Today I’ve got a special video message for YOU that discusses my big dream of creating the Thriving Mindfully Community on the Mighty Network platform, a woman-owned software for building intentional communities. Watch it below. Let me know what you think.
Let’s inspire each other to nurture, transform, and celebrate our lives and careers in the Thriving Mindfully Community. Go here to claim your complimentary membership today. When you join the Thriving Mindfully Community this month, you get access to my LIVE 30-minute Mini Master Class on July 7th or July 14th from 8-8:30 AM ET and 8-8:30 PM ET.
Opening my heart to JOY isn’t always beautiful or easy.
CONFESSION: I have struggled with and stressed myself out with finding JOY in my life, relationships, and career because of my TYPE A overachieving mindset that makes JOY into a massive big ASS deal.
Last year I stressed myself out, tripped, and fell into what I call the SUPERSIZE JOY HOLE and couldn’t get out using my old JOY definition and expectations. So I spent last spring, summer, and fall opening my heart and redefining JOY by looking closely with curiosity at how it was showing up in my COVID-19 pandemic life. It wasn’t always easy or beautiful. It made me show up VULNERABLE which isn’t a favorite state of being for my recovering Type A control freak/overachiever and inner critic archetypes.
Through it all, I learned how powerful it is to release the mindset and habit of supersizing JOY. To be honest, I am still releasing them. It’s a process! That’s why I created the Thriving Mindfully Community’s Summer of Self-Care, a three-month celebration that encourages and me and YOU to reclaim our birthright of JOY as a mindful self-care practice.
Stressed out or struggling with JOY and self-care?
Need help with reclaiming and redefining JOY in your life, relationships, and career?
Go here to claim your complimentary Thriving Mindfully Community membership. Once you become a Thriving Mindfully Community member, go to the Events tab and RSVP for the next Mini Master Class: 3 Way to Stress Less, Embrace Joy, and Make This Your Summer of Self-Care on Friday, July 2nd at 8-8:30 AM.
How is your summer going so far? My prayer is that we all slow down to embrace more JOY in our lives and careers. To help you get started, join me for the Thriving Mindfully Community’s Mindful Monday Meditation tonight at 7-7:30 PM ET and the Summer of Self-Care that launched on June 20th.
The Summer of Self-Care is a three-month celebration that encourages and inspires you to reclaim your birthright of JOY. It also invites you to embrace JOY as a daily mindfulness practice.
This week I am leading a Mini Master Class: 3 Ways to Stress Less, Embrace Joy & Make This Your Summer of Self-Care on June 29 at 8-8:30 PM ET, June 30 at 8-8:30 AM ET, June 30 at 8-8:30 PM ET or July 2 at 8-8:30 AM ET.
Plan to join me at these events after you claim your FREE membership in the Thriving Mindfully Community: www.thrivingmindfully.net.
After you join, go to the Events tab in the community and RSVP for one of the classes this week. Also, check out the Summer of Self-Care resources in the Topics tab.
NEED SUPPORT WITH MINDFUL SELF-CARE?
DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DEEPER COMMITMENT TO NURTURING YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
The first day of Summer officially begins at 11:32 PM ET on June 20th. That means the Summer Solstice will also happen on June 21st. In honor of the Summer Solstice, the Thriving Mindfully Community is launching the Summer of Self-Care on June 20th and 21st. Watch my latest video here to learn more about it.
Summertime has always been a time of joy for me. Given everything that has happened in 2020 and this year, I have decided to be more intentional about embracing JOY this summer.
Did you know JOY is your birthright? JOY is also a mindful self-care practice you can choose each day.
Need help reclaiming your birthright of JOY? Go here to get your FREE membership in the Thriving Mindfully Community and participate in the Summer of Self-Care.
The Thriving Mindfully Community’s Summer of Self-Care is a three-month celebration that encourages and inspires you to reclaim and practice your birthright of JOY from June 20th to September 21st. Once you join the Thriving Mindfully Community, go to the Topics tab and click on the Summer of Self-Care. Check out the Welcome to Your Summer of Self-Care article that includes a short overview of the three-month celebration. It also includes four videos with some of the special ingredients of my Summer of Self-Care Recipe: two short mindful moment exercises and an excerpt of my poem, “Joy, the Psalm of My Life.”
