Author: Ananda Leeke
Thriving Mindfully Coach + Author + Artist + Human Design Doula
Read WH.GOV Q&A with the First-Ever Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman.
Poetry Month Day #14: “OM” Poem
Happy Day #14 of National Poetry Month!
Today’s poem is inspired by my yoga practice. It is entitled “Om” which is the sound of creation.
Om
Nature invites me to bring my practice outside
My yoga mat and I travel up the street and into Malcolm X Park.
Waterfalls greet us as the Sunday morning sun kisses my skin.
I breathe in and bow to Creator, Mother Nature, and myself.
As I exhale, I set an intention for my time on the mat.
My hands rest in prayer against my chest as I take several cleansing breaths.
After each breath, I allow the space in between the next breath to expand.
It makes room for a series of Oms.
Their echo disappears, but their vibration remains.
They merge into the vinyasa flow of my sun salutations.
I lose track of the number I have completed.
Sitting in the silence, I allow Om to stay.
Copyright 2015 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: Barbara Boyles
#InternetGeek Tuesday: #InternetGeekat50 Lesson 6 #SocialCivics
Happy #InternetGeek Tuesday!
#SocialCivics is #InternetGeekat50 Lesson 6. For me, #SocialCivics occurs when people use their digital presence:
1) To express their digital citizenship support of causes, campaigns, and initiatives they are passionate about.
2) To engage with their local, state, and national governments, community organizations, social service agencies, and other stakeholders.
Today, I used my digital presence to promote, support, and engage in conversations about Equal Pay Day. Most of the conversations I had happened on Facebook and Instagram, the places you are most likely to find traces of my digital footprint on a weekly basis. Here are some of the images I shared.
My heart jumped with joy as I saw so many related images being shared today. It reminded how powerful we are when we choose #SocialCivics as a daily practice.
What does #SocialCivics mean to you?
Poetry Month Day #13: “Possibilities” Poem
Happy Day #13 of National Poetry Month!
Today’s poem is entitled “Possibilities.” It is inspired by three things.
1) A wisdom quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
2) My memory of seeing Hillary Clinton give her “women’s rights are human rights” speech at the UN Fourth World Conference in Beijing, China in 1995.
3) Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she is running for President of the United States yesterday.
Possibilities
Each woman who came before me dreamed of something better.
They are my champions.
Their dreams and sacrifices are my possibilities.
They sacrificed with faith and without even knowing what better would mean.
Their sacrifice created freedom to define myself for myself just as Mama Audre Lorde instructed.
Their legacy of walking with faith fuels my choices to express my freedom when I doubt myself, fear sets in, and I think I cannot do what I dream of doing.
Their ancestral spirits cheer me on as I choose to do the things I think I cannot do.
Their love helps me manifest possibilities into realities.
And for this I bow my head in gratitude, give thanks, and say Amen.
Copyright 2015 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
#YogaMonday: #Yogaat50 Lesson 6 OPPORTUNITY
Happy #YogaMonday!
OPPORTUNITY is #Yogaat50 Lesson 6. When I was studying to become a yoga teacher at Flow Yoga Center in 2005, I had a homework assignment that required a definition of yoga. Here’s the definition I created and continue to use in my yoga practice, classes, and workshops: YOGA is Your Opportunity to Graciously Accept yourself and life in the present moment. What is your definition of yoga? What opportunity has yoga offered you?
Poetry Month Day #12: “Be” Poem
Happy Day #12 of National Poetry Month!
Today’s poem is entitled “Be.” It celebrates living in the present moment. How do you stay in the present moment?
Be
Outside
Mind dominates.
Inside
Heart leads.
Breathe.
Stillness exist.
So I can rest, renew, and reconnect.
So I can BE!
Copyright 2015 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: Panache Desai
Poetry Month Day #11: “Accountability” Poem
Happy Day #11 of National Poetry Month!
This year, my accountability partner Nia and I decided to celebrate our accomplishments each quarter. Today is our first celebration. In preparation for our celebration, I reviewed the list of January, February, and March accomplishments I wrote in my Eleanor Roosevelt-inspired journal (the quote on the cover is a great daily reminder) earlier this week.
