as you'll see in this photo, louis is quite the celebrity. of all the pups at the champagne and sugar humane society event, he was the featured one in march's issue of the washingtonian. his tongue is in full bloom as he was eagerly picking up all crumbs within reach that evening.

finishing up the tranquil space newsletter to go out tomorrow and packing up for oklahoma. i'm off to see the family thursday - monday and my 95-year-old gramma keeps e-mailing me as a reminder to not forget my swimsuit. her assisted living center has a heated pool and apparently we'll all be partaking! her assisted living center also has wifi so i plan to keep in touch while also checking out a butterfly garden, winery, and, of course, tarjay while in wichita falls, texas with her and mum.

wanna see the new digs? check out our youtube page for beau's fancy cinematography skills!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:53 PM | 2 comments

everyday for the past few weeks i have had to consume a cupcake. not sure what's come over me. it's like i HAVE to have one. sunday night i hit starbucks on dupont circle at 8:02pm, only to have it close at 8pm. i was traumatized, pulling on the door, trying puppy eyes with the man behind the counter, basically begging - nada. i walked home defeated sans cupcake.

in addition to cupcakes, i've been consuming a lot of soy chai lattes. a diet of cupcakes (who cares about the cake, i just like the top!) and soy chai lattes is not enough to sustain. beau made me a salad tonight so that i could mix in some greens!

attached is a mention of TranquiliT in the latest issue of bust magazine. yay for eco-friendly and fabulous clothing! speaking of which, i carved out 2 hours of creative time this morning and after piddling for an hour, i got down to it. began pondering fall designs. colors are chosen: cranberry, slate, noir, au naturel. i know, i know, who's thinking of fall fashion when we haven't even donned spring yet? since my seamstress will be out for a couple of months late summer as a new mama, it's time to get fall planned. i mulled the ideas over later with my darling assistant and i think we've got a good plan lined up. if you have any special requests, do tell!

took 2 hours off tonight to watch the hours with beau. such a solemn flick. gotta do some lighting research. promised my contractor i'd have sconce decisions for him in the morning! our new home on 17th street continues to evolve.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:59 PM | 13 comments

• click play to hear this episode, or click here to listen to older shows!
• direct download (mp3)

Bonjour! Welcome to the 122nd edition of the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast: a guide to life on and off the yoga mat.

Today’s menu features a must-have pose in On the Mat, Being Succulent with SARK in Off the Mat, and we’ve got Omwork and Savvy Sources for you too. View our shownotes at hiptranquilchick.com/blog.

On the Mat: Pigeon



Check out Hip Tranquil Chick on YouTube!

Off the Mat:
SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is the best-selling author and artist of 14 books, and creator of hundreds of products. She is the founder of Planet SARK, her company that creates products and services to inspire people to think and live more creatively. She is an
acclaimed speaker and transformational teacher, and is featured in the
PBS series; "Women of Wisdom and Power." Visit PlanetSark.com or
call SARK's Inspiration Phone Line at 415-546-3742.

Omwork: To encourage a sense of diving deeper into today’s podcast, I will post Omwork relating to this segment on our HTC forum. Please connect with fellow HTCs there and play with the following:

1. How can you change your life without getting out of bed?
2. What are some micromovements you can take today?
3. How can you make your life more succulent?

Savvy Sources:
planetsark.com
SARK on tour
SARK's fabulous books






Signature Style: Wrap dress







Soirees, Chats, Booksignings & Retreats: Celebrate a weekend of all things hip and tranquil in the Catskills of NY in March, plus a WHOLE week in Costa Rica August 30-September 6. Join me for workshops and book signings in Denver in April, Ft. Lauderdale in June, Lexington in October. In addition, we've got a week of hip and tranquil chickness at Omega June 2-6 and Kripalu August 10-15. Details for all special events at kimberlywilson.com. I hope we'll get to connect!

Join us for our first online creativity circle launching TOMORROW February 25 and our next le chic teleclass chat focused on "Blooming in Spring" on Monday, March 31 at 8:30ET. Details here.

Mentoring: Interested in diving deeper into hip and tranquil topics 1:1 with moi via e-mail, phone or in-person? If so, view all the scoop here.

Chic Community: Mingle with fellow HTCs on our forums. We’re on Facebook, so please connect with the community virtually there, too! Make sure you're getting the hip tranquil times by signing up at the bottom of any page on hiptranquilchick.com. Check out our new YouTube page at youtube.com/hiptranquilchick. More fun stuff coming soon!

Au Revoir: To close out the show, we’re playing Crush by Natalie Walker from Promonet. You can get more of her music at natalie-walker.com.

Thanks for joining me for the 122nd edition of the HTC podcast.

• You don't need an iPod to listen to the podcast! Click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes!
• New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast Alley.
• Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast. You'll automatically get the latest edition as soon as it's available.
• Do you use another podcatcher? Use this link for the podcast RSS feed.

