Meet Laura Yates

Laura Yates is the founder of The Hummingbird Life. Describing herself as an ambassador of joy and mental health activist, with 20 years experience as a Nia Technique (somatic dance) facilitator, Cacao Ceremonialist and Sacred Space holder, yoga teacher, meditation practitioner, to name a few, her diverse range of skills, knowledge and gifts cross-pollinate the world to help others to bloom and grow - just like a hummingbird, her spirit animal.

Working with her clients, Laura helps people gain perspective, feel supported, empowered, inspired, connected and have the courage to overcome what’s holding them back.

By igniting and empowering you to step into your own power and finding you own inner joy spark, Laura supports and uplifts you into unleashing your freedom and magic onto the world, from a place of love.

Beyond The Hummingbird Life, Laura is also the founder of Secret Sunrise Singapore, a series of events that celebrate life at Sunrise or Sunset by taking you on a journey through music, movement and connection using wireless headphones.

Laura offers meditations on Insight Timer and she has also been voted on to KeyNote Women Speakers, offering a range of Keynote talks on topics including Finding your feminine flow, Connection and self acceptance and Balanced leadership.

Laura Yates

Founder of The Hummingbird Life and Secret Sunrise Singapore, Mindfulness Practitioner and Keynote Speaker

Movement is Medicine

Movement, particularly free Dance and Yoga, is always the medicine I return to.

It has been in my bones and my blood for as long as I can remember.
(Even as a little one on stage doing Ballet, Acro and Modern)
I have always danced and flowed to heal ❤️

Layers and layers of Foundations have lead me to the way I facilitate today…
But two stand out the most.

❤️almost 15 years of being a Facilitator/Instructor in @niatechnique taught me the foundations of somatic and sensory dance. Nia, my various teachers and the amazing worldwide Nia community taught me Joy of movement and accessing this from the inside out.
From floor play to really listening to music that creates magic 🪄, I would never be the facilitator that I am today without this experience.

❤️ 10 years of being a yoga and meditation teacher has taught me the foundations of how medicinal these practices are.
Finding my own joyful movement journey on my Mat, from my students and through the @livingyogajhb community was a primary support through my mental health struggles over the years.

❤️I am a certified Secret Sunrise Facilitation Trainer, and aid the Secret Sunrise Singapore and South East Asia cities in sparking more joy through growing our facilitator tribe.

❤️Even when working in corporate, I continued to teach, to dance, to move and hold retreats.

I have so much gratitude to these communities for proving me with the essentials that keep me and my current offerings authentic

 In the news

Cacao Ceremony Singapore at Crane

Mindfulness: It’s Not A Bunch Of Woo-Woo by Ayodya Indeevari Rathnayaka on We Are Crane, Wellness, March 2022

Channel News Asia Lifestyle secret sunrise singapore

How Nature Heals | Show Me The City | Full Episode, CNA Insider, February 2022

https://www.careerstrategist.co.za/ career pivot singapore

CAREERevolution- Laura Yates, Live LinkedIn Event by Licia Dewing Career Strategist, September 2021

Mary Barrett Global Podcast Secret Sunrise Singapore Mental health

How mental burnout led to becoming a Secret Agent with Laura Yates, A Cup Of Tea Podcast with Mary Barrett, June 2021

Pollinating joy Through Nature’s Medicines, Heart Space Podcast 2024

The Peak Magazine Secret Sunrise Laura Yates Music Singapore Feature

Why music is the latest wellness and mental health trend, by Rachel Genevieve Chia , The Peak Magazine, MAY 27, 2023

Honeycombers Singapore Entrepreneur Secret Sunrise

Entrepreneurs we love: Get to know Laura Yates, the founder of Secret Sunrise, by Samantha Yeo, Honeycombers, January 2023

Honeycombers Singapore Self Care Laura Yates

What’s the best way to care for your mental health and well-being? Entrepreneurs tell us their fave self-care routines, Honeycombers, February 2023

Secret Singapore Secret Sunrise singapore

Wake Up At These Thrilling Secret Sunrise Sessions In Singapore, Megan Zara Walsh, Secret Singapore, July 2022

Silent dance event singapore Her world Secret sunrise singapore

I Attended A Silent Dance Session, And I Think I’m A Convert Now, Natalie Tan, Her World, June 2022

Accreditations

  • Humpiq Nusta Andean medicine Woman: Apprentice and initiation from The Lineage of The Seven Rays (Maestro Puma and Maestra Jemmita)

  • Munayki Rites initiator (Hearts Lights)

  • Master Reiki Practitioner (Reiki Association of South Africa)

  • Crystal healing practitioner (Soul Healing academy)

  • SITA Certified Mindfulness Coach (Mindful Revolution)

  • Cacao Ceremonialist (Lisa Lifetrain)

  • Brown Belt Nia Teacher (Nia Technique Somatic Dance)

  • Secret Sunrise Fully Unleashed Level 3 facilitator (Secret Sunrise Global)

  • Secret Sunrise Unleash Yourself (Level 1 ) Trainer (Secret Sunrise Global)

