A Western Woman Thriving in Saudi Arabia: Discovering Her Feminine Power | Ep 21

Can a Western Woman Truly Find Empowerment in Saudi Arabia?

Oana turns the tables on Health Pod Host Hélène Ioannides.

Hélène shares how a bold relocation to Saudi Arabia led her path of self-discovery and empowerment. Hélène's journey evolves as she becomes a personal trainer, first in the physical fitness realm and later transitioning into coaching.

Learn how her decision to move to the Middle East with her husband marked the beginning of an extraordinary chapter. She shares her initial fears and how she adjusted to the conservative dress code and social norms.

Chapters:
09:58 - Life In the Potentially Risky Middle East
21:07 - Challenging Traditional Gender Roles
24:04 - Fear of Judgment And Pressure To Conform
35:16 - How Structure And Motivation Influence Results
41:47 - Women's Damaging Self-Perception
51:49 - Uncovering Clients’ Hidden Suffering
57:50 - Healing Ancestral Trauma

Life in Saudi Arabia offered Hélène unique insights into a different way of living. Discovering how the nuances of the Arab world contrasted sharply with her experiences in Western societies.

Hélène discovers the power of embracing her feminine side. Her work with women in Saudi Arabia ignites a passion for helping others achieve not just physical, but also emotional and spiritual well-being.

Learn the story behind how she started helping women find their authentic voices and live their truth. Guiding her clients on a journey of self-discovery and transformation.

Press play to discover how stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to profound self-discovery and empowerment.

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Transcript

 Dr. Stephanos Ioannou [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Health Pod, your self development hub

Dr. Stephanos Ioannou [00:00:02]:
on mental health, psychology, and spirituality.

Hélène Ioannides [00:00:06]:
I fell in love with the Arab world.

Oana Diana [00:00:09]:
It's not often that you hear of a Western modern family that voluntarily decides to pack up their whole life and relocate to a very different, just, culture altogether.

Hélène Ioannides [00:00:22]:
I was curious. I was really curious. I was not aware of how extreme circumstances could be in comparison to where I lived. I was the only woman in a airport full of men. My knees were shaking. Who do I wanna be, And how do I honor more of me every single day without putting other people before myself? Welcome to another episode on Health But today, we're gonna do things a little bit differently. I'm going to be interviewed by Joanna, our video editor and production manager, and we are gonna be talking about What it was like to live as a Western woman in Saudi Arabia, how I had to be submissive to my husband in order to be able to survive there, and how my own healing journey was part of who I became and how I flourished to become the woman I am today. Let's tune in and watch the episode.

Oana Diana [00:01:35]:
No. I understand why the 1st episode was so weird for you with Jennifer. You were just like

Hélène Ioannides [00:01:41]:
because I think the lights come on. The cameras are on. And then you're here now, but you were over there. Yeah. And there was another person watching for it. You know? Just all

Oana Diana [00:01:50]:
that Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:01:51]:
The energy. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you just You're on the spot.

Oana Diana [00:01:56]:
Well, I've never been on a podcast, so this is

Hélène Ioannides [00:01:58]:
Well, welcome. Welcome to Healthfall, Joanna.

Oana Diana [00:02:01]:
You. It's nice to be on the other side.

Hélène Ioannides [00:02:03]:
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. It's amazing because You are helping us with the production and the video editing of this podcast, and you've been watching it from the other end. And now you're in the hot seat today. I'm playing around a little bit with our roles in the sense that I'm giving you the opportunity to ask me the questions. Yeah. And we're gonna combine it with some of the questions that have come in from our our viewers and our Instagram.

Hélène Ioannides [00:02:33]:
And today's episode is all about

Oana Diana [00:02:36]:
Healing the feminine.

Hélène Ioannides [00:02:37]:
Healing the feminine.

Oana Diana [00:02:38]:
What it is that Helene does exactly? Because I feel like you're a little bit of a mystical creature. You have an online presence that's really strong. You organize really amazing events with your husband, doctor Stephanos, and, you do a lot of work with women, but I feel like your work with women is not as heavily advertised and marketed as, like, your group events. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. So a lot of people are still not aware of what it is that you do and how you've been helping women in for years. I mean, you've mentioned it on different podcast episodes, but you've never, like, dived into it. You know? Not that we wanna give it away because I I think that it's something that's really special between a coach And the person who is seeking the the help Mhmm. And the assistance to really get to the level that they wanna but it's nice to know what it is exactly that you're offering and how you can help and step in.

Hélène Ioannides [00:03:48]:
So and I guess how I got into it as well Yeah. And where I began from working in Saudi and then transferring over to Cyprus and continuing with in the line of work of empowering women and helping them reach their goals, but at the same time, also tapping into their feminine and understanding more about who they are Yeah. Yeah. Which gets lost so often in this film. Crazy world.

