Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother. She is really my superhero. That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities, perspectives, and emotions about life. Too many women in this world feel alone. They worry about the judgment of others and they struggle with their mental health but when they listen to the Rare Girls podcast where empowered women share their voices and tell their stories, many women will feel inspired to live a life of freedom and to overcome all insecurities. They will feel it is a safe space to find, their confidence to remember their unique beauty and to feel their self worth and they will connect with a sisterhood of rare girls who encourage their success and support their dreams. That's what this podcast is all about. My guest today is Marina Savage. Even in Dubai, Marina is a human who supports other humans to thrive through the vitality of their hearts on all levels of the mind, body and soul. If she needs to name that, she can say holistic vitality, mentor and guide. Her first call was Drama University. She is a graduated actress and from there, life led her into sports and fitness and then to the healing and more holistic approach and work on the human physical existence. This is just a short summary because she is a multifaceted person, she doesn't have a particular hobby but she does have her rituals, things she loves to do, her whole existence and also her mission through her mentoring is to better humanity that operates through love, compassion, kindness, joy and empathy. She loves helping animals, nature and people. She respects every life on our planet. She, therefore, usually during the evening, goes around helping cats to survive in Dubai. Helping makes her soul happy. Every act of compassion is what she stands for. Maybe that is unusual in today's time, but she would rather go, to help animals daily than to watch TV or just being in the clubs. People before will judge her by her looks but when they meet her and hear her they are surprised with what her values are and for what she stands for. So all the rituals she does daily are all towards vitality, higher consciousness, living in the present moment and so on. This can be considered a hobby for her. Marina went through many hard things in her life and heart is the place that saved her and brought her where she is today. Heart is the courage to listen, to show up, to fully trust her journey when it's most hard so she has to believe and trust in herself and be true to herself no matter what. is a deep knowing, deeper than intuition. This is what she teaches, but she needed to learn that through her own battles, loneliness, sadness, feeling small, leaving her country, losing a parent, divorce of her parents, experiencing war in her nation and many many things, marina hopes, She can inspire others to never ever doubt themselves and the voice within their heart. And she sends love and light to you. Marina, how are you today? Hi Aziz, I'm great. Oh my god, I was listening this introduction which really touched me. And it's my introduction but I really really really felt it in my heart. So thank you. You are welcome. I'm honestly happy and honored to spend this time with you and honestly looking forward to know much more. So I'll begin with this nice first question before we see where the flow of the heart takes us. If your friends could describe your personality, what would they say about you? This is reminding me now on the exercise that I did on the public speaking coaching with my full soul sister Andrea. She's wonderful. So she had actually one of those practices where we needed to introduce ourselves or to speak about ourselves in the third name. So I remember it was very, very hard to say that. But now I also let them in a better place. So how friends will describe me, they will always usually what I can hear from people, they're usually telling me that I am so different and so special, which honestly, I'm so grateful to hear that, to be acknowledged at that person. But honestly, as is, I never felt that way. I never felt that I'm different with anybody else on this planet. So I some some kind of feeling uncomfortable when I hear that, because I was thinking, why I'm so special? Because everybody, everybody had the gift. Everybody can have so much love within. We just need to remember that. And I think so because people know me of somebody who is always ready to help, always ready to say, "Yes, I am here to help." And they know also my unconditional love really for nature and animals, as I rescue animals almost all my life. So probably because of that, people see me as somebody who is there always to listen, to embrace people, and to share love. But I don't consider myself different with anybody else, to be honest, because we all have that potential. We just need to remember on the soul level really who we are. Thank you so much. We will explore what makes you unique. There is so much to talk about. So first, I want you to define a few things that seem to be very important to you. What is to you the meaning of vitality? What is the meaning for you of humanity and the meaning of love? So those three words, I can say that they are imprints that express parts of you that