Category: Inspirations

This is not the post I had intended to write.

It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of a beautiful woman and Semperviva student, Lauris.

43 days ago, I asked Lauris to sit at the front of the room to share her yoga story because she inspired me so much. You can read her full story here.

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from my team, concerned that they had not seen Lauris for two days. They asked if it was ok to go to her home and look for her.

I reflected for a moment if it was our role to track people down if they skipped class but we all sensed something was wrong.

Our discovery was a sad one.

I’m grateful to be part of a community that cares that much for each other. To be amongst people that notice your absence and want to reach out.

So many of us have been touched by Lauris and she lives in our hearts forever.

Tomorrow, Monday night, we’re having an early Summer Solstice Party and I’d like to celebrate Lauris and what she has meant to our community.

May the long time sun shine upon you,

Gloria Latham

Find out more about my upcoming Chakra Series: A set of 4 online Kundalini Yoga Immersion and Teacher Trainings. Click here to find out more.

I’m not a morning person and yet I find myself willingly waking up earlier and earlier. There’s a stillness in the early morning hours that I have come to crave.

It’s a time to connect with my own thoughts before I become caught up in everyone else’s.

The night owl in me has issues with this, so I’ve stopped watching the clock.

I don’t want the clock to dictate whether I should feel tired. The only thing I’ll let the clock dictate is being on time for commitments I’ve made with other people.

These early morning hours, 2 ½ hours before sunrise are referred to as the “ambrosial hours”. In yogic scriptures they say it is the time where “auric protection” is strongest and prana/life force the most concentrated.

On a practical level, it’s the time of day where the rest of the world is still asleep so there is less noise and fewer disturbances; no one is looking for you at that time of day!

Before you head out into the world its important to do your “internal work”. As Robin Sharma says: “The way you begin your day determines how you live your day”.

Your internal work can include yoga, meditation, journaling…essentially just be with yourself. Connect with your values, reflect on what you’re grateful for and make sure the things you’re about to race out and do have meaning and value for you.

Don’t lose yourself by not spending time with yourself.

It takes 40 days to establish a new habit pattern, like waking up earlier.

I have lots of great yogic tools to share with you for installing the habit of yoga, mediation and self-reflection into your days.

You can learn more about these breakthroughs in my live courses, and online training.

May the long time sun shine upon you.

Sat Nam

Gloria

Find out more about my upcoming Chakra Series: A set of 4 online Kundalini Yoga Immersion and Teacher Trainings. Click here to find out more.

 

I woke up this Mothers Day in Mother Nature’s full embrace…insert nature sounds here: birds singing, waves lapping on the shore, and the wind whispering through the trees.

”Don’t rush she says. There’s a pulse and rhythm to life.”

It’s a message easily forgotten and I rely on my daily yoga practice to help me remember this balance. The active component of the yoga builds the health of the body, while the meditative component heals the mind and accesses soul guidance. Both are important!

There are times to push forward and times to slow down and reassess your actions and desires.

Slowing down is not “inaction.” It’s how you keep yourself on your own path, and not influenced by the ideas and dreams of others. Don’t let yourself get so caught up in busyness that you find you’re climbing someone else’s ladder to success.

What is it you want to do on this journey called life? This might not relate to your career at all. It’s not necessarily what you do to earn an income. Remove that limitation. Anything that nourishes your soul, and really lights you up, will enhance every aspect of your life.

If you’re feeling disconnected from what that is, or how to actively pursue what feeds your soul, consider joining me on an exciting online program to fulfill your dreams. Watch for detailed information about my Crystallize Your Vision program in your inbox this Wednesday evening.

 

 

Is this you?

I remember once when my daughter was very young, I promised to take her to her favourite bookstore. We set out and holding her hand, I started jogging lightly…she was only 4 or 5.

She asked me, “mom, why are we running?”

I had NO IDEA why.

I was so used to feeling pressed for time that I’d lost my ability to do anything slowly.

It takes a lot of de-programming to slow down. We’re afraid we’re going to miss something, fall behind, fail.

Being in a constant hurry means missing out on the enjoyment of your life. You can’t cultivate meaningful relationships or nurture your interests when you’re living in “fast forward.”

It’s time to get lost in the journey…to move slowly. When you catch your mind racing, pushing you to move faster, take a long deep breath and ask yourself:

Where are you going?
Why are you going there?
And why are you moving so fast?

This reminds you to stop and question what you are doing and why.