Interested in starting a podcast for yourself, your organization or your business?
Check out nineball media.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 12:48 PM | 4 comments

here's louis captured in up dog while i'm in up dog. lil' bugger does not like me practicing without giving him full attention in the process. by nipping my nose when i come from chaturanga to up dog, he's SURE to get attention.

we're babysitting a 4-month-old basset hound at the moment and it is anything but tranquil in our humble (oh-so-tiny) pink palace. with two pups, two kitties, and a beau, the days have been exciting (and the mornings VERY early!).

today's seminar on mindfulness at work was good. still processing it but i did take some insightful notes:

• we're always trying to get "there" and when we get "there," we realize we wish we were someone else (skinnier, smarter, more compassionate, etc.)
• the point is not to solve work but to become completely honest about work.
• mindfulness is simply training the mind to come back
• if you know where you are going but don't know where you are, you are already lost.
• our role is to inspire the best in others.
• mindfulness is about what happens "off the cushion." (sound familiar to our use of "off the mat?")

get ready for gettin' succulent with SARK on tomorrow's podcast. in the interim, enjoy this dose of creative flair.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:07 PM | 2 comments

remember that movie from years ago? i didn't really have a freaky friday, i just like the title!

volunteered today at the assisted living center that i visit monthly and we did our chair yoga. always a fun way to start the day. then i hit politics and prose (bookstore + coffeehouse) since i've never been there. truly blasphemous as it is a dc staple! didn't buy a thing - very proud of myself. the book moratorium continues.

we were supposed to get this massive storm today so i canceled my travel plans to see two dear friends nearby. we started a business group years ago and like to meet periodically to support and share. since we canceled last minute due to the impending weather concerns, i was left with 4 unplanned hours! a TOTAL treat. unfortunately, i got caught up with the usual to-dos and didn't take full advantage of the nap and reading time i was craving (and SO needing these days!). why i wonder? . . .

tonight i hit yoga and chuck shared a great story about monkeys. apparently they are trapped by people who put a nut in a gourd with food around it. when the monkeys try to grab the nut, their hand gets stuck and they get caught. if they release the nut, they can remove their hand and continue swinging in the jungle. a beautiful reminder to LET GO!

afterwards i went to hear michael carroll speak about mindful leadership. i'm looking forward to my all-day workshop with him tomorrow. starts at 9am so i'm heading to bed early.

hope you had a delightful week. ponder that monkey story and ask yourself, "what do i need to let go of?" i came up with a few things when he was reading it! 'night!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 4:21 PM | 2 comments

do you ever wonder how time passes so quickly? having been on the road all of monday, the week feels disheveled and a day off. guess i should face the music that tomorrow is, indeed, thursday! i had the most AMAZING interview with SARK yesterday. our podcast with her will come out on sunday and i'm sure you will be equally amazed. what a creative gem. she's been a creative inspiration of mine for a decade now and i highly recommend her work.

i'm playing the observer of myself a lot lately and it's quite insightful. asking myself questions like, "now why does that bother me?," "why does her comment sting?," "why do i immediately react that way?" it's interesting to really sit back and observe our habitual patterns - shocking actually. i'm reading this great book, the mindful leader: ten principles for bringing out the best in ourselves and others, that continually goes back to the importance of meditation and how centering the practice can be. he talks about how we piddle around avoiding sitting on the cushion. i laughed when i was setting up to sit for a few minutes yesterday and noticed that my ficus was shedding leaves so i began picking them up - only to recall his point about the struggle to "get to the cushion." he writes that this struggle "starkly reveals our desire to be preoccupied - to have something to do - to keep busy." hmmmm. sounds TOO familiar! he's leading an all-day workshop at dc's shambhala center on saturday and i can't wait!

today our studio manager and i did some deep cleaning of various hiding places such as cubbies, cabinets, and storage areas as we prepare for our move. we threw out all sorts of odd ends and i somehow feel lighter. next we have the files filled with paperwork to tackle. isn't it amazing how much we collect over the years? i'd love to get into the habit of only bringing in something new if i get rid of something. for example, when i worked at harold's in college, one of my co-workers would not purchase a new tee unless she got rid of an old one. as a college student who lived in various tees, i found that blasphemous. now, her words stick with me and i like the philosophy!

did i mention i'm on a book-buying moratorium? it's been hard. no book purchases for almost 2 weeks! ahhhhhh! i've decided i have 60ish% of my books that still need to be read. need to make a dent before i purchase more. i hope i can stick with it as i really do have an addiction. i heart books!!!!

creativity girls, get your readings done! i hope you're LOVING the books as much as i do! ;)

check out this great write up on hip tranquil chickness as a healthy discovery!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:15 PM | 5 comments

interested in writing? interested in exploring the interplay of yoga + writing? below is the scoop on a workshop i'm offering this weekend at tranquil space. i am fresh home from tonight's tranquil space foundation meeting (and super long drive) where a recent participant of this workshop informed me that she just got her first paid piece. yay!

sunday: 4:30-7:30pm. join kimberly wilson, author of hip tranquil chick and various articles relating to the yoga lifestyle, including a weekly column with the examiner for this specialty workshop, which will include yoga, guided writing exercises, and discussion. we will explore links between writing and yoga, learn poses to help your writing flow, practice tools for making your writing happen, and cover the process to publication. be dressed to practice and write. bring paper, pen, and an open mind. suitable to the newbie, curious, and the published author. $45. register at www.tranquilspace.com or call 202.223.9642.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:44 PM | 4 comments

7 hours of teaching this weekend! it was a total treat to connect with these 2 yoga communities and asheville is just so darn fabulous. apparently it was named the happiest city in america. i can see that!

we're gearing up for our journey home and then head straight to a tranquil space foundation meeting. unfortunately, we don't have time to hit the smoky mountains and i'm so sad. i think i overestimated what we'd be able to do in our short time here. beau says we'll get to see them as we're driving off. a sloppy second - boo! i wanna go IN the park! ok, i'll stop whining. yesterday was rainy so we hung out at this cafe and got caught up on numerous things that were pending from our days of travel. now today is sunny and lovely. guess that makes for a good drive home. trying to see that glass as half full.

