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"That's why it's, "Enlightened Work and Mindful Play," because it's incorporating, wrapping up, and interweaving this notion of making a difference through your daily actions, and also infusing your life with style, and throwing really fun parties for good causes."
--Kimberly Wilson, author of Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play
I'm always experimenting with how to stress less, enjoy life more, and make a positive impact. One of the places I go for inspiration during my day is to the books, blog, podcast, and Twitter feed of Kimberly Wilson.
Kimberly is a teacher, writer, do-gooder, entrepreneur, and eco-fashion designer who is currently obsessed with, "Paris, potbelly pigs, and all things sparkly." She is the creative director and founder of Tranquil Space, which was named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world by Travel and Leisure. She is also the creative director and designer of TranquiliT, an ecoluxe lifestyle clothing line, and the founder of Tranquil Space Foundation, a nonprofit that brings yoga, creativity, and leadership to women and girls. Kimberly has authored two books: Hip Tranquil Chick: A Guide to Life On and Off the Yoga Mat, and Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play.
Below is an edited transcript of my November 3rd interview with Kimberly for the Big Vision Podcast. Our conversation began with Kimberly explaining what Tranquil Space Foundation is, and why she started it.
Kimberly Wilson: Tranquil Space Foundation started in July of 2006. We decided with my yoga studio, Tranquil Space, that we really wanted to expand our do-gooding efforts, and create a 501(c)(3) that we could really focus our efforts on. I put a note out in the Tranquil Space newsletter asking for interested participants to come to my living room. There were about 20 people huddled around talking about what we were going to be, what we were going to do, and how we could have the most impact.
Out of that, over about six months, we came up with our tagline. We came up with our first program. We came up with a curriculum for the program. My big focus, with a Masters in Women's Studies, has been on empowering women and girls. We decided to start with teen girls, ninth through twelfth grade, and with the notion that that's when as a young girl we're beginning to make important decisions about college, about life steps, and about goals.
We came up with the notion of bringing in three big components:
- Yoga: to really help the girls get connected with and in touch with their bodies.
- Leadership: to focus on goal-setting, and to become strong leaders in their own lives.
- Creativity: to really explore coloring outside the lines, doing things differently.
These were tools that many of the people involved in the organization wished they'd had when they were in ninth through twelfth grade.
The big premise is really with the programming, but then over the past couple years another thing that we've branched out and been doing is we just adore giving microgrants to other organizations. We have this really great process from a woman who heads the generosity committee. We all present organizations that we'd like the Foundation to consider donating to that are in alignment with our values of yoga, creativity, and leadership.
We sit down, and there's this big voting process, big discussion, and then we contact the organizations to let them know that they're going to receive a grant from us. That's been a really fun piece, to give money away in a very targeted manner has just felt amazing. That's pretty much Tranquil Space Foundation in a nutshell. We're a little over three years old now.
Do you have any favorite Tranquil Teens success stories?
I would say my favorite stories for the Foundation so far have really been the organizations that we've granted money to who come and share what they've done with it, how it has made an impact on their organization, and how grateful they are.
With the Tranquil Teens program, where we go and actually take our curriculum out, so far we've just worked with girls in a one-time setting. Although we get really glowing testimonials and feedback from the girls, there is no way to really follow up with them a
