We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Sokolova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

After decades of working as an energy healer, QiGong instructor, and coach, I found myself at the age of 52 in a deep health crisis in 2019. My lifelong Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and autoimmune illness had become so severe that I was bedridden for months and literally dying. I felt like a complete failure as a coach, mother, and wife. My marriage collapsed, my son dropped out of college, and my daughter, instead of focusing on her own life, had to take care of me. It was unbearably hard to become a burden to others. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t prove by my own example that the healing tools I believed in so much work. It was very hard not to give in to pain and give up my fight for health. At some point, I had to make a choice: either die early like my father or commit to full recovery, reclaim my life, and continue being a mother to my children.

With making that conscious commitment, I began to climb my personal Mount Everest and felt guided ever since by the invisible force I call “my angels”.

I spent thousands of dollars to figure out what was wrong with me and learned about Lyme disease. I enrolled in a nutrition program to support my body and later in an online psychosomatic school, which turned my world 180 degrees around with a new perspective on illnesses!
I spent days in silent meditation retreats to detach myself from the old identity of a “chronically sick” person and reconnect with my true self. 
With time, I uncovered the core mindset that was contributing to my RA and other health issues, and things started to shift.
My inflammation and pain were gone. In 2021 all my lab tests were clean with no traces of my RA and autoimmune factors.
But even with this win, I struggled to move forward because I had no idea how to build a new identity and a new life for myself.
Letting go of the old self and now facing the truth that nothing and no one defines me anymore can bring greater happiness and freedom, but it can also bring instability and uncertainty. 
To find solid ground and become a confident creator of your life, you have to develop some creative muscles. 
Mandalas like blessings came into my life through meditations to dissolve my creative dam. Each mandala process was helping me to re-create myself slowly piece-by-piece. It was pure magic to discover and follow my new guidance tool. I felt like a child, excited about each new journey of self-exploration and healing. Living another day became more purposeful.

In 2022 I went back to having clients and in 2023 started teaching my QiGong and breathwork classes. 
I danced again and rode my bike for the first time after a long 3 years break. I developed a mandala program to unlock people’s creativity so that they could write their new life scripts and get excited about their future!

What has truly changed within me is my confidence in my ability to create my own reality. 

Now, I am passionate to help individuals to rebuild their lives from ground zero following illness or major life crisis, and restore their trust in themselves AND their body’s innate ability to heal.
My biggest failure turned into a point of starting a new path of self-love and creativity.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Originally I am from Ukraine and moved to the US in the 90s with my husband and daughter. I was a computer engineer in my home country. My journey Home, not back to my motherland, but to my real and joyful self started in 2001 from taking a 3 day retreat with a female Tibetan Monk. I was seeking a relief from my depression and exhaustion. She was my first QiGong master who introduced me to this ancient practice and also the principles of “chi” balance, five elements, buddhism and the way of Dao. It was not easy to master the practice, but I kept going and still do.

In 2007 I became a holistic coach and energy healer. In 2011 I was certified in Cathartic Breathwork.
I have combined the knowledge of Eastern and Western practices and opened my business in 2015 calling it The Integrated Way. But after decades of doing my work, I have encountered one major block in my own and many people’s lives that keeps them stuck – the creativity block.

I recognized that many of my clients cannot get out of their habitual destructive patterns and keep coming back with the same issues not only because they don’t know what they truly want, but because after courageously releasing their fear and other stuck emotions, they often get lost in a vast space of… Nothingness.
They get scared of that Void and don’t know how to create something new in a blank space. Making new decisions and taking responsibility for their own creation is stressing them out more than repeating the old stuff.
But my vision for myself and others was always freedom and confidence. And so, I felt stuck and  I had to find a way to boost my own and their creative side and inspire them to play with their imagination.
My personal life and identity crisis have brought me plenty of opportunities to exercise my creativity in 2019 when I hit my rock bottom.
Eventually, in 2021 I came up with a new approach and creativity coaching program that uses mandalas as a self-exploration, transformation and navigation tool.
In my classes I want to share my experience of the profound effect of mandalas on my physical and emotional health and inspire others to use this tool for your own health and growth.
Mandalas integrate all seen and unseen forces and create a sacred and safe space for everyone involved to open up and be empowered for making changes and shifting old patterns and cycles.

I am beyond happy to see the miracles my clients manifest in life after taking my programs!

I also started painting Soul Mandalas.
Most of my paintings comes with sacred geometry, especially Metatron’s Cube. I paint when I have a calling to explore some new terrain or create healing and support change.
Soul Mandalas are channeled paintings and done by request. Usually the process of creating them is accompanied by the Angelic Realm. I receive messages from the Angel Being called Angel 369 and write them down in my native language and then translate into English. The intention of each creation is to inspire a human soul like you to trust in your inborn value and shine your own authentic vibrational code and colors into the world.

I plan to rebrand my business soon and call it The Mandala Way.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There is a book “Breaking The Habit of Being YourSelf” by Joe Dispenza.
What I had to unlearn was Being “Myself” or being a sick person.

Since my childhood I have been having health issues. Being chronically ill creates a loop of dependency on others and lack of confidence in yourself and in your abilities to function on your own and withstand stress and life’s challenges and changes independently.
With time I have gained more understanding of why I was sick. I was growing up in an unsafe environment shaped by my father’s PTSD and alcohol addiction due to his military service.
That affected me deeply. I felt threatened by his behavior and unable to get the love I needed from my parents, which significantly impacted my well-being.
Illness often shapes our identity, creating patterns and relationships that reinforce a sense of protection but can also become destructive if we fully identify with them. This “parasite” of illness can blur our true selves and cause distress in our relationships. This “parasite” grows and can eventually destroy you with time if you don’t take any action.

The whole identity of a sick person is creating patterns and relationships to confirm the created identity for your protection. This “parasite” grows and can eventually destroy you. When you get identified with it, you get really confused. You lose your true sense of Self and feel terrible when It disturbs other people’s lives.

My journey to healing required deep introspection to identify triggers and shift towards a positive self-perception. I had to distinguish between my “Sick Self,” with its learned helplessness, and my “Healthy Core Self.”
I had to find that Self in me, joyous and powerful, and feed her with my love and appreciation. I had to ask for help to bring me back to the center when I would feel lost again. I had to train myself not to dwell into self-pity and criticism of not healing myself quicker.

Using tools like breathwork and mandalas helped me stay grounded and reconnect with my healing purpose. I’m grateful that I’ve made significant progress without relying on medication, feeling stronger and more aligned with my true self than ever before.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me is meeting them in person at classes or events. Word of mouth also helps significantly. I don’t really like advertising. I’ve tried various advertising techniques such as newsletters, Instagram, Facebook, business cards, flyers, and my website, but I haven’t attracted the ‘right’ clients through these ads.

I believe personal interaction brings out my strengths, which is sensing people’s needs in the present moment. When I share my story and offer them exercises or practical tools to shift their mindset, I often find people approaching me after class, asking about private sessions. This approach works best for me because I enjoy working with individuals who are ready and eager for change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/coachangel369
• Instagram: @angel369_insight
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaQiGong , https://www.facebook.com/angela.sokolova.1

Image Credits

Olga Listopad – photographer