Digital Wellness Month Reflection: Slow Down + Practice Digital Wellness During Mercury Retrograde in May

Posted by Ananda Leekeon May 10, 2022in #ThrivingMindfully, Astrology, mindful self-care, Mindfulness, Thriving MindfullyLeave a comment

Astrological retrogrades are all about self-discovery and lessons learned. They invite us to deeply connect with, reflect, and know ourselves from the inside out. They also give us an opportunity to dive deep inside of ourselves and explore how each planet in retrograde and the signs they are transiting impact us.

Mercury Retrograde is one of my favorite astrological retrogrades. It is connected to the fast-moving planet Mercury. Mercury’s energy impacts communication, technology, and travel. For me, Mercury Retrograde is an invitation to slow down, become present, and practice my birthright of mindfulness in how I think, communicate, and connect with myself and others. It happens three or four times each year. When it arrives, it hangs around for approximately three weeks.

A few years ago, I renamed my personal Mercury Retrograde to Mercury Upgrade because I began to appreciate its energy and the lessons I learned that opened my heart up to be more present, well, and the REAL ME. In short, Mercury Upgrade helps me embrace Thriving Mindfully in my life, relationships, and career.

During the early days of the global pandemic in 2020, I began observing and embracing Mercury’s shadow period which happens two weeks before and two weeks after the actual retrograde. I consider the pre and post-shadow periods as my VIP Mini Mercury Upgrades. That means I get approximately 7 whole weeks 3 to 4 times a year to practice mindful self-care as I review and recommit to thinking, communicating, connecting, and using technology in mindful, intentional, and healthy ways.

Last night, I led my Thriving Mindfully Academy’s monthly mindful self-care class that incorporated the May theme of “Strengthen Yourself,” Digital Wellness Month, and Mercury Upgrade (my name for Mercury Retrograde that starts May 10 and ends June 3) into breathing exercises, gentle movement, affirmations, mantra chanting, meditation, and mindful reflection and journaling.

The class gave the Thriving Mindfully Academy members an opportunity to check-in with themselves about:

■how they are using technology

■their struggles with technology (digital distraction, digital overload, social media comparison, digital time overdosing, and tension and tightness in the body)

■stress caused by their use of technology

■one step they can take to practice digital wellness during May and Mercury Retrograde

At the end of the class, I encouraged Thriving Mindfully Academy members to use our self-led Digital Wellness Month Challenge as invitation to take better care of themselves. I also shared my recent reflection on the number of years I have had 24/7/365 access to technology at home. It started in 1996. That means it’s been 26 years. I didn’t realize I needed to practice digital wellness until I experienced digital overload and burnout after publishing my self-love and yoga-inspired novel, Love’s Troubadours. My coach Yael Flusberg brought it to my attention during one of our conversations in 2008. That was a light bulb moment that shined light on making digital wellness a priority.

I am using Digital Wellness Month and Mercury Retrograde to release and forgive my social media comparison habits about my journey as an entrepreneur that have wreaked havoc on my nervous system. It’s a process (fo’ sure)! My mindful self-care practices of deep breathing, meditation, affirmations, tapping, reiki, and yoga are helping me take better care of my nervous system. I am also easing up on the amount of time I spend online and downsizing my social media with indefinite tech breaks on Facebook and Twitter.

How much time do you spend online?

Is your tech use causing stress?

Click here to join me for today’s Digital Wellness Month meditation at 5:30-5:45 PM ET

If you’re ready to get my coaching support in a safe community as a Thriving Mindfully Academy member, click the button below. Email me at ananda@anandaleeke.com if you have questions.

Join thriving mindfully academy

WATCH #THRIVINGMINDFULLY COMMUNITY’S IG LIVE VIDEO: Conversation About Impact of World Champions Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles & Simone Manuel Prioritizing Their Mental Health & Declaring Self-Care Birthright

Posted by Ananda Leekeon August 2, 2021August 2, 2021in mental health, mindful self-care, Self-Care, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Go here to watch the IG Live video.

Need Your Help with My Thriving Mindfully Academy Self-Care Survey

Posted by Ananda Leekeon July 30, 2021August 2, 2021in #ThrivingMindfully, mindful self-care, Mindfulness, Self-Care, Uncategorized, well-being, wellnessLeave a comment

Hi Groovy Friend,

I have a favor to ask you. Help me build a stronger Thriving Mindfully Academy that can support your life, relationships, and career. All I need you to do is to compete my self-care survey. It consists of four questions that take less than 5 minutes to complete. Go here to complete it.

