All week long I’ve been thinking about the ways I’ve been able to sustain myself since the year began. Those ways have become known as my SUSTENANCE PRACTICES. They include:
-Choosing to practice mindfulness each day; -Making sure my home offers sacred space to be kind and gentle with myself; -Using creativity to explore and express emotions and thoughts; and =Spending time with like-minded people in a safe community.
How are you sustaining yourself?
What are some of your favorite SUSTENANCE PRACTICES?
If you’re looking for some tips on how to sustain yourself, watch my short silent film on present moment acceptance.
YOUR SPECIAL FRIDAY NIGHT INVITATION
Join Avant-Dharma and Thriving Mindfully Academy for Meet Yourself Where You Are in the Moment on Friday, April 11th and April 25th at 6:30-7:30 PM PAC/9:30-10:30 EST. Click the buttons below to register.
Meet Yourself Where You Are in the Moment is an invitation to co-create contemplative community and conversation that offer space to show up as you are with mindful awareness, community, and practices in the midst of personal and societal madness, messiness, mystery, and the mundane.
The sessions are offered on a dana basis (donation) and led by me and Thomas Davis IV, founder of Avant-Dharma.
Join Avant-Dharma and Thriving Mindfully Academy for Meet Yourself Where You Are in the Moment on Friday, April 11th and April 25th at 6:30-7:30 PM PAC/9:30-10:30 EST. Click the buttons below to register.
Meet Yourself Where You Are in the Moment is an invitation to co-create contemplative community and conversation that offer space to show up as you are with mindful awareness, community, and practices in the midst of personal and societal madness, messiness, mystery, and the mundane.
The sessions are offered on a dana basis (donation) and led by me and Thomas Davis IV, founder of Avant-Dharma.
Aging has always been something I embraced. Perhaps, it’s because I’ve always looked younger than what my birth certificate and driver’s license say. I also think the wisdom of my sheroes like Dr. Maya Angelou have provided an understanding that I get to CHOOSE how I relate to aging.
Dr. Angelou’s words remind me that aging is a privilege I get to experience each day that I move towards 60: “I love living. I love that I’m alive to love my age. There are many people who went to bed just as I did yesterday evening and didn’t wake this morning. I love and feel very blessed that I did.”
In June, I started recording videos to share my reflections about turning 60 (actually happens in December). My reflections feature the life lessons I have learned since I started practicing Thriving Mindfully in 1992. Thriving Mindfully is a heart-centered approach I developed that is rooted in being present, well, and the REAL YOU as you navigate CHANGE.
So far, I have recorded 15 videos in a YouTube series entitled, Thriving Mindfully – 6 Months to 60. Each of these videos and the ones that will be shared in the coming weeks reflect my intention to age with AWARENESS, GRACE, and EASE. They also include aspects of the five Thriving Mindfully core commitments. They include:
1) Slow Your Living (mindfulness)
2) Sustain Your Living (self-care)
3) Share Your Living (mindful communication with yourself, others, and society
4) Serve Through Your Living (making an impact with your gifts, talents, expertise, and experience)
5) Savor Your Living (gratitude and self-celebration)
Watch a sample of the videos below and discover some of the lessons I have learned on the road to becoming a 60 year old wise woman in December 2024.
Click the buttons below to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and bookmark the Thriving Mindfully – 6 Months to 60 playlist.
I am 30 days away from my 60th birthday. Yesterday, I decided to step right into my 60th year with a mantra and intention that focuses on ONWARD. ONWARD is defined as “a continuing forward direction.”
Are you exploring the direction you will take as you move into the final weeks of 2024 and start 2025?
I talked about how I am using the Thriving Mindfully approach and core commitments to envision and plan for the rest of this year and in 2025 and beyond during the Thriving Mindfully Circle on November 17th.
Watch the recap video below to learn more and gain tips on how to use Thriving Mindfully Core Commitment #1 Slow Your Living to guide you.
Need support navigating CHANGE?