are deep. So what are the meanings of vitality, love, and humanity? I always like to say that who we are within and our deep knowingness about who we really are and how we feel about ourselves, it's a deep reflection to our vitality, it's a deep reflection to our world, to our humanity and which humanity we are creating. And also this is a deep reflection to the love that we are. So knowing myself authentically, deeply on the soul level, and stepping into my heart and living by heart is something that I can explain humanity, love, life itself, and vitality. So those three things that you were asking me is something that has very high frequency. And everything in my life that I choose to do, and it came to me with the reason, is really of creating with, I can speak in my name, with my life, better DNA of our humanity. So I always had that urge, even when I was younger, when I was a child, I knew to stare into the sky and to think how we are existing, why we are born, who we are. So that journey of who we are, I understand right now in my almost 44, through my challenges and my battles, my personal battles. But on the end, whatever we do on ourselves. I always say it's never about us. It's never life around us, just around us. Whatever we do to improve, it's really for standing and showing up more higher. It's for our humanity, it's for our families, for the future families, because on the end of the day, I want my life to plant that healthy seed into the ground of the Mother Earth, into my family, into the way how I'm treating people, how I'm treating my environment. So this is for me something that is really deeply important to my soul. And finally, I can speak about it because a long time ago, I was feeling so shy to express that amount of love. I was feeling so, so ashamed because I was feeling that something is wrong with me feeling this way, feeling so much love for humanity, for life around us with a deep respect. So I didn't consider myself nothing more important than a tree on the field, that one cat on the street, or the dog, or pig, or any other human being. So yeah, this is if I can explain that way, so that will be. Thank you so much, that was enchanting and full of love, and I want to hear your opinion and advice because you spoke about how you felt something was wrong with you when you were so full of love as a much, much younger woman. Well, there are a lot of people and women and girls nowadays who are encouraged in many ways by society to conform and to follow society and to not know themselves or trust that being their unique self is good, that people tell them it's scary, it's dangerous to be unique and different and you should follow what other people have done so that you're safe and there are many women who struggle with a sense of anxiety and not feeling safe in general. What's your advice to them for two ways? One, how do you believe is the right way to get connected to your true self. And secondarily, if it's scary to live true to yourself, how can they have the courage to do that without worrying, "Oh no, I will be too alone and detached from the love of society if I don't conform." Thank you so much for this question. Okay, I always, I can hear so many women really living like that because I was one of them. I was really, really one of them. And because I lived in other terms and I live in my own shadow. And I went through the dark side of my soul of actually I never, I never as is luck of love, giving love, loving people, loving animals, being there to help. So my friends, family, I never actually loved that in my life. But what I luck was really loving myself and understanding that I can allow myself also to be compassionate for myself also the same way that I can love myself also on the way how I am giving love and seeing and cheering others, right? So I can celebrate also myself that way. But actually, I never could allow myself to feel that way about myself. So through my life, I suffer silently. And I am the kind of the person that I was thinking, okay, that's life. So I need to go through it alone. I suffer in the in my own shadow. I knew to close myself in the bathroom, and to stand in front of the mirror for the two hours to look myself and to say the all negative words to myself how I'm not beautiful enough, I'm not good enough. I don't deserve this. And I could pour my soul out. So obviously experiences that I had in my life of being child of divorced parents, going through that, going through the war, leaving the country, being bullied. I mean, so many, so many things. I didn't know what my identity is. And because of that detachment from myself, from my soul, I couldn't give permission to myself to love myself. So I needed through my journey as is to find a balance of giving and receiving love. So I couldn't even receive love. If somebody tell me, "Marina, you are amazing." Any compliment, I was thinking, "No. Oh, no." I was thinking this is like my job to be that way. So I couldn't receive actually love. I didn't know. I remember as is when I was running my Ladies Only Fitness Club back home and people, the ladies, they love to come in the studio. If somebody needs to pay a membership, I never took money in my hands. I was saying, "Can you please leave