Tag: Jamie Ridler

The Business of Being Ananda: Staying on Track with 21 Days of Feminine Business Model Telejam Series

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Photo Credit: Tracy Lee Jones
Photo Credit: Tracy Lee Jones

Happy Tuesday!

For the next three weeks I am participating in Tracy Lee Jones’ The Feminine Business Model’s Global Telejam Series. I am using the Series as my reset button for 2013. So far, I have watched the “How to Cultivate Your Creativity (aired today)” with Jennifer Lee of Artizen Coaching, Goddess Leonie Dawson, and Laura Hollick.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Lee
Photo Credit: Jennifer Lee

Jennifer Lee’s book, The Right-Brain Business Plan has been so powerful in my life. Goddess Leonie is someone I have admired for years. I met Jennifer and Leonie while reading the Pink Heels blog and web site (no longer in existence) created by Jennifer Moore. I also connected with them through Jamie Ridler’s Next Chapter Book Blogging Group. Leonie is a true inspiration!

Ananda's Creativity Folder
Ananda’s Creativity Folder

The Telejam Series is helping me stay focused and on track with my intention to live dharma happiness. My intention guides my fierce living commitments to healthy eating and cooking, regular fitness (biking, running, walking, weight training, and taking a weekly yoga class at Tranquil Space or Embrace DC), making time each day for meditation/Reiki/yoga, getting sufficient rest and sleep each day, having fun and laughing daily, dancing, maintaining my home as a creative/loving/healing sanctuary, spending time with family and friends weekly, enjoying/expressing my creativity, participating in my spiritual communities on a monthly basis, and finishing the publisher’s edits for my Digital Sisterhood memoir and having the book published this winter with EASE, GRACE, JOY, and PEACE!

Photo Credit":Tracy Lee Jones
Photo Credit”:Tracy Lee Jones

About Tracy Lee Jones and the Telejam Series:

Tracy Lee Jones is a Life Coach, Mentor to Emerging Entrepreneurs, and Founder &    Chief Inspiration Officer of The Feminine Business Model. Tracy launched The Feminine Business Model’s Global Telejam Series to help women make motivation a habit. Her series includes 21 days of awe-inspiring videos from women all around the world. It’s free too! So sign up ladies: http://thefemininebusinessmodel.com. It is a great investment in YOU, your most precious asset!

Re-Cap on Ananda’s August and September Media (interviews – audio and blog)

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September and August were great months for receiving positive press about my work as an author, artist, coach, yoga teacher, and innerpreneur.  Check out the audio and blog interviews below. Let me know what you think. If you would like to interview me, send me an email – kiamshaleeke@yahoo.com.

Click here to check out all of my media links from 2007 to 2010.  Enjoy!

Happy August! Check out my upcoming events.

Posted by on in Blogatique with Ananda Leeke1 Comment

Happy August All!

I am celebrating all of the creative women who inspire me this month. Many of these fabulous and fierce ladies will be featured during my August events. See the schedule below.  I hope you can join me online and offline.

Who are the creative women that inspire you?  Celebrate them this month.  Call or email them. Make time to see them in person. Tell your network about them. Sing their praises on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. Support their creative efforts.

Ananda’s August Events:

1) August 15 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EST, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 307 (Washingtoniana Division’s Program Room), Washington, DC (Please register for the event: http://sisterhoodtheblogaugustfocusgroup.eventbrite.com)

Join Ananda for Sisterhood the Blog’s focus group on how creative women use the web and social media to express, share, market, and sell their creativity and/or creative services. Come share your thoughts, insights, and lessons learned. Guest panelists include (more names will be added shortly):

Feel free to use the Twitter hashtag #STB10 to chat about the event and panelists.

If you are planning to participate, please complete an online survey about women and social media and release statement. The release statement gives Ananda permission to use information shared during the event as research for her book project Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution (December 2011).

2)August 16 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST, Online Conference Call – To access the call, dial (424) 203-8400 and enter Participant Access Code 943041#.

Ananda is hosting a fabulous conversation on how creative women use the web and social media to express, share, market, and sell their creativity.  Guest panelists include:

Feel free to use the Twitter hashtag #STB10 to chat about the event and panelists.

If you are planning to participate, please complete an online survey about women and social media and release statement. The release statement gives Ananda permission to use information shared during the event as research for her book project Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution (December 2011).