Oana Diana [00:04:20]:
Because a lot of women live in their masculine energy, you know, and even women who are in business and entrepreneurs like yourself, That are, like, constantly having to manage and balance a lot of things. You're always like, go go go. You know what I mean? Mhmm. I wanna start off by saying how we met, Yes. And how I actually got to be in this hot seat, I guess. I actually met you at one of your ice bath events, Which came across to me as a sponsored ad on Instagram, and it really intrigued me 6 months ago. So it's been a while. And I found out that you were doing a podcast, so I was super intrigued and interested.

Oana Diana [00:05:01]:
And at the time, I had no idea that you and your husband Lived in the Middle East for not 1 year, but actually 6 years. So that to me was very fascinating because It's not often that you hear of a western modern family that, voluntarily decides to pack up their whole life And relocate to a very different, not only geographical point on the map, but just culture altogether.

Hélène Ioannides [00:05:31]:
Yeah.

Oana Diana [00:05:32]:
I'm really happy to be asking you these questions and really get to know more about what that experience was like. Because I know in season 1, you guys did cover, you know, your experience in Saudi. Mhmm. But it was a very general as like a family. Mhmm. I wanna know More about Helene and how your work started there. So take me through the Initial point of when you realize, okay. This is happening.

Oana Diana [00:06:00]:
We're going to Saudi. We're moving. This is the real deal. It's not just, you know, something hypothetical anymore. You're packing your bags, you're getting off, and then it hits you. What was that like?

Hélène Ioannides [00:06:17]:
Wow. That takes me back so many years. So many years ago. It feels like a whole lifetime ago.

Oana Diana [00:06:24]:
When did you go? What was the year

Hélène Ioannides [00:06:26]:
that you moved? So we are in 2023 now. We've been here for 2 years, and we were so 8 years ago. Wow. 8 years ago. It's almost a decade. Almost a decade. We went with no kids, So that was a whole process in itself. You know? Just making a decision that is based so solely based on where you would like to explore and where you would like to live in the world.

Hélène Ioannides [00:06:54]:
And we initially had many options. We had a choice to live in LA. LA. What? LA, somewhere in Denmark, if I remember correctly, and Saudi. There was 1 more, but I can't remember the other one. Oh, New Zealand. We actually You just had the opportunity to live and work in New Zealand. So what we did was, first of all, traveled to these places to discover if it felt like a match.

Hélène Ioannides [00:07:33]:
The only place that we didn't visit was Saudi.

Oana Diana [00:07:36]:
No way.

Hélène Ioannides [00:07:37]:
Yes. Out of all the locations, we were potentially Is Is there a reason

Oana Diana [00:07:41]:
why you didn't go?

Hélène Ioannides [00:07:42]:
We yes. Because you can't get into the country if you don't have a sponsor that will allow you to go into the country. You can't visit the country.

Oana Diana [00:07:49]:
So so at that time, Was there no free tourism into Saudi?

Hélène Ioannides [00:07:52]:
No. Not at all. Wow. Yes. But it's changed now? It has changed. Now it's much more open. But we had visited Dubai, and I fell in love with the Arab world.

Oana Diana [00:08:05]:
Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:08:07]:
There was just something about it. There was a connection to the desert, to the smell of oud, which is such a a strong cultural representation of The aromas that they wear

Oana Diana [00:08:18]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:08:19]:
In in the Arab world that I was fascinated by, yeah, the interiors of of the place, the people as well, and I was curious. I was really curious to not experience it as a tourist, but actually see what life would be like living as a woman in a country that is nothing like my own country.

Oana Diana [00:08:52]:
That's a big risk to take. That's a big leap. So, obviously, you're familiar with the culture, right, To some extent.

Hélène Ioannides [00:09:00]:
To some extent. I was not aware of how extreme circumstances could be in comparison to where I lived. Right. I was not aware of that. I had heard of so many terrifying stories.

Oana Diana [00:09:15]:
Of course. Like, that's the that's the thing. Saudi Arabia is depicted is, like, one of the most extremist countries in the Arab world. Yeah. And that's what intrigued me to hear the story of of how your work with women started there, and and that's why I wanted to know how the whole transition happened. So you had some concept of what the culture's like, but you didn't know exactly. Obviously, you were hearing a lot of things that get really blown out of portion as well.

Hélène Ioannides [00:09:43]:
Yes. Which I wasn't aware of. You know, I was thinking, could these stories potentially be true? Do women get whipped on their ankles if their ankles are showing all of these stories that I had heard. So I had heard the very extreme scenarios of

Oana Diana [00:09:58]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:09:58]:
Heads being chopped off in chop chop square as we would, call it and, you know, being whipped if you're not covered. And Then I knew of people who'd lived there for 20 years that were Cypriots. So my mind was willing to explore and take that risk to figure out for myself, Is this potentially a place I could live? And what would it be like to live there as a woman? Mhmm. And I almost feel like a detective trying to find out the truth. Mhmm.

Oana Diana [00:10:29]:
You were really on, like, a mission to just seek the truth about that part of the world Yes.

