In this episode of The Glo Podcast, Marc Laws, a former professional soccer player and sports therapist turned yoga teacher, discusses his transformative journey. Marc reveals how sports served as his first philosophy teacher and how yoga has further refined his mindset towards self-awareness, curiosity, and gratitude.
Marc Laws discusses his inspiring journey from professional soccer player to sports therapy practitioner to yoga teacher with a popular following on Glo.com. In this deep-dive conversation with host Derik Mills, Marc shares about the life-changing power of yoga, discusses how he discovered a yoga teacher who changed his view of life, and shares insights that he discovered when he was an ultra-competitive professional soccer player who later became a sports medicine therapist and then yoga teacher.
Marc also mentions how thankful he is for the Glo team’s work in making yoga more accessible worldwide. He believes that the skills developed in yoga allow people to live with more love and connection in their lives.
(00:00) Yoga, sports, and gratitude
(09:01) Discovering the power of yoga
(18:45) Influences of soccer on yoga teaching
(28:35) Reflections on identity, empathy, and parenting
(40:22) Yoga's impact and reach
(51:47) Exploring personal practices and relationships
(58:53) Gratitude for team, teachers, community
COLD OPEN
0:00:00 - Marc Laws
For instance, if I was to give a really strong class for me, I think that's going to bring up quite a bit in some of the students. So it would be like what's the inner dialogue? What are they going through? Are they going through like, oh look what everybody's doing, I'll never be able to achieve that. Or this class is just too strong for me. So there's an element of truth, of like okay, if it's too strong, what's the best choice for you? Maybe you need something different in your life at this moment where you need to slow down. And so it's making me think of a good friend, and he would describe yoga as like. He says that yoga isn't there to make you feel good, it's just there to make you feel. And so we get to tap into what's really going on with us, and then we can make a choice from there.
INTRODUCTION
0:00:50 - Derik Mills
Hi, I'm Derik Mills. Welcome to the Glo podcast. In this episode, I continue my series of teacher interviews. Today, my guest is Marc Laws, joining us from Bali.
Before Marc taught yoga, he was a professional footballer, or a soccer player, as we say here in the States. Marc shares how the pressure of playing sports brought out a competitive mindset, a nagging sense of never being good enough, and sparked an exploration of his inner world. Marc calls sports his first philosophy teacher. The theme of introspection continues as Marc shares his journey from professional sports into sports therapy and later to teaching yoga. He says that yoga has allowed him to process what sports have taught him. His competitive mindset and feelings of not being good enough, which is a journey that I can certainly identify with, have developed into self-awareness, curiosity and gratitude. And for those of you who have experienced Marc's classes online or in person, we'll know that these gifts, along with his wisdom, grace and love, come through in his teachings. I hope you enjoy this episode of the Glo podcast with Marc Laws. Hello, Marc,
Marc Laws
Good morning, Derik, good morning. It's so great to see you.
Derik Mills
Just seeing you makes me smile. You have one of those smiles that is infectious, yeah.
0:02:20 - Marc Laws
I would say likewise.
0:02:25 - Derik Mills
Thank you, I see you're drinking tea. It's for everyone. Listening Marc is in Bali right now. I am on the West Coast, the US, and it's early morning for you and I see you're drinking tea. What kind of tea are you drinking?
0:02:40 - Marc Laws
It's a blend of gaimacha with matcha tea, so they kind of dusted the tea leaves in matcha and then you get this like vibrate. Is that your typical Sometimes? Sometimes it's just a coffee.
0:02:55 - Derik Mills
Nice yeah. For me these days it's matcha. I'm a little, both physically and emotionally, hooked.
0:03:02 - Marc Laws
Right, it does something to you, man. It's like there was a gentleman I met in Fiji and he was serving tea to me and he was like the tea speaks. He said she speaks. And when he said that, I was like you know what Like it does? Like, when I drink coffee, it speaks to me in a different way, or different teas speak to my body in a different way, or it brings out something else in me, like the essence, and yeah, so that's why I love tea so much. It's like what's it going to bring out of me today?
0:03:31 - Derik Mills
So, in terms of the tea or the coffee speaking to you, is it more that it speaks to you and you're hearing a voice, or you're channeling a voice or energy, or is it more the latter, that it has an effect on you in a certain way and that, in so doing, speaks to you?
0:03:49 - Marc Laws
That's a good question, man. Yeah, it's more of like. You know. I believe there's many ways of communication. It's not just through words, and so it's more of a feeling of the way it communicates to me and what arises from that sip. I feel like it's anything that we put into our mouth or digest, or even our external environment, everything we kind of dance with it and that makes us feel different ways, and I feel like that speaks to me on a deep level, you know, because some can make me feel a bit heavier, groggy, and some can make me feel really vibrant. How about you? How do teas make you feel? You're on the macho right now.
0:04:28 - Derik Mills
Yeah, I'm on the macho right now. I was on a puer ride for a while. I enjoyed that. Before that I was definitely say. I was addicted to chai for a long time. I had to quit it and coffee is intense. You know, if, say, matcha is like a steady, lovely traveling companion, coffee is like the gremlin on my shoulder nudging me to just to go hard and intense and a bit wild, whereas the something about the matcha is more like a wise, sage guide.