3) August 17 @ 9:30 pm EST, BlogTalkRadio – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke/2010/08/18/blogatique-with-ananda-leeke

Tune into the launch of Ananda’s new BlogTalkRadio radio show Blogatique with Ananda Leeke. People. Passions. Politics.  The first episode features creative woman extraordinaire Toni Blackman.  Blackman is an artist, cultural ambassador, and social entrepreneur, based in Brooklyn, New York. Toni is the author of Inner-Course: A Plea for Real Love.  She is also the founder and director of Freestyle Union, a cipher workshop that uses free styling as a tool to encourage social responsibility. Her “I Rhyme Like A Girl” series is a Freestyle Union initiative. In addition, she is a former Echoing Green Fellow and fellow with the Open Society Institute. Visit Toni’s blog to learn more about her creative endeavors: http://toniblackman.wordpress.com. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/toniblackman.

4) August 18 @ 8:00 pm – 8:30 pm, MomTV – http://www.momtv.com/kg-yoga

Watch Ananda’s kg yoga life practices class on Mom TV on 8:00 pm EST.  The theme is celebrating Shakti, the creative feminine energy.

5) August 24 @ 9:30 pm, BlogTalkRadio – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke/2010/08/25/blogatique-with-ananda-leeke-people-passions-polit

Blogatique with Ananda Leeke. People. Passions. Politics. features Orlando W. Darden, Jr., owner of BodyFitDC (http://bodyfitdc.com) on the second episode of its first season. Darden is a Washington, DC-based certified personal and group fitness trainer,and running coach. He will discuss his life reinvention journey from a seasoned finance professional with 20+ years of experience and a MBA from New York University to a fitness entrepreneur who is passionate about helping people to become more fit and healthy,and improve their overall well-being. Follow Darden’s BodyFitDC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bodyfitdc.

6) August 26 @ 9:00 pm, Sisterhood the Blog Radio, http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/42015

Tune in as Ananda continues the creative women and social media discussion with the following creative ladies:

Please register for the show: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/794878503.  This radio show is a follow up to an offline event held on August 15 in DC and conference call on August 16.

Feel free to use the Twitter hashtag #STB10 to chat about the event and panelists.

If you miss the live show on August 26, don’t fret. You will be able to listen to the audio posted on Sisterhood the Blog Radio’s web site: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/42015.

If you are planning to participate, please complete an online survey about women and social media and release statement. The release statement gives Ananda permission to use information shared during the event as research for her book project Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution (December 2011).

7) August30 @ 9:00 pm, Sisterhood the Blog Radio, http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/42015

Listen to Ananda’s second discussion about  creative women and social media with the following creative ladies:

Please register for the show: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/814373814.

This radio show is a follow up to an offline event held on August 15 in DC and conference call on August 16.

Feel free to use the Twitter hashtag #STB10 to chat about the event and panelists.

If you miss the live show on August 30, don’t fret. You will be able to listen to the audio posted on Sisterhood the Blog Radio’s web site: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/42015.

If you are planning to participate, please complete an online survey about women and social media and release statement. The release statement gives Ananda permission to use information shared during the event as research for her book project Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution (December 2011).

8) August 31 @ 9:30 pm, BlogTalkRadio – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke/2010/09/01/blogatique-with-ananda-leeke-shayne-lee-author-of-

Blogatique with Ananda Leeke: People. Passions. Politics. features Shayne Lee, author, sociologist, and Tulane University professor on the third episode of its first season. Lee will discuss his new book Erotic Revolutionaries: Black Women, Sexuality, and Popular Culture.

Introducing The Next Chapter – Happy Book – Blogging Group – My 2010 Winter Creative Women’s Online Community

Posted by on in Next Chapter Book Bloggign Group6 Comments

Greetings All!

If you have been reading my blog, you know how much I adore Jamie Ridler’s Next Chapter book blogging groups.  They are amazing and always keep me uplifted, inspired, and on track with my personal and creative goals.  I write about their powerful impact on my creative journey in my new book That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (available on Amazon.com – http://tiny.cc/7uFsg).

This year I joined Jamie’s Next Chapter – Happy Book Blogging Group.  We are reading The Happy Book by Rachel Kempster and Meg Leder.  The group officially began on January 15 and is taking a new approach to book blogging in 2010.  Jamie calls it “The Happy Book Mail-Around.”  104 creative women bloggers signed up to take part in this grand experiment. Click here to learn more:  http://tnc-thehappybook.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-book-january-29.html.  Jamie divided us into four groups: Bliss, Giggle, Mirth, and Glee.  I am a member of the Giggle group. So is my dear sistalove Jennifer Moore of Pink Heels blog.