NEED SUPPORT WITH MINDFUL SELF-CARE?
DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DEEPER COMMITMENT TO NURTURING YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
Yesterday I took my bike Luna for a ride in the Dupont Circle neighborhood in DC. Bike riding in my city brings me a lot of JOY. Why? Because I love exploring different streets and looking at flowers, plants, trees, and the architecture of houses and buildings. I also love the feeling of freedom I get while riding my bike.
I discovered a while ago that joy was my birthright. I added it to the other birthrights of mindfulness, self-care, self-love, self-worth, creativity, and abundance that I actively claim. What keeps me going is carving out time and space to practice and enjoy these birthrights in my life and career on a regular basis.
JOY is a choice to become aware of and rejoice in the JUICY moments that OPEN YOU up from the inside out. The JUICY moments are filled with goodness. When you can make this choice and appreciate and experience your own JOY, you develop the capacity to rejoice in the goodness of others. That’s called sympathetic joy or mudita. It starts first with you.
I added JOY to the my other birthrights of mindfulness, self-care, self-love, self-worth, creativity, and abundance that I actively claim. What keeps me going is carving out time and space to practice and enjoy these birthrights in my life and career on a regular basis. Watch my video below to learn more.
Have you claimed your birthright to joy, mindfulness, self-care, self-love, self-worth, creativity, and abundance?
Are you struggling, stressed or time pressed in your life and career?
Need help or support?
Go here to claim your FREE membership in my Thriving Mindfully Community, a digital sacred space that inspires you to nurture, transform, and celebrate your life and career. When you join, you get access to the weekly Mindful Monday Meditation class at 7-7:30 PM ET.
I was so happy to learn about the amazing tennis player Naomi Osaka’s decision to take care of her mental health (read her Instagram post here). I loved hearing tennis player and entrepreneur Serena Williams affirm Naomi’s decision. They represent two HEALTHY and #PRESENTAF women. They demonstrated what I know to be true: our mental health is our birthright! So is mindfulness and self-care. They are all our birthrights and ESSENTIAL to our well-being and existence on Mother Earth.
I am grateful for all of the people including numerous health, wellness, spiritual, and creative practitioners who taught me to value my mental health, self-care, and mindfulness, and supported me in my growth over the past 30 years. It’s a growth journey I continue to take daily.
This morning I decided to slow down and listen to Aretha Franklin’s You album in my Chakra Castle Chill Out Lounge. While I was chilling, I played in my lipstick and lip gloss box. Wearing lipstick and lip gloss has always been one of my self-care tools. When the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, I started collecting and wearing different lipstick and lip gloss colors even with my mask. My self-care practice became a wonderful way for me to honor myself and express my joy and gratitude for being alive and healthy each day. On hard days, it made me remember I was worth time and attention. My soul sistalove Ayesha and I share our lipstick journeys with texts and photos regularly. It’s a self-care religion for us!
Ninety-five percent of the brands I use are made by people of color. Many of the colors in my collection represent shades of the seven chakras. Today, the green lipsticks called my name. They were vibing with my heart chakra energy of loving kindness and compassion. I used Dr. Bonner’s orange ginger organic balm and Kami Cosmetics’ walnut lip liner (purchased from The Brown Beauty Co-op in DC). I mixed Einaff Cosmetics’ Margarita green lipstick and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty’s Midnight Wasabi green lipstick to create the look I am rocking today.
What self-care practices have you been using this year?
Struggling with stress?
Need help?
Go here to claim your free membership in my Thriving Mindfully Community, a digital sacred space that inspires you to nurture and transform your life and career.
What a month it’s been. Today, I decided to take a moment to check in with you. How are you? How’s May been for you?
