Ananda Leeke

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon December 10, 2013December 10, 2013in Internet Geek TuesdayLeave a comment

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.

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.

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon December 9, 2013December 9, 2013in Yoga MondaysLeave a comment

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon December 5, 2013December 5, 2013in UncategorizedLeave a comment

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon December 4, 2013December 4, 2013in Internet Geek TuesdayLeave a comment

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon December 3, 2013in Yoga MondaysLeave a comment

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.

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

Posted by Ananda Leekeon November 28, 2013in UncategorizedLeave a comment

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.

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 Internet Geek Tuesday: #DigitalDiplomacy Event

Posted by Ananda Leekeon November 26, 2013in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

Last week, I attended Digital Diplomacy, an open house event that featured the social media efforts of several embassies including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The World Bank and U.S. State Department also participated in the event.

Happy Yoga Monday: Creating Mini Yoga Moments at Home

Posted by Ananda Leekeon November 26, 2013November 26, 2013in UncategorizedLeave a comment

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?

Happy Creativity Thursday: Creativity Requires Courage

Posted by Ananda Leekeon November 21, 2013November 21, 2013in Creativity, Creativity ThursdayLeave a comment

Photo Credit: http://blog.ali-comunicazione.com/?cat=3

Happy Creativity Thursday!

When I was a little girl growing up in Landover, Maryland in the 1970s, my mother, an early childhood undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, encouraged me and my brothers to express our creativity through the power of imagination. My oldest brother, Mike, was the leader of our pack. His courage to create things we could only dream about amazed me. He designed and showed us how to cut out guitars from cardboard boxes so that we could imitate the Jackson Five, our favorite musical group. He also designed the plans for a snow igloo and served as the chief architect and foreman during the building process.

Later, he developed his talents and studied to become a comic book graphic artist at the Philadelphia College of Art. Throughout his career, I have watched Mike tap into the wellspring of courage that lies within his heart to pursue his dreams. It has grounded him in times of transition and helped him expand his vision for his creative expression. He is my creativity courage hero who reminds me to embrace my own courage in my creative life.

How do you find courage to express your creativity?

Do you have any creativity courage heroes or sheroes?

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday: BlogHer Call for Ideas Due by December 2

Posted by Ananda Leekeon November 19, 2013November 19, 2013in Blogher Conference, BlogHer14Leave a comment

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

BlogHer is one of my favorite blogging conferences to attend because it offers a variety of sessions that quench my learning thirst, networking opportunities, great keynotes, the Voices of the Year featuring incredible bloggers who read their amazing blog posts, fun parties, yummy vegan and vegetarian food (especially in Chicago and San Diego), and a fashion show featuring bloggers of every shape, size, and color.

Photo Credit - Photo Collage from the session, "What Kind of Social Media Leader Are You?" held on July 26. — Photo Credit – Photo Collage from the session, “What Kind of Social Media Leader Are You?” held on July 26.

I started attending the annual conference in 2009 and have been fortunate to serve as a speaker in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Speaking at BlogHer has allowed me to share my expertise in blogger wellness, peer-to-peer mentoring, podcasting, and social media leadership through the lens of Digital Sisterhood Leadership Archetypes. It has increased my confidence as a thought leader and exposure as a speaker. In addition, it has inspired me to share more of my thought leadership at other conferences and events.

In 2014, BlogHer will celebrate its 10th year anniversary conference. I will be celebrating my 10th year as a blogger. I plan to attend the conference. In preparation, I am working on my conference speaking proposals this week and next week.

BlogHer is always looking to feature new and diverse speakers. So I encourage you to submit your original ideas. Click here to learn more about the BlogHer Call for Ideas. The deadline is December 2.

Hope to see you at BlogHer 2014!