Since I am just getting started with The Happy Book journey, I thought I’d share my top four happy moments in January.  See below. 

FYI – I just ordered The Happy Book from Amazon.com.  What a happy moment! I’ll be posting weekly updates on my Happy Book journey over the next several weeks.  I invite you to join me in sharing your weekly happy moments in the comment section of my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!

Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for Daily Happy Moments,

Ananda

  

Ananda’s Top Four Happy Moments in January

1) Happy Aha Moment

On the morning of January 13, I boarded a plane at BWI Airport to Indianapolis to attend my grandmother Dorothy Mae Johnson Gartin’s funeral.  While on the plane, I read an article in the February issue of O Magazine that included the following quote:

“You’ve just got this glow about you – some combination of wisdom and inner peace, plus a lovely self-awareness.  You’re not sweating the small stuff; you know what feels good, feels right, and you simply don’t muck around with the rest.  You’re not a kid anymore, and we mean that as a high compliment.  There’s a new kind of lightness about you. And your hair has never looked better.”

Reading these words help me see who I have become at 45.  So I tore them out of the magazine and pasted them into my pink 2010 day planner I purchased during my NYC birthday weekend in December.

2) Happy Yoga and Reiki Healing Touch Moment

My cousin Finis gave me a magnificent Christmas gift this year.  It was all about reflexology … The Reflexology Path Kit by Barbara and Kevin Kunz –  http://reflexology.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_reflexology_path_kit (Barnes and Nobles sells the kit online). Finis  also gave me a great pair of reflexology socks.  These gifts were exactly what  I needed to take my yoga and Reiki healing touch personal practice and business to the next level.  So far, I have been studying and using the kit’s tools.  It is an exciting learning journey that will bless my body, life, and clients. 

Photo Credit: www.whitehouse.gov Photo Stream

3) Happy President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Moment

This photo was taken right before President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address on January 27.  I love the affection that he and First Lady Michelle Obama shared.  Priceless moment.  I also loved his tie and Michelle’s dress.   

4) Happy Inner Shopping Goddess Moment

My inner shopping goddess has been prompting me to check out a pair of sassy black patent leather Bandolino boots for several weeks (since Christmas).  On January 28, I answered my inner shopping goddess’ call and popped over to the Bandolino shop in Pentagon City Mall. Guess what I discovered? A fantabulous yes FANTABLOUS blowout sale on those sassy black patent leather boots.  My new best boot gal pals are a pair of size 7 1/2  patent leather boots.  My feet are nice, warm, and fashionable.  I love the boots so much that I named them Joie de Vivre #2 … JDV2 for short. The first Joie de Vivre is my lap top!

Week 1 – Next Chapter Book Blogging Group – The Joy Diet by Martha Beck

Posted by on in Next Chapter Book Bloggign Group, OneWebDay, Yoga5 Comments

The-Joy-Diet-Badge-120

autumnleaves

owd

 

NationalYogaMonth_newlogo3_400pxl

 

Happy Tuesday!  Happy Autumn!  Happy OneWebDay!  Happy National Yoga Month!

As you can see, I have a lot to be happy about this month.  It is a really sweet September because I am joining the Next Chapter Book Blogging Group (http://tnc-thejoydiet.blogspot.com).  Our latest reading adventure is with The Joy Diet by Martha Beck.  I love Martha’s column in The O Magazine.  Click here to read Martha’s blog: http://marthabeck.com/blog.

The Next Chapter Book Blogging  Group started on September 18.  Click here to learn more about what the Group has been doing since the official start date:  http://tnc-thejoydiet.blogspot.com/2009/09/welcome-to-journey.html.

Jamie Downtown

Jamie Ridler

 
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Jamie recently created the Creative Living with Jamie podcast. Click here to listen to the first episode:  http://jamieridlerstudios.ca/podcast

2008 TWAM Photo Shoot 1 059

Ananda sitting in Balasana (child’s pose)

 

I started reading The Joy Dieton September 11.  The first chapter encourages readers to do nothing for 15 minutes.  I call it my do-nothing experience.  So far, I have been doing no-thing in the morning as a pre-meditation session.  I wake up and allow myself 15 minutes to just be.  In this state, I don’t resist the whirling thoughts moving through my brain.  I just let them go where they want to go.  I start my 15 minutes in one of my favorite yoga poses called Balasana (child’s pose) and move into Savasana (corpse pose). 

