We were lucky to catch up with Neli Dokova recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Neli, thanks for joining us today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?
As a Reiki teacher and practitioner, I had various forms of trainings/schooling that tremendously contributed to my professional role as a guide to support people in their personal healing journeys. Schooling first began with a 200 hour yoga teacher training, which unlocked the means to understand what it is to self-heal on a deep level before one can assist and teach asana yoga. I was very fortunate to train with Derik Eselius under Axis Yoga Denver in a wonderful and supportive community environment. I then took my educational journey forward by returning back to school to obtain a B.S. in Lifestyle Medicine at MSU Denver. Not only was I able to take various classes on holistic health that taught me about the art of establishing healthy habits, but I was also able to study positive psychology and obtain a certification in wellness coaching under the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBH-WC). This training allowed for an intensive practice with various coaches and coachees and continued to support my personal healing journey while understanding how to simultaneously show up for others. With the addition of my certifications in Level 1, 2, and Master Teacher Reiki, I came out feeling set in my foundation as a Reiki practitioner and teacher first, while incorporating all other elements of my education to my Reiki practice.
Overall, my biggest takeaway from all of my schooling falls upon the emphasis of self-healing as a priority before moving forward in assisting others with their personal healing. This was a reoccurring theme in the philosophies of yoga, reiki, and teachings of lifestyle medicine. Often times as a collective, it is quite human to get caught up in the trendiness of self-care and healing, perceiving through rose-colored lens and thinking that we are embarking on a fun healing journey, only to discover that its not all pretty and fun. I remember being quite excited to learn various information about healing modalities from an intellectual approach, and yet, the main thing I realized is that what would truly make me a great practitioner is doing the inner work, becoming real honest with myself in the areas I tend to neglect and obtain an embodied understanding of what it means to truly heal and release trauma from the nervous system. This meant consistent and devoted practice ESPECIALLY among the dark nights of the soul, depletion and challenges. The work included daily self-reiki, yoga, coach practice, showing up for my peers and loved ones, acquiring all the weekly educational material and completing homework/examinations, while tending to my intuitive needs with integrity. This was NOT easy considering that I struggled with chronic depression, PTSD, autoimmune issues, fatigue and chronic pain. YET, my schooling inspired me on many levels, and with determination, I came out feeling more connected and healthy in my own body. Therefore my greatest inspiration is to maintain my integrity within my personal healing practice in order to be able to show up for the people I work with. In simpler terms, the more regulated I am within myself, the more impactful the healing sessions are with my clients.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My personal healing journey that led to where I am today began at age six with the realm of dreams and premonition. I grew up as a highly sensitive person, coming from a family of intuitives. Being originally from Eastern Europe and immigrating to the United States at a young age with constant relocation and change of guardianship, I suddenly started to become aware of the concept of detachment and shadow-work. This was crucial because the constant change of homes, schools, friends and guardians every one to three years brought massive heartaches and instability, and the discovery of doing inner work and finding home within myself became the top priority of my life. Through integrating wisdom and acceptance from inner-work, I kept unlocking new layers of intuitive abilities and expansion of awareness. This knowledge led to further embodiment of becoming a self-healer while deepening the understanding of releasing trauma from the nervous system. With my move to the Rocky Mountains in 2015 and discovering the power of yoga and Vedic philosophy, I started to find so much liberation in being my authentic self and loving what IS. Suddenly it became impossible to take life so personal because I found myself to be fully immersed in each moment. With deep clarity, I then knew that my ultimate purpose is to help people become their own healers in order to embody the love and true essence that lives at the core of their being.
Through my trainings of 200 hours of yoga, all levels of reiki, lifestyle medicine degree and certification in wellness coaching, I have been incredibly fortunate to keep my purpose alive and growing. With each client, my aim is to set a safe container that is founded on trust, curiosity, open heart and pure intention to support personal healing. Through the somatic approach of gentle Reiki touch, the recipient receives an energy alignment and chakra balancing in which hands are placed throughout the body to help stimulate a meditative and relaxed state of being. This allows for the parasympathetic nervous system to take over where energy flow becomes more fluid, allowing the body to go into its natural self-healing mode. Healing may happen on a mental, emotional, physical or spiritual level releasing blockages that are ready to be cleared upon session. This will depend upon recipient and their readiness to accept themselves in where they’re at among their healing journey. The duration of the healing timeline will always be unique and different to each individual and the trauma they are working on.