while finishing a book on the drive down friday night, i had an "a ha" moment. the book is called one person/multiple careers by marci alboher (podcast forthcoming - you'll love her) and it talked about the challenges of constantly going from one unrelated thing to the next. for example, a meeting to a phone call to book keeping to writing to handling e-mails to seeing a client. this tends to leave a "slash" (her term for someone who is juggling multiple careers) discombobulated. i TOTALLY relate to this and found the insight to be incredibly helpful in exploring my own use of a day. the person interviewed in the book decided to see all clients on particular days (his being "on" days) and to do his other "slash" on the remaining days. maximizing energy and bulking similar to-dos together is something that is moving to the top of my list.

a few thoughts on maximizing energy and efficiency:
1. put similar to-dos together
2. check e-mail in bulk periods (noon, 4pm, 10pm) rather than continually throughout the day
3. meditate for 5 minutes daily
4. designate "on" (teaching/seeing clients) days and "off" (book keeping/admin work) days
5. look over what's on your calender and make sure it excites you. if not, reschedule or cancel it.

off to our drive sans smokies . . . at least i've got a hot cup of jasmine tea to ease the pain!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 9:48 AM | 2 comments

• click play to hear this episode, or click here to listen to older shows!
• direct download (mp3)

Bonjour! Welcome to the 121st edition of the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast: a guide to life on and off the yoga mat.

Today’s menu features a must-have pose in On the Mat, Being a Spiritual Cowgirl in Off the Mat, and we’ve got Omwork and Savvy Sources for you too. View our shownotes at hiptranquilchick.com/blog.

On the Mat: Malasana


Check out Hip Tranquil Chick on YouTube!

Off the Mat: Sera Beak is a Harvard-trained scholar of comparative religions and mysticism who's spent the last dozen years traveling the world exploring spirituality --from whirling with Sufi dervishes to meeting the Dalai Lama on her 21st birthday; from taking the host from a Croatian Catholic mystic who had the stigmata (truly) to having life-altering visions with a shaman, and just about everything in between (she now happily deems herself a spiritual cowgirl). Her first book is The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark. Check out serabeak.com and spiritualcowgirl.com.

Omwork: To encourage a sense of diving deeper into today’s podcast, I will post Omwork relating to this segment on our HTC forum. Please connect with fellow HTCs there and play with the following:

1. How can you ritualize your life?
2. Do you graze the spiritual buffet?
3. Practice "peeling your onion" to explore who you really are.

Savvy Sources:
serabeak.com
spiritualcowgirl.com

Signature Style: Ruched wrap top

Soirees, Chats, Booksignings & Retreats: Celebrate a weekend of all things hip and tranquil in the Catskills of NY in March, plus a WHOLE week in Costa Rica August 30-September 6. Join me for workshops and book signings in Denver in April, Ft. Lauderdale in June, Lexington in October. In addition, we've got a week of hip and tranquil chickness at Omega June 2-6 and Kripalu August 10-15. Details for all special events at kimberlywilson.com. I hope we'll get to connect!

Join us for our first online creativity circle launching February 25 and our next le chic teleclass chat focused on "Blooming in Spring" on Monday, March 31 at 8:30ET. Details here.

Mentoring: Interested in diving deeper into hip and tranquil topics 1:1 with moi via e-mail, phone or in-person? If so, view all the scoop here.

Chic Community: Mingle with fellow HTCs on our forums. We’re on MySpace and Facebook, so please connect with the community virtually there, too! If you have a product you’d like reviewed on the blog – send a sample to me at 2024 p street, nw dc, 20036. sending a sample does not guarantee placement but I’d love to support our growing community! Make sure you're getting the hip tranquil times by signing up at the bottom of any page on hiptranquilchick.com. Check out our new YouTube page at youtube.com/hiptranquilchick. More fun stuff coming soon!

Au Revoir: To close out the show, we’re playing Evensong by Halou from Promonet. You can get more of their music at halou.com.

Thanks for joining me for the 120th edition of the HTC podcast.

• You don't need an iPod to listen to the podcast! Click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes!
• New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast Alley.
• Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast. You'll automatically get the latest edition as soon as it's available.
• Do you use another podcatcher? Use this link for the podcast RSS feed.

Interested in starting a podcast for yourself, your organization or your business?
Check out nineball media.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:09 AM | 2 comments

getting all packed up for my journey to yoga south in charlotte and asheville yoga in (you guessed it!) . . . asheville! i'll be leading a few workshops, sleeping, reading, catching up on some projects, and hope for a drive through the smoky mountains after sunday's workshop. such a beautiful part of the country! riding in the car puts me to sleep like a baby so i plan to curl up in the back seat with pug, a chenille blanket, pillows, earplugs, a good book (probably setting the table by my new BFF danny meyer), my laptop and planner pad, and an eyepillow. a true haven with all these must-haves!

i hope you have exciting and restorative weekend plans ahead of you. don't forget the practice of loving-kindness . . . especially toward yourself! xo

posted by kimberly wilson @ 2:00 PM | 0 comments

i hope that you are taking good care of yourselves on this very special day! indulge in some yummy chocolates (i heart milk chocolates filled with caramel), some bubbly, a hot bath, and some special you time. after a day of meetings and a yummy yoga class, i'm off to convene with my BFF and our partners for dinner after we show off my new macbook air (woo hoo!) and do some of our authentic leadership work for the week! what a treat to have some play time! take a moment to acknowledge those around you with gratitude. we have so much to be grateful for and sometimes it is easy to forget among the numerous to-dos and life drama. the focus of the month at tranquil space is on loving kindness. SUCH a beautiful focus for this heart-filled day. try out this meditation (or this one) for a taste of it! happy, happy heart day!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 4:28 PM | 3 comments

just recorded 2 podcasts - you're gonna love 'em. such interesting ladies out there!