Please accept my thank you gift of a complimentary Thriving Mindfully Community membership for your generous support. Claim your membership here.

Blessings & Gratitude,

Ananda

My Thank You Letter to Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles & Simone Manuel for Declaring Their Self-Care Independence Unapologetically!

Posted by Ananda Leekeon July 30, 2021August 4, 2021in mental health, mindful self-care, Self-Care, Uncategorized, well-being, wellnessLeave a comment

July was a powerful self-care month in the lives of three of my favorite women athletes, Naomi Osaka, a 23-year old Japanese-Haitian American world tennis champion and entrepreneur; Simone Biles, a 24-year old African-American Olympic gymnast; and Simone Manuel, a 24 year-old African-American Olympic swimmer. Each of these women of color have chosen to make their mental health, well-being, and self-care a priority. Watching them put themselves first above their demanding careers and public scrutiny has been a master class in what it means to embrace, embody, and express the radical self-care wisdom of African-American writer, womanist, and civil rights activist Audre Lorde: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” I think we can all learn something from these self-care sheroes!

NAOMI OSAKA

After watching Naomi step away from the French Open and withdraw from Wimbledon to prioritize her mental health, I read her essay in TIME and watched her Netflix documentary. Her courage to be vulnerable with herself and willingness to share her vulnerability on the world stage filled my heart with deep gratitude. Gratitude because here is a woman who clearly has her own personal issues (like the rest of us) and is deeply engaged in her own wellness journey, stepping out and shining a light on a topic most of society is hesitant to acknowledge, discuss, and address. In her TIME essay, she writes, “I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s OK to not be OK; and it’s OK to talk about it.”

SIMONE BILES

Naomi’s decision to speak openly, honestly, and from her heart inspired Simone Biles (“Simone B.”) when she decided to withdraw from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games. During one of her interviews, Simone encouraged other athletes to “put mental health first, because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to.” She also reassured them, “it’s OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor that you really are, rather than just battle through it.” Her mental health activism stems directly from the deep commitment she has made to herself to get help when needs it. In her most recent interview with Health Magazine, she shares how she uses the support of a psychologist, her family, and her boyfriend to navigate her life and career.

It is worth noting that after Simone B. followed her own mind and took a week to rest and focus on her mental health, she decided to return to the Tokyo Olympics and compete in the balance beam final on August 3, 2021. Once again, she has shown women and girls of color and all people how to love, honor, and nurture oneself. Her decision and actions illustrate what it means to be an IN-POWERED HUMAN BEING. A person who is able to put being before doing to honor their own mental health, well-being, and self-care. In the end, she came back on her own terms and won a Bronze medal!

SIMONE MANUEL

Like Naomi and Simone B., Simone Manuel (“Simone M.), represents a new wave of women of color who are using their global platform to champion mental health, well-being, and self-care as they express their own vulnerability and how they are nurturing themselves. Last year, Glamour Magazine interviewed Simone M. about the importance of mental health. Check out her candid response: “Mental health is so crucial because it contributes to how you navigate through this world and what you think of yourself. I’ve been seeing a sports psychologist since I was 15 and I use that to talk about my experiences as a Black swimmer and a Black woman in this world. I think that it genuinely has helped me be able to handle some of the hardships or the experiences that I’ve dealt with in my life. It’s such a powerful, powerful tool to be able to exercise your mind and strengthen your mind.”

Throughout the interview, she gives an inside look into her self-care which includes two of my favorite mindfulness practices, meditation and journaling. She urges us to resist numbing our feelings. She also reassures us that it’s okay to feel and talk about our emotions and listen to our bodies. I know she was following her own advice when she took a break from training after being diagnosed with overtraining syndrome earlier this year.

