Tag: self-development

Join Ananda Leeke for a Conversation on Meditation on WHUR FM on May 17 @7PM ET

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Meditation is the practice of resting your mind and focusing your awareness on what’s happening inside of yourself – what’s happening in your spirit, heart, mind, and body. In meditation, you can use your breath to help focus your attention and cultivate stillness by observing and coming back to it when your mind is distracted by thoughts.

Meditation can help you become friends with your mind when you offer yourself compassion and nonjudgment. It can also help you increase your self-awareness, relax, improve concentration, reduce stress, strengthen your emotional and physical well-being, and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Join me on May 17th at 7 p.m. ET on WHUR 96.3 FM for a conversation about meditation on The Daily Drum with Harold Fisher, my Morgan State University classmate, and Sherrell Moore-Tucker of Faith & Flow Yoga. You can listen online here.

UPDATE: LISTEN TO SHOW’S AUDIO RECORDING.

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Check out the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge, events, and books below.

TM-31DayMeditationChallenge-FacebookPostIf you want to create more mindful moments in your life, join the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge. It is a self-directed challenge. That means you do it at your own pace. Here’s how the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge works. There at 31 #ThrivingMindfully podcast episodes that include guided meditations, breathing exercises, short talks, tips, and resources. They are divided into three sections: mindful living, creativity, and technology. Follow the steps below to access the podcasts. You can follow them in numerical order or pick and choose the ones that resonate the most with you. Use what works and leave the rest behind. Read my blog for more details and links to the challenge. Enjoy your #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day journey!

EVENTS

Join me for “Breathe & Meditate,” a free Facebook Live series, on May 20th and 27th from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. EST: http://www.facebook.com/anandaleeke64. Each morning I will guide you through three short meditations and offer tips on how to create mindful living moments in your daily life.

If you live or visit the DC area in May, consider joining me for two #ThrivingMindfully Meetup Group meditation events on May 19 and May 21. Go here for more details.

BOOKS

Looking for mindfulness-inspired books to read? Click here to learn about and buy my three books on Amazon: yoga-inspired novel Love’s Troubadours, mindful creativity memoir That Which Awakens Me, and mindful technology memoir Digital Sisterhood.

 

 

Celebrate National Meditation Month & Join #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge (May 1-31)

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Need more mindfulness in your life?

Join the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge to incorporate more mindful living, creativity, and technology moments in your life. It starts May 1st and is self-directed. That means you do it at your own pace.

Here’s how the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge works. There are 31 #ThrivingMindfully podcast episodes that include guided meditations, breathing exercises, short talks, tips, and resources. They are divided into three sections: mindful living, creativity, and technology. Follow the steps below to access the podcasts.

Step 1: Each day go to the #ThrivingMindfully Soundcloud page and click on the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge playlist.

  • Mindful Living: Listen to episodes 1-15, 29
  • Mindful Creativity: Listen to episodes 16-21, 30
  • Mindful Technology: Listen to episodes 22-28, 31

Step 2: Select the podcast episode for Day #1, #2, #3 etc. and listen to it. You can also choose to listen to a podcast that resonates with you. Make the challenge your own. Take what you need and leave the rest behind.

Step 3: Practice the breathing, meditation, and reflections exercise(s) throughout your day and/or week.

Step 4: Join the A Mindful Cup of Tea Facebook Group and share your experiences with others.

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Join me for “Breathe & Meditate,” a free Facebook Live series, on May 1st, 13th, 20th, and 27th from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. EST: www.facebook.com/anandaleeke64. Each morning I will guide you through three short meditations and offer tips on how to create mindful living moments in your daily life.

If you live or visit the DC area in May, consider joining me for two #ThrivingMindfully Meetup Group events on May 19 and May 21. Go here for more details.

Looking for mindfulness-inspired books to read? Check out my three books on Amazon: yoga-inspired novel Love’s Troubadours, mindful creativity memoir That Which Awakens Me, and mindful technology memoir Digital Sisterhood.

