Anja experienced her first trauma in the womb, along with her twin sister. Their father committed suicide while their mom was in her last few weeks of pregnancy.Anja spent two years in an orphanage at age 3-5, after which she grew up in a home in which there was no safety or stability and where fear was used to control her behavior and keep her quiet by my father-figure. She was emotionally manipulated, physically abused, not given free reign or choice and forced to abide by unrealistic rules setting her up for failure. For the first 9 years of her life, all she knew was fear.Her coping mechanisms were to hide her feelings and hide behind an image of perfection.She grew up feeling very unworthy, setting ridiculously high standards for herself, believing she had to be perfect to be loveable, and that making a mistake was a means for self-punishment. Nothing she did could shift the belief that she was not good enough. As a young adult, she distracted herself with staying ‘busy’, becoming a workaholic and perpetual overachiever. But the achievements never made Anja feel the joy she was seeking. There was an underlying sadness present around the clock. She had trouble feeling truly happy, no matter how hard she tried, because at her core she had abandoned herself long before, and repressed all the pain and fear of her past. She was simply a shell, trying to make herself feel happy by doing more and feeling less.Anja's escapism came to an end when she became a mother. Suddenly, she had so much time to spend with my thoughts, that my anxiety became increasingly prevalent, and began to compound. Everything started feeling ‘off’, and unbearably hard. The universe was sending her sign after sign to stop abandoning herself, and she finally decided to listen. She was able to acknowledge her suffering for the first time. When she made the choice to face it, her healing journey began. During this process, she learnt so many unbelievable ways to empower herself, and to rewire the old patterns that used to consume her, that something within her awakened. She saw a vision greater than herself —to elevate the consciousness of the planet, one woman at a time. Anja was meant to walk the road that she did so that she could use that pain to help other women create a life where they have autonomy over their lives.She wants her own daughters, and all little girls to grow up as women who are fully embodied in their worth and who are not afraid to follow their dreams and live a life true to themselves.