THE GEN Z + GEN X CONNECTION

When I look at these three 20-something women who represent my niece Jordan’s Gen Z generation and their self-care journey, I realize we share a similar path. As a 56 year-old African-American woman who sometimes self-identifies as a Gen X member, I remember what it felt like to be an overachieving stressed and time-pressed lawyer and investment banker in my late 20s and early 30s. My self-worth was tied to my career. When my career didn’t produce the success I expected, my mental health and well-being were nonexistent. With the support of my parents, family, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority sisters, Howard University School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center classmates, friends, and a therapist, I started to recognize how important it was to ground myself in self-care. It became the foundation for how I currently live my life. It also inspired me to express my creativity as a writer and an artist-in-residence for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts at Howard University Hospital and Walter Reed National Military Hospital. In addition, it led me to study and become a certified yoga and meditation teacher, a reiki master and sound healing practitioner, and a digital wellness educator. Today, I am blessed to use my experience and expertise in my work with people of all ages who are struggling with self-care as the Chief Mindfulness Officer of my wellness company, Ananda Leeke Consulting, and the founder of the Thriving Mindfully Community and Academy.

As I closed out July, I decided to write a thank you to letter Naomi, Simone B., and Simone M. for showing up as their REAL selves. Check out what I had to say.

Dear Naomi, Simone B., and Simone M.,

Your courage to stand up, speak your truth from your heart, say HELL NO to society’s hustle culture, and say HELL YES to your mental health, well-being, and self-care has become a powerful gift to all of us Black and Brown women, women of color, all women and girls, and folks on Mother Earth.

You are showing many of us how to declare our self-care independence unapologetically.

Your choice to honor yourself on the global stage is helping some of us see what it means to be vulnerable, loving, kind, gentle, and compassionate with ourselves. When we see you, we are able to look in the mirror and see folks who look just like us claim and practice their birthright of mental health, well-being, and self-care.

Without even knowing it, you are helping us all recommit ourselves to a healthier life mission. One where we are humans being instead of humans doing. One that carves out a public pathway to self-care beyond survival, the very thing Dr. Maya Angelou spoke about in her ancestral wisdom statement: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive.”

One last thing! I wrote a poem, “What’s Next: A Lifeline to Stop Doing, Start Being” that expresses what this thank you letter could not. Watch a video of me reading it below.

Deeply grateful,

Ananda

Check out the IG Live conversation I had with Xina Eiland, President of X+PR, co-founder of Unmute, and co-host of the Get Found Get Funded podcast on August 1, 2021, about the impact of Naomi, Simone B., and Simone M.’s decision to prioritize their mental health and self-care.

SELF-CARE SUPPORT FOR READERS

Just in case you need self-care support, I invite you to do three things.

Go here to take my self-care survey (4 easy questions that take less than 5 minutes to answer).
Click here to claim your complimentary membership in my Thriving Mindfully Community, a digital sacred space that inspires you to nurture, transform, and celebrate your life and career.
If you wanna deepen your wellness commitment and expand your personal growth journey with my support, join me for the Thriving Mindfully Academy’s Master Class on August 4th at 8–9:15 PM ET or August 7th at 1–2:15 PM ET. Click on the links below.

-Buy your ticket here for the Thriving Mindfully Academy’s Master Class on August 4th at 8–9:15 PM ET

-Buy your ticket here for the Thriving Mindfully Academy’s Master Class on August 7th at 1–2:15 PM ET

We Are Resilient When We Practice Mindfulness & Self-Care!

Posted by Ananda Leekeon March 27, 2020March 27, 2020in #ThrivingMindfully, mindful self-care, Mindfulness, Self-Care, Uncategorized, wellnessLeave a comment

Resilience (2)

Here’s a much needed reminder I received recently.

WE ARE RESILIENT!

That’s right I used the big “R” word and claimed it for all of us!

What is resilience?

It’s a human quality and a choice that allows us to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of any adversity, crisis, difficulty, disappointment or failure in our lives, careers, and businesses. It takes choosing to tap into the quality of resilience that lives within us. It takes making a commitment and then doing the work needed to navigate the rough spots and tough times that I like to call our greatest growth opportunities.

So how can we tap into our resiliency?

Here’s what I know to be true from my own life and work as a wellness professional, an artist, an author, and a recovering high achiever, a lawyer, and an investment banker.

When we tap into our human birthright of mindfulness and choose to practice it along with self-care, we are nurturing and strengthening ourselves.

These two efforts begin with the Thriving Mindfully framework I have used in my mindfulness, self-care, and wellness work with individuals, companies, organizations, and communities for the past 20+ years.