Hélène Ioannides [00:10:33]:
And just see If you fit in. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Which I didn't. I didn't feel like I did fit in. That's,

Oana Diana [00:10:42]:
Tell me about the feeling you had when you got off the plane Yes. And, like, stepped into Saudi land.

Hélène Ioannides [00:10:48]:
My knees were shaking. Like, they were literally Was there

Oana Diana [00:10:52]:
a culture shock when you just started seeing people around you that didn't look like you?

Hélène Ioannides [00:10:56]:
My first shock was I had decided to travel into Saudi with my regular clothes, modestly dressed, I'm not, you know, not tight leggings, but something that we wasn't revealing. But I'd met a Cypriot on the plane, and he said, You're not you're not going like that, are you? What were you wearing? Like baggy trousers with a T shirt. Nothing nothing revealing. Yeah. Not my typical kind of clothing, you know, with my my legs out or My decortation

Oana Diana [00:11:32]:
we find normal.

Hélène Ioannides [00:11:33]:
Which we find normal.

Oana Diana [00:11:34]:
Yeah. And we found like, we like dressing this way. We found empowering.

Hélène Ioannides [00:11:37]:
Yeah. Yeah. So That was my 1st shock. I was like, shit. What does he mean? I thought, like, I could dress how I want. I have to wear an abaya to maybe just enter the airport? What's an abaya? Okay. So this was my first is

Oana Diana [00:11:52]:
it like a burqa?

Hélène Ioannides [00:11:54]:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Is it

Oana Diana [00:11:55]:
a bur isn't a burqa and a bayah the same thing?

Hélène Ioannides [00:11:58]:
To be honest, I don't exactly know. When I say burka for me, it reminds me of the Greek way of saying it, and abaya is is just like yeah. The bottom part of it. So when you completely cover so it's like it's like a really overflowy dress with long sleeves and up until your ankles to make sure that every part of you is covered and that nothing of your Physical body is revealed.

Oana Diana [00:12:26]:
Is it thick? No. Okay.

Hélène Ioannides [00:12:28]:
It can be. Depends on, like, in the winter, they get thicker. You can get thicker ones. And in the summer, you have sometimes. There's a whole fashion industry around this

Oana Diana [00:12:36]:
as well. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:12:36]:
That's crazy. Yeah. It's so so you so

Oana Diana [00:12:40]:
you got off the plane, And you've realized I need to get an abaya.

Hélène Ioannides [00:12:44]:
I need to get an abaya, and not only I have to cover my hair. When I arrived, I arrived at a time when 3 planes from India and Pakistan had arrived with workers. Wow. So it was I was the only woman in a airport full of men.

Oana Diana [00:13:05]:
Oh, they were men workers?

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:07]:
Yes. Where was your husband? He was with me, but

Oana Diana [00:13:11]:
you were at the same time?

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:12]:
Yeah. We were at the same time, but I was the only woman. Wow.

Oana Diana [00:13:16]:
And I had heard that we would have

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:17]:
to take different lanes as well. Like, women and men. Wow. So I was freaking out thinking, shit. I'm going to be Separated. Separated from Stefano. And what do I do? Like, what do I say when I get there? Yeah. So I wrap my I I I do put on the, the hijab.

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:36]:
Yeah. So it's called a hijab.

Oana Diana [00:13:38]:
And I colored my hair, and I arrive at the officer. And I'm so scared.

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:44]:
I don't even think my voice came out. But he took a photo of me, and that was the photo that Remained on my ID card for the 6 years while I was there.

Oana Diana [00:13:53]:
Oh, wow. So it's your ID card photo?

Hélène Ioannides [00:13:55]:
My ID card photo. And The way that I had placed it, I looked like an egg. An egg that looked It's just really wrong. Like, the way that I had put it, it was covering half my forehead like this. And That photo reminds me of that moment because as soon as I arrived at the office, he goes, hello, and welcome to Saudi Arabia. This is this is not what I've heard. This this is this is not what I expected

Oana Diana [00:14:25]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:14:25]:
From a man talking to a woman and being so friendly and being welcome to Saudi Arabia. Yeah. You know? I I was waiting in line on my knees. I was so terrified that when my knees were banging together, I was I was literally shaking like a leaf. So

Oana Diana [00:14:41]:
this is what what can happen when we have so much fearmongering around certain topics and certain places in the world, right Mhmm. That are just depicted as dangerous or really extremist. Yeah. And then you're like, woah. You're so friendly. I didn't expect that.

Hélène Ioannides [00:14:59]:
Exactly.

Oana Diana [00:14:59]:
But in a nice way.

Hélène Ioannides [00:15:00]:
It was really nice. And when we arrived, we had a driver that picked us up and made sure that we were looked after. The whole process was smooth and easy to get into, and The fear slowly started to evaporate with time because you became more familiar with how the country worked

Oana Diana [00:15:30]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:15:30]:
And how the religion worked in how the culture worked and people and the way that you were meant to interact with

Oana Diana [00:15:38]:
one another.

