The highlight of my practice is being kind and gentle with myself and taking my practice off of the mat and into my daily life (doing Tadasana at work while I am seated or breathing deeply as a mindfulness reminder when I am doing email).
Yoga has given me an arsenal of tools that help me handle stress better. Here are some of my stress relief tools.
1) Taking a lot of time to center myself with pranayama exercises (three-part breath, alternate nostril breathing, and humming).
2) Cleansing my chakras with sound vibration through mantra chanting as I give myself reiki healing touch.
3) Yin poses that help me massage my connective tissue.
4) Learning sacred mantras (Gayatri Mantra) to close my practice and chanting a sea of OMs.
5) Saying Namaste and bowing at the end of my practice.
Having a diverse community of support in various cities has been one of my greatest blessings as an artist, author, and creativity coach. Atlanta is home to one of my strongest communities of support. Whenever I visit the “ATL,” I am surrounded by love and positive energy.
Last night, I was surrounded by ATL love and positive energy at a book reading for my new book, Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online. Everywhere, a social media marketing firm led by my digital sister Danica Kombol, hosted the event. Danica and her team rolled out the red carpet for me and my digital sisters and brothers. I got to see old friends and made some new friends. During the book reading, I shared an excerpt about my work with the Heart of Haiti campaign and my connection to Danica and her team. I also answered questions and asked the guests to share the key ingredients of digital citizenship. What a powerful discussion we had! As the evening was winding down, I looked around the room and realized how truly blessed I am for my ATL community. A deep feeling of gratitude washed over me. Many thanks to Danica, the Everywhere team, and my ATL community for showing me big LOVE!!!!
This week, I am headed to Atlanta to speak at the second annual Women Interactive Creative Technology Conference that will be held at Spelman College on November 9. I am giving a tech talk on “Digital Sisters + Digital Citizens = Social Media Leaders.” My talk is rooted in one word: SERVE. It is an acronym that I call my secret ingredient for being an authentic Digital Sister, Digital Citizen, and Social Media Leader. Check it out below.
•S – SEE yourself as a social media leader. If you have at least one person who follows and/or interacts with you through your blog, web site, and/or social media sites, you have a platform of influence. Your influence impacts people in your online network. That makes you a leader. The moment that you see yourself as a social media leader, you begin to own your identity. Once you own your identity as a social media leader, you are faced with some important choices in how you interact online and offline in your relationships.
•E – EMBRACE digital civility practices in your online and offline interactions and relationships. Digital civility includes being respectful of others, especially in the midst of any disagreements. Treat people the way you would like to be treated.
•R – REMEMBER to UNPLUG from your digital life and practice SELF CARE by creating and following a digital wellness plan. Take breaks from your digital life. It will give you an opportunity to recharge and rest.
•V – VISIT and participate in a diverse group of online and offline communities to broaden your knowledge base and network.
•E – EXPRESS generosity in all you think, say, and do. Give back to others. Your generosity creates social capital in your online and offline relationships. Social capital is that warm, fuzzy feeling or positive impression you create about yourself in people’s hearts and minds. It paves the wave for unexpected blessings that manifest as collaborations, invitations to events, learning opportunities, partnerships, relationships with key people in your local/national/international networks, revenue generating streams, speaking engagements, and other forms of blessings.
Women Interactive is a two-day interactive technology festival for women who produce and share digital content with a special emphasis on women of color. It’s one of my favorite learning opportunities. I attended the festival last year and learned so much. If you are in Atlanta, join me at the event. Click here to register.
Today, I am remembering the beauty and power of Swamini Turiyasangitananda a/k/a Alice Coltrane and her music. In 2006, I had a chance to see Alice perform live at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. That evening was and remains a high point in my life. Words cannot begin to describe the beauty of what I witnessed. You had to be there.
Photo Credit: Alice Coltrane.org
Right now I am listening to her Astral Meditations CD. Track 10 entitled “Peace On Earth” is playing. It is a composition that was originally written and recorded by Alice’s beloved, John Coltrane in 1966. See the album — John Coltrane: Infinity.
Photo Credit: JohnColtrane.com
There is a point in the composition where Alice’s divine talent as a harpist is prominently featured. My ears tingle as they hear her gracefully weave a golden thread through the entire composition. It connects all of the instruments and musicians as one. Together, they create a musical quilt of peace for humanity to enjoy. Their creative collaboration also reminds me that we can accept and honor humanity’s beautiful quilt of cultural diversity when we choose to practice peace.