The Thriving Mindfully framework consists of:

AWARENESS: We become aware of our birthrights of mindfulness and self-care: 1) Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of what’s happening inside and outside of ourselves in the present moment; and 2) Self-care is the act of nurturing ourselves in ways that uplift our spirit, heart, mind, body, life, career, and business.
ACCEPTANCE: We accept and claim our birthrights to mindfulness and self-care.
AFFIRMATION: We set an intention and affirm our birthrights to mindfulness and self-care with what I call the Big 5 on a daily basis: loving kindness, compassion, nonjudgment, patience, and forgiveness.
ACTION: We commit to and practice mindfulness and self-care by taking action steps.
ACCOUNTABILITY: We seek and secure accountability partners to support our efforts to practice mindful self-care.
APPRECIATION: We appreciate ourselves and mindful self-care efforts by celebrating our small, medium, and big wins on a daily, weekly and/or monthly basis.

BONUS TREAT: Listen to the Thriving Mindfully Podcast episode on resiliency.

RESOURCES

If you need mindfulness, self-care, and wellness resources, I am here for you! Check out the links to my Thriving Mindfully Academy, blogs, podcasts, and more below.

Thriving Mindfully Academy, an online learning platform that provides personal and professional development education, coaching, training, and resources on mindfulness, meditation, self-care, and wellness.
Thriving Mindfully Podcast has over 100 episodes on mindfulness, meditation, self-care, and wellness.
Thriving Mindfully Weekly Recipe of Mindful Self-Care Themes
Recent Blog: Mindfulness & Self-Care Resources for Navigating Coronavirus Emergency
Recent Blog: Welcome Spring with A Digital Wellness Plan that Helps You &Your Loved Ones Navigate COVID-19
Recent Blog: Embracing Home Sweet Home with Mindfulness

ONE LAST THING!

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Don’t miss out on my Stress Awareness Month (April) and National Meditation Month (May) updates, resources, tips. online classes, and trainings. Sign up for my updates here.

Welcome Spring with A Digital Wellness Plan that Helps You &Your Loved Ones Navigate COVID-19

Posted by Ananda Leekeon March 20, 2020March 20, 2020in digital wellness plan, mindful self-care, Mindful Technology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

SpringFlowersforBlogandEBlast

Happy Spring Groovy People!

What does Spring mean to you?

How do you welcome Spring into your life?

For me, Spring is about fresh starts, new beginnings, new ideas, and new possibilities. It is a time of rebirth and renewal.

I welcome Spring into my life as my second new year. I use the Spring Equinox to slow down, become still, breathe, and check in with myself while I practice mindful self-care. My Spring check-in gives me time and space to review what’s been happening during the first quarter of the year. During this time, I recommit to myself by setting intentions and planting seeds for the second, third, and fourth quarters of the year.

MindfulTechnology

This year, my Spring season looks and feels different due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Instead of taking a mini Spring break, I find myself spending most of my days at home with limited physical interaction with others (social distancing is the new phrase). I also find myself spending more and more time online connecting with family and friends, using yoga and barre videos to workout, listening to music and podcasts, operating my business, working with and communicating with clients, and watching TV shows, movies, and videos.

At some point, I know I am going to overdose on technology. That’s why I am spending this weekend reviewing and updating my digital wellness plan. I am using the digital wellness plan I created in my book, Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online (available on Amazon) and my Thriving Mindfully Podcast’ Mindful Technology Playlist as resources for mindful reflection and journaling.

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Now that we are in the midst of COVID-19, what does your digital life look and feel like?

How much time are you and your loved ones spending online?

Do you feel overwhelmed by technology?

How are you taking care of yourself while you are working and communicating online?

Need mindful technology tips and resources including tips on how to create digital a wellness plan, set time boundaries on email and texting, unplug daily or weekly from your digital devices, and/or start a digital detox?

Check out the Thriving Mindfully Digital Wellness resources below.

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My Mindful Technology Journey & Burnout

Learning how to use technology mindfully started when I began my career in digital communications as a knowledge manager for Hamilton Securities Group, Inc. in 1996. My struggles with overdosing on technology increased dramatically when I started using social media, a smartphone, a tablet, and a lap top in my home life, digital communications career in the nonprofit sector, and wellness company. I didn’t have a healthy plan for communicating with family and friends; working with clients; managing my websites and social media; creating and curating blog and video content; hosting and producing podcasts; leading and participating in online communities; listening to music and podcasts; and watching TV shows, movies, and videos.

