What is the teaching that is most important to you?

The most important teaching for me is to know myself, to understand myself, to love myself, to be aware of my spiritual identity and realize that I am more than the image and the form I can see with these eyes, and to be able to experience the soul that I am. From this awareness I am able to serve and to contribute to a higher level. 

This is a passionate, life learning journey that will continue until the last breath of my life.

What helps you practice self-compassion?

I have learned through the years to become my best friend, to talk to myself in a kind way and to take leave of the critic and judging voices that were there accompanying me for many years.

Meditation and the connection with the Divine have helped me to be compassionate with myself and as a result to be more empathetic and compassionate with others.

What are you most insecure about and what helped?

I was really afraid of being in front of people and talking. I felt very embarrassed when people looked at me and I became the focus of their attention. I was very shy. This had an impact in many areas of my life. Now I can say that only small traces remain. It was my courage and determination to transform this behaviour that helped me. Now my job and activity has me always in front of people. I overcome it by doing it and not allowing this weakness to rule my life.

Tell us about the last time you lost your cool and how you navigated it.

When I was young, I had a very intolerant attitude and was very reactive. This has changed a lot, but still sometimes some reactions are there, especially when I feel people are not behaving as I expected. Then I remind myself that every soul has its own part to play and I bring my compassionate self into the scene. I make the effort to put a full stop to the situation and finish the past as quickly as I can and continue to move forward. Forget and forgive myself.

Tell us about the last time you cried and how you soothed yourself.

Until I was 27 I never cried and I repressed my emotions. Then when I started to meditate many tears fell from my eyes and I felt a deep release and space inside myself. Now tears fall from my eyes when I see something beautiful, some act of generosity, or something that touches my heart.

This has been a life process of accepting myself, allowing myself to feel and express whatever was inside myself and through meditation to fill the soul with God´s love and blessings. 

What’s the biggest challenge you've faced? How did you overcome it?

I am not sure what was the biggest. Now with perspective, all of them have been great lessons to become more experienced in life. External challenges are constantly there in my life. Now they have become tests to check my stage of progress. I feel that one of the biggest challenges has been to face my own shadow. I cannot say that has been overcome completely, but with acceptance, compassion, determination and God´s help I have been able to bring more and more light to it.

What have you let go of that made your life a little easier?

Since I started to meditate and decide to live a spiritual life, one of the main drivers has been the aim to freedom, especially internal freedom that influences all areas of my life. This means a journey of detachment and letting go of all that I do not need anymore, such as my limited believes, my false identity, my weaknesses, my expectations, my judgments, etc. This has become the basis of a simpler lifestyle at all levels.

Given the choice of anyone in the world, who would you want as your dinner guest?

I have had the opportunity to have dinner with very interesting people so my wish would be to have dinner with someone different, let’s say God, or the Divine, or the Being of Light and be able to understand His secrets and to become closer to Him.

What is a funny, embarrassing moment from your life?

My first public talk. I was so nervous that I wanted to leave the hall and go back home, but as I said before I always push myself to overcome my limitations.

It happened that in the middle of the talk my mind went blank. I didn´t know what to say, so I remained in silence looking at the public. There was deep silence in the hall, then I said “My mind went blank…” and people start laughing as if I had made a joke, then something came to my mind and I continued. 

At the end people congratulated me, especially for the “trick” that I used. In fact, it was not a trick -- it was reality. Now I see it as a funny moment, but I was really very embarrassed. Now it has become a technique that I use in other lectures as a trick to grab people’s attention.

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