Today, Mystic Mag‘s Marko Velimirovic had the opportunity to speak with Christine Maragkakis from Simply be retreats & therapies. Below you can read our interesting conversation regarding women, their position in today’s society, and how they can overcome anxiety and low self-esteem.
When did you first know that being a Women’s Life Coach was your calling and how did it come about?
I was working as a holistic therapist and mindfulness teacher and it was becoming more and more apparent that while people were enjoying their treatments and classes, they were more interested in talking to me about their concerns or mindset. They found my answers helpful and I loved sharing what I knew and seeing the difference it made to their lives.
I trained as a Life Coach and now bring my experience in holistic therapies, mindfulness, cognitive behavior therapy and spirituality to my coaching to provide a holistic approach and support them as fully as I can.
What services do you offer?
I offer 6 week 1:1 life coaching for women. They may have anxiety, feel overwhelmed, want more from life or want to rediscover themselves or they may have something they want to achieve/ let go of but need support and encouragement while they do.
Coaching can be combined in a stand alone additional session with cacao which is a most beautiful plant medicine ( purest form of chocolate) to help them open up to their emotions and improve their ability to verbalize their emotions or in if they prefer, a coaching session that harnesses the rhythm of reiki drum to help reprogram a mindset.
I offer workplace wellbeing and coaching to support the mental health and wellbeing of both colleagues and employers.
I host a free online women’s circle each month, facilitate face to face circles and offer a private circle for six friends ( details on my website simplybe.org.uk/womenscircles)
I teach meditation.
I have a weekly podcast called Mindful Mutterings which looks at how we can ditch anxiety, live better and calmer using Mindfulness and mindset techniques and can be found on the usual platforms.
Why is today’s woman anxious, and what is the most prevalent cause of low self-esteem in women? How can they overcome it?
I think today’s woman is anxious because she is under so much pressure to be perfect.
We are expected to play many roles in society from daughter, sister etc, to lover, wife, mother, colleague, friend and caregiver and the expectation is that we will be the best version of each one.
Women are subconsciously and generationally trained to please people – often by putting other people’s needs first, which leads to us losing who we really are. This places more pressure on us to be someone to everyone rather than everything to one person which matters most – ourselves.
Generally speaking, anxiety comes from living in the future, from the what if’s .The constant pressure and fear of not being good enough is what damages self esteem, induces anxiety and ultimately overwhelms.
We can work to overcome this by becoming mindful. This enables us to identify who we truly are and how we can live an authentic life. Once we have identified who we are and what we need to be fulfilled, we are able to set effective boundaries and create space for us to be true to ourselves.
When we are being authentic and living in the best way for us (and this is not to say that we stop caring for people or not enjoy the different aspects of our lives) it means that we have a strong sense of identity. Being comfortable in our own skin means that we worry less about what other people think or what might happen because we have the confidence to know that we will get through whatever life throws at us.
This is empowering, builds self esteem and reduces stress and improves not only our lives but the lives of everyone we come into contact with.
What are your thoughts on the position of a woman in modern society? Is there still room for improvement?
I think that the pressure on women is ferocious. (I also think that men have it tough but my coaching is female based and that is my area of expertise) I think that women are still judged on their looks and emotional responses more so than men and that although things are vastly improved, there are still a lot of barriers to overcome regarding equality, pay and opportunities for women.
Our physiology and the stages of our life need to be celebrated especially at work where if supported during these transitions, we can bring so much more to the workplace and the wider community.
What is the most important detail in maintaining a relationship of mutual trust with customers?
Honesty. If we are not honest with ourselves and others, we are not being authentic. If I am not authentic, how can I expect my clients to trust me to support them on their journey. If we are not honest, we cannot identify our limiting beliefs and behaviors and we will struggle to make progress.
What do you love most about your profession
Wellbeing and coaching in particular empowers people to choose to respond rather than react to life with simple yet effective strategies and mindset shifts. Having a comprehensive wellbeing toolkit helps us to keep mentally and physically well. It literally changes lives.
I LOVE what I do and am very grateful to be able to do it.