When I experienced burnout and enlisted the support of my life coach, Yael Flusberg, I started to make changes in the way I use technology. The lessons I learned and the mindful tech self-care practices I discovered laid the foundation for the Thriving Mindfully Podcast’s Mindful Technology playlist below. Check out each episode and see what tips and resources work best for you. Use what you find to create your own digital wellness plan.

Resources for You: Mindful Technology Playlist

The Mindful Technology playlist includes nine podcast episodes that offer meditations and mindful tips on how to create a digital wellness plan, practice self-care with a digital detox and unplugging, and have a healthy relationship with email, social media, and technology. Click on the links below.

Here’s a bonus gift for you. A video of me sharing the Thriving Mindfully Academy’s recipe of weekly themes to inspire and help you practice mindful self-care Sunday through Saturday.

Upcoming Events

Get your tickets here.

TMAcademy-WWMeditationClass

Join me for the Wellness Wednesday Meditation class on March 25th from 7-7:15 AM ET (held every Wednesday until April 29th) via Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/anandaleeke64.

Spring Books for You

Check out my three mindfulness books (available on Amazon): Love’s Troubadours, a yoga-inspired novel; That Which Awakens Me, a mindful creativity memoir; and Digital Sisterhood, a mindful technology memoir. My books make great gifts for yourself and others.

Coaching Support for You

2020

Have you thought about how you want to live your life in 2020 and beyond?

Do you need support in planning out your year?

Looking for accountability?

I’d love to work with you! I love coaching and supporting people just like you who are committed to exploring mindfulness, meditation, and mindful self-care in their lives, careers, and business. My coaching areas include:

Mindfulness 101
Mindful Self-Care
Mindful Creativity
Mindful at Work
Mindful Communication
Mindful Leadership
Mindful Technology

Interested in exploring how we might work together to manifest your heart’s desires for your life, career, and/or business this year?

Fill out my client intake survey and then let’s set up a free 20-minute consultation call.

Click here to complete the survey. I will follow up with an email once you complete it.
I offer an hourly rate and three-month and six-month packages

Mindfulness & Self-Care Resources for Navigating Coronavirus Emergency

Posted by Ananda Leekeon March 13, 2020March 13, 2020in Meditation, mindful self-care, Mindfulness, Self-Care, UncategorizedLeave a comment

MindfulMomentPractice

Hey Groovy People!

How are you and your family and friends doing with navigating the coronavirus emergency?

How are you practicing mindfulness and self-care?

If you need support with your mindfulness and self-care practice, check out the resources and video below.

Go here for more free resources on my website.

TMCOVID19-TipFINAL (1)

Check out the Thriving Mindfully Podcast episodes below. Go here to listen to the over 100 Thriving Mindfully Podcast episodes on mindfulness, meditation, self-care, and wellness. Share them with your family, friends, and colleagues.

Watch my video (above) to learn how I’m using the coronavirus (kora-virus is what I call it by accident; read the description on YouTube to find out what kora refers to) as a personal development growth and service opportunity to support you with the soft launch of the Thriving Mindfully Academy next week (mindfulness exercise is included at the end). Look out for more news about the launch of the Thriving Mindfully Academy and online events next week.

2020

Have you thought about how you want to live your life in 2020 and beyond? Do you need support in planning out your year? Looking for accountability? I’d love to work with you! Check out my one-on-one coaching below.

ONE-ON-ONE COACHING: I love coaching and supporting people just like you who are committed to exploring mindfulness, meditation, and mindful self-care in their lives. My coaching areas include:

Mindfulness 101
Mindful Self-Care (can incorporate meditation, gentle yoga, reiki, crystal therapy, journaling, chakra healing, and rituals from world cultures, eight phases of the moon, astrology, and goddesses)
Mindful Creativity
Mindful at Work
Mindful Communication
Mindful Leadership
Mindful Technology

Interested in exploring how we might work together to manifest your heart’s desires for your life, career, and/or business this year?

Fill out my client intake survey and then let’s set up a free 20-minute consultation call.

Click here to complete the survey. I will follow up with an email once you complete it.

I offer an hourly rate and three-month and six-month packages.

Resisting Change in 2020? Flip the Script on Your Life & Career Before Spring Begins!

Posted by Ananda Leekeon February 21, 2020February 21, 2020in #ThrivingMindfully, Mindful Living, mindful self-care, Mindfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

timeforchange

Hey Groovy People!

How has your February been?

Have you embraced or resisted it?