monday's workshop with danny meyer was great. he's an amazing speaker, so real, and has an amazing take on business + hospitality. i hear his restaurants are lovely, too. we hit moby's teany before hopping on the late night bus home. yum!

had a coaching call yesterday with my authentic leadership coach. we get 5 sessions through naropa's program. we focused on time management the entire time as i'm continually trying to figure out the best use of my time. why do i LOVE checking off small things (make a reservation, send an e-mail, edit a document) when all time management experts say to tackle the big projects first? well, she recommended that i focus on having 3-4 key results for the week and that that would ensure i stayed true to the top priorities rather than my passion for crossing off to-dos. i like that. after we got off the call i went through my trusty planner pad and carved out some blank space so i wouldn't fill it with meetings and was to also try to find a day off. um, that was hard. still searching for one of those but am determined to find one! i encourage you to play with the "key result" concept! what are the top results that you want to see come out of your week? well, this will help determine how you spend your time! genius, eh? hope this helps! i've got 3 set up so far and can't wait to see how this new process assists with time management - an ongoing journey to improve.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:30 AM | 5 comments

greetings from a coffee shoppe in the big apple! it's crazy cold here - same with dc. brrrr. i'm happy to share with you some exciting insights and a VERY proud moment. here it is: i did not send an e-mail for an entire 24-hour period. this is a FIRST in many, many years. if i have access (as i do here in ny while sipping mint tea), i'm online, baby. SO, i feel like this is a BIG step. basically friday was packed from the start to my last call at 9:30pm so i checked e-mails quickly that evening and did little to no responding. trying to remember that life is not an emergency. really? i checked quickly saturday morning out of habit and don't think i responded to any. next time i was online was sunday afternoon out of guilt and a need to make sure the world wasn't falling apart around me and guess what - still standing! thus, i went on with my day - organizing, yoga, meditation, teacher training graduation - and didn't sit down to work until sunday night. so liberating and truly the first time that i took time for myself like this is YEARS. what's come over me? well, i've been meditating daily, i'm realizing that i don't have the energy i used to (is it age, wisdom, or exhaustion? time will tell . . . ), and trying to operate with more tranquility and simplicity.

friday i picked out shower and floor tiles for the new space dressing rooms along with two studio's flooring with my contractor - cork for one and bamboo for the other. the top studio is being built out with reused wood from a barn in west virginia! decisions, decisions, decisions. they are taxing! saturday beau and i hit ikea to purchase sinks and chandeliers for the new space, along with a fold-out couch for our home living room. beau couldn't take the loft bed anymore - poor thing couldn't even sit up in it. not good for someone who doesn't like tight spaces! anyway, this rearranging got us on a HUGE organizing spree that had me proclaiming, "don't ever let me buy another thing!" it's amazing and scary what we accumulate! out to the alley with furniture we didn't use, an old monet print from a beau many beaus ago, and two white chairs that were now grey. most of the items were gone within hours as it's amazing what treats one can find in an alley! i also spent hours going through my bookshelves and have three bags of self-help, inspirational, and old women's studies books ready to go to the studio's book exchange. wow, this whole process was very liberating. i can now see my desk, the house is rearranged (always good for feng shui), and i even have some blank space - what a treat for 2 peeps, 3 animals, and TranquiliT living in one small space!

must dash as my evening workshop starts in a few minutes. i just had to share that meditation is AMAZING medicine. making it a habit is key. some days i sit 2 minutes, others 30 minutes. i'm finding it to be very, very powerful. try it, you'll like it!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 6:08 PM | 4 comments

• click play to hear this episode, or click here to listen to older shows!
• direct download (mp3)

Bonjour! Welcome to the 120th edition of the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast: a guide to life on and off the yoga mat.

Today’s menu features a must-have pose in On the Mat, Buddha 9 to 5 with Nancy Spears in Off the Mat, and we’ve got Omwork and Savvy Sources for you too. View our shownotes at hiptranquilchick.com/blog.

On the Mat: Forward Fold



Check out Hip Tranquil Chick on YouTube!

Off the Mat: Nancy Spears is the author of a new book that offers profound ways to integrate value-based leadership into Corporate America, Buddha: 9 to 5: The Eightfold Path to Enlightening Your Workplace and Improving Your Bottom Line. Founder and CEO of a national marketing and production agency with offices in seven cities coast to coast, Nancy’s marketing expertise includes providing strategic marketing communications counsel and services to Fortune 500 companies who value quality of thinking, execution, and service.

Nancy sold the company she founded, Creative Event Marketing, Inc., to Interpublic Group in June 2000. CEM was renamed CrossMedia as a division of Golin/Harris International. As Executive Vice President of CrossMedia, Nancy managed the group that provided integrated communication solutions to its clients.

Her wide-ranging experience includes marketing, strategic planning, branding, meeting and event design and production, collateral design, audio/video production, speech writing and promotions for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Eli Lilly and Company, Glaxo Wellcome Pharmaceuticals, MasterCard, Johnson & Johnson, Turner/Time Warner, Xerox, Toyota, Nike, AT&T, and AIG.

During the 2002 winter Olympic Games, Nancy and her team designed and produced programs for Coca-Cola, John Hancock, Lucent Technologies, Descente, and Nextel. For the 1996 summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, Nancy developed and oversaw the production of over 57 events and projects in 17 days for many top sponsors including Xerox, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Swatch, Sara Lee, and Texaco.

In 2002 Nancy co-founded Devi Development, Inc., a development company dedicated to creating enlightened environments for sustainability. The firm integrates spiritual elements and green construction into their healthy house design and construction process.