The wonderful thing about peace is that it gives birth to ahimsa, a Sanskrit word that means nonviolence. In yoga, ahimsa represents the first of five yamas (satya – truthfulness, asteya – non stealing, brahmacharya – relating to another with unconditional love and integrity, and aparigraha – non-clinging/grasping). Yamas are ethical guidelines or levels of awareness that one aspires to achieve. They apply to our actions, words, and thoughts.
Through the principle of ahimsa, we are called to refrain from causing pain or harm to any living being through our thoughts, words, and actions. When we choose our thoughts, words, and actions carefully so that they do not harm others, we are creating peace. When we are peaceful and nonviolent, we are at ease. We are more relaxed.
Instead of becoming angry at ourselves and others because of the differences we share, we can use that ease to create understanding and tolerance. With understanding and tolerance, we create sacred space for the acceptance and appreciation of our cultural and individual differences. As we come to accept and appreciate the beauty of what makes us different, we can also accept and appreciate the love that connects us as one.
Blogalicious Creative Coaching participant Cassandre and Ananda Leeke
Happy Creativity Thursday and Happy Halloween!
During the Blogalicious Weekend Conference that was held on October 3 through October 5 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, I had an opportunity to conduct creativity coaching sessions with a dynamic group of bloggers and social media influencers. It was my first time offering 15-minute sessions. During the sessions, I used a breathing exercise, six-word memoirs, key questions, and deep listening to support each person in identifying strategies they could begin using to focus on their creative dreams and projects. After the sessions, I realized how much I enjoyed working with the Blogalicious Weekend Conference community. That’s why I am offering community members a special discount package on my creativity coaching services that expires on December 31, 2013. See details below.
My Creativity Coaching Practice: Click here to read more about my approach and background as a creativity coach.
Discount Period: The creativity coaching packages must be purchased via PayPal by October 31 to December 31, 2013. They must be used by December 31, 2014.
Contact Information: If you are interested in one or more of the packages, please send me an email at kiamshaleeke@yahoo.com. I will send you a SurveyMonkey link with 10 easy questions that will help me determine how best I can support you.
Every culture in the world appreciates and understands laughter. It is part of the universal human vocabulary. It also helps us stay healthy by enriching the blood with ample supplies of oxygen. In addition, laughter helps to remove the negative effects of stress and boosts our immune systems. Other benefits of laughter include:
• controlling high blood pressure and heart disease
• increasing stamina through increased oxygen supply
• alleviating pain and giving a sense of well being by releasing endorphins
• serving as an effective antidote for depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders (laughter boosts the production of serotonin, a natural anti-depressant)
• massaging the digestive tract and enhancing blood supply to the liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and adrenal glands
• ensuring a good night sleep and reducing snoring because laughter is very good for the muscles of the soft palate and throat
Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga, discovered that anyone can laugh for fifteen to twenty minutes without depending upon a sense of humor or comedy. As a result, he designed a blend of playful, empowering laughter, gentle breathing, stretching, rhythmic clapping and chanting exercises to help release tension. Through his work, Dr. Kararia discovered that laughter yoga is a great way to distance yourself from anger, stress, fear, limitations, and anxiety.
Today’s blog celebrates the 10th year anniversary of of Art Every Day Month.
Photo Credit: Leah Piken Kolidas
AEDM is the brainchild of Leah Piken Kolidas, an artist who is one of my digital diva sheroes and a 2012 Digital Sister of the Year (Creativista). Leah launched AEDM in 2004 as a month-long challenge that happens every November to encourage creating in all forms. The rules are simple. You are free to make just one piece of art per week or just one for the whole month. Leah says, “The idea is to bring more creativity into your life, not to make you feel overwhelmed, pressured or guilt-stricken.”
Photo Credit: Leah Piken Kolidas
She is also the founder of Creative Every Day Challenge, a challenge that was launched in 2008 to encourage individuals to add more creativity to their daily lives. Click here to learn more about the challenge.
Photo Credit: Leah Piken Kolidas
I discovered AEDM in 2008 when I was in the midst of a serious writer’s block. Making art each day helped me recapture my joie de vivre! It also helped me surrender to the creative process of making art without any judgment. After a few weeks, I was able to return to my writing with more clarity and energy.
The AEDM community is nurturing and supportive. Through their daily posts on the AEDM blog and Flickr group, they taught me how to create art on the go and to leave the judgment behind. I was able to see the beauty and fun in making art just for the sake of making art. The community reminded me how essential art-making is to my spirit. That’s why I plan to join the AEDM challenge this November to celebrate its 10th anniversary. I hope you will join us too.
Photo Credit: Leah Piken Kolidas
For AEDM newbies, be sure to check out the AEDM Survival Guide for tips on how to thrive throughout this 30 day adventure in daily art-making.