0:05:27 - Marc Laws
Yeah, you see what I mean. That's what I mean by communication. You said it so eloquently the ride that's the word you use is like that ride that you get from each one.
0:05:38 - Derik Mills
I want to thank you for sending that incredibly lovely video to our team. Our team meets virtually every Monday morning and you sent us a video expressing how you felt about some of the work that our team had done recently. I know I thank you privately for this, but I wanted to thank you publicly as well, because it meant so much for our team to hear directly from you. Often, when you're busy creating and developing especially for our engineers there aren't often those touch points with, say, customers or with teachers, so to have that direct moment of hearing the impact and to what extent their work and efforts and passion pays off. It's this direct sense of meaning and value, and I can't overstate just how important that is, and so thank you so much for doing that.
0:06:44 - Marc Laws
Yeah, absolutely, Derik.
I feel like, yeah, there's two things coming up for me in terms of like in my personal life, like the practice of gratitude, as well, as there's a ceremony that happens out here in Bali it's probably one of the biggest ones, called Galungan, and it speaks about.
It's almost like you're looking at the bigger picture, because it is opening the space to our ancestors, and so when it makes me think of, like, the history of the people before us that left their essence and left their gifts that we could build upon, it makes my mind think of like, well, I'm doing this amazing stuff, you know, through the Glow app, and you know, even you like there's so much gratitude to you and I'll send it to you privately of you know, once you were there, you were following a dream or this or this feeling of bringing this into existence.
And then the team, you know, specifically talking about developing this app, of how much they're giving to so many people, including myself, of all of us collaborating and being able to offer such a potent technology or a potent exercise. And then this yoga practice that you know we don't, we don't get to see everybody on the other side of it, but when we think about it, we're just like, wow, thanks to that person for putting in the work that they love. That's developing something that we can share, such a powerful thing and we start to look at technology in a positive way. But, yeah, I had so much love for all of you guys. It's such a beautiful team and fam, I like to call it at Glo.
0:08:27 - Derik Mills
Thank you, I appreciate that very much.
0:08:30 - Marc Laws
Yeah, man.
0:08:32 - Derik Mills
Speaking of technology, the fact that we're on different sides of the planet right now having this conversation and recording this, it's pretty incredible. Yep, and I wanted to thank you for hosting a podcast episode on Glo. You know, Marc interviewed Celeste Pereira for one of our episodes and I think that was back in September of 2022. And, yeah, that was wonderful. Thank you for doing that.
0:08:57 - Marc Laws
Yeah, absolutely yeah, that was a pleasure of. I loved it, man. It was like to be invited to interview someone and now being interviewed by you and taking a moment just to again like dive deep into what everybody has to offer. Like when you were a kid at least this is what it was like in my family and the adults would start speaking and it was time for, like, the kids to leave the room. They're like come on, adults are speaking, go out and play, just get away. And sometimes you just want to be the fly on the wall, right and just hearing, and I was like I feel like that's what podcasts are. We get to be a fly on the wall for so many different people. We'd like to just listen to the conversation.
0:09:35 - Derik Mills
Yeah, that's a great way of putting it. I agree. There are so many people, there's so much content out there and in any given moment it seems obvious to say like yeah, you can just tap into so many different worldviews. So in your bio you refer to a particular class that you took when you realized that you could help your clients get to the root of their physical, mental ailments. So I have a two part question to kind of kick us off here. Right One what was that realization? And two, like, what were the key moments or experiences, say in childhood or early adulthood, that led you to that important moment of connecting the dots?
0:10:27 - Marc Laws
All right, I like this like pulp fiction. We'll start in the middle and then we'll work our way back and then come to the now. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, so I, from that moment in I was in London when I took this class and from that moment, I think it must have been eight years from when I took my first class, and in between that eight years I probably did yoga a handful of times because big room was hot, no pun intended, and so every once in a while I would do it when I was traveling, but I just saw it as a physical practice and also I didn't really see it as a practice is more of this is great for my physical flexibility and it helps my my game as a footballer or soccer player, and so maybe I would do, let's say, two or three times a year.
And then fast forward and I started to dabble in a little bit more yoga and I got invited to go to a studio. It's probably my first proper yoga studio and this gentleman named Stuart Gilgrest he, he was leading the class. I think he's been teaching you for over 30 years, maybe 40 years, and this gentleman, he used to be a lawyer and you know he'd work for the weekends and he's out with his boys or out with his people in Camden town and decides he wants to climb a wall, all drunk, and he falls off the wall and he breaks his back and he's paraplegic. He's in the hospital and he just happened to date a girl that did yoga and she started teaching him some breathing exercises and he said that those breathing exercises started to bring back his body and eventually the asana practice brought back all of his strength and he's fully able and walking again and has one of the strongest practices and he dedicated his life to the yoga from then and there. And you can still find him teaching around London. He's very I would describe him.
I go into this class and he's got these piercing blueish green eyes and long dreadlocks. He's got the Scottish accent and he's built like a, a yogi, and he delivers his class and reminds you like I'm I'm still like in this highly competitive state of mind and he's calling out these, this asana, and he's like you know, a downward facing dog jump into handstand, do this, do that. And I was like no way, no way. I just had to stop and look to the side and look to the other side. I'm like, whoa, people are doing this. This is incredible. And then it lit me up because I was like I wanted to be competitive. So I'm looking over to the side and I'm like, yeah, I can do what he's doing. You know, one day I can be better than that person. And this is my inner day. I could just hear it.