At this stage in her career, giving back to the world to help make an impact is Nancy’s number one priority. To that end, she serves on the boards of the Shambhala Mountain Center, the Children’s Health Foundation, and the Aspen Center for Integral Health.

Nancy holds a B.A. in journalism with a major in public relations from West Virginia University. She and her eight-year-old twins, Clark and Gwyneth, reside in Aspen, Colorado.

Omwork: To encourage a sense of diving deeper into today’s podcast, I will post Omwork relating to this segment on our HTC forum. Please connect with fellow HTCs there and play with the following:

1. How can you practice right intention in your daily life?
2. What about right speech and right action?
3. How can you incorporate the 8-fold path into your everyday?

Savvy Sources:
Buddha 9 to 5

Signature Style: Dolman

Soirees, Chats, Booksignings & Retreats: Celebrate a weekend of all things hip and tranquil in the Catskills of NY in March, plus a WHOLE week in Costa Rica August 30-September 6. Join me for workshops and book signings in Charlotte and Asheville NC in February; back to Denver in April, Ft. Lauderdale in June, Lexington in October. In addition, we've got a week of hip and tranquil chickness at Omega June 2-6 and Kripalu August 10-15. Details for all special events at kimberlywilson.com. I hope we'll get to connect!

Join us for our first online creativity circle launching February 25 and our next le chic teleclass chat focused on "Blooming in Spring" on Monday, March 31 at 8:30ET. Details here.

Mentoring: Interested in diving deeper into hip and tranquil topics 1:1 with moi via e-mail, phone or in-person? If so, view all the scoop here.

Chic Community: Mingle with fellow HTCs on our forums. We’re on MySpace and Facebook, so please connect with the community virtually there, too! If you have a product you’d like reviewed on the blog – send a sample to me at 2024 p street, nw dc, 20036. sending a sample does not guarantee placement but I’d love to support our growing community! Make sure you're getting the hip tranquil times by signing up at the bottom of any page on hiptranquilchick.com. Check out our new YouTube page at youtube.com/hiptranquilchick. More fun stuff coming soon!

Au Revoir: To close out the show, we’re playing Preface by The Shanghai Restoration Project from Promonet. You can get more of their music at shanghairestorationproject.com.

Thanks for joining me for the 120th edition of the HTC podcast.

• You don't need an iPod to listen to the podcast! Click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes!
• New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast Alley.
• Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast. You'll automatically get the latest edition as soon as it's available.
• Do you use another podcatcher? Use this link for the podcast RSS feed.

Interested in starting a podcast for yourself, your organization or your business?
Check out nineball media

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:36 PM | 5 comments

happy thursday. how did the week swim by so quickly? weeks always seem short when i'm away for a couple days. new york is always beneficial and i've got a quick bus journey again on monday. off to designers and agents - a very cool emerging designers show where there is creativity in the air, then to hear danny meyer speak at a learning annex workshop. i picked up his book and think it is fabulous. love his philosophy and can't wait to see him in person.

today i met with my leadership study buddy and this week's lesson was really good. honestly, it talked me down from a ledge after encountering a not-so-pleasant e-mail exchange. the week's lesson was filled with quotes and i wanted to share a few fabulous ones with you:

we must become the change we want to see in the world. mahatma gandhi

if we are willing to take an unbiased look, we will find that, in spite of all our problems and confusion, all our emotional and psychological ups and downs, there is something basically good about our existence as human beings. unless we discover that ground of goodness in our lives, we cannot hope to improve the lives of others. if we are simply miserable and wretched beings, how can we possibly imagine, let alone create an enlightened society? cogyam trungpa

experiencing the basic goodness of our lives makes us feel that we are intelligent and decent people and that the world is not a thread. when we feel that our lives are genuine and good, we do not have to deceive ourselves or other people. we can see our own shortcomings without feeling guilty or inadequate, and at the same time we can see our potential for extending goodness to others. we can tell the truth straightforwardly and be absolutely open, but steadfast at the same time. chogyam trungpa

by meditation here we mean something very basic and simple that is not tied to any one culture. we are talking about a very basic act: sitting on the ground, assuming a good posture, and developing a sense of our spot, our place on this earth. this is the means of rediscovering ourselves and our basic goodness, the means to tune ourselves in to genuine reality, without any expectations or preconceptions. chogyam trungpa

Save the date: Baltimore Booksigning

Making Herstory 3: Connected Sisterhood! This exhibition is scheduled to held at Peace and A Cup of Joe Cafe in Baltimore, Maryland from March 2-April 18, 2008. In addition to visual art, we will also celebrate the literary talents of women as well as celebrate the creativity of women. Sunday, March 9 3-6pm. Come meet me and some other lovely ladies as we share our books in celebration of Women's History Month! Scoop at authenticartonline.com.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 9:04 PM | 1 comments

• click play to hear this episode, or click here to listen to older shows!
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Bonjour! Welcome to the 119th edition of the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast: a guide to life on and off the yoga mat.

Today’s menu features a must-have pose in On the Mat, Feminist Activism with Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner in Off the Mat, and we’ve got Omwork and Savvy Sources for you too. View our shownotes at hiptranquilchick.com/blog.

On the Mat: Thread the needle in child's pose
Check out Hip Tranquil Chick on YouTube!

Off the Mat: When Amy Richards graduated from Barnard College in 1992, she did not know that her summer project would be the beginning of her career as a feminist activist, writer, and organizer. Amy expected to use her degree in Art History to work in a museum or gallery. Instead, after she organized Freedom Summer ’92, a cross-country voter registration drive, Amy went on to co-found the Third Wave Foundation, a national organization for young feminist activists between the ages of 15 and 30.