me just on the table?" And the ladies were telling me, "Marina, but there is money on the table. Somebody maybe will take it." I was like, "No, no, no. Just leave it." I didn't feel comfortable. I didn't feel that I deserve for my work, for love, that I'm creating the classes for people, I didn't felt like I deserved to be paid. So this is every level of love that we can experience in life. I didn't know how to receive. So I know that a lot of women are scared to speak their truth, to show up. And I can tell you as is, there is a way, obviously, because where I am today, right, there is a way. I'm here sitting and speaking my truth absolutely, constantly with you and through the work that I do, because now I'm an entrepreneur, right? So I left everything behind and I was going through the journey, but we need to show up. We need to find right people. There is the right people, really. There is a soul people that can support you, to support others in that journey. There is the right mentors or coaches or friends, 100% that they can support individual in that journey. So person doesn't need to do alone that axis. You know, I went almost almost the big amount of my life alone through it till I didn't lost my dad before six years. So when I lost my dad, and unfortunately, my visa was in cancellation and I couldn't even travel on his funeral. So that loss triggers so much trauma within me. And I remember the words of my dad when I left country. Go there and show them your word. Show them that you are the best. You deserve that. So when I lost my dad, my dad was that support to me. So actually, when we lose something, we find love. When we really lose something, that was my call. So I took my responsibility to really work on myself and to show up every single day to look for mentors, to look for right coaches, to look for people who can really hold the space for me so I can really heal my wounds. The loss of my dad triggered just everything that was within me from this life and probably from the other lives, right? because it's not everything that we experiencing just made in this lifetime. We have so many things that we are carrying in ourselves, even from the past lives for those who believe in that. So so, yeah, I took my responsibility and I work for myself every single day. So I invested in so much education, books, mentors, coaches and everything that I study, actually, and teaching people today is something that I implemented in myself, in my life, of being where I am today. So there are the ways, there are solutions. The only disease, I can say, is when we accept our situation for decades and where we are denying and we are not making decision to actually look for help because this is very important. It's very important to know that we doesn't need to be alone in the process. And yeah, it's not easy if you are going through something. So I will invite everybody who listening this, always look for people that you resonate with and never feel alone. There is always people who can help you. So there is a way because as is, the humanity that we have today, I know that many people still doesn't realize that we are creators or all these chaos that we can witness today. Chaos that we are doing to each other, chaos that we are doing to our nature, chaos that we are doing to our animal world. So our internal environment is directly a reflection of that. And I say, okay, I took my responsibility because I choose and I want to. No matter how much painful is processed from A to B, but then I says to myself, but you know what? This is even more painful of me staying in the old mentality with my old behavior, within myself, with my old dark time of the soul, in my anxiety and stress, over judging myself, pushing myself, not feeling healthy, but showing to the world how happy I am. So I did everything to show to the world all the time how happy I am. And actually I was silently killing myself. So yeah, the death of my dad actually triggered everything within me. And I took that responsibility. Even my marriage feels different. Even my marriage feels different. Even my husband, when he saw the big difference and change and shift within me, he took his responsibility working on himself. So actually, I was also his mentor, which is very beautiful. So I can see the shift in my husband, shift in our communication. So what is the purpose of us being alive today in these times, very transformative times? And what is the purpose of us being a human on the end of the day? if we don't want to become and remember that love that we are so we can reflect and have capacity to share. Thank you so much for sharing that Marina. It was empowering. I have so many questions, but first I want us to hear your story. Take your time and share all the difficulties that you have overcome in your life and some of the lessons that you shared because often ideas become a lot more powerful when you share the real life experience that gave you that idea. You shared about your father passing away what other parts of your life, whether it's studying drama and becoming an actress, going through war, all that, what happened in your life that really shaped you and made you the person you are today. looking back, what are some lessons that