Today’s blog discusses how I use my digital presence for social good and to support Zuri Works for Women’s Health, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that creates national beauty, arts, and health programs that enhance the quality of life, improve their survivorship rates, and increase the health knowledge of women of color impacted by cancer. Click here to listen to my audio blog which includes a short excerpt from my new book, Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online (available on Amazon).
Zuri Works founder Andrene Taylor (in pink shirt) and her Zuri Works team; Photo Credit: ZuriWorks.org
Collaborate, share knowledge, and partner with individuals, communities, and organizations committed to finding solutions to address cancer’s impact on the vulnerable populations we serve.
Develop creative, new ideas that address common and unique problems of women in order to increase their use of screening, reduce their delays in treatment, and improve their cancer survival rates.
Use evidence-based solutions to engage women about their health and address health care disparities in their communities.
Photo Credit: ZuriWorks.org
My Connection to Cancer and Why I Love and Support Zuri Works
I love the meaning of Zuri. It is a Swahili word that means beautiful. It reminds me of my beautiful, bold, and brilliant grandmothers, Dorothy Mae Johnson Gartin (“Nanan”) and Frederica Stanley Roberts Leeke (“Freddie). They both lived with breast cancer. A few years after my grandmother Freddie died of breast cancer, I searched for ways to honor her memory through my wire sculpture artwork. In 2001, I discovered the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, a DC-based nonprofit health, education, and arts organization that develops and promotes healing practices that explore physical, emotional, and mental resources that lead to life-affirming changes for people affected by cancer. I started working as a Smith Center artist-in-residence in 2002.
Howard University HospitalAnanda working at HU Hospital in 2009
My first artist-in-residency was at Howard University (HU) Hospital from 2003 to 2009. During that time, I shared my gifts as an artist, poet, writer, Reiki practitioner, and yoga teacher with patients living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other illnesses. I also conducted staff workshops with the HU Hospital nurses. Click here to read my Flickr blog and see photos of my work.
Interactive Breast Cancer Awareness Wall Collage at Walter Reed, 2012
After my contract with HU Hospital ended, I began working with wounded warriors, their family and friends, patients, and staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. For the past two years, I have created interactive Breast Cancer Awareness Month wall collages (see 2012 collage above) for the Walter Reed staff to pay tribute to their family and friends impacted by breast cancer. Staff use the collage to write their thoughts about breast cancer and their loved ones.
In addition to my Smith Center artist-in-residence work, I have also taught yoga classes as a volunteer and used my digital presence to support social good campaigns like Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This year, I was introduced to Zuri Works by Xina Eiland, my digital sister, PR coach, and publicist. I immediately fell in love with the organization’s mission and work right after I watched Andrene’s video about her cancer journey which began at 25 when she was a second year graduate student. Her story inspired me. Her cancer advocacy work that marries two of passions — health & art — moved me to donate a few hours of my coaching time to help Xina develop crowdfunding strategies for Zuri Work’s Indiegogo campaign.
Photo Credit: Indiegogo.com
The Indiegogo campaign will support The Exposures Project, a photo education exhibit shot by cancer survivors and THRIVERS which depicts survival stories of women that would otherwise go untold. Watch the powerful campaign video to learn more. I know you will be inspired like I was to give a financial donation. Click here today and make a donation before the campaign ends on October 24. Tell your family and friends to donate too!
Photo Credit: ZuriWorks.org
This week, I get to show my love for Zuri Works in person at its Big Chop to Stop Cancer Anniversary Benefit. It will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at 1133 15th Street NW, Suite 1200 in DC. If you are in DC, join me for an absolutely fabulous event. Register here.
What’s Next for Me & Zuri Works
In a few weeks, I will launch my fundraising campaign for Zuri Works. It will invite my family, friends, Digital Sisterhood Network, clients, colleagues, and social media network to make a donation in honor of my December 18th birthday. Click here to learn how you can create a similar campaign.
When I was training to be a yoga teacher at Flow Yoga Center in 2005 and 2006, my teacher, Debra Perlson-Mishalove, gave the class a homework assignment to define yoga. Her assignment me to develop a YOGA acronym.
Y – Your
O – Opportunity to
G – Graciously
A – Accept yourself in the present moment.
I still use this acronym and definition in my classes and workshops.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am teaching the annual Frederica Leeke and Dorothy Gartin Breast Cancer Awareness Yoga Class on Sunday, October 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in Malcolm-Meridian Hill Park. Click here for more details. The kind and gentle yoga class honors my grandmothers who lived with breast cancer.
Ananda Leeke 