08/08/2025
"Interview": 10 Questions with Lauren Laker
(AI generated questions, me generated answers)
*Author of "Finding Your Soul's Home: From Freeze to Freedom"*
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1. "Lauren, there are so many healing modalities out there. What makes your approach different for people who feel like they've tried everything?"**
Lauren: You know, I think what makes this work different is that it's not trying to be one more thing you have to add to your healing toolkit. When I was at my lowest point—literally balled up under the covers, disconnected from everything—I realized that healing had to be integrated, not compartmentalized.
What I've created combines trauma-informed yoga with breathwork, aromatherapy, and deep emotional work, but it's all woven together as one system. So instead of doing yoga on Monday, therapy on Tuesday, and aromatherapy on Wednesday, you're working with all these modalities simultaneously. They amplify each other. Plus, everything is designed for people who've been failed by mainstream approaches—people like me who couldn't just "breathe through it" or "think positive."
2. "Your books specifically address ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Why was it important to you to create specialized approaches for these conditions?"**
Lauren: [laughs] Because I live with them! I got my ADHD diagnosis at 40-something, along with anxiety and major depressive disorder. I spent my whole childhood being told I "needed to pay attention" and had "so much potential, if only..." Sound familiar to anyone?
Traditional yoga classes weren't designed for brains like mine. When you're dealing with ADHD, you need movement breaks and fidget-friendly options. When you have anxiety, you need exit strategies and grounding tools. When you're managing depression, sometimes just showing up is the victory. I created these specialized approaches because neurotypical wellness advice doesn't work for neurodivergent realities. We need yoga that meets us where we are, not where we "should" be.
3. "The concept of 'emotional gremlins' is fascinating. Can you explain how you help people work with the parts of themselves they've been trying to hide or fix?"**
**Lauren:** Oh, the gremlins! So these are those parts of ourselves that we've rejected or tried to suppress—you know, the inner critic, the people-pleaser, the perfectionist, the part that gets triggered and reactive. Most approaches try to get rid of these parts, but I learned something profound: these aren't enemies. They're scared parts of ourselves that developed as protection mechanisms.
Instead of fighting them, I teach people to dialogue with them. Like, "Hey, inner critic, I see you're trying to protect me from being judged, but your methods are causing more harm than help. What do you actually need?" It's revolutionary to treat these parts with curiosity instead of judgment. When we do that, something magical happens—they transform from gremlins into allies.
4. "You blend ancient Sanskrit wisdom with modern trauma research. How do you bridge those worlds?"**
**Lauren:** That's one of my favorite things about this work. The ancient yogis understood things about the nervous system and consciousness that Western science is just catching up to. When I talk about "pranayama," I'm also talking about nervous system regulation. When I reference the chakras, I'm mapping where we hold trauma in the body.
But I don't just throw Sanskrit terms around to sound spiritual. I explain what "ishvara pranidhana" (surrender) actually means for someone with control issues, or how "sthira sukham asanam" (steady and comfortable) applies to someone with chronic pain. Ancient wisdom without practical application is just spiritual bypassing. Modern research without spiritual context leaves out the soul. I weave them together because healing happens on all levels.
5. "Instead of cannabis, you focus on terpenes and aromatherapy. What led to that choice?"**
**Lauren:** *[sighs]* Look, I love the therapeutic potential of cannabis, but I realized that focusing on it was limiting who could access this work. What if you live in a non-legal state? What if you're a yoga teacher who can't recommend cannabis due to legal concerns? What if you're in recovery and any psychoactive substance isn't appropriate?
Terpenes are the actual therapeutic compounds that make cannabis work—and they're available in essential oils that are legal everywhere. When I teach someone about linalool in lavender, they're learning the same science that makes certain cannabis strains calming. They can get therapeutic benefits through aromatherapy and make informed choices about other plant medicines if they choose. It's about accessibility and empowerment, not restriction.
