Death, loss, and grief happen to each of us throughout our lifetime.

There’s no way to escape them. They CHANGE us and our lives without any notice. They are filled with MESSY, and HARD moments that leave us feeling overwhelmed, sad, afraid, angry, depressed, out of control, and so much more.

In the past 59 years of living on Mother Earth, I have learned that death, loss, and grief are a master class in SURRENDER.

They humble and teach us that we do not have any control over when they show up and show out in our lives. If we resist them, we create more suffering and struggles. If we surrender to them, we open ourselves up to receive their sacred medicine of healing, growth, and transformation.

Surrendering to death, loss, and grief begins when we choose to befriend ourselves.

Befriending ourselves starts with being S.O.F.T.

That means we SLOW down and OFFER ourselves FREEDOM TODAY.

The FREEDOM is grace, space, and time to get grounded, feel our emotions, practice self-care, and seek safe and trusted support.

The TODAY is the present moment — giving ourselves what we need to care for ourselves right where we are and with what we have.

Thriving Mindfully with death, loss, and grief is a heart-centered journey we choose to take when we are willing to be vulnerable with ourselves.

The Thriving Mindfully journey invites us to:

-Become aware of and define what death, loss, and grief currently mean to us,

-Explore our beliefs and previous experiences with death, loss, and grief,

-Set intentions on how we want to relate to them, and

–Create and use a self-nurturing toolkit that honors our unique needs.

This year, I am sharing the lessons I have learned while navigating my mom Theresa’s transition in the monthly Grief + You Retreat.

The Grief + You Retreat is designed to encourage and support you in learning how to embrace Thriving Mindfully with death + loss + grief.

The Grief + You Retreat is a two-day nurturing experience (90 minutes for the first day and two hours for the second day) that will be held on September 28-29, October 26-27, November 16-17, and December 7-8 at 2-3:30 PM ET (second day is 2-4 PM ET) via Zoom.

Participating in a retreat is a great way to make yourself a priority. A retreat helps you carve out time and space and take responsibility for yourself. When you take responsibility for yourself, you begin to see your full self. A retreat gives you an opportunity to take responsibility for identifying your vulnerabilities, challenges, wins, and losses. A retreat can also help you set intentions and create shifts in how you choose to show up in your life, relationships, career, and business.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE RETREAT

“The Retreat provided a safe container to be in community with others around my grief story, our grieving process. It allowed me to be vulnerable with myself and others. It reminded me of how to show up for myself and be in close company with my process all at the same time. I’ve been keeping grief at arms distance since November, and I signed up knowing that you would be a trusted guide. I really appreciated the inquiry-based approach to understanding my relationship with grief. I’ve been working my way through the answers over the past week. Some are easier than others to respond but the heightened awareness has been helpful. The gentle yoga and movement breaks, reminders to breathe, were very helpful during the retreat. Thank you for making space to allow so many emotions and feelings and experiences to show up, be witnessed without judgement. I really appreciated all the safeguards you implemented for personal choice to engage in the retreat space in a way that brought the most comfort and sense of security.” Karla T., a television professional

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS AT THE RETREAT

During the Grief + You Retreat, I will hold space for you to:

-Be present, vulnerable, and share in a sacred and safe community

-Participate in a mindful moment and meditation that will help you get grounded in your body and breath and teach you how to nurture yourself when you experience emotions caused by death, loss, and grief

-Define what death, loss, and/or grief mean to you.

-Reflect on and journal about the emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences you’ve had about death, loss, and/or grief, especially during the pandemic years

-Identify how you have or have NOT taken care of yourself when you experience death, loss, and/or grief

-Learn about the seven stages of grief and how you they may be showing up in your life

-Reflect on and set an intention about normalizing your conversations about death, grief, and loss and the type of relationship you would like to have with them

-Use your reflections and journaling to begin writing a love letter to yourself and your story (stories) about death, loss, and grief

-Learn self-nurturing practices and tap into ancestral medicine you can use to support yourself when you experience death, loss, and/or grief

-Learn how to use the Thriving Mindfully framework to create a self-nurturing toolkit you can use when you experience death, loss, and/or grief

YOUR INVESTMENT – $125

Click the button below to register for the retreat that works best for you. Tell your family and friends to join you.

Change happens each day.

Change shows up in our spirit, heart (emotions), mind, body, relationships, career, and community.

Many of us resist change because we are afraid of it and/or want to control what’s happening.

When we resist it, change often becomes more messy, overwhelming, chaotic, and/or stressful.

What would happen if you learned to befriend yourself and change when it shows up?

If you’re interested in gaining tips on how to navigate change, join me for the Thriving Mindfully Circle, a monthly 30-minute session, that will introduce you to the Thriving Mindfully approach, a heart-centered awareness and approach to being present, well, and the REAL YOU no matter what’s happening.

Click the button below to register for the dates that work best for you. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom.

Each Thriving Mindfully Circle offers you a pay what you can option. All you gotta do is click the pay what you can button and select your own fee. No one will be turned away!

Join me on Saturday morning for a community meditation that offers space to remember our fathers, fathering folk, male ancestors, and inner father via Zoom. Click the button below to register.

Hey there!

The impact we make in our life, family, community, and career/business starts with how we love and care for ourselves.

During the early days of the global pandemic in 2020, I made a commitment and set an intention to press the reset button on how I love and care for myself in deeper ways.

My commitment and intention helped me lay the foundation to release my definition of success and embrace making an impact in my community and the world in small, medium, and big ways in 2022.

I talk about my personal journey of redefining success and realizing that making an impact is more important to me with Mindful Techie founder Meico Whitlock, my soul brothalove and accountability partner, on his Dear Mindful Changemaker Podcast. 