And as this inner dialogue is happening, he's speaking and he's talking about the ego, and as he's breaking down the ego and calling out the asana, I was like, oh my God, that's me. I'm so egotistical, oh my gosh. And suddenly everything just clicked. That was my like tipping point.
Where it was like first was how egotistical I was in terms of I was giving my power away because I wanted to be better than the next man, right, rather than being inspired by the next man and then just looking within myself and being like, what's this potential where it's limitless, rather than I can only get to the level of the next man, and then the next man and the next man. And suddenly I was like I had this whole other realm that I can sit in and just like, wow, I can, I can grow into limitlessness, you can just keep on going. And it felt lighter. And then for that moment, that kind of thing. I was like I'm going to be better than the next man. And then, for that moment, that clicked. And then, because of that clicking there was, I saw all these layers of within myself of like my mental constructs, of like how I'm thinking, how that had an effect on my body.
And then, all of a sudden, that just intertwined with all the clients that I was seeing over years of what they were dealing with and realizing because it's a very intimate setting. You know, sports therapy you're in your room and you're having a talk with your clients and they share some very intimate things of like what they're going on and what's going on in their life, and also we're dealing with this physical element and in that moment, the yoga just shot all of these different layers of self, of like realizing with my clients that there was so much that was happening to them because of the way they were, their mindset, like pushing themselves to the edge, of thinking that they needed to well push themselves to the edge and not take good care of themselves. It's like the I forgot who said it Aristotle talking about like. You know, most people will focus on the wealth and forget about their health and then end up spending their wealth on retain, trying to retain their health or bring it back, and it's like this vicious circle and that's what. That's what dropped. All of that dropped for me in that very moment, in that very class. And then so I approached my clients in a completely different way.
Where there was a one woman in particular, I was just I was an outstanding, just so happy for her when she came in with this terrible back pain, lower back, and she she's had it for over nine months and as she's speaking to me, she's barely taken a breath, and I'm noticing this and she seems so stressed out. And so we decided to lay her down. We just do a bit of massage, but during the massage through her back and doing a few different stretches, all it was queuing was the breath, and we queued the breath for 30 minutes, this nice, long, deep breaths, and then that was it. So she left. She came back for a second session the next week and she's like I don't know what you did, but I feel my back pain is gone. Everything just feels wonderful. What did you do?
And it's like I knew in that moment that now she can receive what I was about to say.
And I was like, well, it wasn't me, it wasn't me that did anything, it was, it was you. I was like do you notice your breath and do you notice what's going on within yourself as you're dealing with these stresses of life? And then that moment it clicked for her. I was like we didn't need, we didn't need any more sessions. She just she focused on her breathing. I saw her maybe one more time. She talked about completely better, 100% focusing on her breath. Now she said every once in a while she'll just take a moment to breathe. And somehow that was all she needed. And I didn't need any special manipulation or massage technique or stretch or anything. It was just that that's all she needed. And because of that yoga classes I was able to to see another dimension and in fact, that was one of the reasons why I was like okay, it's, it's time to move into yoga and just be a deeper student on what it has to offer, because it looks like someone did leave a manuscript for being a human being.
0:17:32 - Derik Mills
Yeah, so you in that role were helping people navigate pain and in that moment in that class, you connected with your own experience of pain and that seems like it, or sounds like it, was the beginning of a journey for you. And did that change how you experienced, faced, accepted the pain in your life?
0:17:57 - Marc Laws
Wow, that's a good question, because I never saw my, my egotistical power as a pain.
0:18:11 - Derik Mills
And maybe I'm projecting here, because that's certainly when I reflect back on parts of my journey, the moments where you know I experienced the most shame or anger towards myself or judgment, and typically, if I trace it back to its origin, there's some pain that I you know. Perhaps I'm not aware of it's unresolved, or you know it's just it's there to be processed.
0:18:44 - Marc Laws
Absolutely, Derik. Yeah, it is. And you know, when I traced back the source and you know you touched upon it where it's it was like there was this inner chat that seemed to dissolve, which is never, you know, being good enough. So it was usually coming from that space of like I just got to be better 110%, this isn't good enough. And just being really hard on myself, really hard on myself, especially, you know, during the game of soccer, like people would come up to me. I remember after a game like wow, that was an amazing game.
And if I felt like I made one mistake, I couldn't receive their praise whatsoever. You know, I would, just I would be a little bit mopey, like that's not good enough, that's just not good, you know. So there's no, there's no chance to just enjoy, like what I was doing. There's no choice, there's no chance to enjoy life. I was just taking the game so seriously and not realizing that it's a game and we're gonna have a good time. I feel like this is like you know what, like football or soccer was definitely my first philosophy teacher of just like, of how you could live life, and just a great insight. It's like a theater for an insight to like what's really going on within ourself, and then yoga is like a way to slow it down so I can process it and do something with it. And, yeah, I'm, I start to link the two. I'm just like, wow, it offered so much these two together, but yeah, definitely the source would be pain.