really shaped the person full of love that you are now? I can say that actually my self-discovery and discovery of my identity and who am I actually started when I started with drama and diversity. So, you know, when you need to be on the stage, always everybody judge you, right? I'm telling you, you are good, you are not good. So I went really also on that time through dark side of myself, not really being expressive, being very shy and thinking that honestly I'm not good enough. So I had in my class amazing humans, but most of them were very, very open and extrovert. But suddenly from me, child and curious child and person who always make family, you know, to smile, you know, I was that child who always for the new year, make some kind of theater for family. So that was me. And suddenly I become somebody opposite, somebody self-judgmental, insecure, I lost my confidence. So I never could see myself that actually what I do and what I choose to do is good. And this is the process, right, of growing myself. So going Further by time, I actually pushed so much myself to to be actress and I was in acting for a while. But then after the while, because I was already in the sport, I transit myself completely into the sport and was like God's will also for me to do that. So after a while, I started to study sport And I open my ladies only fitness club. But if you're asking me about the real journey, I can tell you that when I was 10, 11 years old, when my country, when already started the war in Croatia. So that was the time that I already was listening about the war and watching the news and hard things that people going through. And also my country was going together with a very, very hard time. So I remember times when I'm traveling in the school, standing on the bus station on minus five or six outside for one hour, maybe even more, and waiting the city bus just to come, to step in into the bus so I can reach to my school. And when bus come as is, I cannot come in because it's full. So I need to wait another one. So I remember my body, remember those times of struggle, all waiting in a line, a long line with the people and waiting just to get one bread, one kilo of bread and one liter of milk. So I remember those times. And then we are going on the 1999 when my country was bombarding. And I will never forget that teaming was actually the birthday of my dad when all electricity shut down. And I was and I was jumping and skipping for five, six steps just to reach down to the basement. I was shaking. All my body was shaking. I remember that mom that evening gave me some tablet actually to help me to calm because I couldn't. So body remember those traumas. Even till today sometimes when I hear you know the planes flying very low, sometimes I know to jump. There is a lot of things. There is a really lot of things. Then after a while my dad left us. So I went through really kind of pain and anger and feeling abundant and looking my mom, you know, sitting alone in the living room, especially when it's some holidays and going through through pain. So it was really, really hard times. And I always was thinking, okay, maybe this is how life should be. Maybe all this pain and all this struggle is something that I should not talk about. I should suppress, I should be quiet. I can tell you that recently, actually, I remember asking myself, "Hello, Marina. Did you actually ever express the anger when your dad left? Did you ever actually express that in your 90? And I remember I say, "No, I never expressed that anger." So I say, "Okay, I did session on myself and I scream out my soul here in my house. I needed to let it go because I don't want nothing to stay in my body as that memory." So, you know, body always keeps the score. So we really need to heal. And after a while I left the country. So I left everything as is literally everything. I had the dogs on the street that I care of always, the street dogs. So I left my studio, I left family, I left my dog that I adopted and my cats also, everything. And I came here honestly, my way here wasn't easy. I was living at a time with the five girls in Alcoz. I remember in such a dirty apartment, we were beaten from the bedbugs like all over the body. Past control, literally every two weeks, past control was coming to spray the house. We had actually bleeding from the nose of the smell of the toxicity. I remember also that I gained nine kilos because my hormones started to work, I was a manager at that time, so I literally didn't eat in that house, I stopped to eat, but I started to gain weight because my body was responding to environment, to my completely different life that I felt I lost. So actually, we never lose as is, we always grow. And of course, that now I know why I came here and why all this journey needed to happen to me because I was praying for that when I was back home. I pray for the answers, I pray for the guidance. I didn't ask God, I want to go here and there and all of that. I never look to leave my country. I just pray, please God help me, give me the strength, show me the way. If I need to go somewhere where I need to be in order me to go on another level. Dubai, you know, wasn't easy at all, to be honest. I stay without money. You know, it