Watch my May self-care check-in video that I recorded in my Chakra Castle healing arts studio. During the video, I talk about:
◇my painting Love Mentalism: Be Love. Love Life (no pun intended). that celebrates my healing journey with the seven chakras ◇my writing journey, writer’s blocks, and current book project ◇how I tap into my creative self through my throat and third eye chakras ◇how I empower myself with creative rituals of wearing my lapis lazuli ring from the Navajo Nation, AJ Crimson’s blue lip gloss (purchased from Brown Beauty Co-op in DC) , and Find Your Voice t-shirt by Miri in the UK ◇an excerpt from my poem “Writing My Memoir” that is published in my mindful creativity memoir, That Which Awakens Me ◇how I dwell in the uncomfortable truths that live inside of me: feelings of mourning and grief. I ◇how writing grounds and comforts me when I am stressed and overwhelmed ◇the self-care support I get from being in sacred communities like my Thriving Mindfully Community
MY GIFT FOR YOU: If you’re stressed, time-pressed, and need a sacred and safe place to nurture, transform, and celebrate your life and career, go hereto claim your FREE membership in my NEW Thriving Mindfully Community.
When you join, you get access to the Mindful Self-Care 101 Resource Library that has several self-care tools you can use in less have five minutes. You’ll also get access to the weekly Mindful Monday Meditation class (class will be held on May 31st at 7-7:30 PM ET) and the monthly Community Meeting (will be held on June 1st at 8-8:30 PM ET). Go to the Events tab and RSVP for these events.
Guess what? None of us can live on Mother Earth without the support of others. In my own life, I have had several types of support from family, friends, therapists, health practitioners, fitness trainers,, mentors, sponsors, accountability partners, and creative, legal, tech, sorority, and spiritual groups. All these people and groups have helped me grow into the person, self-care coach, author, and artist I am today. I call that support COMMUNITY.
Are you stressed and time-pressed? Struggling with finding the time and energy to nurture yourself?
I’ve got a special gift for you. Take 1 minute to join my NEW Thriving Mindfully Community, a digital sacred space that inspires stressed and time-pressed people like you to nurture, transform, and celebrate their life and career.
It’s FREE to join. You’ll get access to the weekly Mindful Monday Meditation class at 7-7:30 PM ET (tonight’s class will be led by guest teacher Ayesha Ali) and the Mindful Self-Care 101 Resource Library. Go to the Events tab to RSVP
The Mindful Self-Care 101 Resource Library offers quick ways for you to stress less and practice mindful self-care in 5 to 10 minutes each day. Go here to claim your free membership.
One more thing … Once you have your free membership, check out the Events tab and sign up for the FREE May 26th Virtual Playdate that will focus on meditation and journaling from 8-8:45 PM ET.
Invite your family, friends, and colleagues to join the Thriving Mindfully Community.
STRESS AIN’T NO FUN! I learned 30 years ago when I was a stressed out lawyer that meditation and creativity are two of the best ways to release stress. Watch my latest video below o learn more about the power of creativity.
I’d love to support you in releasing stress from your life and career. We can work together when you join the Thriving Mindfully Community. When you Join the Thriving Mindfully Community, you get a weekly dose of meditation on Mondays at 7-7:30 PM ET. Find out how you can use creativity to practice self-care during the Virtual Playdates on May 19th at 8-9 PM ET and May 26th at 8-8:45 PM ET. Once you join the Thriving Mindfully Community, go to the Events tab and RSVP for these events.
Happy 32nd Anniversary to the Howard University School of Law (HUSL), Class of 1989! My HUSL classmates are AMAZING people! Today we celebrate every journey we have taken in our lives and careers since we received our J.D. degrees on May 13, 1989. I am tremendously blessed because of them all. I am grateful we shared three intense and transformative years together.
Today we also celebrate and remember our classmates who have made their life transition. They include Lauren, Van, Arnie, Lynette, Vincent, Guy, and others (forgive me if I left out any names). I decided to celebrate us all by wearing my Howard University alumni sweatshirt and creating a video with my poem, “Howard University Graduation.” The video gives a special shout out to Lauren, our third year class president and one of my dearest soul sistaloves who made her transition on April 1st as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In previous years, I would call or text Lauren to say, Happy HU Law Anniversary. I couldn’t do that today. So I honored Lauren’s memory and my classmates with this post.
My poem, “Howard University Graduation” also celebrates my brother Matt who graduated from Howard University School of Communications. In the photo below, he is with our parents, John and Theresa Leeke. The poem is published in my mindful creativity memoir, That Which Awakens Me (available on Amazon).
Ananda Leeke 