Las Doctoras Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 37: Celebrating Grief and Our Beloved Dead Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

As we approach Día de los Muertos, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina revisit the topic of grief and loss by speaking on their personal experiences loosing the people closest to them.

Dr. Renee reflects on her father’s death seven years later. From his final request (“If anything happens, write the book.”), to the chaos of having countless long-lost relatives flying in once it was clear the situation was grim, to the moment Dr. Renee realized that it was time to let him go nine days after being admitted to the hospital.

The time came for them to finally let her father go. But the real circus had not even begun. Dr. Renee remembers having to choose a mortuary and call up relatives from Mexico to give them the update—and at some point throwing her phone against the wall in exasperation. She and her family decided to go off-grid for a short time at the Griffith Observatory until their first meeting at the mortuary… on Thanksgiving morning.

During the final viewing, Dr. Renee recalls the interesting mishmash of visitors, from even more long-lost relatives, to her dad’s entire over-60 soccer team, to a squad of cop cars pulling up outside the building belonging to his colleagues from the police department.

Dr. Renee confesses that she had no idea how to put her father’s ashes in the urn. It was a hilariously dark scene involving a hasty display of siphoning, bits of bone, and her mother having to sweep some of the ashes off the kitchen counter. “My dad would have wanted us to laugh,” Dr. Renee says of that moment.

Dr. Renee shares that it was only after Santos was born months later that she was really able to begin her grief journey.

Finally, Dr. Cristina talks about her own experience losing her papá and abuela and reiterates the importance of celebration and showing up.

We need to destigmatize death and the grief that follows so that we allow ourselves to feel a full spectrum of emotions that, in turn, helps us further appreciate the completely natural—and supernatural—cycle of life and death. Dr. Cristina reminds us that our beloved dead are with us in a deeper way than they ever were in bodily form. Letting ourselves live the entirety of that experience of loss—which includes celebration—is the only way we truly appreciate that reality.

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Ep. 36: Why Facing Grief is the Beginning of Our Healing Journey with Tida & Soyeon Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina welcome Tida Beattie, a 1st generation Thai-American end-of-life doula, community educator, and grief activist; and Soyeon Davis is a 1.5 generation Korean-American end of life doula. Tida and Soyeon are the co-founders of MESO, which provides advocacy, assistance, and support to immigrant families dealing with chronic illness and/or aging.

Much of Tida and Soyeon’s work at Meso is a product of their lived experience. Having lost many family members of their own and discovering the lack of support for underserved and marginalized communities, the two were inspired to fill this shocking gap in American society by creating an exclusive space for their people.

Those in minority communities are culture bearers. It’s so easy for Asian-American to become disconnected from their cultural roots, especially because of systemic silencing alongside the fact that they often lack role models. Tida shares why it is vital to reclaim one’s rituals, practices, and beliefs that their ancestors have held onto before them.

Soyeon talks liminal space and shares her complex (but common) experience of being othered not just in America but in her native Korea as well. It is our responsibility, she says, to accept and embrace this grief, but then to reconcile with it in order to not pass it on to the next generation.

Finally, Tida and Soyeon explain their day-to-day work as life doulas and why they believe they serve as role models to the people they work with.

Ultimately, as life doulas to the underserved and marginalized, Tida and Soyeon are role models to the individuals they serve. They encourage us not to suppress or hide from our grief, but to address it head-on. By destigmatizing these conversations, we rediscover our heritage and kickstart the process of healing not just for ourselves, but for the future generations.

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Listen on Apple Itunes

Connect with MESO:

Follow MESO on Instagram: www.instagram.com/mesocommunity

Ep. 35: Elevating the Chicana Experience Through Writing with Ana Castillo Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Today, we welcome Chicana novelist, poet, playwright, and independent scholar Ana Castillo who has been at the forefront of publishing works on the socio-political realities of the Chicana experience, including race and gender issues, since the 1970s.

Ana reflects on the timeless impact of her work and recalls with great joy how fans would reignite that fire within her whenever they approach her to share how Massacre of the Dreamers, The Mixquiahuala Letters, and her other works inspired them.

“It’s always a risk,” says Ana, referring to her spontaneous approach to writing her books. She talks about how she and women who look like her serve as her greatest inspiration for each and every single one of her works.

Ana speaks on how she digs deep to be able to write from different perspectives (ex. her own son, an Amazonian chief, etc.) for different genres, particularly when it comes to memoirs and poetry.

Ana recounts a particularly notable experience reading a poem for an African American woman during her inauguration as the new president of the state university she graduated from.

One of our members asks Ana: “Is it easier to write about lesbianism in Spanish versus in English?”

An immigration attorney specializing in asylum cases explains how writing legal briefs is often heart-wrenching work. She asks Ana how she is able to navigate the difficulty of writing heavy material.

Finally, Ana is asked, “Who [exactly] is the dead?” in the Book of the Dead.

“What I write,” says Ana, “whether it’s poetry, nonfiction, or a novel really comes from what I need to write at that time.” More specifically, she writes for women who look like her, at any point in time she is inspired to pen a new book. She hopes that, through her work, she continues to honor the Chicana experience.

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Listen on Apple Itunes

Celebrating the Launch of Season 4: What to Expect Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

Season 4 has arrived! Dr. Renne and Dr. Cristina are rested and ready to launch into a new phase of the podcast and, of course, the community.

Having returned from their well-deserved rest in July, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina are raring to get back into action! But not before thanking the community, whether through the podcast, book club, writing course, or magazine. So much opportunity came out of this supportive and encouraging family, and the ladies are forever grateful!

Speaking of the book club, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina got a shoutout from FIERCE by mitú, who named them as part of their list of “Top 8 Latinx Book Clubs”. As their influence grows, they want to be able to use their platform to support Latino-owned businesses.

September is a big month! Listen in as Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina give updates on the magazine coming out on the 22nd, their upcoming retreat, and the month-end launch of their new sacred writing course.

Parenthood is such a vulnerable calling and forced Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina to tap even deeper into their spirituality than they ever had before having kids. They dive deep into how they aim to raise their kids in the new normal.

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina prepare to explore the complexities of masculinity, gender, and sex—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Finally, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina dissect what it means to claim the identity of bruja during a time when shamanism and spirituality are all the rage, commercialized, and at risk of being infected by the vestiges of colonization.

While today’s conversation marks new beginnings, it was also an “unpacking” for Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina: parenthood, race, sex, gender, capitalism, colonization—there is still much work to be done in navigating these tricky topics; but, it’s crucial to keep exploring them in-depth as we move forward into the new normal.

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Enroll in our Sacred Writing Course: https://lasdoctoras.net/sacredwriting

Ep. 33: A Celebration of Rest Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

This episode is centered around rest. “Rest” is not usually something you find on someone’s list of things to celebrate, but Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down to discuss exactly why the right amounts of rest, in the truest sense of the word, helps us move forward stronger and wiser with a renewed sense of purpose.

● Rest is something that helps us recover with more vigor to do the most important things in our lives. Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina note that capitalism always pushes us to rush and “strike while the iron is hot”; but, if we move without enough energy to actually do things effectively, what’s the point?

● It helps to create space in the calendar for rest. After all, if we’re using our sacred writing time to prepare for creation, rest factors into that process just as vitally as every other important activity that we schedule.

● There has been so much upheaval in the past year-and-a-half. Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina reflect on what Las Doctoras means to them. “Ultimately,” says Dr. Cristina, “the work we’re doing with Las Doctoras is about being able to live our lives according to our principles.”

● Rest is not “the cherry on top” of your day—it is the base of the cake! How do you build anything on a weak or shaky foundation?