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My online offerings and events are offered as a gift. If they have blessed you, I invite you to show gratitude by supporting my work with a donation on PayPal or with the Cash app: http://www.paypal.me/anandaleeke or http://cash.me/$AnandaLeeke. Thank you for your generosity. It is deeply appreciated!

National Meditation Month: Breathe & Meditate with Ananda Leeke on May 1, 13, 20 & 27 on Facebook Live

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Meditation has been a part of my life for over 25 years. During this period of time, I have come to know meditation as a mindful living practice that helps me make friends with my mind. In meditation, I make the choice to focus my awareness on what’s happening inside of myself – what’s happening in my spirit, heart, mind, and body. Through the power of my breath, I cultivate stillness by observing it and coming back to it when my mind is distracted by thoughts. Meditation has helped me increase my self-awareness and self-acceptance, relax, improve concentration, outsmart stress, cope with panic attacks, strengthen my emotional and physical well-being, develop deep listening in my interactions with others, and commit to a healthier lifestyle.

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This month I am using National Meditation Month to offer “Breathe & Meditate,” a free Facebook Live series, on May 1st, 13th, 20th, and 27th from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. EST. Each morning I will guide you through three short meditation sessions and offer tips on how to create mindful living moments in your daily  life.  Join me on  www.facebook.com/anandaleeke64! 

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Need more mindfulness in your life? I invite you to join the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge to incorporate more mindful living, creativity, and technology moments in your life. It starts May 1st and is self-directed. That means you do it at your own pace.

Here’s how the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge works. There at 31 #ThrivingMindfully podcast episodes that include guided meditations, breathing exercises, short talks, tips, and resources. They are divided into three sections:mindful living, creativity, and technology. Follow the steps below to access the podcasts.

Step 1: Each day go to the #ThrivingMindfully Soundcloud page and click on the #ThrivingMindfully 31-Day Challenge playlist.

  • Mindful Living: Listen to episodes 1-15, 29
  • Mindful Creativity: Listen to episodes 16-21, 30
  • Mindful Technology: Listen to episodes 22-28, 31

Step 2: Select the podcast episode for Day #1, #2, #3 etc. and listen to it. You can also choose to listen to a podcast that resonates with you. Make the challenge your own. Take what you need and leave the rest behind.

Step 3: Practice the breathing, meditation, and reflections exercise(s) throughout your day and/or week.

Step 4: Join the A Mindful Cup of Tea Facebook Group and share your experiences with others.

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Check out my resources page.

If you live or visit the DC area in May, consider joining me for two #ThrivingMindfully Meetup Group events on May 19 and May 21. Go here for more details.

Looking for mindfulness-inspired books to read? Check out my three books on Amazon: yoga-inspired novel Love’s Troubadours, mindful creativity memoir That Which Awakens Me, and mindful technology memoir Digital Sisterhood.

ALWebsite-SUPPORT

My online offerings and events are offered as a gift. If they have blessed you, I invite you to show gratitude by supporting my work with a donation on PayPal or with the Cash app: http://www.paypal.me/anandaleeke or http://cash.me/$AnandaLeeke. Thank you for your generosity. It is deeply appreciated!

 

11 Ways to Use Mindfulness for Unplugging & Sleeping Well

Posted by on in #ThrivingMindfully, Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One, Meditation, Mindful Living, Mindfulness, Uncategorized, unplugging, YogaLeave a comment

 

One of the lessons I learned during National Day of Unplugging last weekend was about sleeping. I discovered a better way to enjoy sleeping by turning my smartphone off and allowing myself to wake up without the alarm on Saturday and Sunday. Read my opinion piece on unplugging that was published in the Afro-American Newspaper to learn more.

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On Sunday evening, I decided to use Sleep Awareness Week (March 11-17) to add several mindful sleep practices to my daily routine. Check out the practices I used below. Since today is the last day of Sleep Awareness Week, consider trying one or more of them.