6. "Your five-step system—Location, Upkeep, Basement, Redecorating, Skylights—is quite unique. How did this structure emerge?"**
**Lauren:** It actually came from my own healing journey and my background in home renovation! *[laughs]* I realized that healing follows the same pattern as fixing up a house. First, you have to honestly assess where you are (Location)—no point in planning renovations if you don't know what you're working with. Then you do basic maintenance (Upkeep) to stabilize what you've got.
But eventually, you have to go into the basement and deal with whatever's been festering down there (that's the shadow work). Only then can you actually redesign your space (Redecorating) and add those beautiful skylights that let in more light (Skylights—the spiritual expansion piece). It's a natural progression, but most healing approaches skip steps or try to start with the pretty stuff without doing the foundation work.
7. "Safety seems to be a huge emphasis in your work. How do you help people know if they're ready for deeper work?"**
**Lauren:** This is everything. I learned this the hard way during my own healing journey and through working with trauma survivors. You cannot force someone into deeper work than they're ready for—it's actually retraumatizing.
I use what's called "titration"—which is a fancy way of saying "if you feel it, you've done too much" working with small amounts at a time, always staying within someone's "window of tolerance." Every practice has multiple levels, clear exit strategies, and consent checkpoints. I teach people to recognize their own signals—when they're in a good space to go deeper versus when they need to stay surface-level.
Most importantly, I always emphasize that backing out or taking breaks isn't failure—it's wisdom. Your system knows what it can handle. I'm just providing the container and the tools. The person is always in charge of their own healing process.
8. "How do you address spiritual bypassing while still honoring the spiritual aspects of healing?"**
**Lauren:** Oh, this is so important. Spiritual bypassing is using spiritual concepts to avoid feeling difficult emotions—like saying "everything happens for a reason" to dismiss pain, or trying to "transcend" anger instead of understanding what it's telling you.
Real spirituality isn't about being blissed out all the time. It's about being present with what is, including the messy, uncomfortable stuff. In my work, we go into the basement before we install the skylights. We meet our shadows before we claim our light. We feel our feelings instead of trying to think our way out of them.
True spiritual growth includes the full spectrum of human experience. If your spiritual practice can't hold your rage, your grief, your fear—then it's not robust enough for real life. Integration means including everything, not escaping into some idealized version of yourself.
9. "Your approach seems very flexible rather than prescriptive. How do you help people create sustainable practices?"**
**Lauren:** Because I have ADHD, I know that rigid routines are death to me! *[laughs]* If someone tells me I HAVE to meditate for 20 minutes every morning at 6 AM, I'll rebel against my own healing.
Instead, I provide frameworks that people can adapt. Maybe your version of morning practice is three deep breaths while your coffee brews. Maybe your meditation happens during your commute. Maybe your yoga practice is five minutes of stretching in bed.
The key is consistency of intention, not consistency of form. I teach people to create practices that fit their actual lives, not some Instagram-perfect version of wellness. And I emphasize that practices need to evolve—what serves you in crisis is different from what serves you in stability. Flexibility is sustainability.
10. "Ultimately, what does 'finding your soul's home' mean to you, and how do your books help people get there?"**
**Lauren:** *[long pause]* Finding your soul's home isn't about reaching some perfect destination where you're finally "healed" or "enlightened." It's about learning to be at home in yourself, exactly as you are, wherever you are.
For me, it was that moment in meditation when I realized "it's all noise"—all the mental chatter, the self-criticism, the endless story-telling my brain does. Beneath all that noise is this spacious awareness that's always been there, always been whole.
These books provide the roadmap and tools for that journey home to yourself. Through the five steps, you learn to honestly assess where you are, tend to your needs, face your shadows, create new patterns, and finally live from that place of inner knowing. The yoga, breathwork, and aromatherapy are vehicles, but the destination is always the same: remembering who you've always been beneath everything you've had to become to survive.
Home isn't a place you arrive at—it's a way of being you remember. And that remembering? That's the most important journey any of us can take.
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*Lauren Laker is a 500-hour certified rahini yoga teacher, Reiki master, and "perpetual student" who specializes in trauma-informed approaches to healing. Her work integrates ancient wisdom with modern mental health understanding, creating accessible pathways for people who've been underserved by mainstream wellness approaches.*
