:
→ How we were taught to endure instead of feel
→ Why emotions are not problems to solve, they are teachers
→ What anger, grief, and sadness are actually asking of us
→ How the land teaches release through water, rain, and seasons
→ A guided water ceremony you can practice at home to release what you've been carrying
This episode includes a simple ritual using a bowl of water. You don't need anything special. Just water, a quiet moment, and a willingness to let go.
If your body has been speaking and you haven't been listening… this is your invitation to begin.
New episodes every Monday. Host: Antüpewma | Receive FREE  Guide to Remembering Your Natural Rhythm {Link}
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Your Heart Is Exhausted From Protecting Itself

Let's begin with a breath together.
Your heart is exhausted. Not just from working hard. Not just from responsibilities and bills. Your heart is exhausted from protecting itself—from staying defended every single moment, from never quite letting anyone in, from trying to stay safe by staying busy.
And here's what I'm learning: some of that protection is necessary. But not all of it is.
In This Episode:
Why your heart learned to protect itself (and why there's no shame in that)
The difference between necessary protection and habitual protection
A guided ritual of release to help you let go of protection you no longer need
My journey of reclaiming my Indigenous roots with the guidance of an elder
Key Teaching:
There's a difference between necessary protection and habitual protection.
Necessary protection keeps you safe when you're actually in danger.
Habitual protection keeps you defended even when you're home, even when you're with people who love you, even when you have a moment to rest but you can't because your heart has forgotten how.
Many of us learned habitual protection because at one point, it WAS necessary. We learned it from our parents who learned it from surviving things that required constant vigilance.
But now we're carrying protection we don't need anymore. Protection that's keeping us from connection, from rest, from being truly seen.
This Week's Practice:
Place your hand on your heart. Ask: "Am I protecting myself because I need to right now? Or out of habit?"
If you need to protect yourself—honor that. Keep your guard up. Stay safe.
But if you're actually safe in this moment—practice softening. Just one percent.
Whisper: "I'm here. You don't have to protect me so hard right now."
That's the medicine, mija.
About the Ritual:
This episode includes a ritual of release that requires:
Paper
Pen
A way to release it—either by burning it safely or burying it in the earth
If you're listening while driving, save the ritual for when you get home. Come back to it when you have a moment to be still.
A Note from Antüpewma:
I want to be honest with you—I'm not feeling well this week. I'm a little sick, and you might hear it in my voice. But I wanted to show up anyway because sometimes showing up isn't about being perfect. It's about being present.
I'm also sharing something vulnerable in this episode: I'm reclaiming my Indigenous roots. Much of what I'm learning about Mapuche cosmovision, I'm learning now with the guidance of an elder I've been working with since last year. I'm not speaking as someone who has always known this. I'm speaking as someone who is remembering.
Connect with Antüpewma:
Instagram: @iamdaniela.miranda Website: www.antupewma.com Email: dani@danimiranda.co
About Slow Living as a Way Home:
This is a space to breathe, to soften, and to return to the rhythm your ancestors trusted—ese ritmo más humano, más tuyo. Here, we move slowly, con corazón, listening for the quiet wisdom beneath the noise.
New episodes every Monday.
Land Acknowledgment:
I record this podcast on the ancestral lands of the Lenape people. I honor their past, present, and future, and acknowledge the ongoing effects of colonization.
Keywords: slow living, nervous system healing, Indigenous wisdom, Mapuche teachings, heart healing, protection, trauma healing, ancestral wisdom, decolonization, somatic healing, embodied practice, ritual, ceremony

