About Milena

Probably like most of you, growing up I was bombarded with messages along a couple of major lines of thought:

1) I had to be something or someone other than myself; I wasn’t smart enough, thin enough, skilled enough, charming enough, strong enough, responsible enough, independent enough….the list goes on.  And that I had to work toward getting there or find a way to compensate for what I was lacking.

2) Life was not what we wanted it to be and there wasn’t much we could do about it; most people believed that there was little they could change or improve in their lives and some even believed we were here on this planet “to suffer”.

I found all of these believes extremely dis-empowering and infuriating. It didn’t even make sense to me that one would want to live life believing this. The thing is, I never fully bought this stuff  and was determined to create a completely different experience for myself even if I was told that what I wanted din’t even exist.

I am not going to lie, sometime down the road, these messages got to me and I allowed myself to be filled with doubts and insecurities  and feel like I wasn’t ” GOOD ENOUGH”.

Sound familiar?

At 18 I fell into a depression feeling like I didn’t have any skills and didn’t know what to do with my life. Somehow I believed I had to have it all figured out at this age. Extreme weight gain followed. The reactions of people around me, even my closest ones, made things worse. Somewhere there I reached my threshold of pain and suffering. I couldn’t take it any more. A couple of books later and daily swimming practice ( I feel amazing in the water and to this day it is one of  the best places for me to feel balanced and free of negative thoughts), I started to slowly pull myself out of it.

I remember a story of  when I was 11 years old and was playing a card game with my dad. I  kept losing and he kept winning. Of  course I wanted to win! ” If  you keep doing the same thing”…,my dad said, “…you’ll probably keep getting the same result. Try something different, radically different, even if it seems counter-intuitive or  ridiculous…just try something different.”

I realized that for such a long time I had be doing the exact same thing, expecting different results- I had started to believe that I wasn’t ENOUGH and had been struggling to fit the picture of who I thought I was SUPPOSED TO BE. If I wasn’t sure before that this type of belief system would only lead me to suffering, now I knew for sure. So I decided to drop it and replace it with the resolve to love myself the way I was, and trust in my own abilities and the firm knowing that I CAN indeed create a different experience for myself.

This strong intent brought me to books, videos, teachers, and places which, throughout the years, brought me inspiration and empowerment. I discovered more of who I am, I started understanding and loving myself, working through my negative believes and programs and found what I truly love to do.

You see, I believe that if you discovered your own unique talents and gifts and allowed them to unfold and express, you would be the happiest version of yourself, and at the same time you would be contributing in the best possible way to everyone else around you. It’s a win win, and WIN.

I live in Boston and one of the most competitive colleges here asks 3 pivotal questions when they interview prospective students before they  make their final decision on their acceptance:

1) What are you good at?

2) What do you love to do?

3) What does the world need from you?

What is YOUR answer to these questions?

I will tell you mine:

1) What I am good at is connecting with others at a deep level, feeling and understanding them, caring for them, seeing their biggest blockages, seeing their  potential choices, paths and outcomes ,guiding them to finding their own superpowers, discovering what they want, and helping them apply tools to create it.

2) I love to inspire and empower others…in addition to teaching, dancing, reading, swimming, hiking, being in nature, playing, laughing….and so much more.

3) What the world needs from me  is to be MYSELF, the unabridged, authentic version of myself, fully unfolding my own abilities and gifts and sharing them with others.

Are you ready to unleash YOURS?

One last note-this is not about anyone solving your problems  or telling you what to do. This is about finding the intuitive knowing that is already inside you, becoming aware of your own powers and talents and using them in line with your own desires and priorities. And most of all, this is about YOU seeing your own magnificence for far too long, I, myself had been painfully oblivious to my own!

Time to SHINE THRU NOW!

Love ,

Milena <3

P.S.

For those of you interested in my professional and educational background:

• I have a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Linguistics in English and German.
• I worked as a reporter and radio news caster in Bulgaria. I also worked as an English teacher.
• I came to the U.S in 2003 to do my Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism at Emerson College.
• I worked at WHDH Boston as a news writer for 3 years.
• I taught English as a Second Language in a number of schools in the Boston area. I taught a number of classes at Showa Boston ( public speaking, business communication, non-verbal communication; reading world news; blogging; English through podcasts; media communication, and more)
• I worked as an Academic Manager at Cambridge Network for nearly 3 years.