On September 12, I filmed a webisode about reading The Joy Diet and the Next Chapter Book Blogging Group for my OneWebDay 22 Countdown Campaign sponsored by kg yoga life practices (http://kgyoga.blogspot.com).  See the video above.  OneWebDay was established in 2006 on September 22 honor the presence and power of the Internet in our lives.  Click here for more information: www.onewebday.org. 

I’ll be posting another blog post about my adventures for Week 2 later in the week. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Peace, Joy, OneWebDay, Creativity and Yoga OMs,

Ananda

Collage-Making from Full Strawberry Moon Weekend Celebration

Posted by on in Art, Creativity, Self-Care, Yoga8 Comments

Hi All,

On Sunday, June 7, I participated in Jamie Ridler’s Full Strawberry Moon Dreamboards event. To learn more about Jamie and her full moon events, visit
http://starshyneproductions.blogspot.com/2009/06/full-strawberry-moon-dreamboards-june-7.html. I ended up making five collages that reflect my intention and commitment to live a juicy sweet, tranquil, and joyful life this summer.  I labeled them Honey Oshun Mooon Collages.  See below.  I was inspired by the West African Yoruba goddess Oshun, a love goddess who governs creativity, sweetness, honey, femininity, sensuality, joy, abundance, the arts, dance, sweet rivers, motherhood, jewelry, and healing. She is one of my patron goddesses.

Do you have a favorite goddess?  If yes, who is she?

Enjoy your day!

Ananda

 

Honey Oshun Moon Collage Series

hm-yoga

This collage is called “Aspire.Learn.Love.Create.Evolve.” It honors my yoga practice and use of ayurveda. It reminds me to maintain a daily practice of honoring my body temple. I included two pictures of myself. One shows me sitting in the easy yoga pose. The other shows me smiling. I also included a photo of Ganesh, the Hindu god of overcoming obstacles. I took it at Shakti Mind Body Studio (owned by my yoga teacher Faith Hunter – www.shaktimindbodystudio.com and www.faithhunter.comin DC). There are several clippings of a tea pot with herbs, meditation sculpture, and the phrases – your practice will bloom, yoga, om ayurveda, and aspire-learn-love-create-evolve. A quote by Joanna Macy is included: “The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.”

hm-tranquil

This collage is called “Tranquil.” It reminds me to practice extreme self-care (a phrase coined by life coach and author Cheryl Richardson). I included a picture of me smiling and clippings with the lunar phases of the moon, a woman relaxing, and fireworks. There is an affirmation at the bottom which reads, “love your life.” A quote from Audre Lorde is featured: “and look mother I am a dark temple where your true spirit rises beautiful and tough like a chestnut.” I also pasted in a message about inspiration: “Stay inspired! Your soul goal – to acknowledge all your successes, not only those measured in pounds and inches; Your soul payoff – Increased determination and a renewed sense of Yes-I’m-amazing! confidence.”

hm-obama

The name of this collage is “Serving America with My Gifts.” It reminds me to use my gift of optimism to create positive change in the world like President Obama is doing. The collage also contains two pictures of me. One shows me posing in the warrior yoga pose. There are several clippings with messages: 1) optimism rules, 2) give optimism, and 3) the world is a magical place. A quote by poet Lucille Clifton is included: “may the tide that is entering even now the lip of our understanding carry you out beyond the face of fear.

hm-lovelife

The name of this collage is “Vive La Vie” (live life). It reminds me to live my life fully without limitations and with joy and fun. The collage contains 2 magazine clippings featuring a man and a woman enjoying time together. It also has a butterfly with flowers, a clipping of American playwright Lorraine Hansberry (one of my favorite creative folks and inspiration for my novel and poetic memoir), a clipping of a woman as she relaxes, and picture of me. There is also a quote which says, “Women who have an abundance of joy are those who make a priority of finding pockets of it within their own lives.”

hm-free

The name of this collage is “Quintessentially Free.” It reminds me to live freely as a golden girl who loves butterflies, tunics, flat sandals, fashion, style, polka dots, and yoga clothing. It contains a picture of me along with a quote that says, “You already know it: Money can’t buy joy, so instead of spending your earnings, spend time on things that really do delight you.”

New Creative Adventure for Summer 2009 – Wreck This Journal byKeri Smith

Posted by on in Creativity, Uncategorized25 Comments

 

 

wreckjournal

Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith – www.kerismith.com

crayons

Good Morning All!

Happy Friday!

