YOGA AT WORK: How Spiritual Practice Affects Our Lives

An Interview with Laurel Trujillo, M.D. 

How long have you been attending CSE and how did you 

find it?

“I’ve been attending CSE since January 2002. I learned 

about CSE when I attended a yoga class there with a friend.”  

After moving to San Jose from Boston, Massachusetts, 

Laurel was living a hectic life and seeking a spiritual commu-

nity. She grew up in the Unitarian fellowship, so she visited 

Unitarian churches in the area. But when she found CSE, “it was clear [to me] 

that I had found a spiritual home.”  

What do you enjoy most about CSE? What pleases your heart and soul?

Laurel contemplated this question for a few moments and then said the 

things that mean the most to her have been the Kriya Yoga teachings, the 

community, and being of service. She has served a total of six years on the 

CSE Board of Directors and is now beginning another term. She enjoys 

working with a “group of dedicated people applying the teachings.” 

“I was always interested in a direct experience of God, of consciousness.”  

She recalls taking a mystic vision class at JFK University where they studied 

the mystic core of the world’s religions. “Just like at CSE,” she says. At the time 

she took the class, however, she was still searching for a spiritual community. 

When she came to CSE, she remembers thinking “this is the place for me.”

What are the most helpful aspects of what you’ve learned or experienced?

Laurel keeps a regular meditation practice. Her practice provides her with 

feelings of centeredness and nonattachment. This means to “go in and do your 

best and then surrender the results.”

Although she believes there is much more to learn in all the teachings, 

she finds the Yoga Sutra principles particularly “appealing and applicable 

to today.” She experiences the Kriya Yoga teachings both professionally and 

personally in terms of a sense of internal peace and through service—“the 

work that I do.”

Advice for someone new to CSE, Kriya Yoga, and/or the teachings:

Take all the core classes to understand them at a deeper level. Explore Kriya 

Yoga if you feel drawn to it and get initiated—“it pays big dividends.” 

Since September 2010, Laurel has been the Medical Director of Quality at a major medical 

center in Silicon Valley. It is a top administrative position requiring collaboration with everyone 

she comes in contact with, including the approximately 1,000 medical doctors in the group. To 

balance her work and life, she uses meditation and exercise. Laurel graduated from the Univer-

sity of the Pacific (undergraduate), UCSF (medical school), and UCLA (residency in Internal 

Medicine).