My February has been filled with moments of me embracing and resisting CHANGE. The one thing that has helped me navigate all of these moments of CHANGE is my mindful self-care practices of meditation, prayer and accountability sessions with my brother Meico, crystal reiki, mindful movement (gentle yoga, barre classes, and walking), journaling, astrology and moon rituals, and intuitive bodywork sessions with my soul brothalove Ken Yamaguchi-Clark a/k/a “Dharma Farma.”

Go here to visit Ken’s Facebook page to learn more about him. Email him at dharmafarmaken@gmail.com.

AL-Meflippingthescriptphoto

Earlier this week, I had a powerful intuitive bodywork session that included inversion therapy with Ken (see photo above of me laying on an inversion table).

Inversion Therapy? What is it?

Inversion therapy is a nonsurgical treatment designed to remove gravitational pressure off the spine and create more space between the spine’s vertebrae. A common form or tool of inversion therapy is the inversion table. To use it, you strap yourself into the inversion table (typically by your ankles and waste) and then you hang completely upside down. Your head faces towards the floor and gravity’s effects on your body are reduced.

Laying on the inversion table can help you clear your mind. When you’re upside down, fresh oxygen floods your brain, sweeping out cobwebs and mental fog. Also, when you get your head below your heart, your world is literally turned upside down. Being upside down can help you see all sides of things, shift your perspective, and make different choices.

Here’s what happened during my inversion therapy experience…

Laying on the inversion table was INTENSE for me. Why? Because I was guided by Ken to release and surrender my resistance to CHANGE in my life and career through deep breathing, sound healing using my own voice, his bodywork (a unique blend of acupressure and massage), and mindful reflection and journaling. The end result was greater clarity, a deeper understanding of who I truly am — the REAL ME in 2020, and a complete release of my resistance to making changes to how I show up in my life and share my gifts as a wellness professional, author, and artist. In short, it helped me make a choice to FLIP THE SCRIPT ON MY LIFE & CAREER before the Spring season begins in a few weeks.

My choice to FLIP THE SCRIPT ON MY LIFE & CAREER is a process. It’s not gonna happen in one day, week, or month. It requires me to give myself time and space to experiment, learn, grow, reflect, and make modifications along the way. It requires me to practice mindful self-care with what I call the Big 5: loving kindness, compassion, nonjudgment, patience, and forgiveness.

Four years ago, I gave an Ignite talk about the four lessons I learned through CHANGE at the Nonprofit Technology Network’s annual conference in San Jose, California. During my talk, I shared how I embraced and resisted CHANGE in my career. The four lessons I shared included:

Lesson #1: Ask for help.
Lesson #2: Take great care of yourself.
Lesson #3: Be a lifelong learner.
Lesson #4: Be open to possibilities.

Watch the video above to hear my entire talk.

Breathe (2)

Did you know you can use your breath to navigate change?

Go here to listen to my Thriving Mindfully Podcast episode on how to breathe through change.

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February has definitely been a month of CHANGE. Earlier this month, I decided to change how I offer meditation. So I enrolled in sound meditation + yoga teacher and massage therapist Dante Baker’s sound healing certification course that was held at a recharj in DC (see photo above).

Sound meditation is the practice of becoming aware of what’s happening inside and outside of yourself in the present moment with the use of sound and music.

Sound meditation is also known as Sound Healing and Sound Baths. It uses a range of Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, gongs, Ting-shas (tiny cymbals), dorges (bells), didgeridoos, and other small bells. The tones and frequencies that these bowls and instruments carry affect us in specific ways. They activate a different chakra energy center and organ system within the body.

Sound healing is one of the best ways to deepen your meditation practice. It can help reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being.

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One of the changes I made in how I share my gifts in my wellness company, Ananda Leeke Consulting, is shifting when I offer my meditation classes, Moon Circles, and mindfulness workshops and webinars. After I completed my sound healing certification course, I added sound meditation to the Mindful Monday Meditation class.

Starting in March, the Mindful Monday Meditation class will only be held on the first Monday of each month. Classes will not be held on July 6th or Labor Day, September 7th.

Mark your calendar and plan to join me on March 2nd, April 6th, May 4th, and June 1st, October 5th, November 2nd, and December 7th. Go here for more details.

Mind-BodyReset (1)

Even though we’re wrapping up the second month of 2020 and headed towards Spring, it’s okay to pause for the cause and give ourselves a do-over in our life, career, and business. That’s right! It’s perfectly fine to stop and hit the reset button on our 2020.