For a decade, Amy led Third Wave as it grew from a small grassroots organization into a national institution. At Third Wave, Amy created and sustained the organization’s program areas—grant-making, public education campaigns and a national membership—and initiated projects such as "I Spy Sexism," a public education and postcard campaign encouraging people to take action on the injustices that they witness every day, and "Why Vote?," a series of panel discussions on funding for the arts, education, reproductive rights, and affirmative action. Through this leadership, Amy became a spokesperson and leading voice for young feminist issues. This launched her on the lecturing circuit and brought her invitations to appear in videos, books and media interviews offering her perspective on current events and especially youth and feminist culture. Amy has appeared in a range of media venues including Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor, Oprah, Talk of the Nation, New York One and CNN. Amy was publicly distinguished as a leader in 1995 when Who Cares magazine chose her as one of twenty-five Young Visionaries. She has gone on to win accolades from Ms. magazine, which profiled her in "21 for the 21st: Leaders for the Next Century,” Women’s Enews, which in 2003 named her one of their “Leaders for the 21st Century,” and the American Association of University Women, which recently chose her as a 2004 Woman of Distinction.

As Amy moves into her thirties and away from her commitment to Third Wave, she makes her living as a lecturer, writer and consultant. Amy was the interim director for Twilight: Los Angeles, a film by Anna Deavere Smith, where she oversaw a national educational program that addressed race in America . She has also consulted to Scenarios USA on the distribution of their teen educational videos, to Gloria Steinem on her writing and political commitments, and to the Columbia School of Public Health on the long-term negative health consequences of welfare reform. Amy is also the voice behind Ask Amy, the online advice column she launched at feminist.com in 1995.

Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, Amy’s first book, which she co-authored with Jennifer Baumgardner, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in October 2000. Amy and Jennifer completed their second book, Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism, and together they also created Soapbox Inc: Speakers Who Speak Out, a lecture agency for “speakers who speak out.” Amy’s writings have also appeared in The Nation, The LA Times, Bust, Ms. and numerous anthologies, including Listen Up, Body Outlaws and Catching A Wave. Insight Guides recently hired Amy to write a shopping guide to New York City. She is also very involved with the organizations on whose boards and advisory committees she serves, Third Wave, Ms. Magazine, Choice USA, the Sadie Nash Leadership Program, feminist.com and Planned Parenthood of New York City.

She is at work on a book about feminism and motherhood called Opting In.

For nearly 15 years, Fargo-native Jennifer Baumgardner has made her career in New York City as a prominent voice for women and girls, working as a writer, a speaker, and an activist. After a five-year stint as the youngest editor at Ms. (1993-1997), Jennifer began writing for a diverse array of publications, doing investigative pieces for Harper’s and The Nation, exploring stories such as why younger women appear to be less pro-choice and the fact that “rape kits” are routinely lost or rendered inadmissible in sexual assault cases. She has written several commentaries for NPR’s All Things Considered. She also writes for many of the major women’s magazines (including Jane, Glamour, Marie Claire, and Elle), for which she has written about abortion rights, the first female deemed a sexually violent predator, and the Miss America Pageant.

Her first book, Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, co-authored with colleague Amy Richards, was published in October of 2000. Gloria Steinem, Eve Ensler, and Naomi Wolf (as well as thousands of young women and men who have read it and written to Jen and Amy) enthusiastically endorsed Manifesta. The book garnered dozens of reviews, including The New York Times Book Review, Jane magazine, Brill’s Content, Ms., The Village Voice, The Nation, and The New Republic. Their second book together, Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism was published in 2005 and is now available in bookstores nationwide (FSG). Jennifer’s latest book, Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics (FSG) will be published on February 14, 2007. In it, she tackles her own bisexuality as well as the feminist politics surrounding women who look both ways.

Since 2000, Jennifer and Amy have lectured at more than 200 colleges and high schools including Yale, Harvard, Colgate, the University of North Dakota, the University of Michigan, Mills College, Rutgers, Tulane, Vanderbilt, USC, Swarthmore, Appalachian State, and they were both fellows at Dartmouth in 2004. The near-constant touring inspired them to found Soapbox Inc: Speakers Who Speak Out, a feminist speakers’ bureau that represents two dozen prominent feminist writers and activists such as Katha Pollitt, Gloria Steinem, Irshad Manji, and Rosalind Wiseman.

Jennifer is the editor of a series of feminist classics for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, including Shulamith Firestone’s The Dialectic of Sex (2003) and Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch (2002). Jennifer has written introductions, chapters, and epilogues for several recent books about feminism, including the introduction to a new edition of Alix Kates Shulman's bestselling Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen and (with Amy Richards) to Courtney Love's forthcoming diaries entitled Dirty Blonde. She has also written liner notes for Papa, Don't Lay that S--t on Me, the 2004 Rounder Records reissue of The Women’s Liberation Rock Band’s historic 1972 recording.

Jennifer has worked as a writer and organizer with foundations such as Honor the Earth (an indigenous environmental group), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Third Wave Foundation (the only national organization for feminist activists between the ages of 15 and 30). She is a former board member and key fundraiser for the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) and, through an organization called Haven, hosts women who come to New York from other states in order to get a later-term abortion. Further, she created an “I Had an Abortion” campaign to encourage women (and men) to “come out” about their procedures, of which an element is a film documenting women’s stories of abortion.