Hélène Ioannides [00:15:39]:
Today's episode is Sponsored by Empowered New You, where we hold women's circles, I spark, and breathwork events and retreats across the world. You can find more information on www.doctorstephanos.com

Hélène Ioannides [00:15:55]:
and in the description below.

Oana Diana [00:15:57]:
You'll be able to book your events with us as well as subscribe to our email newsletter where you'll be able

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:03]:
to find more upcoming events. We hope to see you there. Saudi, for me, was a place where I got the opportunity to observe a lot, observe other people, and myself as well.

Oana Diana [00:16:22]:
Why is that? What did a typical day in the life of Helene in the beginning of your journey in Saudi look like?

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:33]:
So, initially, I was told that I'm not allowed to speak to men.

Oana Diana [00:16:37]:
Okay.

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:37]:
Okay? So Can you imagine me not speaking? Full stop.

Oana Diana [00:16:42]:
But, like, what if you were going to, like, a grocery store or

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:45]:
something,

Oana Diana [00:16:46]:
and then The cashier's a man.

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:48]:
Yeah. Exactly. So in actual

Oana Diana [00:16:49]:
fact, it's it's a myth, I would say.

Hélène Ioannides [00:16:51]:
It would you know, you would get into a taxi, and the taxi driver would naturally, change the the the mirror the direction of the mirror facing upwards so he doesn't look at you. And that's out of respect. What? The middle mirror? Yes. Where he drives. He drives a mirror. So you don't have eye contact.

Oana Diana [00:17:11]:
How is he checking the traffic?

Hélène Ioannides [00:17:14]:
From the other mirrors and his instinct. Wow. Yeah. So that was the first you know, as soon as you get in the car, you know, I noticed this. So this is me observing. Right?

Oana Diana [00:17:24]:
Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:17:25]:
And I'm not speaking and with the driver, and Stefano's speaking. And I literally, in that moment, realized, okay, Helene. This is a new role you're gonna have to play. Wow. You are going to have to adjust to the concept of letting Stefano take the lead.

Oana Diana [00:17:48]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:17:50]:
And you're gonna have to practice being more quiet. Taking the back seat. Taking the back seat. Literally.

Oana Diana [00:18:00]:
Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:18:01]:
Which at first came with, Would I say it was difficult? It was in one sense because I felt like I wanted to say things. But with practice, I realized that I was quite comfortable with sitting more in my feminine

Oana Diana [00:18:21]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:18:22]:
Than always having to control everything and speak and organized everything, and since I couldn't Yeah. I stopped doing it.

Oana Diana [00:18:29]:
It was almost like a release that you had to give up control. Right? Like, a weight came off your shoulders.

Hélène Ioannides [00:18:35]:
It's like I'd been given the permission to sit back, and that naturally gave Stefano a more leading role as a man within the outside world, not within the house. I just clarify that. That gave a lot of gave me a lot of peace of mind.

Oana Diana [00:18:54]:
That's very interesting. That's very interesting because I feel like in our Western society, we're constantly fighting for this equilibrium, like, just having equality everywhere and But we are not built that way?

Hélène Ioannides [00:19:07]:
No. Right? We're not built that way.

Oana Diana [00:19:09]:
Yet we shed judgment on these societies and cultures And think that the okay. The women are oppressed, of course, but we think that it's at a far more extreme level than what it actually is. Mhmm. And Yeah. It's just really interesting that you actually found peace in letting go of the control.

Hélène Ioannides [00:19:28]:
And being a very dynamic woman. Yeah. That that wasn't my Predominant role. Yeah. I'm very authoritative. You know?

Oana Diana [00:19:36]:
You're a leader.

Hélène Ioannides [00:19:37]:
I'm a leader. You are

Oana Diana [00:19:38]:
a leader by nature, and and you are empowering.

Hélène Ioannides [00:19:41]:
So to

Oana Diana [00:19:42]:
Step back was actually calming for you.

Hélène Ioannides [00:19:46]:
It was calming, and it was enlightening. It was an opportunity for me to understand me on a deeper level and changed my priorities in life.

Oana Diana [00:20:05]:
In what way?

Hélène Ioannides [00:20:06]:
In the sense that I was able to run a business in a much more feminine manner. I was able to trust in life a lot more, and surrender to whatever the result would be. Yeah. And that attitude actually opened up more opportunities for me. Yeah. More abundance. And I can even say I was a better wife and a better mother because of it when I did become a mother.

Oana Diana [00:20:44]:
Because you were living in your feminine.

Hélène Ioannides [00:20:46]:
Yes. And

Oana Diana [00:20:47]:
that's and I just find that I was just listening to podcast the other day that was saying, like, the same thing about Yeah. In order to lead, but you don't. No.

Hélène Ioannides [00:21:07]:
And I think that's something that we have been programmed to believe. We've seen how males run the world. Yeah. Have been running the world. Women have tried to seek equality Yeah. By doing so in the same manner as opposed to using our strengths as women to bring about our businesses in that way. And this is where I find that the work that I do with women and helping them lead their businesses and manage their schedules and manage their their whole life in a much more trusting and feminine way that makes you feel supported as opposed to that someone is chasing you.

