Category: Inspirations

We began a 40 Day Challenge at Semperviva just recently.

The Challenge is to complete forty classes in forty consecutive days.

That is quite a challenge considering that most students average five classes per month.

Students usually take part in the Challenge to get back into shape and end up surprised at the depth and diversity of the benefits of a consistent yoga practice.

What does your yoga practice give you?
 
Has it changed you in some way?

I was reading about a teacher this morning who said that her yoga practice made her “kinder.”

I love that and relate to it.

Yoga takes away some of the angst you feel that makes you push yourself and others too hard.

This teacher also said she practiced because it made her feel less frightened, and quotes her grandfather’s lament, “it’s really hard to be a person.”

Yes, it’s hard and it’s beautiful.

The problem is that when we don’t have a consistent mind-body practice, life feels hard not beautiful. With a mindfulness practice like yoga, you learn how to reign in your fearful thoughts and see beauty again.

A consistence practice helps you master your mind so it doesn’t run wild spinning fearful stories. It keeps your focus off your fears.

Here’s something for you to reflect on:

What is possible for you this year?

___________________________

What is possible for you this life?

___________________________

What is possible for you now?

___________________________

If you didn’t join the Challenge, it’s not too late to start or create your own.
I’d love to hear what you experience after forty days of consistent practice.
 
Sat Nam, Gloria Latham

Find out more about my upcoming online courses, starting in November here.

I taught a number of students this week that were doing breath of fire for the very first time. It reminded me how confusing this breath technique can be when you’re first introduced to it. It’s a technique well worth learning as it has so many positive effects.

Here are just some of the benefits of Breath of Fire:
• Energizing
• Cleansing
• Reduces addictive tendencies
• Increases your ability to focus
• Strengthens your third chakra and abdominals
• Strengthens your nervous system

I’ve attached a short video above as a reminder of how to do Breath of Fire.

Practicing Breath of Fire shows how quickly you can change how you feel through practices from this ancient tradition. When you change how you feel, you start to change your actions, and before you know it, your life just got better. Kundalini Yoga can change how you feel instantly.
Try it!

Contraindications:
• Although a light breath of fire is ok for the first 120 days of pregnancy I usually recommend students switch to long deep breathing instead.
• A light breath of fire is recommended during the first few days of your menstrual cycle.
What your body can or can’t do during class is really not that
important. What’s important is to keep focused on the breath and keeping using it to move stagnant energy.

What your body can or can’t do during class is really not that important. What’s important is to keep focused on the breath and keeping using it to move stagnant energy.

Inhale deeply and find your strength.
Exhale fully and find freedom.

For more info on my online and live programs please click here.

Sat Nam.
Gloria Latham

I’m coming home! I’m excited to get back to our Semperviva community and to work with   Ana Forrest, and Tiffany Cruickshank who are at Semperviva Yoga for the very first time.

The past year has been a whirlwind. I’ve been lucky enough to spend lots of time with our community in Vancouver, as well as introduce Kundalini Yoga, Semperviva style, to many communities around the globe.

The past two months, in between teacher trainings, I’ve been hiding away on a tiny Greek Island, putting the finishing touches on my new online course, Breakthrough Your Blocks and unlock your potential.

Working with students globally has made me hungrier than ever to find ways to build and maintain strong connections with students. Relationship is everything.

By inspiring and supporting each other we stay committed to what’s real and true for us.

Without support, we can fall into the trap of “busy.”

There isn’t time for everything in your life. Everything you choose to do, exacts a price. What are you prepared to give up some of your precious life for?

Another summer is gone. Did you do the things you intended to do?

It’s easy to say, I didn’t have time but is that the real reason you didn’t take a risk or try something new?

This fall, in my new online program, Breakthrough Your Blocks, I explore the chakra blockages that keep you stuck repeating the past instead of living to your potential.

It’s time to take the journey inward to discover how you block your way.

I look forward to seeing you back at yoga very soon!

May the Long Time Sun Shine Upon You.

Sat Nam,

Gloria

Is it just me?

Although I hate to think about it, we’ve passed the peak of summer and labour day is just around the corner. Labour Day, no matter how many years you’ve been out of school, seems to signal the end! It’s the end of a more relaxed state of being and a signal to get back to serious work.

