Tag: vulnerability

Give Yourself the Gift of Self-Vulnerability This Holiday Season!

Posted by on in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hey there!

What gifts are you giving yourself this holiday season?

I am giving myself the gift of several self-vulnerability dates where I carve out time to meditate, reflect, journal, write poetry, and create art (drawings and collages) about the ups, downs, and in-betweens of this year.

This morning, I reflected on my 61st birthday which is fast approaching (December 18th). My reflections took me back to my first trip to Negril, Jamaica with my Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Soror Karla Ray Thompson in December 1992. That trip was really special because I turned 28 on the beach and surrendered to my first Saturn Return (astrology lovers like myself can appreciate this experience).

That trip offered me sacred and safe space to embrace and express self-vulnerability. That experience of telling myself the TRUTH about what I felt, thought, believed, and what was and was not happening in my world was MESSY, SCARY, MAGICAL, OVERWHELMING, and LIBERATING all at the same time. It helped me speak to my heart, listen to myself without judgment, and come home to myself. It marked the beginning of a major shift in how I showed up in my life, relationships, and career. It also laid the foundation for my Thriving Mindfully heart-centered approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.

Click on the video and listen to the “Thriving Mindfully Theme,” one of the nine spoken word poems on my newly released debut album entitled Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter.

Click the button below to get more information about my album. Buy and download it from Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except Amazon and Spotify.

get more info & buy Thriving mindfully as theresa’s daughter album

It’s been 33 years since that trip and my heart remains filled with deep gratitude for the gift of self-vulnerability that I continue to give myself and my Thriving Mindfully approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.

Do you want to learn how to give yourself the gift of self-vulnerability?

Need my coaching support?

GO HERE to sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14th and January 4th from 3:00 p.m. EST to 4:00 p.m. EST via Zoom

I look forward to seeing you at one or both of the Thriving Mindfully Sunday sessions.

Enjoy your holiday season!

Blessings,

Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke

P.S. SELF-VULNERABILITY TIPS

Navigating Vulnerability & Grief During the Holiday Season (Check-In Resources)

Posted by on in UncategorizedLeave a comment

How are you doing now that the holiday season has begun?

After my mother Theresa made her transition on July 9, 2023, the months of November and December became filled with tons of memories and reminders that she was no longer physically present on Mother Earth.

These months have become some of the most emotionally vulnerable times of the year for me because they are filled with a mix of emotions ranging from gratitude to grief. I am grateful for having my mother for 58 years of my life. I am grateful I feel her love, hear her wisdom, and experience her presence and protection as my loving + wise + well ancestor each day. I also grieve her physical absence and miss sharing the holidays with her.

Navigating my vulnerability and grief each year can be messy, hard, and scary, especially when I try to avoid feeling or hide from my emotions. Over the past three holiday seasons, I have learned to cope by embracing and practicing self-vulnerability.

For me, self-vulnerability is an INVITATION to open your heart to yourself.

Self-Vulnerability is also a CHOICE you can make to tell yourself the TRUTH about your emotions, thoughts, grief, beliefs, fears, doubts, weaknesses, imperfections, experiences, and relationships instead of hiding from them.

Self-Vulnerability is also healing and liberating because it creates space for you to embrace your birthrights of self-awareness, self-love, self-kindness, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance.

RESOURCE #1

If you are feeling vulnerable and/or experiencing grief during the holidays, I invite you to use my holiday check-in list of questions to get in touch with yourself below.

RESOURCE #2

Listen to my new spoken word song, “G.R.I.E.F.” that is included on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter (released on November 20). Go here to get more information about, buy, and download the album

RESOURCE #3

If you need more support, sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14 and January 4 from 3 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST via Zoom. Get more information and RSVP here.

sign up to join me

RESOURCE #4: NEW SPOKEN WORD ALBUM

Go here to get more information and listen to and buy Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except for Amazon Music and Spotify.

GET more information about, listen to, buy & download album

If you missed the virtual listening party that was held on the New Moon in Scorpio on November 20th, watch the recording.

“The Big V” — VULNERABILITY

Posted by on in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hey there,

This month has me walking down memory lane, giving thanks for, and reflecting on my yoga journey which began 30 years ago with an African American yoga teacher from Detroit who taught the class on a cruise down the Nile that was a part of an African American culture and history tour to Kemet (Egypt) led by author and scholar Anthony Browder.