was very, very hard, to be honest. I mean, my story was that way. So I always, when people telling me when they come and they living in nice apartments and, you know, just everything is so easy and nice. Oh, I say, oh my God, this is amazing. So I remember as is when first time I earn a little a bit bigger salary that was after one year and three months. I rented a room in Marina and I remember my friend actually moved me in one in the morning into that room and when I opened the room and when I saw a beautiful room, I was feeling like I moved in the mansion, literally. I was celebrating so much and I remember I tell to my mom, "Oh my God, Finally, I have my peace and my space. So I didn't even rent a whole apartment, just a room. Yeah, then you're not really to cherish and to be humble and to every single day to be grateful, just when you're awake and when you turn back and when you see what you did and what was your journey. And the point is really showing up every day for yourself and never losing that love and trust within. I'm always saying it's not just intuition, it is some deep deep deep trust in your heart that voice telling you will be fine. You will be fine. Oh I had. Give love, share love, trust in love. You will be fine. And honestly, my hard experiences never make me and pull me to be some destructive human or bad to other people or to animals or to nature because you know life wasn't maybe fair to me. No, I felt like I was giving even more love and because I wanted to because that for me was the point of life and in time I learned then to love myself also the same way. So life now feel more abundant, more wealthy, more expanded, more vital, more healthy, inspired. You have motivation every single morning to awake and to look at yourself in the mirror to say thank you God I see this human today. Let's embrace the day. Let's share the love, let's help somebody, let's feed the cat, let's help someone on the street, let's collect some garbage. So being the service that way, then we have capacity to do that. But when we are staying in our small stories and we are just around, oh, this is what happened to me, poor me, I had these experiences, we all my us is, we all had pain in life. We are all my pain, your pain, other pain, it's not a different pain, as a feeling and emotion is this is the pain, right? So all of these that I'm sharing, it's not anybody to cheer me up and to say, "Oh my God, she is amazing." No, this is just me to tell you, if you are right now locked in your pain, locked in your memories, locked in your experience, and you're not moving forward to breathe fully in service to yourself, to your life, to this humanity, you can do it. It's possible. I'm not nothing special than anybody else in this world. At all, nothing is special about me. We are all humans. We are all experiencing pain, happiness, joy, and all of these things. And at the end of the day, we're going to die as is. We don't know when, but we will. So we are all on our own journey, right? And we are here to support each other, to embrace each other, not to make harder for each other. So this is what I say. When people are in their own awakening journey, It's never self-obsessed thing. It's never just about us. We are going into that journey because we want to do that work. Maybe I'm first in my family doing this work. So I could feel shift in my mom, in my brother, in my family because I am doing this work. So we are healing the ancestors within us with all gratitude to them what they went through. Because of them, we are here. So I truly believe that we are as is on the way of creating the new earth, new humanity that is really more rooted into the sea, down into the ground, of remembering of that love that we came here to share. This is my heart truth. And I'm not saying that need to be yours or anybody else, but what I believe that every each one of us have responsibility to do the work. We have responsibility to do the work. - Thank you so much, Marina. That was absolutely heartfelt and totally from the heart. And before we finish, if there are some people or women who are interested to follow you, to learn more about what you're sharing your thoughts, your services, what is the right place for them to go? If anybody wants to find me, I can say the easiest way is Instagram and LinkedIn also. Also, there is my website, www.drivewithmarina.com. And yeah, if people want to read more about it and my service, but everybody can just reach out to me. Even if people want just to express and to share, and if they need just space to share something, they can always send me a message on Instagram. I'm happy to hold space. So yeah, it will be my pleasure. Thank you again, Marina. It was honestly my honor and my privilege to share your story, to hear your voice. I wish you always more and more thriving, always deeper and deeper connection with your soul and true self and to share love with millions and millions and millions of more people. Thank you again for participating. Thank you so much. This is really my honor and pleasure and gratitude that we had this conversation because this is the first time actually that I shared a little bit more and being vulnerable in this space. So thank you so much. [MUSIC]