  • Shamanic Breathwork Meditation Facilitator (100 hour Yoga Alliance, Sage Shamanic Yoga - Johnson Chong)

  • 200 Hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Trainer (RYS, Living Yoga)

  • 200 Hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Trainer (RYS, Tegan B Yoga)

  • Certificate in The Neuroscience for Business (MIT Sloan School of Management)

  • Keynote Speaker for Keynote Women Speaks Asia 

  • Diploma in Marketing (Damelin)

  • Bachelor of Commerce (University of Cape Town)

  • Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting (University of Cape Town)

  • Chartered Accountant (South Africa) (SAICA)

 Experiences working with Laura

Recent Testimonials

Laura services are 10/10. She knows what she talks about and definitely invited positive energy into my life. She’s also very sincere and helpful. Highly recommend! – Wen Jun

“Dear Laura, Thank you for your gift of bringing kindness and warmth to everyone. At the end of our recent Secret Sunrise session, you gently reminded us to take a look at our toes and say hello to them. I went teary-eyed, I was thankful for such a seemingly small but neglected action of showing appreciation to ourselves. My toes do work hard everyday!” - Personal Letter

“Laura designed and lead a series of wellbeing and mindfulness workshops for our company, a few standouts for me:

* impeccably designed materials with great thought put into the right prompts to ensure we all contributed, despite being fully remote and continued our practice after the course.

* Laura is incredibly knowledgeable but also manages to deliver an education with passion and humour, which makes it all the more easy to digest.

* She is not fazed by a varied audience - large corporate to small wellness practitioner. She can pitch her materials at the right level to get effective buy-in.

* She has an intuitive ability to hold space for people to learn and share, again not easy when fully remote. I think her ability here is the secret sauce, as with that connection and sharing is where the real learning begins” - Alumni Services

“Laura did a session on enhancing creativity in the workplace with our company. Laura is an energizer. I really enjoyed how she had us engaged with conversations on our wellbeing as well as activities that got us excited to go through each day. Laura is very friendly and down to earth. Really enjoyed working with her.” - FWD Insurance

“I experienced my first cacao ceremony last week and luckily for me I experienced it with the lovely Laura. I didn’t know what to expect but I did have visions of feeling awkward about sharing feelings within a group and then dancing in a small group setting. 

However, nothing about the experience was awkward at all! Laura put us at ease immediately and made the space feel extremely safe. There was absolutely no pressure to take part in anything, just a little encouragement to embrace the evening. Laura balanced the evening so well, giving a good amount of information, movement in the form of dance, meditation and relaxation, oracle cards, shares and of course an amazingly tasty cup of cacao.

I left with a full heart and a feeling of connection. I will definitely be back!” - A.

“Laura’s mindfulness course was in such synchronicity it was magical! She gets people on a whole new level and keeps on pushing exactly where one needs it.

A lot of stuff came up and she made me realize it’s ok. And it’s normal to be distracted and also to get an awareness of how much distraction there is as I was getting more mindful of my life and its surroundings. An absolute game changer! Very grateful.

I just “happened” to be in one of Lau’s yoga classes and I immediately had this feeling of belonging. They were always the highlights of my week as I could just be and let go. A healthy balance of guided practice and also room for play and growth. A safe and happy place.” - Marina

“Mindfulness has helped me so much. I find myself drifting off, making up stories in my head, playing out different scenarios etc and then I catch myself and am mindful of where I am now. I start to breathe and just follow the breath. Its almost grounding. I just lay in bed breathe and fall asleep. While working I’m mindful. I feel like these days I’m not wasting my time and energy focusing on things that have no already happened. Thank you so much for this strong reminder of mindfulness. And for teaching me to breathe.” - Vasantha

“Laura has this amazing voice! She not only teaches mindfulness but also lives it. Wonderful breath meditations and body scans. I sometimes really struggle to calm down and meditate but with her beautiful words and music she immediately brings me into another state of calmness. It is an absolute feel good and mindful way to begin or end your day or do it whenever it feels right. Great work Laura! Thank you!” - Katja

“I met Laura in 1993, high school, Midlands, South Africa. Fast forward 2020…I for sure can call it a breakthrough of the year…many many lows, gutter lows! For me, the past 20 years have been 2020 year after year…for 20 years! Ironically… this 2020, has been the year I’ve been most “alive”, most thankful, most afraid, most aware and I wasn’t going down the same road of a year again. I became intrigued at how Laura had transformed her life over the years, followed her travels all over the world…but my biggest wow was her spiritual journey. When you mindfully exist… really live mindfully, immerse your being into living mindfully in every aspect of your life… it’s core deep… I will always remember to be gentle with myself. Thanks Lau… you are amazing!” - Bonnie

“I have known Laura for… years now, and I am so pleased that she has committed all her time and efforts to teaching mindfulness. I feel truly fortunate to have Laura as a friend and as a mindfulness coach. Her patience, calm demeanor and profound teachings have been an enormous benefit to me as I am sure her years of study, experience and travel will be to everyone else.” - Cheryl