During the episode, I share how my purpose is to impact one person per day through various means, such as coaching, art, prayer, and reiki. I emphasize the importance of using my gifts, talents, skills, and intuition to make a positive difference in someone’s life.

Click the video below to listen to the episode.

UPCOMING EVENT THIS WEEK

Click the button to sign up for the Spring Reset.

NEWS: INTERVIEW WITH JOURNALIST MARIA BOYNTON

On May 12, 2024, journalist Maria Boynton, host of Atlanta Up Close on News – Talk 1380 WAOK-FM, invited Ananda Leeke to share what it means to mother yourself when you are grieving your mother.

Durng the interview, to Ananda discussed the peaceful transition of her mother Theresa B. Gartin Leeke and how she has used her Thriving Mindfully Academy’s five self-love languages to navigate her grief journey.

The interview highlights information Ananda shared in her article, “Mothering Yourself as You Grieve Your Mother” that was published on Black Health Matters website. Go here to read the article.

LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT THAT WAS POSTED ON THE THRIVING MINDFULLY PODCAST BELOW.

JUNE EVENT

Click the button to sign up for the Monthly Grief + You 2-Day Retreat on June 29-30.

Writing the article about grieving my mom Theresa’s physical absence on Mother Earth was very healing.

Click here to to read the article.

Many thanks to my soul sistalove Corynne Corbett, Editorial Director at Black Health Matters, for inviting me to share my grief journey.

Click the button below to register.

It’s May 3rd. Nine days away from Mother’s Day. The first Mother’s Day without the physical presence of my mother Theresa B. Gartin Leeke. Knowing this is about to happen has got me in my feelings. 

CONFESSION: I’ve been feeling waves of grief rising up in my heart and body around experiencing Mother’s Day without my mom Theresa on Mother Earth since Easter Sunday. 

On Easter, I decided to give myself more grace and space when these emotional waves of grief show up. I also decided to open my heart and seek out new ways of supporting myself. One of the new ways was signing up for grief doula and sound healer gina Breedlove’s Vibration of Grace weekend workshop at Kripalu Yoga Center (her book, The Vibration of Grace is awesome).

SIDE NOTE: I love that gina spells her name in lowercase letters like ntozake shange, one of my favorite African American woman creative sheroes and poets. 

gina’s powerful workshop and the community of people I spent time with at Kripalu last weekend helped me get in touch with, reflect on, and express hidden areas of grief with the power of my own voice in singing, chanting, and using affirmations along with rituals, meditation, journaling, reiki, yoga, dance, and mindful walking and movement. What a blessing!

Today, I received a divine download after moving my body with my Barre3 community that invited me to honor and embrace my mom Theresa’s ancestral spirit, love, and legacy by becoming my own mother and exploring how I can use mothering to deepen my self-love and self-care birthrights.

Resource

Listen to the latest episode of the Thriving Mindfully Podcast that discusses how grief can call us to mother ourselves.

Over the past 30 years, I have learned that death, loss, and grief are master classes in surrender.

This year, I have learned how important it is to have a safe and sacred community to share how I am feeling, practice self-care, and receive support in my death, loss, and grief journey.

I am sharing the lessons I am learning and holding space for anyone facing death, loss, and grief during the monthly GRIEF + YOU 2-DAY RETREATS this year.

IMPORTANT: I am offering a special discount for the May 4-5 and June 29-30 retreats: a sliding scale with three options – $85, $105, or $125.

Click the button to get more information and sign up.

Many thanks to my amazing Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority for featuring me on the latest episode of The Greater Women Podcast.

During the podcast episode, I discuss my Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority journey that started with being the daughter of Cultured Pearl Soror Theresa Leeke, great granddaughter of Soror Florida Jones Leeke (Grand Anti-Gramateus, 1927-29), and the great grand niece of Soror Lillian Jones Brown. I give a shout out to my dad John Leeke for being an SGRho Gent. I also share how joining Beta Tau Chapter at Morgan State University in 1983 changed my life.

The episode features my insights on mindfulness, self-care, and digital wellness. A mindfulness exercise and self-care tips are included.

Click the button to listen to the 16-minute episode.

A virtual community celebration was held to celebrate the 65th Sigmaversary of my mother, loving + wise + well ancestor, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Soror Theresa B. Gartin Leeke on April 22, 2024.Watch the video below.

My mom Theresa joined Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.’s Alpha Chapter at Butler University on April 26, 1959.

Click the button to learn more about my mom Theresa’s love, life, and legacy as an African American woman who wore many hats as a wife, mother, aunt, sister, friend, educator, nonprofit and sorority leader, and musician.

Tune into A Cultured Pearl’s Legacy Podcast (9 episodes) and listen to my mom Theresa share her journey as a life member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, reflections on the Centennial celebration, lessons learned, and wisdom as an African American woman who wore many hats as a wife, mother, educator, nonprofit leader, and musician. Click the button to listen.

If you’re looking for a way to honor my mom Theresa’s life and legacy, click the link to make a donation to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s SPEAR Foundation, one of her favorite charities.

Stress happens when we experience pressure or a situation that exceeds our ability to cope. Stress wears and tears on our spirit, heart, mind, body, relationships, and career.

What’s been stressing you out since 2024 began?

GRIEF stresses me out.

Since it’s Stress Awareness Month and Stress Awareness Day (April 16), I thought you might like to try some of my favorite stress relief tips.

WATCH THE VIDEO below for more information.

---

If you need support with navigating stress, join me for the Spring Reset on April 16, April 30, and May 16 at 7:30-9 PM ET via Zoom.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO REGISTER FOR THE DATE THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU.