Ep. 46: Denise Hancock

I'm passionate about finding ways to bring our spiritual practice into our everyday life. It's easy to cleave the two, or think that we can't bring our full spiritual selves into the world. I think both the world and we suffer that way.Denise Hancock is an extraordinary example of what grounded, real-life practice can achieve. She’s a nurse educator by day, and astrologer by night. Like me, she uses astrology as a tool to help navigate a complex, changing world — not some esoteric soothsaying practice. In our chat, she admits to having a lot of earth in her chart, and you can feel it in the conversation. Denise is grounded and steady. Her spiritual practice doesn’t send her into outer space — it brings her back to reality.What delighted me most about this conversation thought: Denise shared her daily practices with us, and examples of how she brought that practice into her work as high-risk maternal newborn nurse. She noticed her patients did better when she was grounded. Her examples of daily, even hourly practice are an example for all of us.I think we’ve been sold a story that spiritual practice is separate from “real life.” It’s a respite from work, our “sanctuary” that safe from the evil outside world. But what if it’s the opposite? What if those practices were actually designed to help us be more present in the world? What if our practice allowed us to be more present, more grounded, and more intentional in every moment?Denise and I also got into astrological magic, manifestation, and I share my hesitancy about manifestation being ego-driven. We ended with Denise’s beautiful exploration of her core principle of “Stewardship”. How do we care for something as if its our own without getting attached?I think you’ll recognize yourself in this conversation. I certainly did.Episode 46 Chapters:* 00:00 Growing Up Between Faiths* 06:22 The Education That Changed Everything* 12:04 Astrology Meets the Bedside* 24:02 Morning Ritual as Anchor* 35:15 The Ego vs. the Universe* 46:21 Stewardship as Spiritual North StarDenise Hancock, PhD, RN, is a New Orleans-based astrologer and nurse educator who brings professional training and real-world experience to every reading. She combines natal-chart clarity, grounded forecasting, and practical guidance to help clients navigate career shifts, relationships, and life transitions. Denise also teaches classes, writes forecasts, and serves as a senior editor for The Evolving Astrologer magazine.Connect with Denise:* 🌙 Astrology with Denise: AstrologyWithDenise.com* 📍 Organization for Professional Astrologers (OPA): https://opaastrology.org/* 📸 Denise’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legendarydenise/Work With Vera* 📅 Coaching discovery call: veralester.as.me/coaching-discovery* 📸 Instagram: @verarocks* 📨 Subscribe: https://substack.com/@veralester* 🗓️ Upcoming events: https://linktr.ee/veralester* 🌐 Connect: veralester.comBooks & Resources Mentioned:* 📖 Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living by John McQuiston* 📖 Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza* 📖 The Placebo Effect by Joe Dispenza#CuriousHearts #DeniseHancock #Astrology #Spirituality #Manifestation #Mindfulness #SpiritualPractice #Nursing #PersonalGrowth This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit veralester.substack.com/subscribe