When you have the opportunity to ask some of the most interesting people in the world about their lives, sometimes the most fascinating answers come from the simplest questions. The Thrive Questionnaire is an ongoing series that gives an intimate look inside the lives of some of the world’s most successful people.
Thrive Global: What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed?
Latham Thomas: The first thing I do before I get out of bed is give thanks. And while I am preparing to start my day, I say a prayer and take a few minutes for mindfulness before I jump up. I stretch and make my way to the floor where I have a warm carpet and there I usually sit for a few minutes for my movement meditation practice.
TG: What gives you energy?
LT: Glow time energizes me. Glow time is the self-care movement I’ve been leading for women. And its all about nurturing ourselves, mothering ourselves first, so that we can pour more into everything that we do. When I take time for myself to make sure I am not depleted but operating at full capacity I have abundant energy to give to my work, to my family and to my clients. For me self-care includes time alone, with my friends, practicing yoga, taking a long walk, having a cup of tea, reading a good book. These are all things that feed me and energize me from within.
TG: What’s your secret life hack?
LT: Take naps. The key to restfulness and productivity is to adopt the practice of napping. Kids do it for a reason. Sleep is therapeutic and necessary. If you aren’t getting the best sleep at night set aside some time for naps. Even if you don’t ultimately fall asleep, it’s just a time to “power down” and zen out. Also if you’re really sleep deprived you can try my secret hack: leg drain, placing your legs up the wall at 45 degrees while lying on your back, hanging out there for 20 minutes helps to reset the circadian rhythm and is equivalent to taking a two hour nap.
TG: Name a book that changed your life.
LT: Hope for the Flowers, by Trina Paulus. This is a book I have loved for many years. It’s about a caterpillar finding the meaning of life.
TG: Tell us about your relationship with your phone. Does it sleep with you?
LT: Hell no! Phones are not boyfriends. My phone often remains on, due to my line of work as a birth doula, when there is a baby on the way, I leave my phone on in case a client needs to reach me. But I have my phone on do-not disturb beginning at 10 p.m. and it doesn’t come back on until 9 a.m. I practice phone fasting, which is just shutting off all electronic devices for a period of rest. This is something I do weekly when I am just chilling with family but also practice daily so I can get work done. This is why I may not respond to texts so instantly.
TG: How do you deal with email?
LT: I do love an empty inbox, but it’s nearly impossible with my schedule and priorities. I take an hour at the top of my work day to answer the most pressing emails then I log off to get into my daily activities and I scan at the end of the day for things that need to be resolved. I decided that for me to be my most productive I have to use the hours where my cognitive ability is strongest to do the things that call for the most brain power, and email is not one of them. Although I can’t respond to every email, I do appreciate those who email me with reminders.
TG: You unexpectedly find 15 minutes in your day, what do you do with it?
LT: I would go outside! As a California transplant, the outdoors are still very important to me. I love being in the sunshine. I have a Grounding Meditation that anyone can do outside, in chapter 4 of my new book, Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living and Crowning The Queen Within. Our bodies are bioelectrical in nature. The functions of our cells and nervous system are governed by electrical power and pulses of energy. Electrons and fluids in Earth’s core generate continuous, powerful magnetic forces and complex energy fields. Earth’s energetic cycles and rhythms play important roles in our bodies’ electrical rhythms, such as regulation of our hormone production and sleep-wake cycles. So any time I can get outside and get my body on terra firma, I am game.
TG: When was the last time you felt burned out and why?
LT: I don’t feel burn out, because I won’t push myself to the edge like that anymore, but I definitely feel tired when I don’t create space in my day for respite. I have some days that are really long and when I work with expectant clients sometimes I am at a birth for over 24 hours. When you are up non-stop in service of a laboring mama and running on fumes it’s essential to take a day or two and recalibrate and take naps! I know that whenever I am feeling tired- that a nap and good hydration and massage can really get me back on point.
TG: When was the last time you felt you failed and how did you overcome it?
LT: Anytime I don’t get a particular contract I accept that this is God’s way of readying me for what is mine. I know that everything that is meant to be in my pathway will show up if I continue to do the work, so my solution is to get back to work.
TG: Share a quote that you love and that gives you strength or peace.
LT: “You can’t knock a woman off a pedestal she built herself.” Each of us is building a queendom and when we realize that we are the source of our own power, that no one can fuel us but our own sense of confidence, joy, and love, we stand tall on the foundation that we’ve built for ourselves, no one or nothing can hold us back. We have to own our glow power. Rise up, look in the mirror and see what a marvel you truly are.
Latham Thomas, AKA Glow Maven is a celebrity wellness/ lifestyle maven and birth doula- transforming not only how women give birth to their babies, but how they give rise to the best version of themselves. Named one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100 – an enlightened group of leaders elevating humanity with their work- Latham is helping women embrace optimal wellness and spiritual growth as a pathway to owning their power. She is the founder of Mama Glow (MamaGlow.com) a lifestyle brand and highly regarded website offering inspiration,
Latham’s highly anticipated secondbook, “Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living And Crowning The Queen Within” debuts September of 2017, Hay House. Having cultivated her wellness practice over nearly a decade she has served as a doula and lifestyle guru for celebrity clients including: Alicia Keys, Debra Lee, Rebecca Minkoff, Tamera Mowry, DJ Khaled, Venus and Serena Williams and more. Latham’s leading a revolution in radical self-care teaching women everywhere to “mother themselves first”. She was named one of the “Top 100 Women To Watch In Wellness” by Mind Body Green and has been featured in Fast Company, Wall Street Journal Magazine, FORBES, SELF, Essence and more. Latham has graced the covers of New York Family Magazine, Experience Life, La Fashionista Compassionista, Heart and Soul and has a few more exciting covers coming this fall. She is the proud mother of 14 year old DJ prodigy and entrepreneur, DJ Fulano.