Twenty years ago, I started my yoga teacher training with Flow Yoga Center in Washington, D.C. and began learning about Traditional Chinese Medicine and the power of acupuncture. I also booked my first acupuncture appointment and began incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine wisdom and rituals of each season into my life.

Did you know that in Chinese medicine, the autumn season is associated with the lungs and slowing down, reflecting, refueling, focusing on the mind and soul, and release thoughts, beliefs, behavior, emotions, expectations, experiences, stories, and relationships that no longer serve you?

As I’ve slowed down and reflected in my journal and conversations, I have noted what causes me to experience “The Big V” better known as VULNERABILITY and how my responses create stagnation, struggle, and suffering. I’ve also decided to seek and use healthier ways to respond to VULNERABILITY.

So far, my journey down the yellow brick road of VULNERABILITY has taught me that it can be messy, frustrating, uncomfortable AF, and painful. It shows up when I fall back into having to know and control everything; perfectionism caused by my inner critic’s need to pressure me to achieve based on unrealistic expectations (ESPECIALLY LEARNING NEW THINGS ON THE TENNIS COURTS THAT DON’T COME EASY — WATCH VIDEO BELOW); unworthiness born out of comparison, self-criticism, and self-judgment; and the fears of what will happen to the United States in the coming months and years, not having enough financially, and how aging will impact my body.

I am also learning that VULNERABILITY is an invitation to come home to myself and a CHOICE I get to make that can either create stagnation, struggle, and suffering OR softness, strength, and stability. I am choosing softness, strength, and stability!

Watch the video below to learn more about VULNERABILITY as an invitation to come home to yourself.

REFLECTIONS FOR YOU

I’d love to hear your responses to the questions below. Share in the comment section below.

What’s causing you to experience VULNERABILITY in your life, relationships, or career?

How are you responding to your VULNERABILITY?

RESOURCE #1: MUSIC

The energy of this week’s Super Full Moon in Aries is my heart-centered reminder to find and express courage in facing my vulnerabilities by slowing down and coming home to my REAL self with loving kindness, compassion, nonjudgment, patience, and forgiveness. I call that heart-centered awareness, THRIVING MINDFULLY! 

Click on the video below to listen to my “Thriving Mindfully” theme song and learn more about heart-centered awareness (album release on November 20th). Garnet Jackson (Garnet Jay), music producer and founder of the London-based Footprint Productions, produced the album!

RESOURCE #2: WATCH VIDEO RECORDING OF THRIVE@WORK WEBINAR & LEARN HOW TO EMRBACE THRIVING MINDFULLY AS AN IMPERFECTIONIST.

NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, AND JANUARY EVENTS

Join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on November 30, December 14, and January 4 from 3 p.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET.

Thriving Mindfully Sundays is a series of three virtual community gatherings that will offer you safe space and coaching support to tap into your VULNERABILITY, a lifeline to heart-centered awareness. I call that heart-centered awareness Thriving Mindfully.

During Thriving Mindfully Sundays, you will have an opportunity to:

-Identify and explore what’s making you vulnerable (examples: perfectionism, comparison, unworthiness, self-criticism, self-judgment, unrealistic expectations, aging, grief, health or financial issues, societal or political events, fears, or life/career/relationship changes)

-Learn how to use the five Thriving Mindfully core commitments to embrace your vulnerability and face whatever has caused you to experience stagnation, struggle, and suffering.

-Develop your Thriving Mindfully strategy and plan to soften, strengthen, and stabilize yourself as you step into your next chapter of living.

GET MORE INFORMATION: https://anandaleeke.com/events

LET’S WORK TOGETHER!

Need one-on-one support navigating change in your life, relationships, and career?

I currently have space for YOU as a Thriving Mindfully coaching or human design client.

Click here to learn more about my 1:1 Thriving Mindfully as the REAL YOU coaching program and schedule a free 30-minute call to discuss how we can work together.


Go here to learn more about my human design session.

Does your organization or community need a keynote speaker, coach, and/or trainer?

Click here to learn about my mindful living, mindful technology, and mindful creativity services.

FINAL THOUGHTS

May you and your family be safe, peaceful, happy, and free from inner and outer harm.

Love, Ease, Grace, Wisdom, Joy, Health, Abundance, and Quantum Alignment,

Ananda