Founders of Ajna, Mariya Ali and Deborah Atwell, The Statue of Suffragette Emily Davison
Mariya is well known for her work in children’s rights and her work with trauma especially, child sexual abuse. She is researcher, speaker and a life coach on a mission to empower people suffering emotional and physical pain. She blends social work, neuroscience and eastern mind and body yoga techniques to heal trauma.
She was awarded:
- ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons’ Award for Humanitarian work (2010)
- Highly Commended Women in Public Sector Wintrade Award(2019)
- Global Impact Award for Children’s Rights (2015)
- Celebrated among 80 women worldwide who shape public life by the London School of Economics(Above the Parapet ).
Over 30years she has impacted millions around the world through her work:
- Studied BA in Social, MA in International Child Welfare and PHD in Human Rights
- Registered Social Worker with Social Work England providing training for social workers and child and family protection police teams
- International consultant for UNICEF, Save the Children and Adam Smith International
- Continuous research publications in peer reviewed academic journals and online publications
- Public speaking, TV and online interviews and podcasts about the importance of self care and healing from trauma
- Conferences and retreats
- Served as the Deputy Minister for Health and Family and as the Undersecretary at the President’s Office, Maldives
- Worked and conducted research in various countries including the USA, Australia, England, Switzerland, Maldives, Middle East and Northern Africa, and the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) amplifying her non-judgemental attitude and cultural competence
My Breakdown / Breakthrough
In December 2012, someone close to me had written my obituary and gave it to me. I went into a deep shock realising that I was always living the life that others expected me to live. The comments in this obituary made me think I had a personality disorder. I was not able to sleep for two weeks, became agoraphobic and was too scared to watch TV for over two months. My doctor gave me sleep medication for a month.
I made an appointment with a psychiatrist and said, “I am ready to be assessed…I think I might have a personality disorder!” He assessed me and said that I had situational depression and anxiety disorder and that he could prescribe me medication. I refused to take medication and this is when my healing journey began.
My Childhood
One afternoon in 1980, the normality of life was shattered when my mom, my brother and I discovered that our father was imprisoned for life. I was just 8 years old. My father along with 2 of his friends were the first political dissidents that were wrongly sentenced at the beginning of a 30 -year dictatorship.
I received death threats, was bullied and isolated from family and friends, the days, months and years that followed were traumatic and left marks for years to come. My subconscious programming came out of the trauma and was reliving this on a daily basis. I had developed negative beliefs about my self: I was unworthy of good things, I was unlovable, and it was not safe to be me.
Despite the tragic circumstances I turned those fears and negative thoughts into positivity and success – Resilience. My motto in life became “ nothing is impossible…we just have to make it happen.”
“nothing is impossible…
we just have to make it happen.”
Becoming me
At this stage I questioned the very celebrated concept in social work “resilience”. It had got me success but at what cost to my personal life and health I asked?
It started off with therapy sessions at the Priory in Richmond, London. Through these sessions I understood that my body was always on “fight or flight” mode and this was making me really ill. I soon knew that just talking about it was not going to make a difference. So, this is when I found a healing programme that blew my mind away.
Within 20 days of doing the programme my anxiety started easing and within 3 months it was completely gone. I woke up at 4am every morning for the next 8 months and never missed a day. My life transformed into something I did not recognise. So, I decided to train in Metaphysical Anatomy Technique and Ki Gong, both known for their powerful healing qualities.
Finally I was becoming ME. I started feeling that I had the right to be ME in this world as ME. I have an unparalleled desire to inspire people to take action and achieve success in their lives.