Here’s the thing we must always remember. When we choose to give ourselves permission and space to breathe, reflect, and step back from the hustle and bustle of our lives, relationships, careers, and businesses, we are reclaiming our birthrights to mindfulness and self-care. These choices are investments in our resiliency. They lay the foundation for us to embrace Thriving Mindfully in all that we think, feel, say, and do.

Now ask yourself the following questions:

Are you moving forward or away from your dreams?
Are you struggling, stressed out, stuck, afraid, overwhelmed, in need of a shift, and/or unsure of what to do next?
Is 2020 calling you to be more than you have ever been before?
Are you noticing a need to dive deep and explore who you are becoming in the new year?
Are you resisting what you need to be and do in order to express the REAL YOU?
Struggling with how you are showing up in your life, relationships, career, and/or business?

IF YOU ANSWERED YES OR MAYBE to any of these questions, then it’s time you flip the script on your 2020 and press the reset button.

It’s time you give yourself permission to start the year over and create space in your spirit, heart, mind, body, and life to embrace Thriving Mindfully with my support during my two intensive Master Classes on February 28th (for women only) and February 29th (for everyone). See the details below.

Register and get your tickets here.

Sign up and buy your tickets here.

2020

ONE-ON-ONE COACHING: I love coaching and supporting people just like you who are committed to exploring mindfulness, meditation, and mindful self-care in their lives. My coaching areas include:

Mindfulness 101
Mindful Self-Care (can incorporate meditation, gentle yoga, reiki, crystal therapy, journaling, chakra healing, and rituals from world cultures, eight phases of the moon, astrology, and goddesses)
Mindful Creativity
Mindful at Work
Mindful Communication
Mindful Leadership
Mindful Technology

Interested in exploring how we might work together to manifest your heart’s desires for your life, career, and/or business this year?

Fill out my client intake survey and then let’s set up a free 20-minute consultation call.

Click here to complete the survey. I will follow up with an email once you complete it.

I offer an hourly rate and three-month and six-month packages.

MINDFULNESS, SELF-CARE & YOGA-INSPIRED BOOKS: Check out my three mindfulness books here: Love’s Troubadours, a yoga-inspired novel; That Which Awakens Me, a mindful creativity memoir; and Digital Sisterhood, a mindful technology memoir. My books make great gifts for yourself and others.

Supercharge Your Life, Relationships & Career with the Power of the Full Moon & Mindful Self-Care

Posted by Ananda Leekeon February 6, 2020February 6, 2020in mindful self-care, Moon Circles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Moon phases

Guess what’s happening on Sunday?

The Full Moon in Leo! The Full Moon offers us a beautiful opportunity to practice SLOW YOUR LIVING, the first Thriving Mindfully Core Commitment. SLOW YOUR LIVING is all about carving out some minutes or longer moments to be still, go within, and practice mindful self-care radically.

Wanna learn more about the full moon and/or practice mindful self-care? Listen to the latest episode of my Thriving Mindfully Podcast for a full moon meditation and prayer.

TMMoonCircleFlyer-Feb-March2020 Need more support? Join me on Sunday, February 9th from 6:30-8PM for the Thriving Mindfully Moon Circle and Sound Bath Meditation at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC. Buy your tickets here.

In case you can’t attend the DC event, sign up for my Online Thriving Mindfully Moon Circle on Tuesday, February 11th from 8-9:30PM ET via Zoom. Get your tickets here. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/92937192645

Need to Press the Reset Button on Your 2020?

Posted by Ananda Leekeon January 27, 2020January 28, 2020in mindful self-care, Mindfulness, Self-Care, Uncategorized, wellnessLeave a comment

ResetButton January is almost over and I have a HUGE confession to make. I needed to press the reset button on 2020 last week. That’s right I had to start the year over again. Does that sound like you?

Here’s why I hit the reset button on 2020. I discovered I wasn’t living what I have been preaching in the way I manage my home. This year, I made a commitment to Thriving Mindfully in my home with more joy, beauty, organization, and less stuff. I committed to using many tips based on the Marie Kondo method. FYI: Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant and author.