Jennifer is a popular pundit and interview guest, including a stint as a regular panelist on the Oxygen Network for women, and appearances on shows from The Oprah Winfrey Show to NPR’s Talk of the Nation. In 2003, the Commonwealth Club of California hailed her in their centennial year as one of six “Visionaries for the 21st Century,” commenting that “in her role as author and activist, [Jennifer has] permanently changed the way people think about feminism…and will shape the next 100 years of politics and culture.” She lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with her toddler, Skuli.

Omwork: To encourage a sense of diving deeper into today’s podcast, I will post Omwork relating to this segment on our HTC forum. Please connect with fellow HTCs there and play with the following:

1. How does feminism play out in your everyday life?
2. In what ways are you an activist?
3. How do you see your day-to-day activism/do-gooding efforts growing?

Savvy Sources:
Manifesta
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism

Signature Style: Jumpsuit. This versatile and super-yummy piece is a favorite for travel, cocktail parties, yoga, and retail therapy. Add a long sleeve tee or cami underneath or tie the sides for a festive look. Made in eco-fabulous bamboo. $128.

Soirees, Chats, Booksignings & Retreats: Celebrate a weekend of all things hip and tranquil in the Catskills of NY in March, plus a WHOLE week in Costa Rica August 30-September 6. Join me for workshops and book signings in Charlotte and Asheville NC in February; back to Denver and Aspen in April, Ft. Lauderdale in June, Lexington in October. In addition, we've got a week of hip and tranquil chickness at Omega June 2-6 and Kripalu August 10-15. Details for all special events at kimberlywilson.com. I hope we'll get to connect!

Join us for our first online creativity circle launching February 25 and our next le chic teleclass chat focused on "Blooming in Spring" on Monday, March 31 at 8:30ET. Details here.

Mentoring: Interested in diving deeper into hip and tranquil topics 1:1 with moi via e-mail, phone or in-person? If so, view all the scoop here.

Chic Community: Mingle with fellow HTCs on our forums. We’re on MySpace and Facebook, so please connect with the community virtually there, too! If you have a product you’d like reviewed on the blog – send a sample to me at 2024 p street, nw dc, 20036. sending a sample does not guarantee placement but I’d love to support our growing community! Make sure you're getting the hip tranquil times by signing up at the bottom of any page on hiptranquilchick.com. Check out our new YouTube page at youtube.com/hiptranquilchick. More fun stuff coming soon!

Au Revoir: To close out the show, we’re playing The Experience by Electrix from
Podsafe Music Network. You can get more of Electrix's music at electrixmusic.de.

Thanks for joining me for the 119th edition of the HTC podcast.

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posted by kimberly wilson @ 1:40 PM | 3 comments

a complimentary yoga class for survivors of breast cancer and other women's cancers.

frequently, we hear about the healing and restorative powers of yoga. and increasingly western medical research demonstrates the benefits yoga offers cancer survivors. are you curious how yoga can speed your recovery and increase your energy? women living with, through and beyond a cancer diagnosis may find yoga an effective way to regain a sense of serenity, security and promise in their bodies.

join marianne, a yoga alliance-certified teacher and breast cancer survivor for this combination class of gentle vinyasa, yin and restorative yoga with some pranayama and healing meditation. and who knows, we may also have some laughs together doing yoga! join us, it’s free EVERY friday from 1:30-2:30pm! scoop at tranquilspace.com.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 12:05 PM | 0 comments

written on bus:

heading back to dc after a fun two days in new york. yesterday was fun. we found some fabulous eco-friendly candles with biodegradeable packaging and super-yummy scents. i also bought some great products from tibet that were fair trade and had a beautiful aviary pattern. i’m seeing lots of aviary prints and totally digging them. these were of tibetan water birds and came in turquoise, tangerine, and pink – 3 fabulous colors! included in this line were mini singing bowls and chimes for meditation – a lovely concoction. last night i headed over to a nearby studio that i’d passed during my last trip to ny. i took the class with two others and was very challenged. it was 90 degrees which i loved but my heart didn’t. wow, the heat is so yummy because you are immediately warmed up and ready to go but my heart rate didn’t slow for a long time. it was an amazing 90-minute practice and the first time that i felt pushed past my edge with yoga in a long time. very dreamy and very humbling! i was soaked. sweat was dripping into my eyes and ears – even my knees were sweating! how is that possible? beau picked me up and off we went to get miso soup, edamame, green salad with ginger dressing, and cucumber rolls – yum! i was shivering from being covered in wet bamboo clothing so back to the hotel for e-mailing and channel surfing. when i get around cable – especially in hotel rooms – i love to play with the remote.

i so appreciate your sweet notes about overdoing it. there is so much i want to do that sometimes i don’t know when to tell myself “no.” life is so full and i’ve never been one to be good at “being.” clearly something for me to work on and i feel like that is where mediation comes in for me right now. i have been super-tired and i think it’s from the travel. as exhilarating as traveling is, it takes a toll on the body and spirit. colorado was lovely last week but the exhaustion, long days of learning, and being out of my element can make for a run down. this weekend’s plans to travel to charleston, wv and columbus, ohio have been canceled which opens up 3 1/2 glorious days of not being planned. i may head up to new york again for a show and workshop but it’s truly a gift to have the unplanned time – more yoga, more creativity, more new studio prep, and more sitting in front of the fire time!

of course i came up with new ideas at the shows – which is why they are dangerous – and already have mama in oklahoma working on some of them. i plan to add some great meditation and relaxation accoutrements in the TranquiliT line as i continue to add tools to make our lifestyle more tranquil and chic. look for a darling reusable bag coming soon, too. if you have any special needs or requests for the line, please let me know. in the meantime, shop our new spring collection and save 15% by typing in the code karma this week.