Returning to Yourself Again and Again

How many times have you said yes when you meant no? Explained yourself in circles just to justify a boundary? Given so much that there was nothing left for you?
These aren't signs of kindness. They're signs of self-abandonment.
In this episode, I share what self-abandonment actually looks like, not just in the big dramatic moments, but in the small daily ways we leave ourselves behind through people-pleasing, over-giving, and over-explaining.
We explore the concept of stepping outside of yourself to live from fear, survival, and the need to be chosen. And I share the teaching that changed everything for me: the practice isn't to never lose yourself. It's to notice when you have, and choose to come back.
We close with a ceremony for returning to your territory a practice you can use anytime you've drifted from yourself.
This episode is for anyone who's been abandoning themselves to keep other people comfortable. For anyone who needs permission to finally come back home to themselves.
SHOW NOTES
IN THIS EPISODE:
[00:00] Opening: Checking in after the snow week
[01:00] Welcome + Breath: Nothing is being asked of you in this moment
[02:00] Personal Story: The daily ways I abandoned myselfPeople-pleasing, over-giving, over-explaining—and what it cost me
[06:00] Leaving Your TerritoryWhen you abandon yourself, you step outside your own land. Understanding self-abandonment through the lens of az mapu (right relationship) and why it's a survival strategy, not a personal failure.
[11:00] Ceremony: Returning to Your TerritoryA guided practice for noticing where you've left yourself and choosing to come back with love
[16:00] Integration + ClosingOne small return at a time—the practice of coming back to yourself again and again
 
CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:
If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs permission to stop abandoning themselves.
Leave a review to help others find this medicine.
Follow along for more episodes exploring slowness, ancestral wisdom, and coming back home to yourself.
LANGUAGE NOTE: This podcast weaves together English and Spanish naturally, honoring the way we actually speak and remember. You don't need to understand both languages to receive the medicine—your body will know what it needs to hear.
Tags
ancestral wisdom, healing, self-care, spirituality, mental health, Mapuche traditions, Indigenous wisdom, nervous system, embodiment, ceremony, slowness, mindfulness, people pleasing, boundaries, self-abandonment, emotional wellness, personal growth, Spanish, bilingual, self-love

Softness Is Not Weakness

For most of my life, I believed I had to be hard to be safe. Strong meant unbreakable. Protected meant building walls so high that nothing—and no one—could reach me.
Until my body said: Enough.
In this episode, I share the story of how my mami gave me a book during my divorce, The Knight in Rusty Armor, and how it became a mirror showing me that the armor I thought was protecting me was actually suffocating me.
Through personal story and ancestral wisdom, we explore what my ancestors understood that we've forgotten: real strength isn't about how much you can endure without breaking. It's about how well you can bend so you don't have to break at all.
We close with the Ceremony of Returning to Soft Earth; a practice that teaches your body how to soften by remembering that the Earth holds us not with rigidity, but with softness.
This episode is for anyone who has been holding too tight, armoring too long, or forgetting that softness is not weakness, it's survival.
SHOW NOTES
IN THIS EPISODE:
[00:00] Welcome + Signature OpeningSoftening into the space, remembering that nothing is being asked of you in this moment
[01:30] Personal Story: The Knight in Rusty ArmorHow my mami's gift during my divorce became a mirror for my own armor, and what I learned about the difference between strength and rigidity
[06:00] Ancestral Teaching: Adaptation Over DominationWhat my ancestors understood about softness—how they built homes that bent with the wind, raised children held in softness, and knew that yielding is not losing, it's adapting
[10:30] Ceremony of Returning to Soft EarthA Mapuche-inspired ceremony where you practice letting the Earth hold you with softness, teaching your body to receive rather than hold
[16:00] Integration + ClosingCarrying the medicine forward: you are allowed to be soft, to bend, to let life touch you without destroying you
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
The Knight in Rusty Armor by Robert Fisher
Ñuke Mapu (Mother Earth) in Mapuche cosmovision
The practice of receiving rather than holding
CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST: If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs permission to soften.
Leave a review to help others find this medicine.
Follow along for more episodes exploring slowness, ancestral wisdom, and coming back home to yourself.
LANGUAGE NOTE: This podcast weaves together English and Spanish naturally, honoring the way we actually speak and remember. You don't need to understand both languages to receive the medicine,your body will know what it needs to hear.
 