Join me for the Thriving Mindfully Circles, a six-week series that will help you be present, well, and the REAL YOU no matter what’s happening.
Click the button register for the Thriving Mindfully Circles on Embracing Change on November 24 and December 1, 8, 15, and 22 at 7-7:30 PM ET. Pay what you can to attend. No one will be turned away.
Take a deep breath and a few seconds to let me know how you are doing by leaving a comment below, sending an email (ananda@anandaleeke.com), or reaching out with a direct message on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, or YouTube.
May you and your loved ones be happy, healthy, and free from inner and outer harm as you navigate daily changes in your life, relationship, and career.
Love, Ease, Grace, Joy, Peace, Wisdom, Creativity, and Abundance,
Ananda
P.S.: The Grief + You Retreat is a two-day nurturing experience (90 minutes for the first day and two hours for the second day) that I lead each month. The final retreat will be December 7-8 at 2-3:30 PM ET (second day is 2-4 PM ET) via Zoom. Click the button to get more information.
Thriving Mindfully is a heart-centered approach I have been using to be present, well, and the REAL ME as I breathe, live, and navigate CHANGE for the past 30+ years.
Thriving Mindfully is my passport to the freedom ancestor James Baldwin spoke about: “Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.” His wisdom is grounding me as I move from 59 to 60 and through the current state of things in America. It is also fueling me to fully and freely embody and express who I was made to be.
In 2023, I wrote and recorded my “Thriving Mindfully” poem that is featured on my debut spoken word album, Thriving Mindfully as Theresa’s Daughter. It has become my freedom anthem as I move through CHANGE that shows up in my life, relationships, and career. Click the video below and take a moment to listen to it.
Need support navigating CHANGE?
Join me for the Thriving Mindfully Circles, a six-week series that will help you be present, well, and the REAL YOU no matter what’s happening.
Click the button below to register for the Thriving Mindfully Circles on Embracing Change on November 17 and 24 and December 1, 8, 15, and 22 at 7-7:30 PM ET. Pay what you can to attend. No one will be turned away.
In 1989, I graduated from Howard University School of Law and began taking the bar exam to fulfill my 16 year old teenage self’s dream of becoming a practicing attorney with a bar card.
When my bar exam journey began, I had no idea it would become a four-year painful life and career experience that produced my first adult struggles with loss and grief.
I had no idea the experience would bring me face-to-face with suffering and my type A personality. I didn’t know the experience would cause me to begin a personal relationship with surrendering my ego power for my heart power.
My bar exam experience dropped me into a well of deep loss and grief, and introduced creativity as my “healing balm” medicine. The creativity showed up as listening to lots of music while writing poetry and journal entries. Both forms of writing reminded me of the many days I would spend listening to my vinyl records and WHUR 96.3 FM while writing poetry and making handmade cards when I was in elementary and junior high school.
My creative practices became lifelines to healing that supported me as I dealt with CHANGE, LOSS, and GRIEF. In 2020, I began tapping into my creative practices of listening to music, writing, drawing, coloring, painting, cooking, and wearing colorful clothing and lipsticks to navigate the stress and anxiety I felt as a result of the loss and grief I faced during the global pandemic and the elections.
Four years later, my writing has blossomed into my debut spoken word album, Thriving Mindfully as Theresa’s Daughter. The album’s creative process helped me express and manage the loss and grief I started experiencing when my mom Theresa made her life transition on July 9, 2023. I still use these creative practices to ground myself as I go and grow through the loss and grief connected to my mom and the current changes I am experiencing as a result of aging, menopause, and the recent elections.
What are you using to support yourself as you experience CHANGE that shows up as loss and grief?
I invite you to click the video below to listen to “G.R.I.E.F.,” one of the tracks on my album, for tips on how to go and grow through CHANGE that shows up as loss and grief.
Just in case you need some inspiration for tapping into the creative practice of listening to music, check out “Thriving Mindfully as Theresa’s Daughter,” the signature track on the album that celebrates the gift of music my mom gave me.