spoke with my agent today and we may rework the tranquilology plans for my former publisher. we’ll see what transpires and will keep you posted.

top 5 ways to stay tranquil during the missing sunshine:
1. get outside and walk for at least 20 minutes each day
2. get your heart rate up: run, jump rope, do yoga, ride a bike, snowshoe
3. warm up in front of a fire, soak in a hot tub, or draw a warm bubble bath
4. do something out of the ordinary: hit the local art exhibit, listen to frank sinatra, take a pottery class, take the bus to a nearby city and play tourist, go see a play by yourself, hang out at the nearby art store
5. buy yourself some flowers: yellow or pink anything is sure to make you smile

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:50 PM | 2 comments

heading up there to hit the gift show and shoe show today and tomorrow. looking for fun, new, fabulous, fair trade (when possible) pieces for our studio's tranquility boutique. interested in adding a cute shoe or two to the TranquiliT collection so i hope to find something at the shoe show.

have been feeling super-tired since my stint in colorado and didn't have the energy to podcast last night. we're taking the gear to new york so i hope to record this evening. if not, there may be a week delay while i work to regain energy. i'm not sick but am feeling incredibly low on energy. boo!

best wishes for a delightful start to your week! happy, happy february. how are those new year's resolutions? i'm sitting on my new meditation cushion daily since my return from colorado! yay! maybe all those accessories do help!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 8:43 AM | 4 comments

this muse went out in february's newsletter and i wanted to share:

what you do speaks so loud, i can’t hear what you say – emerson

bonjour from boulder, colorado. i’m here taking a course at naropa university on authentic leadership. i love that we start each day with 30 minutes of meditation. what a perfect way to set the tone for all the information that follows! i’ve learned about conscious conversations, personal responsibility, ensuring values are in line with actions, and how fun it is to dance. tonight’s session ended with us moving to salsa tunes. now, that’s fun leadership!

our journey into a new home continues to be an exciting part of my world at this moment. with intense aspiration to personalize it and make the space super-special, my contractor now has me shaking hands on decisions such as how many chandeliers he’ll allow. I like sparkles! my desire to have speakers and chandeliers in the bathrooms, an herb garden out back, a loft space for the team, and indecisiveness on where the ice-maker should go is killing him. god bless his patient soul!

we’ve located flooring for the spa and top sky-lit studio from a barn in virginia. our contractor is big on reusing rather than tossing materials to buy brand new green ones. the tea bar benches are set up on used tree grates found on craig’s list. reuse, reuse, reuse. the new windows were put on last weekend so now the workers aren’t co-existing with the pigeons and we’re sure to be more energy efficient. the dry wall is about to go up, bathrooms and showers are getting installed, and soon i’ll start sewing some curtains and throw pillows. love the details!

we hope to have our new home ready to welcome you mid-spring. i’m already planning the open house soiree complete with yoga demos, tea tastings, and an eco-fashion show. i’m delighted to take tranquil space to this new level and welcome your input as we’re creating its destiny and your new yoga home. we plan to offer 50 fabulous yoga classes – including a few more specialties, diy classes for you crafty ones, oodles of spa treatments, tasty fair trade tea, and an eco-fabulous boutique featuring TranquiliT. please let me know if you have any special requests. the joy i’ve received over the (almost) nine years of tranquil space is immeasurable – so immense, so full! thank you for your continued support of all things tranquil.

tranquilly yours,
kimberly wilson

posted by kimberly wilson @ 9:37 PM | 0 comments

this morning was quick at the finale of the leadership training. i'm terribly full and feeling a little frustrated. can't put my finger on the "why." think there is just so much to process a TON of material and patience has never been a virtue of mine. i have absolutely loved the blending of mindfulness with the leadership process and look forward to the many weeks that are ahead - we finish in may.

i'm awaiting the lovely super shuttle to whisk me, my numerous buddhas, and meditation cushion to the airport. while checking e-mail pre-super shuttle, i was informed of this lovely review. reading this absolutely brightened my day and i wanted to share.

last night we had an aikido teacher come to our sessions. it was interesting to observe how the harder you resist or fight something, the easier it is to be knocked off balance. the more grounded and connect to breath i was, the easier it was to resist the push of my partner. a beautiful analogy for life.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 3:13 PM | 1 comments

leadership girl gone wild

today i went into town with a few colleagues for a tasty falafel shop that just happened to be next to lush! uh oh. i couldn't stop thinking about lush and could smell it through the walls of the falafel joint. after downing (mindfully) my falafel, i dashed next door for a sizable heap of new bath bombs. since they gave me 20 total minutes until we were leaving, i had 10 to spare and feeling binge-like i dashed down to a tibetan store. bought two white buddhas for the new space, two small buddhas for beau, and a ganesha to remove my obstacles. i raced back to the car 5 minutes late (story of my life), heart racing, bags of buddhas and smelly stuff in hand. one of the guys looked at me and asked "now where are you from?"

during our dinner break, i couldn't get out of my head that the tibetan shop owner said another store down pearl street had a harmonium. i've been craving one for months now. soooo, i had another mini 30-minute shopping spree that included dark wood mala beads, a harmonium (yay!), and a new black meditation cushion (beau's firemaking left burn marks on my pink one). let a girl loose for a few minutes from leadership training and she's gonna go wild! now that i have all the meditation accessories, i gotta commit to getting this bum on the cushion DAILY! wanna join me?

back to dc late friday night. i've learned so many tools but it's all a blur. tons of processing to do. i look forward to the continual unfolding of my leadership journey - new buddhas and all!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 12:37 AM | 3 comments