  1. Place your smartphone and digital devices in your living room, kitchen, or home office. Mute the sound on your phone ringer and notifications. If you can, turn the phone off. Use an alarm clock. Muting the sound on my phone and placing it in my living room really helped.
  2. Give yourself a few hours off from using social media, email or texting in the evenings. Set a curfew. Try 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. I tried a curfew of 11:15 p.m. to 8 a.m. on several days.
  3. Express gratitude for people and experiences. This practice opens my heart.
  4. Say a forgiveness prayer for yourself and others before you go to sleep at night. My forgiveness prayers help me release anger, disappointment, grudges, judgments, thoughts, and stories I have made up about myself and others. They help me clear my mind and cleanse my spirit and heart.
  5. Drink your favorite decaf tea before bed. I love to sprinkle turmeric in hot water or use Trader Joe’s turmeric and ginger tea.
  6. Use your favorite sheets and blankets on your bed. I love my purple sheets and cream blanket.
  7. If you are NOT allergic to scents, smudge yourself and your bedroom or home with a smudge stick to remove any negative energy. I use my smudge stick in the morning and evening.
  8. If you are NOT allergic to scents, burn your favorite incense or candle in your bedroom or home an hour or two before you sleep. You can also use a room freshener with essential oils to spray your bedroom or home. I like to use Mrs. Meyer’s lavender room freshener.
  9. Take an evening shower or bath to relax yourself. Showers are my favorites.
  10. Meditate for a 1, 5, 15, 20 or 30 minutes before going to sleep. Meditation with breathing exercises is a great mindfulness practice that can help you slow down and become aware of your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. It can also help you go within and connect to your higher self. I like to practice a short meditation while laying in child’s pose, one of my favorite yoga poses, before going to sleep. Listen to my #ThrivingMindfully Podcast Series for a guided mindfulness meditation. Here’s a guided compassion meditation to open your heart. Check out my Mindful Living podcast playlist for more resources.
  11. Try gentle yoga. Like I mentioned above, child’s pose helps me relax before sleep. Go to YouTube and try my teacher Faith Hunter’s gentle yoga session. Also, do a search for gentle yoga or restorative yoga for beginners on YouTube. Check out Yoga In Bed: 20 Asanas to Do in Pajamas by Edward Vilga, one of my favorite yoga books. Learn more about my journey as a gentle yoga teacher (includes my yoga, reiki, and meditation services) and my yoga-inspired novel, Love’s Troubadours (available on Amazon). My novel tells the story of Karma Francois, a 30-something yoga teacher who is on a self-discovery journey that allows her to heal, forgive, and reinvent her life with art, meditation, mindfulness, spirituality, therapy, yoga, travel, and the support of family and friends.

If you are unable to try these tips today, I encourage you to use Sleep Awareness Week as inspiration for getting more rest in your life in 2018. Try one or more of the tips and let me know what happens in the comment section.

Happy Unplugging and Sleeping!

Photo Credit: National Sleep Foundation

 

Talking Mindfulness on The Stroke Diva Fabulous Radio Show on Feb 12 @7PM EST

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Join me tonight as I discuss mindfulness with media solopreneur Kamaria T. Richmond on The Stroke Diva Fabulous Radio Show at 7 p.m. EST. Kamaria and I will chat about mindful living, creativity, and technology. Go here to listen online. Read more about Kamaria’s journey as a solopreneur.

UPDATE: Listen to a recording of the show (90 minutes).

Mindful Living: Mindfulness 101

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I discovered mindfulness when my career as a young lawyer and investment banker did not produce the level of success I expected. Mindfulness is the practice of taking a deep breath, coming into the present moment, and paying attention without judgment. The present moment is where you can access awareness, balance, and calm with loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Mindfulness is the gateway to who we truly are. It helped me overcome panic attacks, release my career expectations, develop self-care practices, and pursue my calling as an artist, author, Reiki master practitioner, speaker, and yoga teacher.

Are you new to mindfulness?

Looking for information on how to practice mindfulness in your life?

Curious about how to use mindfulness to practice gratitude, identify your fears, and become aware of the stories you tell yourself?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, check out my Mindfulness 101 Podcast playlist with 15 episodes. The episodes feature small steps you can take each day to practice mindfulness with guided meditations, a body scan, a mini toolkit, and more.

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Need more mindfulness tips and information? Check out my resources page with three free gifts created especially for you!