I love Kondo’s approach to live with things you cherish and release those things you no longer want, need, and cherish. My struggle came with following through on my commitment. I procrastinated doing the work. So I enlisted the support of Meico, my brother, BFF, and accountability partner; Lauren, my BFF and Howard University School of Law classmate (affectionately known as the Black Martha Stewart); Wayne, my BFF and book editor; and Wayne’s amazing wife, Joy, my friend and home decor and lifestyle expert. Yep, I assembled a team of folks to help me overcome my struggles. Having a team made me more accountable and gave me tips, strength, support, and that extra nudge to get things done. They were also my cheerleaders and helped me celebrate my small, medium, and big steps

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With my accountability team’s support, I was able to complete a large portion of my home beautification project over the weekend. Dig how I am using the phrase home beautification to describe my decluttering and cleaning efforts. I had to rename the process because the words decluttering and cleaning were too heavy. They made me resist the process. Using the phrase home beautification gave me more JOY and motivation to reset my 2020 button on my home. Check out photos of my new and improved living room above.

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So what’s happening with you so far?

Do you need to restart 2020?

Is 2020 calling you to be more than you have ever been before?

Are you noticing a need to dive deep and explore who you are becoming in the new year?

Are you resisting what you need to be and do in order to be the REAL YOU?

Struggling with how you are showing up in your life, relationships, career, and/or business?

Well, let’s reset the 2020 button together and create space within ourselves to embrace Thriving Mindfully with self-care.

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Start with the Thriving Mindfully Podcast about the meaning of Thriving Mindfully as a heart-centered approach. Go here to listen to the episode.

Need more support?

Join me this week for the encore offerings of my mindful self-care online retreats for women on January 30th and all people on January 31st . The online retreats offer you an opportunity to take a deep dive into who you were in 2019, who you want to be in 2020, and how you can use mindful self-care practices to support yourself throughout the year.

During the online retreats, you will:

Breath deeply and meditate
Practice affirmations and gentle chair yoga
Learn about mindfulness and mindful self-care
Reflect on and journal about who YOU have become
Explore how you have loved, valued, and honored yourself
Find out who or what’s been getting in your way
Release and practice forgiveness
Dive deep and discover the YOU that you want to be in 2020
Set intentions and identify the resources, action steps, and accountability support you need to manifest the person you want to be in 2020
Write a love letter to yourself about who you want to be in 2020
Create a self-celebration plan to appreciate your small, medium, and big wins in 2020

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Go here to buy your tickets for the Online Women’s Mindful Self-Care Retreat: Thriving Mindfully as YOU in 2020 and Beyond on Thursday, January 30th from 8-10 PM ET via Zoom ($107).

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Go here to get your tickets for the Online Mindful Self-Care Retreat for Everyone: Thriving Mindfully as YOU in 2020 and Beyond on Friday, January 31st from 8-10 PM ET via Zoom ($107).

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SOMETHING BIG IS HAPPENING IN MARCH!

SIGN UP HERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION.

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One of the best ways I have been able to practice self-care over the past two decades is through marrying my mindfulness practice with my practice of honoring the new and full moons and the astrological wisdom that supports each moon cycle. I call it being MOONFUL.

Being MOONFUL has helped me strengthen my relationship with myself and others. It has also helped me become more intuitive, intentional, focused, and open-hearted. All of these efforts have led me to the process of MOONIFESTING, the act of manifesting my heart’s desires in my life, career, and relationships with the support of the power and presence of the new and full moons. Last year, I launched the Thriving Mindfully Moon Circles to share what I have learned with folx in DC and online.

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Join me for the Thriving Mindfully Moon Circles at Qi Kratom CBD Tea, 1517 U Street, NW in DC in February.

Thriving Mindfully Circle – Full Moon on February 9th from 6:30-8 PM ($30)
Thriving Mindfully Circle – New Moon on February 23rd from 6:30-8 PM ($30)

ONE-ON-ONE COACHING: I love coaching and supporting people just like you who are committed to exploring mindfulness, meditation, and mindful self-care in their lives. My seven coaching areas include: mindfulness, mindful self-care, mindful creativity, mindful communication, mindful leadership, mindful at work, and mindful technology. Contact ananda@anandaleeke.com if you need more support. We can set up a free 20-minute consultation call to discuss how we can work together. I offer an hourly rate and three-month and six-month packages.

Check out my three mindfulness books here: Love’s Troubadours, a yoga-inspired novel; That Which Awakens Me, a mindful creativity memoir; and Digital Sisterhood, a mindful technology memoir. My books make great gifts for yourself and others.