Concepts like how to be yourself, live an authentic life or step into your truth seem pervasive these days. From Instagram carousel posts promising you the secret to self-discovery, to breathwork, yoga retreats, and courses in doing ‘the work’—it seems like everywhere we turn, the message is for us to go inwards and connect to the self. But what does that really mean? 

It’s a journey that I’ve been on for over a year now, since I met Natalia Mimó, the founder of Baleińe Corporate, wellbeing and mindfulness specialist, personal development speaker, executive coach and business consultant. Mimó is someone who lives and breathes self-work and knows what it means to live a life of authenticity. 

“An ‘authentic’ life is being true to who you really are,” Mimó describes. “Being connected to your innate sense of self, gifts, purpose and intrinsic motives, creating a successive dynamic for yourself, where you can actually thrive.” 

I’ve been doing this work closely with Mimó, who through a number of coaching sessions with her business, Baleińe Corporate, helped me go from someone who was unsure of their gifts and lacked the confidence in standing behind their conviction, to the Editor of a magazine who leads a team of 10. The secret to this was stepping into my truth—learning more about my authentic, whole self—which allowed me to truly thrive. 

“There’s a difference between the mind’s preferences, which often come from an ‘egoic’ place subconsciously, meaning it’s a self-identity, mask, projected version of self we create, that is to be who we think we should, rather than who we actually are,” Mimó explains. “This comes from subconscious conditioning and programming of the mind, which is set from early ages of childhood, and developmentally evolves through our life experiences that shape us.”

“Many, until they do self-work, are disconnected from their true self—both mind-body connection, and their heart’s truth.”

Over the period of 12 months, I had eight sessions with Mimó, and overtime, I was able to start making this connection. An example of the work? In one of our earliest sessions, Mimó invited me to commit to a daily practice, which would help me go inwards and start to better understand my true nature. I chose meditation, and sitting down daily in stillness cultivated a sense of trust in myself. Committing to something daily that was just for me allowed me space in the day to think about my own needs, rather than those of my family, friends, employees, or even strangers. It might not seem like the kind of work you’d do with a business coach, but that’s where Mimó’s work differs.

“At Baleińe Corporate, I have a ‘holistic blueprint’ which encompasses our physical, mental, emotional, energetic, spiritual and financial health,” she describes. “To connect with our whole selves, is to be in alignment with these pillars.”

She continues: “Many people, in being disconnected from themselves, will have a strong disconnect between their emotional state and their mental state. A disconnection is when our conscious and subconscious mind literally have conflicting messages (think of paddling out of a rip—you are efforting so hard, and getting nowhere, because a strong current is taking you elsewhere). So connecting with our whole selves is this internal alignment, where great power comes because all parts of self are going in the same direction–not only do we transform, we flourish, because all systems and parts of self are on board, in a direction that is our truth.” 

What Mimó is referring to is deep work that takes time. During our time together, I was invited to explore more about myself, focusing on my own innate gifts and what I bring to the table as a human, an editor, and a manager. Mimó finds this work helps to propel business founders and corporate leaders into their higher potential.

“When we live a life, and do work that is true to who we are, it’s effortless, because we all have unique gifts,” she explains. “And when we give ourselves permission to connect to them fully, and live a life (and do the work) that is true for us, there’s an innate power and succession that comes from that.”

As part of our work, Mimó also did some sessions with the Gritty Pretty team, one on self-empowerment, and one on communication. This felt like the missing piece of the puzzle—bringing the larger team into a realisation of their own unique gifts too. “For team workshops or organisational work, it’s taking insights into our human behaviour, and offering knowledge to alter mindsets and providing practical tools to help one live in greater alignment to their self success based on a particular topic—such as mindful high performance, high-performing mindset, or ‘communication for empowerment and succession.” 

What Mimó—and experts like her—offer is transformative work that can support individuals, business founders and corporate leaders, plus their teams. This kind of work used to be something you’d do in secret, in your own time, but exploring it as part of the workplace—where we spend most of our time—is a revolutionary concept.

“Truly, when we are connecting to our whole selves, life feels easeful,” Mimó says. “There’s ‘flow’. We are in ‘power’, ‘self-power’, and there is no force. To my analogy above, all parts of self are going in the same direction. Granted, self-work is a life’s work, though you truly start seeing flow, positive evolution in the direction you truly want to go, ease and a liberated sense of self power when you are connected within and aligned to your truth and personal power.” 

Natalia Mimó’s Top 5 Tips For Living An Authentic Life

1. Self reflection and raising levels of consciousness. 
2. Meditation which supports becoming a witness to the mind, and helps to raise that level of consciousness. 
3. Connecting to how you actually feel and naming your emotions, and speaking truthfully about your experiencing with trusted confidants so you stop suppressing and begin connecting to the truth of your being in any moment.
4. Mindful movement—anything that connects you to your body, and brings you into the present moment to have an awareness of your full experience and bring alignment to that mind-body connection. Yoga, pilates, surfing, walking, dancing, running… there is something for everyone. 
5. If you so dare, anything in the way of self-work, the inner work is truly what will transform your life… there are so many modalities, professionally executive coaching could be one, personally I believe every person could do with therapy for their mental and emotional health, and to understand their conditioning and patterns. Also simply the spiritual practice of self-awareness, and noticing how you behave to certain stimuli, and consciously choosing a different path… this is the ultimate path, to become mindfully aware of yourself and choose to evolve to a higher version of self every day. This is how you liberate your ultimate self success. 

Want to get in touch with Natalia Mimó? Visit her website here and find out more about Baleińe Corporate here. You can follow her on Instagram @natmimo and on LinkedIn.