Author: Ananda Leeke

Thriving Mindfully Coach + Author + Artist + Human Design Doula

Happy Yoga Monday: Discovering Mantra Magazine

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Photo Credit: MantraMag.com
Photo Credit: MantraMag.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

Last week, I was shopping in Whole Foods and discovered a fabulous new yoga resource, Mantra Magazine. Mantra Magazine is a holistic publication that meets so many of my yoga heart and soul needs. The cover story featured an interview with yoga activist and teacher, Seane Corn that revealed her thoughts about aging, body image, and celebration. I was moved by the following comments she made: “I love representing what a healthy 47-year-old looks like and I don’t want to be portrayed like I’m still 25. I earned this age and am grateful to still be in this body, and would like to role model aging in an empowered and unapologetic way.” Her comments reminded me to appreciate my 48 year old body, mind, spirit, and heart, especially when I am on my yoga mat at home or in class and find myself not being able to hold a pose for a long period of time. They also reminded me to be grateful for the body I do have and how it supports me in my yoga practice and life.

Photo Credit: MantraMag.com
Photo Credit: MantraMag.com

Special thanks to Mantra Magazine for creating a wonderful publication.

Happy Creativity Thursday: Collage Births My Holiday Spirit

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Happy Creativity Thursday!

Have you gotten into the holiday spirit yet? What was the driving force? Was it a song, commercial, memory, office party, tree with decorations, or a Starbucks hot beverage?

My holiday spirit arrived while working as an artist-in-residence for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and creating an interactive wall collage for staff at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sunday afternoon (see photo above). As I cut out images from magazines and asked staff about their holiday season traditions, my heart opened up to the beauty of the season. The beauty for me is captured best in a six-word memoir: joyful gratitude for family and friends.

Do you make holiday art and/or decorations?

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday: Celebrating My Favorite Mobile Apps in 2013

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Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

As we get closer to the final days of 2013, I am reflecting on my favorite digital experiences and tools. Today, I thought it would be great to share my two favorite digital tools for 2013: Pandora.com and VoiceBo mobile apps. First of all, I am so grateful that both of these apps are FREE to use.

Photo Credit: Pandora.com
Photo Credit: Pandora.com

My love affair with Pandora.com started a few years ago. This year, it intensified as I started using the app on my iPad at home (during my yoga, meditation, and writing practices) and when I traveled.

Photo Credit: VoiceBo
Photo Credit: VoiceBo

VoiceBo and I are in a very affectionate stage where I am relying on it more and more to create audio content for Digital Sisterhood Month’s morning reflections. I discovered VoiceBo last year when Cinchcast, my audio blog main squeeze, shut down. Click here to listen to my VoiceBo recordings (all are less than 5 minutes).

What are your favorite digital tools for 2013?

Happy Yoga Monday: My Best Yoga Moments in 2013

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Ananda & her yoga teacher Danielle Polen

Happy Yoga Monday!

On Saturday, I attended my yoga teacher, Danielle Polen’s yin/yang yoga class at Tranquil Space yoga studio. During the yoga class, Danielle encouraged me and my fellow classmates to set an intention for the holiday season. My holiday intention revealed itself as a six-word memoir during a child’s pose: surrender – joy – gratitude – patience – love – abundance. By the end of class, my six-word memoir intention had become my 2014 life intention.

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Ananda & Julia Coney

After class, I shared my intention with my yoga digital sister, Julia Coney (@juliaconey on Twitter). I also thanked her for referring me to The Way of the Happy Woman by Sara Avant Stover. This year, Stover’s book helped me deepen my commitment to self care and my home yoga practice.

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While I was at Tranquil Space, I had a chance to learn more about my fellow Fabulous Women Business Owner DC member June’s new skincare line, lilikoi living living. It is lovely and makes for a wonderful holiday gift.

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Ananda at Tranquil Space

As I was walking home from Tranquil Space, I realized my best yoga moments in 2013 occurred while I was practicing yin yoga at home and with my Tranquil Space community in Danielle’s classes. What a yoga blessing!

What are your 2013 best yoga moments?

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PS: If you are in DC and looking for yoga-inspired holiday gifts, stop by Tranquil Space.

Happy Creativity Thursday: My Most Creative Moment in 2013

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Happy Creativity Thursday!

2013 is winding down quite nicely for me. Today, I started thinking about my favorite creative moments. Hosting the my October book launch party for Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery was my most creative moment. See photo collage above.

What was yours?

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday: A Day of Internet Geek Brainstorming

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Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

I spent the day with Willard Stanback, a fellow Internet Geek, entrepreneur, and lawyer, brainstorming about our 2014 business plans at Busboys and Poets and the U Street Cafe in Washington, DC. Our brainstorming session was organic and filled with lots of sharing. We gave each other feedback on our goals and projects. We also introduced key people from our networks to each other. Thanks to Willard I was able to chat with three people who I can learn a lot from in 2014. What an empowering day!

Do you have brainstorming sessions with fellow Internet Geeks?

Happy Yoga Monday: Yoga in Winter

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Happy December and Happy Yoga Month!

December is my birthday month. It offers me a chance to reflect and give thanks for the blessings and lessons I have learned during the past year. Yoga is one of my greatest blessings.

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December also offers me a chance to prepare for yoga in winter. This year, I am reading the winter yoga sections of Sara Avant Stover’s The Way of the Happy Woman to create my home practice. 

This week, my morning and evening yoga practices are filled with some of the new poses I have discovered in Stover’s book. My iPad is set to Pandora.com’s Wah! Station. The music is OM groovy OM! It slows me down and allows me to feel the beauty of my spirit, heart, body and mind as I move in and out of each pose. It reminds me to be kind and gentle with myself. What a great way to bring yoga into my world during the holiday season!

What’s happening in your yoga world this holiday season?

Happy Creativity Thursday and Happy Thanksgiving: Power of Play in Creativity

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Happy #CreativityThursday!  Happy Thanksgiving!

I started my day with the 21 Day Meditation Series sponsored by Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra. Today’s theme is “Creative Me.” The message of the day discussed how play opens the pathways for creativity to flow freely. It reminded me of two children I have been playing with in my work as an artist-in-residence for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the past two weeks.

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Our creative play afternoon sessions have been filled with laughter, water color painting,  coloring, clay sculptures, and colored pencil and magic marker drawings (see photos of our artwork above). They have opened my heart wider and inspired me to play more with collages in my life.

How are you adding more play to your creative life?

Happy Yoga Monday: Creating Mini Yoga Moments at Home

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Happy Yoga Monday!

It’s cold in DC this week. The winter weather inspired me to prepare a list of mini yoga moments I could create at home. Today’s mini yoga moment started with a juicy child’s pose that helped me release my to do list. It opened the door to a tall glass of lemon ginger tea, a little reading from the December issue of Yoga Journal, and a yoga-inspired listening session courtesy of Pandora.com. It ended with another child’s pose that allowed me to reach for my mala beads. As I touched the beads, I gave thanks for the day’s blessings.

Are you creating mini yoga moments?