0:20:19 - Derik Mills
That's. One theme that I was hoping to cover with you is to what extent your experience and we can use football or soccer the term interchangeably. It's a shame that there isn't just one word for it across the Globe, although if we took the majority of humans, we would use the word football. In what ways has that part of your life informed how you teach yoga, hmm?
0:20:47 - Marc Laws
geez. Yes, really thought provoking questions, right? Just need to take a moment.
0:20:55 - Derik Mills
Because there aren't that many yoga teachers out there in the world who were professional soccer players.
0:21:04 - Marc Laws
Yeah, I, what I bring from it for sure is like the. I guess that there's the ability to look at somebody, and it's almost like what football can do, or soccer, the theater of the sports in general. They bring out the rawness of us because they put us under pressure, and I feel like sometimes pressure can bring up. In fact, I think most of the time pressure brings up what's really going on, cause when life is nice and sweet, we don't really have to face anything. But when we have some pressure, then it lets us know where we really are versus where we think we are. And so I had the opportunity to be with, you know, 18 players, 11 on the pitch, and all of us are working out our personalities in the way we move towards goals and working with others. And so there's this one is the language we're using towards each other, but there's also this energy of the way we're treating each other, or if people are keeping the optimism, you know, if you're losing, can they keep the optimism? How long can they keep the optimism? And then, through that, dab into that energy of just like playing the game, what's their first reaction when they lose the ball. So it's like all of these like body language things, energetic things that I use when I approach yoga.
And so when, for instance, if I was to give a really strong class for me, I think that's gonna bring up quite a bit in some of the students. So it'd be like what's the inner dialogue? What are they going through? Are they going through like, oh look what everybody's doing, I'll never be able to achieve that? Or this class is just too strong for me, and you know.
So there's an element of truth of like okay, if it's too strong, what's the best choice for you? Maybe you need something different in your life at this moment, where you need to slow down. Or maybe this is an opportunity to realize what's my inner dialogue, as I like mine was as I approach challenges. Is it coming from like a loving place and an inspirational place, or is it coming from somewhere else that doesn't actually feel as good as I would like it to feel? And so it's making me think of a good friend, and he would describe yoga as like. He says that yoga isn't there to make you feel good, it's just there to make you feel. And so we get to tap into what's really going on with us, and then we can make a choice from there.
0:23:36 - Derik Mills
My first asana, like in a class, experience occurred long after I had been exposed to philosophy or texts where the word yoga is used. I had even traveled through India twice and I still hadn't taken an asana class until this one point, when I was living in New York City and I was taught by a teacher who, not too unlike yourself, teaches a practice that can be physically demanding but also is one that truly invites us to feel deeply, as you put it, and it interwoven philosophical concepts that were applicable or germane to the practice in that moment. And it's how you teach in that way and how your character comes through as you navigate that and deliver on that skill set that you have is something that I really appreciate about you and I'm curious is there anything about your background or your upbringing that created that affinity for philosophy or for connecting with your own interior life and your desire to invite others to connect and explore their own interior lives?
0:25:16 - Marc Laws
Hmm, back to the second question. Yeah, I feel like what's coming up for me now is that I'm not sure if that was imprinted in me before I arrived or if it's in my DNA. But I also do realize, as you were saying, that what came up for me was a moment of feeling just not accepted by my external environment. So it's going through quite a bit of racism when I was younger, when I first moved to New Mexico, and that feeling of not being accepted also gave me insight to well, two things. One, I'm the type of guy that would be at the cinema and I'll be watching the movie and then something will click and I'm like I wonder what everyone else is doing. You know what's their reactions and I'll turn around just to see what everyone's faces look like as they're watching the screen. And so there's moments in life where I'll do that, where I'll look at the people around me and see what they're going through. So I'm just, I'm catching like their vibes, making sure that they're okay, and then through that, I think the not being accepted also created a drive to wonder why would people treat somebody else like this? It's in the psychology of not blaming them but wondering like what they went through and, of course, like I think, being raised religious as well as you start to ask questions of like, what is life? But then, on the same point, is like I think one of the biggest reasons at least the biggest reasons I give my life is what is our potential? And I want all of us to realize how free and powerful we actually are and how much of a miracle that this life is and that we really don't know anything. So, therefore, why should we draw the line in the sand when we're moving through life, no matter what our endeavor is? And just to keep that curiosity of coming from a space of awesomeness because it truly is man, like when I think about like my son's three years old and I'm just having another baby in December, and to see these little eyes look at me from the most playful and loving place, but also seeing him grow and my wife's tummy and then be alive right in front of me, is like the biggest miracle that I've ever witnessed. And then connecting that to everything, the whole orchestration of, like, the cosmos and the gravity pool of all the planets, and then we're one of those planets and it's like then there's the earth and growing, all of these things and we're part of that perfect balance. I'm just like what? How can I take the things that man makes so seriously that I can just like come back and be like, oh no, no, no, no, chill out, like we're here to play, we're here to learn and we don't know anything. So let's just continue to move on.
And I feel like all of those connected for me from my past, first coming from a place of like just grief and non-acceptance and just wondering you know, where do I fit in, you know, and starting with the physical, because that's what most people would judge me by and we still do right, they'll be like, they'll look at me and be like like these days people are using black and white and it's just like well, actually my mother is Ukraine and Native American, my father is African American, so slave ancestry.