Something that I like to emphasize among my clients is that upon seeking resolution to a personal challenge, life trauma or sense of feeling stuck, receiving Reiki allows for one to step aside from the intellectual mind’s need to find solution and step towards the higher mind, or the body’s innate wisdom to find illuminating perspective and healing. Tapping into our intuition and learning how to trust it while allowing it to guide our discernment stands among the core values of Reiki healing. Therefore remembering what it means to be deeply in tune with ourselves and true needs, while having the ability to put the mind aside is incredibly regulating to the nervous system!
I’m happy to say that I take genuine pride in my ability to hold a safe container, be an intentional listener, and ask open-ended questions, but mainly, I take pride in my natural ability to radiate a strong sense of warmth, peace, calm and wisdom for my clients.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I always enjoy reflecting on how I met my business partner back in 2021, since it all played out in a very serendipitous way. First, I have to say that I have always been incredibly grateful to have found them at a time when I was ready to start offering my healing services. My partner had already established a private healing practice for many years and was looking to have a second practitioner join the business. With my recent training and certification in master level reiki, I felt more ready than ever to start working professionally, yet I was not sure on how, considering that I was new in the entrepreneurship world with zero funds and experience. This is where my partner came in!
I do want to share that a few months prior to meeting them, I had undergone a profound healing from my master level reiki training. I was able to release depression and trauma from my nervous system in a way that resulted in an expansive state of being rooted in unconditional love and deep peace. I’ve recognized that when such experiences occur, clarity appears to be a by product, with a sudden knowing of what to do next. These are also the type of experiences that fuel my drive to share the healing arts with the world because they are quite magical in essence.
When I was overtaken by clarity, I remember the very specific day I had conducted a playful coaching session with myself. It happened on a beautiful balcony, facing a view of mountains, surrounded by tall pine trees. Everything about that moment was so serene, which added to the effortlessness to inquire within myself on what it was I wished to create in the next steps of my professional life. With a journal in hand, I started to write down everything that came to mind as I meditated on the topic. I felt a strong desire to meet new people who felt ready to do the healing work and in exchange to learn from them. It then suddenly came to me to research top Reiki practitioners in the Denver area to simply inquire about advice on beginning my practice or see if there would be any opportunity for me to work through someone. As I continued to gather bits and pieces of my vision I began to meditate on the kind of person I’d like to connect with in support of my career. The best part of this vision practice was that it all unfolded from a space of play, curiosity and creativity with zero pressures or expectations of how “things should be.” Through this approach, the vision of a business partner instantly came to me! This included the way they visually looked like, energetic expression, specific personality traits, core values, experience in practice, parallels in our philosophy system as practitioners, and preferences for business structure/relationship and communication styles (I tried to get as detailed as possible).
As I called in my vision from a heart-led space and sent out emails to the first practitioners that came up online, I quickly received a response by the evening from the very first practitioner I reached out to. They were taken by surprise to receive such an inquiry when they were just getting ready to post a listing for a needed practitioner/partner in the same day! We instantly agreed to meet.
Upon our meeting, serendipity continued to play out in a way where I was literally seeing the person I envisioned days prior. Every single detail and preference that I wrote down was truly standing in front me in physical form. Funny enough, I also happened to embody the vision of the position in a way that shook up what became my new business partner. Our business and personal preferences aligned so effortlessly, and I was instantly offered the opportunity to take the position!
What followed after was truly a smooth flow of working together. I was incredibly fortunate to start working with clients right away. My scheduled dates would book up instantly and I was pleased to start building a clientele. My needs and visions were always met with pure intention and flexibility, which was something that reciprocated quite well between the two of us throughout the years. And although we have come to part ways in the recent months, the gratitude, respect and connection remains strong for having the opportunity to work together. These past three years served as a major stepping stone for personal growth in my career and I’ve been excited to continue my independent practice with more knowledge and confidence.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
With time and practice, I have come to understand that reaching fulfilment and success means having a clear vision, purpose behind the mission, and being regulated enough in one’s well-being in order to manifest aligned action with vision.
Often times we can get caught up in the attachment of our visions, creating a result of unhealthy need to be productive, feeling depleted/burnt-out and forgetting to have fun. This approach could set a foundation, however, if we don’t have a balanced level of self-care practice and tending to our deepest needs, then one can run the risk of potentially having the foundation of their business struggle or even crumble as a result. Therefore, take care of YOU first in order to set yourself up for long term success, rooted in integrity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lovewhatishealing.com/
- Instagram: lovewhatis____
