How to Reclaim Radiance, With Latham Thomas

With the birth of her son (now 14), Latham Thomas conceived Mama Glow, the wildly popular blog and services that “hold women’s hands” and educate, inform, inspire and advocate for them as they enter motherhood. 24Life asked her some burning questions about the mysteries of the journey and her recent book “Own Your Glow” (Hay House Inc., 2017).

24Life: You’re a mother, an author, a speaker, you lead workshops and you have a line of products. What is your day like?

Latham Thomas: I set the tone for my day by taking some time for myself, moving kind of slowly, and I have breakfast at home, usually with my son. Then I head off for the day to my office. I touch base with clients, hold meetings and teach classes. On the days I teach, I interact a lot with moms. I really find that interfacing with people, seeing them at their most powerful and also their most vulnerable, watching them cross that threshold into new motherhood is so incredible.

Sometimes I plan for a day and then that day is punctuated by a birth, which changes the course of everything. It reminds me that there are so many blessings but also that there are things that are out of my control that I have to learn to adjust to; part of that adjusting is to make space for magic. I also try not to over-plan my day so that I can leave some space for magic.

24Life: You’re also a yogi. How do you make space for ritual in a very busy, full day?

LT: In world cultures, we see that ritual is a pretty big part of order—in flow—and also part of bending time, in a way. Things happen when you slow down and you enter into a practice that’s really focused.

For me, it’s about making space for what I want to invite into my life but also projecting what I want and my desires. I think we’re really great at projecting the things that we do not want or the things that have affected us poorly. We speak about them constantly. “This person did this to me. I can’t believe. …” But then we’re not as good at speaking blessing and speaking levity and talking about things that are part of our birthright, really. I’m trying to help women to do that.

24Life: What’s luminous living?

LT: It’s about transmission of energy. It’s about transformation. Light is about birth, being realized, awakening. And darkness births light, so [luminous living] is also about being on the other side. Sometimes you’re going through something really challenging, and on the other side of that is light.

Both darkness and light are really integral to our growth, and we can’t have one without the other. So for me, luminous living is the embrace of all the dark aspects, excavating and pulling out to surface what it is that we have, looking and saying, “How can I make this beautiful?” Taking what you’ve been handed and then figuring out what you can do with it, how you can transform it and make it work for you.

24Life: Why do you say touch is such an important part of ritual?

LT: We can hurry up and get dressed in the morning, or we can take our time. Touch transmits intention. And that’s why I love products that involve us touching ourselves. It’s something that we don’t experience except for when we’re with practitioners like massage therapists, chiropractors or even our trainers. They lay on hands and sometimes they know more about our bodies than we do.

24Life: Things can get out of balance, so do you have a practice for regaining yours? How does it work?

LT: It’s really simple. Lying flat on the floor, on a mat, on a bed or at the foot of my desk, wherever I can, I check in and ask myself, “Where do I feel unsupported? Where do I feel violated?” Sometimes you feel somehow victimized. I ask myself because I know that the body speaks to us.

If you’re harried, you’re going to make choices that aren’t aligned with your highest good or the good for all involved. If you can, step away and say, “I’m not feeling well about this. Let me go breathe and then re-center myself, anchor myself,” and then come back. It’s OK to decide that you’re not going to act in that moment, that you’re going to come back to it when you’re in the right headspace. That’s [a tool that is] free that we forget is accessible to us, and we can literally change not only our mood but also even our blood chemistry by being calmer.

Instead of checking your [social media] status, check your pulse. In the moment, I’m breathing. I’m like a walking, living miracle, right? There are 800 trillion actions happening every second in your body. As we sit here right now, all that’s happening.

Photo credits: Mark Kuroda, kurodastudios.com; products and book jacket courtesy Mama Glow
Hair and Make-up: Ava Roston