As I read the list, I was filled with deep gratitude for the accountability relationship and practice Nia and I have created. Having her support is one of the reasons I have been able to believe in and manifest the beauty of my dreams. Today’s poem, “Accountability” is inspired by the work we have done to help manifest our dreams in 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. Do you have an accountability practice or partner? How has the practice and/or partner helped you believe in and manifest the beauty of your dreams?
Accountability
My spirit whispers at midnight.
Those whispers travel into my sleep and become sacred dreams that call my name.
They invite me to manifest them in my life.
I wake up filled with ideas.
My day passes into the next.
The ideas lay dorment.
They need a lot of help to come alive.
So I sit down at my desk to create a plan.
Steps are outlined.
Deadlines are set.
It looks like I’m ready to move forward, but I’m not.
Fear creeps in.
I allow it to build a barrier.
Nothing gets done.
Frustration sets in.
I convey my feelings to a good sistafriend.
She shares a similar story and suggests we create an accountability relationship and weekly practice to manifest our dreams.
I get excited and say “YES.”
We agree to support each other with micro task texting, email resources, and weekly check- in sessions via telephone.
Our check-in sessions discuss what went well, what did not go well, what the next week’s focus includes, how we celebrated, what we are looking forward to, and what we need help with.
I decide to journal about my daily priorities and accomplishments.
Within months, I begin to manifest some of my dreams.
Guess what else happens?
By year’s end, I am living with more commitment, confidence, and courage to be who I was created to be.
A woman who manifests the beauty of her dreams with accountability!
Copyright 2015 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
Poetry Month Day #10: “Success” Poem
Happy Day #10 of National Poetry Month!
This week, I completed Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra’s Manifesting True Success 21-Day meditation series. Meditating each day on the wisdom they shared and chanting sacred mantras helped me redefine SUCCESS and plant new seeds of what it means in my spirit, heart, mind, and body. Here are some of the key takeaways from this experience.
They inspired today’s poem “Success” (see below). How do you define success?
Success
Had to come in from the world because how I was being, thinking, living, and doing wasn’t working for me anymore.
I didn’t know what was gonna happen from moment to moment or day to day.
I just knew I needed to turn within and spend time decluttering my spirit, mind, and body so I could embrace my wholeness with an open heart.
As I reconnected with myself from inside of the Inside, my fears of failure, not being or having enough, and unworthiness visited me.
I tried to run from them, but there was no place to hide.
Meeting them face-to-face was my only option.
Our first, second, third, fourth, and fifth dates were horrendous because I was standing in a place of resistance.
Things got a little better when I decided to surrender and embrace the courage to sit with my fears right next to me.
Guess what?
They’re still sitting next to me and we’re still meeting face-to-face as I excavate, understand, and work to release their root cause.
Some days this process feels like a really bad root canal.
Other days it feels Lionel Ritchie singing “it’s easy like Sunday morning.”
In the midst of it all, I am learning to trust myself and not what does or does not happen in life.
And my definition of success is being reframed based on who I am and how I value my uniqueness from the inside out.
Copyright 2015 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: ChopraMeditation.com
#FierceLiving Friday: #FierceLivingat50 Lesson 5 ENCOURAGEMENT
Happy #FierceLiving Friday!
ENCOURAGEMENT is #FierceLivingat50 Lesson 5. Yesterday, my accountability partner Nia and I decided to go walking and talking in Wheaton Mall in Wheaton, Maryland (since it was cold outside and ABC Scandal was on hiatus!). During our hour-long walk, we laughed, shared, window shopped, danced in the aisles at DSW and the Guess Jeans store, smelled candles and tried lotions at Bed Bath & Beyond, drank the passion mint sample tea at the Teavana store (yummy), and talked about how we support each other. Our conversation reminded me of the power we each have to encourage ourselves and each other.
That’s why I took some time today to text several family members and friends encouraging messages by author Panache Desai that I like to read on Facebook. How do you encourage yourself and others?
Photo Credit: Panache Desai
Ananda Leeke 