FYI: Footprint Productions founder Garnet Jackson, my best friend for life and soul brothalove, breathed life into my creativity as the music producer of the album. Garnet guided me through the four-year process of writing and recording. In August 2023, I traveled to London and worked with Garnet and Brian Bogdanovic, the chief producer at BonaFide Studios, to record the album. I am deeply grateful for their amazing gifts and support.
To date, I have only released three tracks on M-xCloud, SoundCloud, and YouTube. I will release the full album in the coming months on a paid platform that aligns with my beliefs and values.
MORE SUPPORT
If you need more support, join me for the Thriving Mindfully Circles, a six-week series that will help you be present, well, and the REAL YOU no matter what’s happening.
Click the button register for the Thriving Mindfully Circles on Embracing Change on November 17 and 24 and December 1, 8, 15, and 22 at 7-7:30 PM ET. Pay what you can to attend. No one will be turned away.
Take a deep breath and a few seconds to let me know how you are doing by leaving a comment below, sending an email (ananda@anandaleeke.com), or reaching out with a direct message on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, or YouTube.
May you and your loved ones be happy, healthy, and free from inner and outer harm as you navigate daily changes in your life, relationship, and career.
Love, Ease, Grace, Joy, Peace, Wisdom, Creativity, and Abundance,
Ananda
P.S.: The Grief + You Retreat is a two-day nurturing experience (90 minutes for the first day and two hours for the second day) that I lead each month. The next retreats will be November 16-17 and December 7-8 at 2-3:30 PM ET (second day is 2-4 PM ET) via Zoom. Click the button to get more information.
Change happens each day you get to breathe and experience a new day. It can show up as individual, organizational, and collective changes. Examples include:
-Individual Changes: mental, emotional, relationships, financial, education, and career
-Organizational Changes: leadership, staff, goals, workload, performance expectations, and resources
Change shows up in your spirit, heart (emotions), mind, body, relationships, career, and community. Many people resist change because they are afraid of it and/or want to control what’s happening.
When you resist it, change often becomes more messy, overwhelming, chaotic, and/or stressful.
What would happen if you learned to embrace change when it shows up?
Who would you be?
What would you say YES to?
What would you say NO to?
What dreams and goals would you pursue?
What intentions would you set?
What small steps would you take?
If you’re interested in gaining tips on how to navigate changes, 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 buttons below to register for the Thriving Mindfully Circles on November 17 and 24 and December 1, 8, 15, and 22 at 7-7:30 PM ET.
This Fall, I offered seven Thriving Mindfully Circles to support people in need of self-care and community care during the election season (November 1-8).
In case you didn’t know, community care is rooted in our awareness, choice, and actions to be connected to others in safe and sacred spaces. Community care is the commitment and actions to nurture and support ourselves and each other in ways that respect our humanity and positively uplift us.
I am committed to providing community care in the services and resources I provide. That’s why I have included post-election self-care resources below. May they help you navigate post-election stress, anxiety, loss, and grief.
What type of support are you getting to navigate your time of waiting on the election outcomes this week?
Leading the Thriving Mindfully Circles reminded me to get support from a daily dose of the self-care vitamins: loving kindness, compassion, NONJUDGMENT (needed it), PATIENCE (especially), and forgiveness.
Revisiting how STRESS impacts my spirit, heart, mind, and body has been an eye-opener.
Diving deep into practicing NONJUDGMENT and PATIENCE are guiding me to change how I am dealing with stress from the potential election outcomes.
Being able to gain COMMUNITY SUPPORT while sharing my thoughts and feelings during the Thriving Mindfully Circles has been extremely helpful and comforting because I know I am not alone or the only person with these thoughts and feelings.
Click the button to read my latest newsletter to learn more about how you can gain support this week.
Click the button to sign up for the Thriving Mindfully Circles on November 5-8 at 12-13:30 PM ET via Zoom. Invite your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to join you.
Ananda Leeke 