Oana Diana [00:21:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. Instead of trying to be the masculine CEO but in female version of a company, why not do it in your Own feminine way. Right? Yeah. Exactly. Constantly chasing the same titles as men, but there are other gaps that need to be filled by women because those are our roles. Mhmm. Right? Yeah.

Oana Diana [00:22:10]:
So tell me about the process of how you Started working with women. Like, at what point? Like, what came to you? Obviously, you realized, like, okay. I gotta do something because I gotta keep myself entertained. I mean Yeah. I think you went through a lot of Self reflection. Right? You had a lot of that time to yourself.

Hélène Ioannides [00:22:29]:
So I spent the first couple of years, maybe year and a half, just sitting in 4 walls. In general, I seem like I'm really sociable and that I'd be at all the events and partying with, you know, what was going on, which again, by the way, it was done behind closed doors. Like, to get to parties, you'd have to be invited.

Oana Diana [00:22:51]:
. Behind closed doors with people of that culture or expats that were living there? Both. Oh, okay.

Hélène Ioannides [00:23:00]:
Yeah. Both. Even though I had the opportunity to mingle, which I did try, you know, for a certain amount of time. I felt that that's not really that wasn't my goal. Yeah. You know, I was there to I don't even know why I was there. Why was I there? I was there to really experience the culture and Try something different. I really like getting myself out of my comfort zone, which is a lot of the work that I I do with people, with women, getting people into the ice or doing breath work

Oana Diana [00:23:37]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:23:38]:
You know, or talking about the hard truths. So I like to get myself out of my own comfort zone and get me into uncomfortable Yeah. Situations where I grow because I love growth. I thrive on growing and learning and expanding. And if I'm not doing that, I almost feel that what's the point of living in this human body?

Oana Diana [00:24:02]:
Yeah. You're wasting life away.

Hélène Ioannides [00:24:03]:
I feel like I'm wasting life.

Oana Diana [00:24:04]:
What are Saudi women like? Because I feel like in our Western world, when you come into an environment of new women, you automatically feel this, like, Pressure to kind of be another version of yourself. I don't this is what I've experienced. Like, I feel judgment. I feel Like, I need to be overly loud a little bit to kind of be included. I've just always had a fear around being in circles of just women. Do you know what I mean? Even in high school. I was more hanging out with the guys because I felt it was easier to just they weren't they weren't as catty. So I guess what I'm asking is, what are Saudi women like?

Hélène Ioannides [00:24:42]:
Saudi women are really not what you expect because of how the media has painted this picture of women in that part of the world Ends, as you mentioned, women generally are catty between them. They're actually really loving and supportive between one another and Very welcoming. This this is my own experience as a Western woman meeting a Saudi woman. I have never been faced with bitchiness from them

Oana Diana [00:25:29]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:25:29]:
Or hostility or They're making me feel that I'm I'm less than in any way. Mhmm. They were always very excited in front of the idea of having a Western a woman that is so out of the box Yeah. Hanging around with them. And To bring your views to the table Yes. Yeah.

Oana Diana [00:25:51]:
So they can learn.

Hélène Ioannides [00:25:52]:
Yes. And they they love that. Mhmm. And, yeah, I felt a lot of love from them, which it was an overall theme within the country. People went out of the way to help us.

Oana Diana [00:26:03]:
Yeah. I actually found that myself just traveling to Arabic countries that the culture is very hospitable.

Hélène Ioannides [00:26:09]:
Like, they're so welcoming. They are so welcoming, and they genuinely mean it. Yeah. It's not done out of a, oh, I need to do it, or I'm getting paid to do it. You know, people will go out out of their way to help us, which is something you know, I've lived in Italy. I've lived in London. I grew up in Cyprus. I haven't experienced this kind of, and care

Oana Diana [00:26:28]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:26:28]:
From any other culture. They take the time. So much time. This is key in their culture. Even when it comes to getting anything done, just taking the time to do it, no matter how long it takes, takes off the pressure. Yeah. When you're running a business, when you're going for a coffee with a friend, when you have anything else to do, it always feels like There is so much time to do it because of their attitude and their presence.

Oana Diana [00:27:01]:
Because we feel the anxiety of, like, oh my god. It's time. I need to do this, this, this, this, and then you're always, like, on a really Chaotic rhythm of just

Hélène Ioannides [00:27:10]:
Which from a psychological point of view, it's interesting that they have these these this pace. They pray 5 times a day. So it's almost like there's this stopwatch that reminds them, hey. Come back to the present moment. Yeah. This is allocated time for prayer.

Oana Diana [00:27:27]:
Yeah. Because prayer is like meditation for us. Right?