What’s important to you now? Always spend your time and energy on that.

My Crystallize Your Vision Kundalini Immersion/Teacher Training online course starts in exactly one month. It will help you discover what is important to you now, and help you enjoy the journey. Find out more

I’ve been in San Francisco this week soaking up the beauty of this city; its incredible Victorian architecture, the Golden Gate Bridge, its streetcars, and its fantastic cafes.
Like many big cities there is also a lot of homelessness. It’s made me think about the importance of community and the need to support each other.
Rolf Gates, one of my favourite teachers said to me once, “it only takes one person to really see you for who you are, to change everything for you.”
Everyone needs to feel seen, heard and cared for…everyone needs the support of community. Our lives have become complex and our need to uplift each other is greater than ever before.

What is your dream? What are the things you do to nurture yourself and how do you give back and serve others?

By supporting yourself, you have the energy and the ability to be there for others. As a result, we all live better lives full of love and compassion.

I’m completing the work on my Crystallize Your Vision online program. It’s been a huge learning curve for me as I try to re-create the intimacy and caring we experience with each other live in an online journey. I’m exploring lots of new ways to stay connected to each other. Nothing will ever replace the intimacy of being close to one other but this is for the times in between.

Learn more about the Crystallize Your Vision Kundalini Immersion/Teacher Training starting next month.

I’m on the ferry heading over to Galiano Island for one of our Yoga Retreats.

I’ll spend the weekend hiking, doing yoga, and soaking up the beauty of the West coast from its eagles to its orca whales.

At the end of each day, you’ll find me curled up by the wood stove lost in a book.

One of the things I love about a good read, is getting caught in the suspense of the story. Someone I know finds this suspense so uncomfortable that she reads the book’s ending before beginning.

This makes me wonder how many people don’t go after their dreams because there are no guarantees things will turn out as desired. They want to know ahead of time that their efforts will be rewarded.

The rewards come in the doing.

Whatever challenges you overcome, whatever skills you acquire along the way, whatever new people and places you expose yourself to are your rewards. When you get to your dream, guess what? Another one appears

You can’t imagine all that is possible for you. You have to set your sights on one thing at a time, trust fully that you can do it and have the courage not to stall. Once that goal is accomplished you’ll be able to dream an even bolder dream because you’ve grown so much along the way…..your reward. If you’re unclear about your dream, my 6 day program is designed to help uncover it.

Don’t be afraid of this work, it will free energy that is inside of you. The pain that’s created by avoiding your life’s work is far greater than any pain created from the actual work itself.

There is something you’re longing to do. What is that thing? Taking steps, even small steps, always leads to success. The ending will be a happy one.

Learn more about the Crystallize Your Vision Kundalini Immersion/Teacher Training starting next month.

Saying or believing “I can’t”, weakens you. It feeds your doubts and fears, and gets in the way of living a fulfiling life. Your dreams require action but your doubts paralyze you.

Yogi Bhajan shared a meditation called,“Get Rid of your “couldn’t.”He said that, “all the problems on this planet come from this ‘couldn’t.’ It gives us a slip from our dharma, from our destiny… Kundalini Yoga takes away our ‘couldn’t’ and gives us our excellence.”

This meditation is one of a series of 6 meditations you’ll receive in my new online program Crystallize Your Vision. Kundalini Yoga offers countless practices and meditations that are fast and effective, and that is why it is the foundation of this course. Each day you will experience a new meditation and Kriya (exercise set) until your blocks are cleared and your vision is clarified.

Here is a breakdown of the 6 day process:

Day 1: The Ultimate Cleanse (first chakra)-detox your past and create space for your dreams. This is an extremely powerful cleanse that cleanses everything that stands between you and your dream. It unblocks your lower chakras and addresses everything from fear and anger, to low self-esteem.
Day 2: Own Your Power (third charka/core) – Access your true strength and step into the person you intended to become. “You are very powerful provided you know how powerful you are” – Yogi Bhajan
Day 3: Love It Into Being (fourth chakra/heart) – heart chakra practices ignite your passion for what you seek, and release past hurts and disappointments
Day 4: See Possibility (second chakra/hips) – Cultivate your creativity and start seeing possibility where currently you see only blocks.
Day 5: Receive (6th and 7th chakra/intuition and insights) – In addition to taking action and going after what you desire, you also need to be receptive to the quiet guidance that comes from within.You will learn to access that guidance
Day 6: Ask For It (fifth chakra/throat) – Now that you have cleared away your doubts, your fears and your confusion, confidently ask for what you want and allow yourself to receive it.