It’s 6:40 a.m. in D.C.  The June rain that is hitting the pavement outside of my apartment fills the air with autumn chills.  It’s hard to believe that summer will be here in 15 more days.  I’ve already had two cups of green tea.  They warmed me up and got me energized for my new creative adventure : Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith.  

Wreck This Journal is an invitation to play and be free.  It was extended by Jamie Ridler, a certified professional co-active coach (http://www.jamieridler.blogspot.com).  Jamie founded Next Chapter, a book blogging group that has created an online sisterhood of support for creative women like myself.  I recently participated in Jamie’s Next Chapter book blogging group from January to April.  We read and blogged about The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin (one of my favorite books – read it for the first time in 2000).  Click here to learn more about the group:  http://www.tnc-12secrets.blogspot.com.

Today marks the first step in my Wreck This Journal adventures with a group of groovy creative women. Click here to learn more:  http://www.tnc-wreckthisjournal.blogspot.com. Read about my first Wreck This Journal adventure below.

The clock registered 6:00 a.m. when I started my Wreck This Journal adventure.  I opened the book and read the title page.  My heart jumped when I read: “To create is to destroy.”  What a powerful mantra!  It was medicine for my creative soul.  It was also a permission slip to just be without an agenda.  I needed the medicine and permission slip after spending the past year and half working on my poetic memoir.  I really got excited when I read Keri’s warning statement: “You may begin to live more recklessly.”  My giggles let me know that I was on the right journey!  I shouted “Hallelujah!”

The first page I wrote in asked me to fill out who this book belongs to.  I wrote nice and neat like a good Catholic girl: Ananda Leeke.  The next line asked me to write my name in white.  I panicked and realized I didn’t have a white pen.  My sense of play left for a nanosecond until I wrote my name in any ole’ way.  That’s when I started to do my own thang despite the instructions.  My archetype called Madelyn, the lawyer/CEO lady, cringed.  My archetype called Puf, the little girl who rocks the world with her BoHo BAP (Black American Princess) fabulousness and Black-eyed susan southern debutante swagger, grinned and got on with the wrecking process.  Puf got the party started! It lasted 30 minutes. 

My favorite pages were:

1) Pour, spill, drip, spit, fling your coffee here.

I used green tea instead.  Rebel girl Puf didn’t blink an eye at my choice.  Then I dipped my finger three times in my tea cup and fingerpainted 3 long drips on the page.  

2) Color This Entire Page.

Kiamsha, my creative woman archetype, took over on this page. She decided to write a poem first. Here’s the poem.

Untitled

It is a rainy today.

Play is what’s on my mind.

Play opens the space of gratitude in my heart.

It reminds me of my Yogi tea bag message.

“Gratitude is the open door to abundance.”

Color it all with love. 

 After writing the poem, I walked from my bedroom into my art studio and picked up my box of crayons.  I brought them back to my bed and proceeded to randomly pull out a few colors.  I started coloring the page with two different crayons.  I shaded in places and scribbled in others.  I added more colors.  When I was finished, I realized that my coloring had given birth to a new poem.  So I copied it on the opposite page. 

Untitled

Coloring is my favorite.

It is scribbles of  joy.

Two crayons together going sideways, upside down, and all around.

Yellow and orange.

Pink and red.

White and violet.

Blue and green.

They kiss a blank page with their rainbow colors with joie de vivre.

My final act from this scene in my creative adventure was coloring the page. When I finished, I looked at the page with all of its colorful shadings and waved a cheery goodbye.

3) Fill this page with circles.

I decided to skip several pages and have some more morning fun.  That’s how I landed on page 32.  I let out a big WOW when I read the direction about filling the page with circles.  My Puf archetype loves to draw circles.  So much fun, right?  I pulled out my crayons again and made crazy swirls of colorful circles until I got dizzy. I drew blue circles on top of pink ones.  Yellow ones layered the pink ones.  Green ones moved next door to orange ones.  They were a family of swirling circle dervishes that  Rumi would be proud of! After I finished with this page, I closed the journal and made my way to my yoga mat for a round of sun salutations, mantra chanting, and meditation before my oatmeal breakfast!  What a way to start a Friday!

To my Next Chapter book blogging group sistaloves:  Thank you for joining me on this journey.  I am so excited to be taking it with you.  This summer I have more time on my hands so I will be able to visit your blogs more regularly (didn’t do that on the last Next Chapter book blogging  journey due to my poetic memoir writing).  I look forward to learning more about your Wreck This Journal experiences. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your day and weekend!

Peace and Creativity,

Ananda