And then if we go beyond that, you know, beyond the names of the countries, then there's something else there. And then, if we just go to human and if we just continue the layers, it allowed me to find, like this incredible self-acceptance and that realized that people are just looking at a particular layer and just tuning in with what layer they're checking out and hopefully inviting them to just take a moment to get to know a person or me and realize that there's so many layers that we can connect on that are beyond what we can see, and I think that stems from those challenges that I face as a child of not wanting to be, you know, abused by words or even physically sometimes back in the day. So, and it's just amazing to see how much has changed actually since then, now that you asked that question. But yeah, I would say that would be. That's the main source that pops up for me immediately.
0:30:14 - Derik Mills
First of all, I'm sorry you had those experiences. You know I haven't attended any of your in-person workshops, but I've heard you speak about them, and part of why I'm asking the questions the way I'm asking them is because I sense that there is a very deep source of empathy that you're drawing from and painful experiences around not being seen and helping others in their own journey of being seen and seeing others, and so that's part of why I went down this line of questioning. I was just really curious as to where some of that was coming from, and I just find it inspiring and the fact that you're to use a word that you like to use a lot, which I like the word as well like you've alchemized your experiences and you've turned. You've turned them into something that is truly not only helpful in healing for yourself but also helpful in healing for others, and that's amazing.
0:31:26 - Marc Laws
Yeah, absolutely. I love the word. Yeah, definitely alchemize. It Isn't it so powerful to think of yourself as an alchemist? And then, when you think of yourself as an alchemist, like all of the elements of, just like, how can I blend this together, whether it be experiences or actual materials?
0:31:44 - Derik Mills
You mentioned your son and the alchemy that's going on there. You know, I think of it as so mind blowing to try to think of or comprehend the synchronicity of the incalculable number of moving biological pieces and the role also that serendipity is playing in inviting a human into the world.
0:32:07 - Marc Laws
Yeah, we are incredible, oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, geez, I love that. I love just thinking about my little man. I just dropped him off. He's going out for a nice little breakfast with a mommy and her friend just dropped him from Australia. But, yeah, just the the opportunity to, I think, just like to be with my son, but also just to be with kids in general. Because when I was, I was lucky enough when I was a soccer player that every year we'd have to hold some sort of camp, like a week camp or a weekend camp, and so we're always working with the youth, the kids growing up, and they're just amazing. And then I had a love for.
I moved to Guernsey at one point in my life in the Channel Islands it's just near France, but part of the UK Crown, united Kingdom and I had this like three months, just space, and I ended up working for a nursery. So I was working with preschoolers and stuff like that, and it's just the greatest joy to work with kids because all you do is play all day Right and you just look at this beautiful innocence and get a little reminder of, like, who you are and where you came from and what lights you up and also the like for me now and Sage is like giving him the space, as well as myself, to digest life and emotions or whatever we're going through. It's like. It's like he's three years old, he's been on the planet for three years, right, and it's like the course he's going to express himself in certain ways. That's not just language, because he's still building up his vocabulary, and before that it was like again so many different layers of communication that I feel sometimes we forget with each other. We want everything to be expressed in words, rather than why not take a moment not to say any words for hours and see what arrives there? But with him directly, it's just like, ok, he's, he's here now he's trying to express this.
I don't want to shut that down whatsoever, because sometimes the parent, the tools that maybe my parents had, was just like you know if it's crying or if it's screaming, just for a moment, because they're trying to express something, like they're trying to say something but they don't have the words, nor do they have the the balance at the moment, because the emotion is taken over, like this new emotion, like I've been on earth for three years and like still people are trying to figure it out in their 30s, 40s, 50s and to offer that space of like. You can take this energy and you can go in any direction with it, but first we got to learn and be with it, not hide from it. You know, not mask it with. You know, as an adult we can mask it with so many different things, with our addictions.
But to be able just to sit with it and just like, all right, this is coming up for me, this is how it feels. What can I do with it? Can I move it in any other direction? And yeah, I noticed there's a lot of reflection just being with him in his life and now coming from the place as a parent, but also not definitely not wanting to dictate anything to him, but just give him the space to figure it out and let him know that he's safe and I feel like that's something that he can offer if he decides to have children. Give to the next generation, like my parents gave me so much from the struggles that they had that they were challenged with as kids and then just continue that evolution, you know, as a family or just as a as human beings.
0:35:47 - Derik Mills
That's beautiful. I haven't shared this yet publicly and I'll discuss this with my wife before we publish this to see if it's okay to leave it in, but we invited our daughter, ella, into the world this past.
0:36:04 - Marc Laws
April, so she's six months and so. Yes man, oh man, the goosebumps, oh my gosh.
0:36:17 - Derik Mills
I was wondering about you, my man that's beautiful, so beautiful.
0:36:21 - Marc Laws
Congrats man.
0:36:23 - Derik Mills
Yeah.
0:36:24 - Marc Laws
Fantastic, thank you.