● If celebration is revolution, when we celebrate rest, we take a stance against white supremacy, capitalism, and the patriarchy, who want us to go, go, go; who see us as just part of the machine. Let’s throw a wrench in the machine known as oppression by celebrating rest!

● “Lazy” is a social construct. Laziness doesn’t actually exist. What does that word even mean? Do you lack motivation? Then why not ask why you’re lacking it and find a way to get it! Get to the root of the issue and solve it instead of hiding behind the word “lazy”!

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina are inviting you, today, to veg out.

Rest comes in more forms than simply sleep. Whenever we relax our minds—whether by taking a walk in nature or sitting on the couch watching Netflix—we are engaging in an activity that will refresh, recharge, and revitalize us for the tasks ahead.

What’s your favorite way to engage in that wonderful activity we call “rest”?

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Ep. 32: Creating a Home for Us Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

This episode is centered around home. Whether an actual physical home or a community that makes you feel at home Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina touch on how to find your place of belonging, operate from a place of abundance, and do your part to build a world free of injustice by becoming more conscious of how you raise the next generation.

● Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina kick off this episode by sharing the importance of setting aside time and energy to recharge and refill your creative tank and nurture your spiritual life. They share how they do this through writing and the success their clients have had via their one-on-one sessions. If you’re interested in enrolling in the Sacred Writing Course, you can join the waitlist and hold your spot for the Fall session by sending an email to: lasdoctorasonline@gmail.com

● Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina are ramping up to release the summer issue of their magazine, Saint Lunita! Visit the magazine here: www.saintlunita.com

● Creating systemic change is possible if we make it a point to give from overflow into the people and communities we love and believe deserve better opportunities to rise in society. Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina share how they’ve tried to be more conscious about redistributing their own growing resources to those who need them most, including hiring more women of color.

● Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina talk alternative homes and the unfortunate reality of having so many barriers we have to overcome just to buy a place to live in.

● Your children’s school is their second home. Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina explain just how important it is for them to find a learning environment where their kids are accepted, loved, and feel safe in. They also reflect on their own experience in school and their goal to ensure their kids never have to grow up being forced to abandon parts of who they are.

● Capitalism, toxic masculinity, patriarchy, sexism, racism, and white-washing. There is still a lot of work to do, but Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina reassure us that every single person can make lasting change in their own household.

In spite of our shared adversity in the past year, and in spite of the sheer amount of division and vitriol still plaguing the country today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina find hope in the fact that more people than ever are speaking up.

“We know what we need to know to make some change in this generation and we are not going to not do that. We’re going to step into the empowerment of creating the safety and security we never had as children.”

It starts with our own families, in our own homes. If you have children, the one thing you can do to make an impact is to nurture an environment that loves the child, that encourages them to simply be their full selves. By empowering the next generation, parents everywhere can create a ripple effect that can eliminate the many systemic issues that continue to exist in 2021.

How are you building the safe place you call “home”?

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Ep. 31: You have a right to celebration Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

This episode is all about celebration! Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina have a lot to celebrate, so join them in shining light on jaw-dropping achievements, exciting news, and new opportunities for growth and connection.

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina kick off this episode by celebrating the sold out Sacred Writing Course and all that it has created for them and their community. In creating the spaces they need for themselves, they’ve held space for so many amazing women to connect to the sacredness of writing, express their creativity, feel empowered, and heal. If you’re interested in enrolling in the Sacred Writing Course, you can join the waitlist and hold your spot for the Fall session by sending an email to: lasdoctorasonline@gmail.com

Something else Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina are celebrating is their magazine, Saint Lunita! With all the support and investment they’ve received, they feel like they have created an incredible community hub with all types of powerful contributions, including art, essays, book reviews, and ancestral messages. This is truly a childhood dream come true! Visit the magazine here: www.saintlunita.com

Calling all CPAs, tax preparers, and lawyers! As Las Doctoras grows and expands, they’re looking for more people to join their team. If you’d like to offer your services, shoot them an email!