As someone who is self-employed, it doesn’t really mean much to me. Holidays for others are often my busiest times and yet I still dread how the atmosphere in the city changes right after Labour Day.

What if we could maintain that carefree summer feeling no matter how heavy our workload? What if we could get our work done without tension and with less angst?

Can you learn to maintain that relaxed summer feeling in your body no matter what?

Think of how your body feels in the summer… the warmth in the air keeps your body relaxed and at ease. Can you maintain that relaxed feeling no matter how much you have to accomplish?

We hold tremendous tension in the body and I believe it reflects our state of mind. As summer comes to a close, and your to do lists get longer, try to maintain that “summer feeling” in your body. Simply remember that the body and mind are integrally linked…tension in the body reflects tension in the mind. If you can relax the body, you will relax the mind. Relief from this unnecessary state of tension is a close as your next deep breath and your next yoga class.

My first class back in Vancouver is September 12^th. I can’t wait to see you on the mat!

For online courses, check out my new Breakthrough Your Blocks Online program.

Find out more here.

 

You hear yoga teachers say this all the time, “take your yoga off the mat.”

What does that mean? I had the perfect opportunity to practice yoga “off the mat” boarding a ferry last week. I was in a human crush of foot passengers, cars, trucks, and motorbikes all swarming onto a very narrow ramp simultaneously. THIS I said to my husband, is the perfect opportunity to practice yoga…this is why we practice. It takes deep breathing, focus and meditative calm to get out of situations like this without being overwhelmed by the chaos.

There are situations all day long that can unnerve you. Even small, insignificant events can trigger you and knock you off balance for hours and even days.

Your yoga is meant to serve your life. It gives you the tools you need when you’re in situations that are anything but calm and serene like a yoga studio.

Finding calm inside the studio, and on your mat is simple. Finding that same calm when it feels like everything is falling apart around you is your real work.

Yoga trains the body to relax when challenged. That is what all that deep breathing is for!

It’s amazing when you experience the excitement of perfecting a challenging pose but the poses are irrelevant.

The point of the practice is to always be able to find the calm in the storm and the light in the dark.

This is a big part of what my upcoming online program, Breakthrough Your Blocks  is focused on.

Starting September,  you will be able to join me from anywhere in the world,  for 6 days of concentrated and transformative work.

Find out more here.

 

Walking in town yesterday morning, we came across some incredible structures that were a blend of ancient temples, venetian fortresses and modern day churches.

Staring up at this incredible wall made me reflect on all the different aspects that make up each one of us.

This wall couldn’t be labelled any more a castle than a temple, or a church.

Where does one end and the other begin?

How we think about ourselves depends on what aspect of ourselves we give more importance to.

What we think we become.

Are you creative? Are you athletic? Do you hide behind your intellect? Are you an explorer and a wanderer? Do you thirst for adventure?

There are parts of ourselves that we embrace and we honour, and there are disowned parts of ourselves we need to reclaim and explore.

We live into the persona we’ve created to navigate our world, but some parts of ourselves have been left behind.
Some excavating needs to be done.

Uncovering lost aspects of ourselves is as simple as moving  towards the things that bring you joy.  Every thought brings with it a corresponding feeling…are you feeling drawn to or repelled by something?

What are the things you like to do, people you like to surround yourself with, books you enjoy reading?

Don’t limit your experiences by sticking so rigidly to the person you’ve become.

 The person you intended to be is waiting to be rediscovered.

Join me this September on a journey of self-discovery in my new online program Breakthrough Your Blocks to unlock your potential.

Find out more here.

May the Long Time Sun Shine Upon You.

Sat Nam,
Gloria Latham

There are two questions I’ve been asking myself and my students daily this summer.

The two questions are:
▪ What do you want to bring into your life?
▪ What are you ready to be free of?
What is it you want?
It’s likely not a thing. Something we all strive for is more peace, and more joy.

What is it that you want to be free of?
For most of us, freedom comes from releasing self-limiting judgments, outdated fears, and resistance to change.

I was at a celebration last night in a beautiful seaside village. The woman I was sitting with remarked, “you’re lucky you’ve found something that makes you happy. That is rare.”
My first thought was how sad it was that she considered happiness to be rare. I told her that I felt everyone knows what  makes them happy, it’s just that we’ve lost our ability to listen to our inner guidance.  She looked at me incredulously, “do you really believe that?” “I really don’t know what my life’s passion is.”

