Sober Curious with Laura Naylor
Meet Laura Naylor, one of my friends and yoga students based in Abu Dhabi! If you've attended any MLPC class over the course of the last year and a half you've met her - she's one of our original members and hasn't missed a day of yoga with us in over 18 months. Laura is a TV & radio presenter & events host MC from Preston in the UK. She is currently based in Abu Dhabi. She hosts the Radio 2 Breakfast show every weekday morning in Abu Dhabi, Dubai & across the UAE. In this episode, Me and Laura talk about her story - her journey overcoming brain tumors, travelling around the world on cruise ships and settling in Abu Dhabi, finding yoga and also exploring sober curiousity.
Listen here!
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Learn more about Laura at https://www.lauranaylorofficial.com. You can also follow her on Instagram @lauranaylorofficial and catch her in most 4pm GST/8am EST/1pm BST yoga classes at www.themindfullifepractice.com! Follow me on Instagram @alexmcrobs and check out my offerings in yoga, meditation and coaching at http://themindfullifepractice.com/live-schedule.
Full episode
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1
All right. So, Hi, everyone. And welcome back to another episode of Sober Yoga Girl. I am super excited to have Laura Nailer on the show today. And Laura has been one of the original Mindful Life Practice community members since the very beginning. So if you've ever been to a class, you've probably met Laura. She is also the host of the Radio two breakfast show in Abudabi. So welcome to the show, Laura.
Speaker 2
Oh, thank you so much. Like, I'm so excited about this. Thanks for inviting me on.
Speaker 1
I'm so happy to have you here. So I was wondering I want to know more about you and kind of your journey. So I know that you're from the UK, you're in Abudabi here.
Speaker 2
That's how we met.
Speaker 1
But how did you end up here? And, like, what has been your journey to this point in your life?
Speaker 2
So I was presenting in the UK, in London and from press on, but I was living in London for eight years. And then I saw this job that I'm doing now advertise on a website, present a website. And I thought it was quite fun. So I thought, why not even though I've never been Trave Dabi or Dubai on the Middle East before? But I thought, why not just try it out? And so I applied and then I didn't hear anything for a while. I forgot about it.
Speaker 2
And then I got an email and I had some interviews and then got the job. And then I was like, okay, let's go. Wow. And how long ago was that? Well, four years ago. Okay.
Speaker 1
So we would have come to Abudabi around the same time because I've been here for four years as well.
Speaker 2
Yes. Yeah. Cool.
Speaker 1
I think we've talked about that before. And were you always on, like, when you came over, were you always Breakfast with Rich or were there other things you did?
Speaker 2
No. When I first started, I was on Breakfast with Rich. And then if on every show on that station, I've done Midday Evenings Drive. But it's been really good. It's a really good experience to me that I've got to do all the different shows. And now I'm back on Breakfast, which I'm really loving apart on the early morning starts, but everybody else. Oh, my God.
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's so early. I don't know. I actually thought of you this morning because I had a yoga class at 930 and I pretty much got out of bed at, like, 925. And I thought of you be like, I don't know how Laura does it. It's like four in the morning, right?
Speaker 2
Yeah. Well, usually around half four. But the thing is, I thought it would get easier in time. I thought, you know, after a few months or even after a few years. But it still does not get any easier either. I go spend at 08:00 at night. I'm still really tight in the morning.
Speaker 1
It's a male prostitute and then you and work at, like, noon, right?
Speaker 2
Well, no. Sometimes a bit before that, I-I-I-W-I mean, I shouldn't moan about being tired because sometimes I'm out of the door at, like, 10:10. It's like 4 hours a day. I can't moan about that.
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's pretty great. And then I always see your Instagram photos at the beach or the pool or whatever. So that's really nice. And I can kind of relate to this. Like me also having a really unusual work hours. And so for me, it's actually kind of the opposite. I have most days. I don't start until, like, 04:00 p.m. Teaching classes. And I kind of have a bit of freedom in my schedule. And so it's kind of the opposite, but the same in that. It's not like a typical nine to five.
Speaker 2
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 1
I so tell me about a bit about we talked about this right before the episode started. So right when I met, you know, you came and did a few of my yoga classes. I had you on social media. And I remember seeing you fundraising for brain tumors. And you had shared a little bit about having a brain tumor yourself. And I wanted to ask you about that because we never talked about that. Like, what was that?
Speaker 2
Like? Well, I mean, obviously it wasn't great. When diagnosed of that when I was 21, it happened. So basically I started losing heaven in my right ear. But that story happened since I was, like twelve or 13. And I have really bad tinnitus in my ear, which is like really loud ringing. It just sounds like her dryers going up in your ear electric all the time. So I went to the doctors a few times and they just said I was fine. I obviously had no symptoms apart from the hearing loss and the tinnitus.
Speaker 2
So then when I was 21, I moved. I started working on cruise ships. So I went to Tahiti of all places, and then for some reason and adopt know why I never know what. Well, obviously, you know what? I believe in the higher force universe. God, whatever you want to call it. I went to the doctor on the ship one day because I thought I'm really tired and sick of this ringing in my ear. So anyway, on the cruise ship, we got amazing health care. It's amazing.