0:36:27 - Derik Mills
Thank you, it was everything you're saying completely resonates with me and I'm able to process it in a way that I wouldn't have, you know, six months prior. But you're right, that ability to sit there and observe and let whatever it is that she is experiencing just be, as opposed to trying to fix it altogether and, of course, if she's in obvious pain and you want to troubleshoot. But I've noticed, you know, I'm 49 and I've had the great privilege to learn a little bit about myself over the past few decades and I've often might not be an exaggeration to say every day I have noticed that a younger version of me in that particular moment would not have been as present, would not have been as supportive, would not have been as freely creating the space that you're referring to, you know, for her to have her experience. So, yes, soaking up the wonder and awe, I'm so happy man, so happy for you.
0:37:47 - Marc Laws
It fills me up. Yeah, man, I feel the same way about timing as well. Yeah, my younger self I definitely would have approached it differently than I do now. I just feel, yeah, I feel so blessed that, you know, both of us have the opportunity to have the experience and also the tools you know to start from here, because there's no doubt other things are going to show up, but it's a good. It feels like a good starting point. You know, oh, my God, I'm so excited for this Absolutely awesome news.
I'm exploding over here, man. Oh, right on.
0:38:38 - Derik Mills
Our team behind the scenes just loves connecting with our teachers. You know throughout the entire experience, from onboarding to creating co-creating classes together and so on and so one of the questions that they've asked me to ask our teachers is what is it like working behind the scenes with TeamGlo?
0:38:56 - Marc Laws
Yeah, I love that question because I feel I feel in the world today, at least that's what it's changing, I feel. But when I was growing up, it was all about the, the lone wolf or the lone ranger or this person that did everything by themselves. You know, like we, we seem to. It's almost like a what's the word? Like we celebrate and praise our champions, like we can take, like sports, for instance, we'll take one player and they'll just be like it's that player, they're the best player. It's like okay, well, what about the rest of their team? Like, what are they going through, what are they sacrificing, and you know what are their efforts. And I feel like that paradigm may shift one day. We, because I do appreciate like MVP and like man of the Match and things like that, but I feel like so many other players don't get the praise they deserve, and so that's another like thing that's coming from football or soccer is that when working with the, the Glo team, I'm just like everybody needs to know the love that these people have and the just this your joy of just working with all of them and hearing their perspectives and their passions for what they're doing and because of what they're doing allows us to have a platform to like, share them.
One of the most incredible things you know of this yoga practice and whether we get to see everybody or not, it's just knowing that our efforts are literally touching and changing lives. Like, literally touching and changing lives, and sometimes I get to hear that in person and sometimes, you know, maybe some of the team does, but we don't really realize the like. There's this big question in the world of like. I think a lot of people are like how can I change the world and I'm not doing anything? That's big enough. And we don't realize that the very thing that we're passionate about is actually doing so much and has a knock-on effect from person to person.
Like if, let's say, like back in the day, like maybe two or three people would just would show up to class and some teachers like, oh well, not enough.
You know I don't have a lot of numbers and it's like for me, if I'm sipping into a class and there's just one person, it's so exciting to be able to just share the practice with that one person, because that's the very reason why we're getting into these things and knowing that that one person can have a knock-on effect because of the way they're feeling and the way they're being in life. And so when I, when I look at the Glow team and the, the innovation and the new ideas of like, how can we make a better experience, you know, for for the people out there in the world to come and do something that's so sacred to them and literally choosing to spend their time, their life, like time is life, to be involved in something that we're all co-creating together is just blows my mind, and so I just have so much love for for the Glow team, for the Glow fam and all of them just putting in their energy and tapping into their passions and and expressing them through this medium that we get to share collectively.
0:42:16 - Derik Mills
It's just I just love it put a put a tear in my eye, my friend. It's amazing, right? You basically summed up why this was of interest to me to get the ball rolling on this, on this thing called Glow, back in 2007. I'm so happy you did then. I love your story. The moment this episode posts, I'm gonna share it with our whole team and yeah, let them know, I love them discuss so much appreciation.
Oh, thank you, I can tell you guys directly awesome team is everything truly, of course, along with nurturing healthy systems and process to support high performing and kind team culture yeah, man, we need each other and that's what I love, bro.
0:43:05 - Marc Laws
Like I want to say this as well, because of what's happening, because of you making that choice and Glow existing and everybody else also in the world being towards something that moves them, and then they arrive at Glow because it's available. If you build it, they will come thinking of that movie. But at the same moment, what we're practicing here, like imagine that spreading out to everything into the world, where all of us start to come back to that of just like how much we love to collaborate and need each other, and then the entire world starts to it has that knock-on effect because it is and it is happening in real time. We just can't see it, but eventually we'll see him once by. Wow, remember it used to be like that and now it's like this and this is part of that movement. Like it's literally a movement. It's awesome.
0:43:53 - Derik Mills
I love that. The field of dreams. I think it is yeah bug about Gita on a field of battle. True, this theme of field just keeps coming up. You know, the soccer field, where teammates unite and collaborate under a common mission. The field of the inner domain, the field of the inner work, that you invite people to engage. As you teach Derik, you should teach man and to hear that in person you have people approaching you I'm sure you have Glow fans out there in the world approach you in person. Like what's that?