Dr. Cristina received the 2021 Catherine H. Jacobs Outstanding Faculty Lecturer Award at CSUDH! We’re hoping she uses the prize money to treat herself to something nice…

Dr. Renee reads and reflects upon the incredible review she received from the Women & Gender Studies department at Cal State. The work she does is who she is and it’s making an international impact. “To be seen by our departments, by our universities, for the work that we do… it’s just beyond,” she says.

Dr. Renee bought a house!! This is also a childhood dream come true and it means so much to her. Even though it was an emotional rollercoaster, she says, “The reason I was able to do it was because I didn’t have to pay my loan for a whole year.” That’s one result of the pandemic that’s worth celebration!

Dr. Cristina’s son will be going to a forest school! This is a major mom win for her, even though not everyone is super supportive of it…

With all of these milestones being reached, what has come up for them is that it’s not always easy for family and friends to be 100% supportive of their decisions and achievements. “It’s kind of coming back to what we were talking about before, like why we weren’t always sharing our podcasts. There’s this sense of legitimacy, like, “What is legitimate success?”… I think we are very much creating our own idea and version of success.”

If we operate from a scarcity mindset or a mindset of being unsafe, it can be difficult to celebrate even the biggest wins in life, especially other people’s wins. If we can celebrate ourselves and each other, we can lift each other up and feel safety and joy more often.

Don’t wait for the other shoe to drop. Shine light on the false narratives and stories you’re telling yourself that aren’t serving you so that you can move beyond them.

You deserve to see your childhood dreams come true just because you exist. You have a right to celebration. You have a right to feel successful. Other people’s ideas of success and celebration may be different than yours, but if you want to celebrate, go ahead and celebrate! Have the audacity to pursue your dreams, break the systems, change the f*cking world, and relish in it.

“For us, it is unpacking a lot of this stuff so that we can sit in the celebration and be present with it.”

What do you want to celebrate today?

Connect with Las Doctoras:

Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net

Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras

Ep. 30: F*ck the Dishes! Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

We’re celebrating 30 episodes with a special discussion about motherhood in the patriarchy. We’ll examine our own personal experiences with parenting and the emotional labor and expectations handed to women and femmes in a male-dominated society.

1:58 Announcing our latest “Writing to our Ancestors” course with a new series called “Sacred Writing.” Learn more about it here.

4:12 Launching our online magazine! Watch a Chisme Session with editor Selisa here.

7:58 Decolonizing Catholicism.

14:48 The unconscious expectations husbands put on their wives in motherhood.

24:30 The colonized and colonizer relationship. Navigating he patriarchy and dismantling white supremacy from a stance of intersectionality.

41:32 Rest as a birthright.

Ep 29: A Raw Conversation on Queering and Reclaiming Our Sexuality Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we discuss our own sexual journeys and the fluidity of sexuality as we age particularly as it relates to our sexual preferences. Join us for a a very raw conversation about sexuality, gender binaries and intimacy.

Ep. 28: Making Space for Latinx Books with Fabian Flores Publishing Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

We are inviting Norma back onto the show. She previously came onto the show to talk about her article on colorism in the family. Norma is a first-generation American and a Sagittarius. She is an attorney by trade and she started to write during her time as a stay at home mom. She was driven by a mission to share the stories of brown women raising their children.

After she published an article in the New York Times she started thinking about the power of representing her community through story, so she is starting a LatinX focused publishing house. In this episode, we discuss steps that we can take to cultivate better quality representation of LatinX stories and how to work through challenges the system presents to this mission.

15:02 - Reflections on 2020 as a year

24:00 - Cultivating quality representation of the LatinX community by building our own platform

34:55 - How the industry gatekeeper are silencing so many voices

40:23 - Stories being silenced before the writing process even begins

45:05 - Norma’s vision for her publishing house and her overall work

47:13 - How community can support the creation of new infrastructures that work for everyone

Links

Norma’s previous appearance on the show

Fabian Florez Publishing Website