Click here to learn more about my mindful living offerings. Contact me at ananda@anandaleeke.com to learn how you can work with me as a speaker for your next event, trainer for your organization, or coach (one-on-one or group sessions). I look forward to hearing from you.

ALWebsite-LovesTroubadoursLooking for a great book to read? Check out my yoga-inspired novel, Love’s Troubadours and learn how the main character Karma uses mindful living practices including meditation, prayer, therapy, and yoga to heal her spirit, heart, mind, and relationships, and reinvent her career.

 

 

 

 

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PS: Don’t keep me a secret. Use the links below and share me with your network!

Mindful Creativity: Celebrate National Vision Board Day on January 13

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Have you ever used a vision board? A vision board is a mindful creativity tool you can use to help clarify, concentrate, and maintain focus on the highest and best vision of your life.

I started using vision boards in the early 1990s after reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way.  I have used them for my artwork, business, career reinvention, fitness, home decor, personal style, relationships, travel adventures, yoga practice, and overcoming writer’s block with my creativity memoir, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetical Memoir of Self-Discovery and tech memoir, Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online.

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A couple of years ago, I learned about National Vision Board Day, an annual celebration held on the second Saturday in January. National Vision Board Day is my opportunity to practice loving kindness as I give myself the gift of time to reflect on, journal about, and create a written statement and visual expression of my highest and best life. Last year I started my vision board process on January 14 and finished it several days later with three different vision boards (see a photo of one of my boards above).

This year I am spending National Vision Board Day as a creativity coach. I will be facilitating a vision board-making session with a client. Listen to the latest episode of the #ThrivingMindfully Podcast to learn how I use mindful creativity to help my clients create their vision statement and board. The episode includes a guided meditation, breathing and journaling exercises, and tips. Feel free to use it to prepare for your National Vision Board Day celebration.

Interested in learning more about how I help people just like you become aware of and express creativity in your own unique way while outsmarting stress and overcoming blocks and challenges? Check out my mindful creativity services.

Be Present in 2018 (Mindful Body Scan Podcast)

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Happy 2018!

Start your new year by making a self-care investment in being more present in your body, heart, mind, and spirit. Listen to the latest episode of the #ThrivingMindfully Podcast and learn how to be present with a guided body scan. A body scan can help you relax and connect with what’s happening in your body from head to toe (or toe to head), how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking. It also trains your attention and can help you release pent-up emotions.

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#ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge, Week #4 – Equanimity

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Happy Holy-Days! Welcome to Week 4 of the #ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge, a four-week experience that invites you to practice and reflect on loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity! Equanimity is the theme for this week.

I launched the Challenge on December 1. It’s hard to believe that we have reached the last week. If you missed the previous weeks, click on the links below.

Week 1, December 4-10: Loving Kindness
Week 2, December 11-17: Compassion
Week 3, December 18-24: Joy

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Week 4 of #ThrivingMindfully Self-Care Challenge: December 25-31

Equanimity or upekkha is a state of being that allows you to stand in the middle of whatever thought, feeling, or experience you may have with calm awareness and nonjudgment. Going within and being with all of your stuff (thoughts, feelings, and experiences) on a daily basis helps you plant seeds of equanimity in your garden of self-acceptance. When you give yourself equanimity, you are able to handle the ups and downs of life with more peace. You also access more loving kindness, compassion, and joy. In addition, your capacity to support others with loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity grows.

Theme/Video: Equanimity

Invitation: Slow down and take three deep breaths. Touch your heart with one or both of your hands as you enter into a moment of stillness.

Take three more deep breaths. Right where you are repeat the first prayer out loud or silently three times: May I embody and express equanimity for myself.

Take three more deep breaths and repeat the second prayer. May I share equanimity with others. Inhale deeply and as you exhale thank yourself for showing up in the stillness.

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Reflection Questions and Journaling Exercise: Take some time this week to reflect on and journal about one or more of the questions below.

1) What does equanimity mean?
2) What does equanimity look like in your life?
3) What prevents you from embodying and expressing equanimity for yourself? and for others?
4) What do you want equanimity to look like in 2018?
5) How can you add more equanimity into your daily, weekly, and monthly routines?

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