Speaker 2
So they sent me off the ship to the hospital to have scans and things. And then they were like, oh, you need to go home. That's for you. And I was thinking, what the hell? Obviously, I didn't think anything happen with serious. So I went home like, you need to go and have scans and things like that. So I went to the hospital and they did lots of tests on me. But I still didn't think there's anything wrong because I was absolutely fine. Apart from that ring in my ear, and then they said, oh, you need to have a brain together.
Speaker 2
Then they were like, oh, yeah. We found this tumor, which obviously was absolutely horrific for the words mean. So then that was that you have to have an operation to remove this tuner. And so I was like, oh, my gosh. You know, I don't want to have an operation. And then he just literally looked at me and said, if you don't have this operation, you will die like this. You have to have your operation. So but luckily, now looking back, at least, like, you know, there's no social media, really.
Speaker 2
Then otherwise I would have been looking online, looking what it was, how serious it was. So I had that removed the year after I got the diagnosis, and it all went really well. Like, I had the best processor. And then they said that come back after a year. So we need to check that it's not come back because these tumors can brought back. And luckily, it wasn't cancerous. So that was amazing. But when I went back the second time, the second year, they were like, okay, we're really sorry to tell you this, but we've now found another tumor on your road side on your other agent.
Speaker 2
So, I mean, obviously, my mom was like, they're absolutely devastated. So was I I but I was just thinking, I don't know why, but something inside. And he told me I was still gonna be all right. I knew I was gonna be all right. But then they were like, come back into the hospital. And, I mean, this was probably one of the worst days off of my life. I would say there was like, 15 doctors around the table, me and my mom and dad. And they were like, listen, we think you've got this condition of tumors on your spine, tumors in your head.
Speaker 2
You're going to have to have all your family going to have to learn sign language. You're going to have to have this ear removed because of all my right ear now removed if they have to take everything out. So I got it in this year. Yeah. So obviously, that day I was like, oh, my God. This is absolutely like, Ah, my family were devastated, obviously, because of all that. And then the fact that you could get chooses on your sign at any time. So then I went home from that.
Speaker 2
And then they like, come back again in another year. So I had a year of thinking, oh, my God. This is horrendous. But then the year after that, I went back to the hospital, and the doctor, the professor who I had all the way through, said, show me the scan. And he was like, it's gone. Like, the tumor has disappeared. So I was like, well, where is it gone? And he was like, I don't know. So this to me, that is a miracle, because he even said himself and he's at the top.
Speaker 2
Professor. Professor Ramson. I don't even know if he's still at Manchester of Manchester Hospital now. He didn't know where that had gone. So I mean, I've always been very had a very strong face. I've always believed in something. But obviously for me to have that happen was proof to me, because where is that to a goal. It was taken away. Thank God. Like, yeah. I mean, I can talk about it now. I'm fine now, but obviously at the time it was awful. But at the same time and I know this sounds really weird.
Speaker 2
I kind of knew that I'm always going to be all right all along. So I now believe that me telling this story will give hope to other people that maybe have tumors, cancer. All these awful things happen because it can. They can disappear because obviously they can because I've had it. So I know that it can happen, you know? Wow. What I'm to work for.
Speaker 1
What a powerful story and something so scary to go through at such a young age.
Speaker 2
Yeah. It was really awful. I mean, it was awful. And I think the worst thing was every year having the scans and waiting for the results to come back because these tumors do grow back. So, you know, having to wear to find out what was the result was awful.
Speaker 1
But then amazing.
Speaker 2
When you get this on, it like it's all fine. The things come back.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Do you do that?
Speaker 1
Do you still do that? You go to scan?
Speaker 2
No, I got one more scam to have now. Well, I think. I mean, I'm fine. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1
And it's so powerful because you meet people like you in particular. You have this energy that is infectious. You're just so positive and so happy and so loving to everyone. And you meet people like you and you just have no idea what someone has been through in their life. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2
Yeah. I mean, that's the thing, you know, and I am a very happy person, as you know. Like, I'm not sick. I don't put on the punitive attitude that is me. But then I look at my what have I not got to be happy about? You know, but I do really sometimes think I think a lot of people think a lot of positives happy people. I think this happened to a lot of people, but people think they've never had anything happen to live in their life. It's like, well, well, Ararat she ever had happened to her.
Speaker 2
But actually I have had stuff happen in the past. It's just the way I now choose to live. Well, I have ALS with my life like that, but I think it's you know, and I know people that are very upbeat and positive and they kind of get not left behind, but it's always kind of like, well, he's alright. She's alright. Like, you've never had any hardships in your life. That's the thing when people don't think you've ever been through anything hard, but actually everybody has to some extent, other then totally.
Speaker 1
I completely agree. There was someone commented one of my posts. I posted something about, like, the Tropicana commercial, not liking the the way they were glamorizing alcohol. And someone commented being like, wow, your life is so wonderful that the only problem you have is this come. And I was like, okay, from clearly doesn't know me at all.
Speaker 2
No, it's really interesting because I think an eye on my Instagram when I call single Instagram. What is it like? Some people are like, oh, you know, you're always so happy. You're always so positive, but your beat. I had to like, well, actually, that is my life. I am at the beach all the time. I am at the pool of the time. I've got a great life. I've got a great job. I'm really happy. But a lot of people didn't see me when I have no money.