These 6 days can change everything.

Learn more about the Crystallize Your Vision Kundalini Immersion/Teacher Training starting next month.

May the long time sun shine upon you.

 

I’ve been teaching at the Wanderlust Festival in Oahu this weekend and am amazed at how many students are having their very first experience of yoga here. I’ve heard many students say that doing yoga feels like coming home. It feels like coming back to your self.

We seek answers on everything from nutrition to our personal happiness everywhere but from ourselves. Practicing yoga allows you to reconnect to the only person who can give you expert advice on you.

The practice silences the incessant chatter in your mind, all the expectations you’ve internalized and all the things you think you “should” be doing.

As the mind settles you gain clarity with what you want.

I’m not surprised when I ask students what their dream is and they say, “I don’t know.” They can probably tell you what their parents, partners or even employers want for them but they can’t verbalize what they want.

There is a fear of asking for what you want. Do I deserve it? Can I really have it? Will I fail? Will I succeed?

Are you waiting for someone else’s permission before you start going after your dream?

There are powerful, cathartic practices to silence the voices in your head leading you away from your dream.
My Crystallize Your Vision program begins with these practices. You can find out more here.

My next stop is the International Yoga Festival in India.
May the long time sun shine upon you.

Sat Nam

Download a Free Kundalini Video Here

I’m about to board my flight to Oahu where I’ll be teaching yoga and meditation at the Wanderlust Festival. When I first got the call to teach meditation, I asked, “do you know how noisy I am?” I had to be sure the festival organizers were open to a meditation class that what was active and maybe a bit loud.

I like to think of Kundalini yoga meditations as meditations for non-meditators. That is, meditation for the people who struggle most to be still.

The challenge with being still is that the minute the body becomes still, the mind becomes active. All those thoughts we try so hard to supress with our busyness come to the surface, and these thoughts can by ugly and angry.

The challenge with being still is that the minute the body becomes still, the mind becomes active. All those thoughts we try so hard to supress with our busyness come to the surface, and these thoughts can by ugly and angry.

That is where your power is, in being fully present for each moment of your life. Not lost in memories of the past or projecting ahead to what might happen in the future.

Your mind is an incredible storyteller, it generates thousands of thoughts per second, and has the ability to choose a thought and create drama and internal turmoil.

One of the most freeing things one of my teachers said to me was, “if you’re having a thought you don’t like, choose another one.”

It can be that simple to choose peace.
Your internal chatter might be full of “what ifs”
What if the relationship doesn’t work out?
What if I don’t get that promotion at work?
What if my car breaks down and I can’t afford a new one?

Stop directing your energy at all the things you don’t want to happen and start creating peace inside your heart and mind. From this centered place, you’ll be able to handle whatever challenge comes your way. And there will be challenges because it’s our challenges that make us grow.

Today I choose peace, and I will sweat, dance, laugh and sing until I can find that place of stillness and calm that resides in each and everyone one of us at all times.

Sat Nam

Download A Free Kundalini Video Here

My big lesson this past year is that life changes in an instant. From global happenings like the Paris attacks to matters closer to home, the message came through loud
and clear.

It’s time to reconnect with the people and things that bring you joy. You will never have more time than you have now…your future self will still only have 24 hours in a day. Who and what are going to be included in those 24 hours?

You can’t run from things in life that need to get done but you can work on bringing more joy into your life now! Today!

To follow your heart means you start paying attention to the people and things that quicken your pulse and steer clear of the things that make you constrict or feel dead inside.

Your heart doesn’t care about your job title, your status or your car.

Your heart guides you towards your passion and your purpose. It might not know exactly how you’ll get there, but keep listening and let it lead you.

The mind is a tricky guide because of its ability to rationalize anything. The heart doesn’t rationalize, it just knows.

What you desire might not be rational to anyone else or even yourself at times, but remember your greatest regrets come from not following your heart; your passions. Let your passions lead you back to your authentic self, your purpose and to the people and life choices that support your journey.

Following your heart doesn’t mean acting impulsively on your every whim, but my guess is you should act on more of them.

If you’re seeking clarity so that you can start following your heart’s desires, my new online course, Crystallize Your Vision is starting Spring 2016. To get on the mailing list to find out more, visit the Crystallize Your Vision information page.