Happy First Day of Summer! Happy Summer Solstice!

Summer is a great time to slow down and take better care of ourselves. When I say self-care, I am talking about anything you use to nurture your spirit, heart, mind, body, breath, and life (that is legal … the lawyer in me loves to say legal!).

The first six months of 2019 have been SUPER BUSY for many of us. Does that sound like you? It’s definitely ME. I didn’t realize how much I needed to slow down and deepen my self-care practices until I had an emotional meltdown a few weeks ago and realized I had been giving a lot of myself to my business without really taking great care of myself. That realization came while sitting in a workshop facilitated as a part of the lululemon luminaries program I was selected to participate in. Thanks to the folks at lululemon and WE and my amazing 19 fellow luminaries, I am using the program to re-invest in my self-care.

Listen to my Thriving Mindfully Podcast here to learn more about my lululemon luminary experience.

Join the Thriving Mindfully Summer of Self-Care

My journey as a lululemon luminary inspired me to launch the Thriving Mindfully Summer of Self-Care. It’s a three-month journey designed to do three things in our lives.

1. Remember and accept we are worthy of and deserve self-care.
2. Nurture our spirit, heart, mind, body, breath, and life with self-care each day.
3. Offer ourselves a dose of the Big 5 — loving kindness, compassion, patience, nonjudgment, and forgiveness — when we don’t show up fully and practice self-care the way we’d like to.

I invite you to join me on this self-care journey that will include online and DC-based meditation and mindfulness classes and workshops, inspiring blog and social media posts, and videos and podcasts with reflections, journaling exercises, guided meditation, tips, and resources.

Wanna know what Thriving Mindfully is? Listen to the Thriving Mindfully Podcast here.

SPECIAL MESSAGE

You can start the journey at any point during the three-month period. Only do what resonates with your spirit. Go at your own pace. Use everything I am providing in the way that best suits you. Take what works and leave the rest behind.

Let’s Get Started: Centering & Journaling Exercise About Your Self-Care Journey

Take a moment to get your favorite journal, paper, and pen. While you’re at it, get your favorite beverage and snack.

When you are ready and settled, take five to seven deep breaths. Allow yourself to breathe normally and naturally as you notice how your body feels. Become aware of where you feel your breath most in the body. Take a moment to appreciate yourself for taking a self-care break in your day. Take three deep cleansing breaths — inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. When you’re done, read the questions below and write your responses in your journal or on your paper. Take as much time as you need.

• What’s your self-care journey?
• What your first self-care memory as an adult?
• What does self-care look like in your life now?
• What do you want self-care to look like in your life this summer

Journaling Exercise About Your Self-Care Rituals

My self-care journey started 30 years ago. I was fresh out of law school. My days were filled with bar exam preparation. My stress level was at an all-time high. Overwhelmed was my first, middle, and last names. My mom suggested I start walking to release some of the stress. Thanks to her I started a walking self-care practice that grew into jogging and later running.

My fitness exercise became a self-care ritual (a ritual is an act or behavior done on a regular basis). Sipping tea in the morning; buying flowers for my home; practicing meditation, yoga, and reiki; saying positive affirmations; reading astrology updates and new thought spiritual devotionals; burning incense, sage, and candles; making vision boards; wearing and using crystals and chakras; journaling; chanting mantras with my mala beads; using African goddess and other tarot, archetype, and healing cards; listening to sound Tibetan healing bowls and other healing music; attending sound baths; and observing the new and full moons, equinoxes, and solstices entered my life years later. They also became self-care rituals.

Get your journal and pen out. Before you being writing, take five to seven deep breaths. Allow yourself to breathe normally and naturally as you notice how your body feels. Become aware of where you feel your breath most in the body. Take a moment to appreciate yourself for taking a self-care break in your day. Take three deep cleansing breaths — inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. When you’re done, read the questions below and write your responses in your journal or on your paper. Take as much time as you need.

• Do you have any self-care rituals?
• How do they make you feel?
• What kind of self-care rituals would you like to incorporate into your life this summer?

PODCAST RESOURCES TO HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR SELF-CARE JOURNEY

My Thriving Mindfully Podcast series has tons of resources you can use to support your self-care journey. I have included a few episodes below that may help you deepen your understanding and practice of self-care. Enjoy and remember to listen to the episodes that really resonate with your spirit, heart, mind, and body. Take what you need from each episode and leave the rest behind. Do what works for you boo!

 

• Episode: What is your self-care journey?
• Episode: Investing in mindful self-care and lululemon luminaries
• Episode: Mindful self-care and the power of rituals
• Episode: Practice self-care with a recipe of weekly themes during the Thriving Mindfully Summer of Self-Care
• Episode: It’s time to create a mindful self-care toolkit

Take the Thriving Mindfully Summer of Self-Care Pledge

Before you begin the three-month journey, take the Thriving Mindfully Self-Care Pledge. It will help you honor your self-care commitment.

Prep Tips for the Pledge

Before you take the pledge, take a moment to get still with five to seven breaths. Read the pledge to yourself two or three times. Let the words sink into your spirit, heart, mind, and body. Take five or more minutes to reflect on the the first and second statements that have fill-in the blanks. Turn the reflection into a journaling exercise.

Listen to the Thriving Mindfully Podcast here or watch the video below to learn more about the pledge and how it can help you.

 

Thriving Mindfully Summer of Self-Care DC and Online Workshops and Classes

Be sure to check out the schedule of workshops and classes here (more dates will be added in the coming weeks). Some workshops and classes will be held in DC and others will be held online via Facebook Live and Zoom. I hope you will join me at one or more of them!

DC Events

Workshops

• Celebrate the Summer Solstice Workshop on June 21st from 8:30-10PM at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC ($20)
• RECHARGE! workshop on July 7th and August 4th from 6:30-8:30 PM at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC ($35)
• Open Your Heart to Mindful Creativity Workshop on July 21st from 6:30-8:30PM at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC ($35)
• Be Mindful at Work Workshop on August 18th from 6:30-8:30PM at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC ($35)

Weekly and Monthly Classes

• Free Mindful Monday Meditation class on Mondays from 6:15-7:30 PM at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW
• Free Thriving Mindfully Meetup Group’s Monthly Saturday Morning Meditation Class in Malcom X Park on Saturdays, June 29, July 13, August 24, and September 14 from 9:30-10AM. Visit the Meetup page for more details.

Online Events

• Free Facebook Live Meditation Classes on Tuesdays, June 25, July 16th, August 6th, and September 10th from 9-9:30PM ET – Facebook.com/AnandaLeeke64
• Open Your Heart to Mindful Creativity Workshop on June 30th from 7-9PM ET via Zoom ($35)
• RECHARGE! workshops on July 6th and August 3rd from 3-5PM ET via Zoom ($35)
• Open Your Heart to Mindful Creativity Workshop on July 23rd from 8-10PM ET via Zoom ($35)
• Be Mindful at Work Workshop on July 28th from 6-8PM ET via Zoom ($35)
• Mindful Communication with Self and Others on August 24th from 3-5PM ET via Zoom ($35)