Hélène Ioannides [00:27:30]:
Can you imagine if we had a timer where we would have to stop and meditate 5 times a day, and you really respected that? Exactly. Yeah. Then you your, you know, your whole being, you would resonate in a different

Oana Diana [00:27:44]:
Yeah. In a different way. You're so right. I never thought about That how much more balanced you would be. Like, we find it hard to even just meditate once a day

Hélène Ioannides [00:27:51]:
Exactly. Or twice. Exactly. So this is what I was doing. While I was there, I was noticing all The things that I was intrigued by, and I wasn't you know, a lot of people living there chose to say, you know what? They like this, or they do this, or, oh, I can't do my shopping because it's prayer time. So, you know, the shops would close at that time, so you would have to Leave the shop or just manage your time more strategically in order to get your shopping done, but I found the beauty in that. I chose to look at their time of prayer as a time for me to just say, hey. That's another opportunity for me to surrender again, sitting back into that feminine Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:28:32]:
And not trying to push something that's not gonna happen. What's the difference if I stress about it? It makes no difference.

Oana Diana [00:28:37]:
You're not gonna change

Hélène Ioannides [00:28:38]:
I'm not gonna change

Oana Diana [00:28:39]:
all of it. Of culture. Exactly.

Hélène Ioannides [00:28:42]:
So what's the point of opposing it or judging it? Instead, I would just change my plans. You know? I would go for a coffee. I would I would adjust. And that adjustment and tweaking of the way that I I viewed the whole country, made the process of living there easy for me. Yeah. But going back to what you initially asked me, how, as a woman, how did I, you know, begin working there as a woman? And I initially started 1st couple of years by spending a lot of time indoors with myself and Took a lot of time to do a lot of work on myself and understand Who am I if I can't be who I used to be in my own country?

Oana Diana [00:29:36]:
Oh. Identity crisis.

Hélène Ioannides [00:29:39]:
Identity crisis. Precisely, realizing that if perhaps people Can view the world in this way and they have this way of living, could my own way of living and my own beliefs have fault also. Absolutely. Because We believe what we believe as a western culture

Oana Diana [00:30:08]:
This is the way.

Hélène Ioannides [00:30:09]:
Because this is the way. This is the only way we've known, but so do they. So Who's right and who's wrong? And is there a right and wrong? Or can everyone just live how they want to live in their own way? But that did Put a huge question mark on how I viewed myself Mhmm. How I viewed the world, and how I how I was brought up. Very interesting. So with all of those Questions in mind, I started to do a lot more work on myself, dig deeper. I looked into therapy, into finding ways that would bring me back to meditation. And I wasn't into meditation before, but I was really into working out.

Oana Diana [00:31:00]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:31:01]:
And Which is a form of therapy. Precisely. That's what I used exercise or to keep bringing me back to my body Yeah. To connect into my body, to understand that, okay. Fuck. I feel stressed today, or I feel angry with myself because I'm not doing enough, or I perhaps I'm feeling a bit of resentment for being in this space.

Oana Diana [00:31:26]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:31:26]:
What am I gonna do with this energy? I'm gonna exercise.

Oana Diana [00:31:29]:
You're using it to bring awareness to what you were feeling.

Hélène Ioannides [00:31:32]:
To bring awareness to what I was feeling and to connect to my body and connect to myself and Realign. So I was realigning myself through exercise. Now through this process of me working on myself, We used to live in a compound, which is a closed it's like a closed city where everything a gated community. Gated community where you get to Put your bikini on and swim.

Oana Diana [00:31:58]:
Oh, you were allowed to do those things?

Hélène Ioannides [00:32:00]:
Yes. Yes. I yeah. So within closed Within a closed gated community, you could do that Yeah. And go to the gym in my leggings and my shorts, walk around the compound how I wanted to. So I That that freedom did exist within closed

Oana Diana [00:32:14]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:32:15]:
So you you were, like, in a in a prison. It was it was a prison that you were permitted to do what could do and as soon as you left that box, you would have to

Oana Diana [00:32:25]:
Yeah. It's like a bubble.

Hélène Ioannides [00:32:26]:
It's a bubble. It's a bubble. But we all live in those bubbles as well. That's, know?

Oana Diana [00:32:30]:
Even here.

Hélène Ioannides [00:32:31]:
Yeah. Even within your household, you live in a bubble. Within, you know, your your your community, within society. Yeah. So When I started to adjust to these bubbles and these roles that I would have to play in each in each environment, I kinda got the hang of things. Now one of my most favorable places to spend a lot of my time was the gym. Mhmm. And that's when I compound gym.

Hélène Ioannides [00:32:55]:
In the Compound Gem. I met quite a few women that would come up to me and say, wow. I love your body.

Oana Diana [00:33:02]:
Like, where were these women from? They were Saudi.

Hélène Ioannides [00:33:05]:
So initially, the women that lived in the compound were not from Saudi. They were from overseas. They were expats living in Saudi Yeah. Had a lot of time on their hands. Mhmm. And they were the ones that first approached me. And this is how I realized, okay, I'm getting a lot of attention around the work that I have put on my body. Can you train me? You know? Was there initial response? You know, like, please, do you do training? I wanted to learn more.