0:44:36 - Marc Laws
like it's the best thing on earth, man. I'm thinking of a few people like they'll either just drop in the class or they'll reach out on on social media and they'll be like, hey, I'm coming to Bali by great, let's meet up. Or if you need anything, let me know and I can just offer you just any cool places to go and see your visitor people to meet. But it really fills me up to because I, when I, when I'm recording, I don't, I don't get a chance to see anybody and to know that this avatar, when one friend expresses so well, because we were talking about this very thing and because I just so, this is, this is a girl that came to class and she came to a few classes while she was visiting and then she went away and she's like hey, you know, like I really want to practice with you today. Like where can I practice? I'm like, well, I'm on Glow, go check that out. She went on there, she sent me a picture for practicing the class and and she said, just like it's just amazing to have that ability where we do the class and then it goes into an archive, right, and it's just like people can tap into that moment in their moment. So it's like time starts to bend and then they can still receive that practice and it's just mind-blowing how we're one bending time and still being able to leave the essence where it's still like the avatar is still out there doing the work wall in person. We're still doing the work or going in whatever direction of choice, but then also meeting people. It's like they've done the practice and then I get to meet the person and they're just like, wow, Marc, I was going through this in my life and it was so challenging. But to be able to come to the practice, to be able to come to Glow and do practice with you, like once a week, and then some of the other amazing teachers that are on there, they would tell me some of their favorites and we'd talk about that and it's just like I'm so appreciative to have that conversation, to see the knock on effect that it's having, and it's just one of my favorite things to actually meet the people in person and hear how it's like, touch their life or if they have any other questions and you know, and just meet person to person, because there's a lot of like. I do appreciate that we have this, these structures of like teacher and student. But also I like to kind of dissolve that a bit and just like have a human to human, you know, conversation of just like, hey, this is, this is you which are going through in your life. This is me, this is what I'm going through in my life and learning from each other and and what we're both getting from the practice and getting from other practices of life. And you know, just being a human out in the world, and I think that's what I love about Bali, as well as that India too.
But because I'm in Bali, I get to see like I just taught a class at this retreat and some of the students were asking me like about, yeah, do you meet a lot of ball and use practicing yoga? And I was like, yeah, they practice yoga, but they don't practice a lot of them don't practice by rolling out their map. It's like it's actually ingrained in their ceremonies and their culture and it's completely different type of what we think yoga is. You know, because it's so vast, the different approaches to yoga and to it's like living in a yogic world. Living in Bali, you know especially the bigger culture of like Hinduism that's still here and some of the great sages that touch Java and the Javanese Kingdom just spreading out through right next to Java, bali and Bali. These ancient practices are still alive and and, yeah, it's like to see yoga practice in a different like.
It's making me think my dad came to visit and he's really into photography, so I set up a. I reached out to this guy to take him around to just shoot some amazing landscapes and he picked us up and he took us to these incredible. He took us to around Kintamani, which is just this beautiful, like mountains and lakes and just beautiful people. And anyways, on our talk in the car he's like hey, so what do you do? And I was like you know, I teach yoga. And he's like, oh, I practice yoga, I love yoga and his practice is more around mantra and meditation and he's told me what he was getting from his yoga and he's just so excited and just bliss, blissed out. This guy was and it was just so awesome to see, like you know, like the different approaches and the different styles and lineages of yoga.
0:49:36 - Derik Mills
Yeah, I'm recalling fondly back to some of my own experiences. My first time in Bali was in 97 and a few other of the islands in Indonesia, and it's so wonderful that people like you, and more and more so others, are more comfortable with speaking to yoga as something that is not just something that happens on a map, for example, and so I really appreciate that. It's something that I you know always, you know from day one wanted to be part of. And if you look at our screenshots of our first website, you know we always had lectures taught by two professors in particular, professor Douglas Brooks and Professor Chris Chapel. And so the fact that and we've always sought out teachers who have, on a continuum, some affinity for or resonance with, that worldview as well and so, yeah, I appreciate that you see it, you see it that way and that you have those experiences and help in the transmission of that and your teaching.
0:50:51 - Marc Laws
Yeah, I appreciate that and I appreciate you for doing that as well, because sometimes when we, when we look out and we don't know what yoga is, and people, a lot of people, will just see the asana and the poses on social media. They think that they can't do yoga.
0:51:07 - Derik Mills
Right.
0:51:08 - Marc Laws
You know and then just to realize that it's so much more and that you don't. It's not just about the asana, but the asana could be a big part of it is that everyone can. Yoga is for everybody.
0:51:19 - Derik Mills
That's right, and part of why that first class resonated so much with me is I was always an athlete and so connecting the physical as a way in merging with the philosophy, which was the way I was first exposed to it in a philosophy class and in college, that was one of my aha moments and realization that Wow, there's something really here for me, at least at that point in my life. And so, yeah, it's been. It's been quite a journey.
0:51:49 - Marc Laws
You know what is your, what is your practice like now, these days?
0:51:52 - Derik Mills
Physical practice.
0:51:54 - Marc Laws
Just practice in general. I suppose let's flip it all together.
