What if the love you've been searching for has been within you all along?
In this heartfelt conversation, Dr. Habib welcomes Laura Yates, founder of The Hummingbird Life, to explore spiritual awakening, self-love, healing, and the profound connection between nature and our spiritual lives.
Laura shares her journey from growing up in a small South African town, struggling to find a sense of belonging, and pursuing a career in corporate finance that left her feeling deeply misaligned, to discovering a more authentic spiritual path through yoga, meditation, dance, and connection with nature. Along the way, she navigated depression, burnout, alcohol dependency, and painful experiences with organized religion that left her feeling disconnected from spirituality and even uncomfortable with the word God.
A turning point came through sobriety, self-compassion, and an unexpected encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India. But one of the most profound moments of her healing journey came through an even more unexpected messenger: a stray dog who approached her and helped her begin to believe that she really was lovable.
Together, Laura and Dr. Habib explore:
Healing religious wounds and rediscovering spirituality beyond judgment, fear, and rigid religious structures.
The relationship between spirituality, the body, mindfulness, and the nervous system.
Moving from self-rejection toward self-love, self-compassion, and self-forgiveness.
How yoga, meditation, mantra, and spiritual practices can help us reconnect with our deeper essence.
The healing power of nature, the Divine Feminine, and our relationship with Mother Earth.
Cacao, dance, and community as pathways to heart-centered connection and belonging.
Recognizing the Divine love within ourselves and throughout creation.
Developing a daily spiritual practice of grounding, centering, gratitude, and surrounding ourselves with love.
Laura also shares a beautiful guided visualization practice that invites us to experience ourselves as a tree, rooted in the Earth while reaching toward the sky, receiving and giving through the breath, and allowing ourselves to become grounded, centered, and surrounded by love.
This is a conversation for anyone who has ever felt like a spiritual misfit, struggled to feel worthy of love, experienced wounds around religion, or longed to find a deeper connection with themselves, nature, and the Divine.
Meet Laura Yates:
Laura is the founder of The Hummingbird Life, a sanctuary for people reconnecting with their inner joy, belonging, and sense of magic. Drawing on her background in finance and her experience with embodied spiritual practices, resilience, ritual, and nature connection, she helps people come home to themselves and live more connected lives. Learn more about Laura and her work: https://the-hummingbird-life.com