In the world of maternal wellness, Latham Thomas is an agent of change.

According to the Columbia University and Institute for Integrative Nutrition graduate, pregnancy awakens an inherent feminine power every woman harbors and, thus, is a cause for celebration and joy.

While pregnant with her son Fulano, Thomas noticed a common desire among expectant and new mothers for guidance towards a holistic approach to the inevitable lifestyle transition. So, she founded MamaGlow to educate and offer pre- and post-natal support via nutritional, physical fitness and birth doula services, plus events and more in the realm of alternative maternity.

Thomas also published a bestselling book on her methodology, giving women the tools to achieve optimal wellness in both body and spirit, as they form their new lives as mothers.

Here, the lifestyle guru explains why she believes that surrender is key

Live The Process: Tell us a bit about your work and what prompted you to found Mama Glow?

Latham Thomas: My work is all about taking the journey with women as they explore pregnancy and motherhood. I founded Mama Glow out of what I saw as a need for women to feel “handholding” along their most precious rite of passage. I believe that pregnancy is a celebration and Mama Glow is your birthright—to walk in grace and to glow power and wisdom and surrender to the process and find fulfillment. We provide holistic support in nutrition, yoga and movement and birth doula service and have a robust events and web platform. We are launching some really interesting products this year, as well as educational training for people who want to support women during this beautiful time in their lives.

LTP: What impact do you hope your book, Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy, has on readers?

LT: When I wrote Mama Glow, I wanted to share my story, my belief system and my methodology to help other women experience a healthy, happy pregnancy. It’s not that every day is going to bring sunshine, but when you transform your outlook, every aspect of the experience becomes a blessing and powerful teacher. I wanted women to have the tools to explore the three pillars of well-being that I outline in the book: In the Kitchen, On the Mat and In Your Life. (The book is organized in these sections.) There are mediations, recipes, affirmations, glow tips and even a whole section devoted to getting your body baby-ready. My hope is that each woman who picks up this book feels my love and feels like I am holding her hand and whispering to her: “You can do it; you were made for this. Ready, get set, glow!"

LTP: How does optimal wellness influence spiritual growth and vice versa?

LT: I believe that optimal wellness is a pillar of spiritual growth. The body is like an opulent vase that carries the soul. Food becomes your blood, your thoughts and your actions. The way you take care of yourself and what you feed yourself, how you move your body and honor your body, brings you into alignment with spirit. Sometimes it’s your ability to be attuned to well-being that awakens your spiritual life. I believe that the more you practice releasing, forgiveness, allowing energy to flow, engaging in slow practices and creating glow time rituals of radical self care, the healthier you will be.

LTP: What tips would you offer for becoming involved in maternal advocacy?

LT: Learn the hidden dimensions of the female body and get the right relationship with your body first. To know the goddess is to know the power of your own body. There is so much superficial neurosis about the body, so we must learn to reintegrate the parts of ourselves we’ve disowned and reclaim our bodies as sacred vessels of the divine. We all come from mama, so each of us must stand up to protect and honor the mother.

Watch films to get to better know the landscape of issues—I love Madamn Tizo (about a Haitian midwife from Jacmel, Haiti); No Woman, No Cry by Christy Turlington Burns; Ricki Lake’s film, The Business of Being Born, to start. Read books that empower women through birth: Orgasmic Birth by Deborah Pascali Bonaro; my book; and Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, by Sarah Buckley. Seek organizations and individuals with missions that are aligned with what you want to support. We always need more doulas and midwives in the world, so, if you feel called to be a birth worker in any capacity, go for it!

LTP: What does happiness look like to you?

LT: Happiness to me is curling up with my son, watching a good movie. Having some “glow time” alone with myself, taking a warm bath, reading a good book and getting healing touch through massage. My self-care practice is so key to maintaining optimal well-being. Seeing babies being born and women being born into motherhood—that makes me happy.

LTP: What does it mean to you to "Live The Process" and how do you do that every day?

LT: I love the phrase "Live The Process” because it is a mantra. Those three words remind you to be in celebration of the divine feminine, which heralds herself in the intricacies of process but not outcome, winding and unfolding, cultivating something and being enthralled with the journey and savoring the wait. We are so driven in this culture and focused on “hustling” and “making it happen” that we don’t “let it happen.” So, to me, living the process is standing firm in my glow power and softening to the grace of the benevolent universe.

Find more information on Mama Glow here.