0:52:00 - Derik Mills
Yeah, well, to go back to what we were discussing earlier in terms of just that moment with Ella sitting there, being in support of her, observing how I am, how my energy is with her, and so that's any relationship with my wife or with a colleague, how I treat myself, my internal dialogue, the extent to which I'm able to or not able to access joy in any moment. Gosh, if we want to go into, like what I do, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed, that there are a variety of practices, but I don't know if we want to go there necessarily, you know, I would want to go into a much more comprehensive list of topics that I try to focus on that support my well being top of my head everything from hydration to nutrition, breath to talk therapy, to being in healthy relationships, to movement practices, to a variety of other interests that ultimately support cognitive and relationship health, like learning, curiosity, wonder and so on.
0:53:27 - Marc Laws
I think that's good. That's like the source of it, right.
0:53:30 - Derik Mills
I try so much for these to be about you and not about me.
0:53:33 - Marc Laws
I think, I think it's good to hear a little bit about you because, as you're speaking, it's like that's. That's where my practice is as well, just like the practice of mostly off the mat is is realizing the things that I've taken from the mat. And again, this is like soccer, it's like this. That created a theater for me to get to get to know myself. And then, when I roll out the mat or at least come into the space of yoga, it's another opportunity to check in, to slow things down, to see where I'm at, and then take that and this way Okay, in real time, the speed of life, where am I at?
And these tools that I learned on the mat about myself, just like, oh yeah, that's what came up here, right, how can I, you know, start to mold things into the direction of my choice? Or who's the person that I, how can I come from? More love and more spaciousness and more presence and the to just the, to just interlink. So I love what you said is just like that's. That's a lot of my practices. You know, how am I in real time, in real life?
0:54:38 - Derik Mills
Right, I love that. How am I in real time? Because what we measure or monitor about ourselves is what we care about, which, in turn, helps us hold ourselves accountable to those metrics or those data points or behaviors of how we're showing up in real time. And, as you said, the slowing down and monitoring, in whatever form that takes, provides a practice and a learning, which then makes more room for humility, curiosity and the compassion that we can bring to the next challenge or crisis that is just right around the corner.
0:55:23 - Marc Laws
Yeah, and that's for me, that's the, the yoga practice that I endeavor to share, you know, through, through the medium that we're sharing and is just those, those opportunities and just being like you know what's the best version of myself that I would love to, or just the remembering of how special we actually are and and then how valuable this life is and every relationship and what it has to offer, and I feel like you'll go kind of just turned up the light, you know, on all of that.
0:55:57 - Derik Mills
That's right. I like that. Dial up the light.
0:56:02 - Marc Laws
Yeah, man Tab it up.
0:56:07 - Derik Mills
And it's helpful for me to remember the brighter we shine, the greater the shadow we can cast, the greater the shadow that we have to work with, and you know that in and of itself could open up a whole rabbit hole of discussion for us, and I really don't want us to get too far off topic here. So yeah, maybe we'll edit that bit out.
0:56:31 - Marc Laws
This is true. Also, what you just said as well, like I'm like edited as you wish, but I think what you said as well, of like talking about the light, the brighter the light, the bigger the shadows, it was just. It just really encapsulated everything, because it felt like a full circle of you know, when I was speaking about like we don't, we don't know anything. And then you said that at the very end of just like we just we don't, so all we can do is just continue to just learn. So there was this full circle moment of just like right, that's so important, you know, and it's so true, you turn up that light baby the shadows.
But then there's this like what I love about. It reminds me of, perhaps, marriage I've only been married for for like four or five years, I think it is, but the longer our relationship is just like. There's this depth of love that feels so different from the passion and the excitement and the and the fireworks, but it's still there, it's underlined, but it's more of just like this depth and love and this sinking into human being and just being in such awe and honor to be able to have the privilege of being this deep in relationship with somebody, and that's what it reminds me of like it's the same reflection of like with someone else and with my own relationship with myself. And yeah, man, I love that, I love what you said so.
0:57:57 - Derik Mills
Yeah, marriage, a healthy marriage, I find is definitely a holding and a being held in a way that creates that safe space for for me to be myself and across life stages and and likewise, for me to be there for her across her experiences and stages. And, yeah, that's quite a gift. That sounds like a beautiful way for us to end our conversation. Thank you for trusting Team Glow with your teachings and I very much appreciate this conversation with you here today.
0:58:38 - Marc Laws
Yeah, thank you as well, Derik, and thank you to the entire GlowFound for the opportunity to co collaborate. Our dreams.
0:58:45 - Derik Mills
Thank you.
0:58:46 - Marc Laws
Appreciate it, man. Lots of love for you, man.
0:58:49 - Derik Mills
Lots of love back at you. Thank you to our entire team behind the scenes at Glow. I'm so grateful for your care and commitment to serving our members around the world. Thank you to our teachers for so beautifully sharing your gifts and talents. I'm also grateful to our lovely community of Glow members. You've supported us since 2008 and because of you we get to continue to do the work we love. It's the combined support of our team, our teachers and our community that grants me the privilege to continue to bring you the Glow podcast. Thank you to Lee Schneider, our Red Cub Agency, for production support, and the beautiful music you're hearing now is by Carrie Rodriguez and her husband, Luke Jacobs. And remember, take care of yourself, because our world needs you. Thank you for coming on this journey with me. You can find the Glow podcast on Spotify, apple Podcasts or Glo.com/podcast or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Derik Mills.