When the Wind Teaches You to Listen: Learning to Bend Instead of Break

For most of my life, earth was my teacher. It taught me how to root, how to ground, how to stay.But there came a time when I was holding so tight, I forgot how to move.That's when the wind arrived—insistent, almost rude in how it wouldn't let me ignore it.And it taught me something I had forgotten: real strength isn't staying rigid. Real strength is knowing how to bend.In this episode, I share:The moment wind taught me I was holding too tightWhat it means to listen to wind as a teacher, not just weatherWhy wind clears not only the land, but the spiritA guided practice to help you soften where you've been rigidI also share what my ancestors knew about wind—that it's not random. That it arrives when something needs to shift. That there are different winds, each bringing exactly what's needed.This isn't about becoming soft or weak. This is about remembering: you are not meant to be fixed. You are meant to move.So this week, when you feel the wind—pause. Let it touch you. Ask it what it came to teach. And then... listen.Slow-Living as a Way Home is a space to breathe, to soften, and to return to the rhythm your ancestors trusted. If you're tired of rushing through your life, this is for you.[00:00] Intro: Wind as teacher, not weather[01:30] My story: When I was holding too tight[04:30] What wind carries (and what it clears)[05:30] The wisdom of the four winds[08:30] Guided practice: Listening to wind[14:30] Integration: What to take into your week

Listen: The Earth Moves Slowly on Purpose

The Earth has been teaching slowness since the beginning—we just forgot to listen. In this episode about slow living, mindfulness, and sustainable personal growth, we explore three lessons nature offers: why real transformation happens underground, why rest and low-energy seasons aren't failures, and why small consistent daily habits matter more than dramatic life changes. If you've been struggling with burnout, feeling overwhelmed, or rushing through life trying to keep up, this is your invitation to remember what the Earth never forgot. Perfect for anyone seeking work-life balance, stress relief, and a more intentional life.

How to Slow Down in a World That Never Stops

In this tender threshold between years, we explore what it means to live unrushed—not as an ideal, but as a practice of staying with yourself when the season asks something hard.This episode honors the complexity of the holidays: the joy and the grief, the togetherness and the tension, the pressure to be ready for a new year when your body is asking you to rest.Drawing on Mapuche wisdom and the concept of küme mogen (living in right relationship), we remember that rushing isn't just about speed—it's about being out of relationship with your body, your grief, and the season's natural pace.Includes a gentle embodied practice for coming back to your own rhythm, even in the middle of everything.For those navigating loss, difficult family dynamics, or simply needing permission to move at your own pace—this one's for you, mija.

Your Nervous System Is Tired, Mija

Your nervous system is tired — not broken, not weak, not failing. Just tired from holding too much for too long.In this episode, we explore nervous system fatigue, burnout, and chronic stress through the lens of slow living, ancestral wisdom, and embodied healing. This is a gentle conversation for anyone who feels exhausted by constant urgency — especially immigrants, children of immigrants, caregivers, cycle-breakers, and those who have learned to survive in hyper-responsibility.Through breath, personal reflection, and lived experience, this episode reframes nervous system exhaustion as adaptation rather than failure. We also name a deeper truth: much of what is now called “nervous system regulation” comes from Indigenous lineages that were never meant to be extracted, optimized, or rushed.This episode invites you to slow down without guilt, reconnect with your body, and return to healing as relationship — not another thing to fix.You’ll also be guided through a simple, grounding practice with plant relatives — a small ceremony you can do anywhere, reminding you that rest, presence, and connection are already within reach.Perfect for listeners interested in:nervous system healing, burnout recovery, slow living, trauma-informed wellness, Indigenous wisdom, ancestral healing, rest practices, and embodied spirituality.Listen while driving, walking, or resting. Ceremony meets you where you are.

Respira, Mija: The First Step Back Home

In this episode, we explore slowness not as a luxury, but as ceremony—a way of returning to ourselves in a world that keeps asking for more. Through story, reflection, and gentle guidance, I share what it means to reclaim presence as a first-generation woman reconnecting with her ancestral rhythms. Together we walk through the core principles of slow living, turning everyday tasks into moments of intention and reverence. Whether you’re driving, moving through your day, or listening with both feet on the ground, this episode offers practical, embodied ways to slow down, breathe, and remember yourself again.If this episode speaks to you, share it with someone who needs the reminder that they don’t have to rush their way through life.

The Medicine of Moving Slowly

In this first episode, Antüpewma invites you into the ancient medicine of moving slowly. Through story, honesty, and a gentle guided practice, you’ll remember the pace your body was born to trust. Slowness isn’t laziness — it’s a way home. Breathe, soften, and return to the rhythm beneath the noise… ese ritmo más humano, más tuyo.