It’s difficult to find your passion when you look for it outside yourself. You forget the internal wisdom available to you in every moment. My next online course, Breakthrough Your Blocks, launching September 2016, helps you overcome what blocks you from your joy.

If you continue to seek answers outside yourself, you’ll never be fulfilled.To experience greater fulfillment you must commit to making decisions that feel right to you.The second you let judgment creep in, it’s over.

Can you get better at trusting your instincts?
You don’t have to impulsively act on every insight that comes to you, but pay attention to what you’re being guided to do.

Stop looking for someone else to identify your passions and your dreams.
You’ve known all along what brings you joy. Keep guiding yourself towards whatever that is.

Suggested Exercise:
Start recording your insights and review them regularly. Use your phone or carry around a small pocket size notebook. It might shock you to see how much wisdom you’ve been ignoring.

The answer has been there all along.

If you’re interested in exploring these questions in depth, my next online course, Breakthrough your Blocks , is being released September 2016.

Sat Nam,

Gloria

I took the long route to my island home this summer. I stopped for workshops and Yoga Raves along the way from Amsterdam to Rome. My focus for the next two months will be working with students to deepen their experience of yoga and to reconnect with themselves. Essentially, to slow their world down.

Everyone is stripped down to the bare basics here on this remote little island. It’s just you, your yoga gear and a swimsuit or two. Whatever you identify with back home, doesn’t apply here…no fancy car, no job title, no status symbols. It’s you, a phenomenal group of like-minded people from all over the world, sunshine and the bluest seas. It’s a place that connects you to simplicity.

When you remove yourself from your regular routine, and strip away the clutter and busyness it’s easier to find space for your own thoughts.

Who are you? Independent of your role at work and home, who are you?

I ask this question of myself and my students, again and again…”have you become the person you intended to be?”

Step away from your stuff, your roles, and all your gadgets. Get quiet through meditation or get out into nature so you can really listen to yourself again. After all, you are the greatest authority of your happiness.

Have you become the person you intended to be?

If you couldn’t make any of my Teacher Training and Immersions in Greece this Summer, I now have a series of online programs available to students worldwide – starting in September 2016. Please click here for more details.

I’ve been on the road for about a week now and there is a temporary lull in my schedule as I await our Teacher Training students to arrive in Greece.

I’ve found myself in some familiar places and some cities and towns completely new to me.
Wherever I go, I know that I can always find a home in a local yoga studio.

This week I took my first class in French in a quaint studio in Nice – Art Yoga.
Language doesn’t matter; the language of yoga is universal. We communicate through a feeling that is created by the teacher’s tone of voice, the sound of the inhale and exhale, and the energy of the other students in the room.

That is one of the greatest gifts yoga gives us; a welcoming home and community wherever we go.

To date I’ve taken classes in Japanese, French, Greek and Spanish. This week I may even try an Italian class. My French teacher graciously threw in some English to help me along but I wasn’t fussed about getting everything right, just soaking up that good yoga vibe…coming home.

If you couldn’t make any of my Teacher Training and Immersions in Greece this Summer, I now have a series of online programs available to students worldwide – starting in September 2016. Please click here for more details.

Lauris’ passing stirred a lot of emotion in our community.
I was touched by all the emails and stories shared about this inspiring woman.

Last Monday we took a moment of silence at our Solstice Celebration in remembrance of her. We then decided to celebrate her life loud and strong, by dedicating a song to her and having a dance for her.

What an incredible thing it is when as a community we care.

Care about your health, care about your happiness, care about the stranger right beside you, care about those you love. Care more. It changes everything.

This week finds me across the globe again, taking our Semperviva style celebrations to Amsterdam and Nice.

A wise old Indian teacher has been reappearing in my life for years. His message to me has been consistent….”Gloria, teach joy.”

So tonight after teaching at the Breathe As One Yoga Festival and the Amsterdam Yoga Festival, I hope for a few moments students did experience joy – a lightness in their hearts and a smile on their lips.

Good night from Nice,

Gloria Latham

Find out more about my upcoming Online Trainings: A set of 4 online Kundalini Yoga Immersion and Teacher Trainings starting in Fall 2016. Click here to find out more.