Hélène Ioannides [00:33:38]:
So as I do in Helene fashion. I make sure that I am knowledgeable, and I know exactly what I'm doing before I put it out into the world. And although I was doing training with some women, I felt like it was the time to really become qualified in this. And I would fly to Dubai every other weekend, and I got qualified as a personal trainer. And What's the best way to promote yourself? Social media. Online. Instagram. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:34:12]:
So I started with posting.

Oana Diana [00:34:15]:
What year was this?

Hélène Ioannides [00:34:16]:
This was in, so 2023, two thousand it must've been about 2017. No. Sorry. I had Celeste in 2017. So 2015. Wow. It was 2015. So in 2015, you started your online fitness business.

Hélène Ioannides [00:34:37]:
So I started my in person in person. Fitness business. I didn't start training online. I started to put myself on Instagram publicly to be found in order to get more women on for training.

Oana Diana [00:34:51]:
Yeah. To bring the client to go. The

Hélène Ioannides [00:34:53]:
client to. And And with that, I noticed that I really enjoyed having groups of women Mhmm. As opposed to training 1 on 1. And I really noticed that people in life needed structure.

Oana Diana [00:35:14]:
Yeah. We all do. We all do.

Hélène Ioannides [00:35:16]:
We all do. Without that structure, they couldn't thrive. Because if they would show up to 1 class and then come to another class after, you know, a couple of weeks or, you know, they didn't have that structure in place And that motivation, then they wouldn't have results. And for me, it really was all about the results. If I've promised to deliver something, I have to deliver it. Yeah. And if I know you're in it 100%, then that way I can make sure that you were gonna get there.

Oana Diana [00:35:46]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:35:47]:
And that's when My boot camps came about. So the concept of having many women together

Oana Diana [00:35:54]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:35:55]:
Train them all at once, Them empowering each other, creating a community

Oana Diana [00:36:01]:
That's it. Community. That's what we're all seeking.

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:04]:
And In that structured, you know, element, they had to commit to a 6 week or a 9 week program. There wasn't, oh, I'll take a couple of sessions.

Oana Diana [00:36:16]:
But how did you get them to stick to that commitment with a really high price?

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:21]:
Got it.

Oana Diana [00:36:22]:
Okay. I think that was that

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:25]:
was the they knew they were paying enough for this, so it mattered. Yeah. Ends, the more Saudi women I got on, which by the end of it, I was only working with Saudi and working

Oana Diana [00:36:41]:
In person?

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:42]:
In person. Yes.

Oana Diana [00:36:43]:
So where were you holding these sessions for the Saudi women training?

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:46]:
In the compounds. In the compound. I converted my whole basement into a gym. So my So they were coming into your home?

Oana Diana [00:36:52]:
They

Hélène Ioannides [00:36:52]:
were coming into my home. They were coming into the compound. Wow. That was initially. And then I started using the compound's common area because The the boot camps became really big.

Oana Diana [00:37:05]:
Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:37:05]:
So, therefore, we had to expand and find a bigger space.

Oana Diana [00:37:08]:
Were they able to express themselves through, like, fitness fashion when they were coming to your space.

Hélène Ioannides [00:37:13]:
Yes. So they would take, they would come in with their bayas. Actually, as soon as they would enter the compound, It was like there was this transformation.

Oana Diana [00:37:21]:
It was like, yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:37:22]:
Let's get it all out. And, of course, not every woman, but most women were so happy to be there, to be in a in a in a space where they could take their abaya off, where they could dress how they want, where they could literally come and get their asses whipped. Yeah. And that's, I think, one of my key elements. I took no bullshit. I didn't care who your dad was. I didn't care how much money you had. I didn't care What status you had.

Hélène Ioannides [00:37:52]:
Status you had. Yeah. My rules are my rules. You didn't come on time. You didn't get into the class. Really?

Oana Diana [00:37:58]:
Yeah. Just lock them out.

Hélène Ioannides [00:37:59]:
I would lock them out, or they would have to do burpees in front of everyone.

Oana Diana [00:38:03]:
Oh, shit, Helena. I would not wanna be in your workout class. I had my rules, and I knew that this is what they needed.

Hélène Ioannides [00:38:09]:
I was doing it for them. Yeah. Of course.

Oana Diana [00:38:12]:
Being of service.

Hélène Ioannides [00:38:13]:
This is discipline and being of service to them because if they could walk in anytime they wanted and kind of half assed through the workout, They wouldn't have the results. So Yeah. What's the point of this? Were you managing their diet as well? I was. Yeah. I was managing their diet as well, and I was collaborating with nutritionists. Mhmm. I that would put together programs for them in order for the best results. How long was the the whole program.

Hélène Ioannides [00:38:41]:
So 6 weeks or 9 weeks. So I would start off with 6 weeks, and then I changed it to 9 weeks because I found that they They needed those 9 weeks. But most of my clients would take 9 weeks, and then they would take another 9 weeks, and then they would take another 1 in 9 weeks. So I had clients for a continuous four and a half years.

Oana Diana [00:39:00]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:39:00]:
They were my same clients from the beginning.

Oana Diana [00:39:02]:
Were they coming once a week?

Hélène Ioannides [00:39:04]:
How times a week.

Oana Diana [00:39:05]:
Three times a week.

Hélène Ioannides [00:39:06]:
Three times a week.

Oana Diana [00:39:07]:
Yeah. So you got a chance to really familiarize yourself with these women Yes. On Yeah. A frequent basis.

Hélène Ioannides [00:39:14]:
And I really got to know them and understand them and where they were coming from. And this was not just a space for them to work out. It was a space for them to be themselves Yeah. And express themselves and find a love of exercise because the Comment that I heard the most was I have never enjoyed exercising until now. I hate exercising. And it was it was the community. It was the way it was set up. It was the lighting.

Hélène Ioannides [00:39:48]:
It was the music. It was I was literally holding space for them. This is how looking back at it now. I was holding space for them to to come and be a version of themselves that perhaps wasn't they they were not permitted to be outside of That space.

Hélène Ioannides [00:40:09]:
Yeah. Thank you so much for watching this episode. If you'd like to dive deeper into your own personal development And tap into your most authentic self. You can book a 1 on 1 session with me. You'll be able to find the details in the description here below. I look forward to chatting with

Hélène Ioannides [00:40:26]:
You. One of the moments that really made me realize that I wasn't just doing fitness, I was really transforming women's lives, were The moments when women would come to me, I remember 1 woman specifically coming up to me saying, Helene, I'm a different person. My sex life has changed. Wow. And people don't recognize me anymore. I mean, this woman had changed her body.

Oana Diana [00:40:58]:
Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:40:59]:
But it it was beyond that. It was it was emotional change. It was mental changes. Yeah. It was physical. Yes. And you could see that, but there was a transformation from her inner world that exuded to her outer world. And I I remember how they would walk in with their shoulders slouched, head down.

Hélène Ioannides [00:41:25]:
And by the end of 9 weeks, they were walking out like supermodels. They would stand tall with their shoulders back, and they were glowing.

Oana Diana [00:41:35]:
Yeah. We're back. Okay. So tell me about the moment you started to Figured out that there was a transition from fitness into you actually coaching these women.

Hélène Ioannides [00:41:47]:
I realized there was a shift within me much earlier on because I use fitness as a means, yes, to get a result, but it was it was my therapy. Mhmm. And I had seen how much work needs to be done on each person, each woman specifically, when they would come to me and look at themselves in the mirror and say, I don't like what I see. Mhmm. And then at the end of 9 weeks, they would still look at themselves and say, I don't like what I see. I like what I see here, but I don't like what I see here.

Oana Diana [00:42:31]:
So they're always finding other problems.

Hélène Ioannides [00:42:32]:
There was always a fault. There was always a fault, and it seemed like no matter what we would do was never enough. So I recognized that there was an in a world that they had to work on.

Oana Diana [00:42:45]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:42:46]:
And it wasn't just the outside that they would feel more confident. Yes. But there was always a A way of thinking, a way of speaking to themselves, a way of looking at themselves that would never change no matter how many

Oana Diana [00:43:01]:
Workouts they

Hélène Ioannides [00:43:02]:
did. Workouts they did and how much plastic surgery they did because that was really huge. Wow. That was huge. I remember people

Oana Diana [00:43:09]:
But but why? Because and I'm sorry if I sound ignorant, but, you know, they are a culture that is quite covered up. So why Was plastic surgery so prominent,

Hélène Ioannides [00:43:23]:
in the Arabic world? I believe that They spend a lot of money on themselves Yeah. Because there is this perfect image portrayed to them. And Within closed circles, they do take the Abayo off. They are seen with each other. They travel. My clients were the kind of clients that Have homes in London, LA, Paris. So So when they would

Oana Diana [00:43:55]:
when they would go to these places, they would be like a Westerner? Yes. Wow.

Hélène Ioannides [00:44:01]:
Yes. And then

Oana Diana [00:44:02]:
they would tone it down back in Saudi.

Hélène Ioannides [00:44:04]:
Yeah. And their abya really like, What I understood is, obviously, yes, some women are, you know, very oppressed, and they have to wear it because their Father or their husband doesn't want them to, you know, to not to not wear it, or perhaps they choose to also wear it.

Oana Diana [00:44:22]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:44:23]:
But There were women that really, you know, make their own rules as well, and they wear it because it is a cultural thing to wear it in Saudi. It's it's like a badge of honor. Yeah. They wear it with a lot of pride. And when they are in other parts of the world, They choose to dress in all their amazing clothes that they have and show off their, you know

Oana Diana [00:44:45]:
Their style.

Hélène Ioannides [00:44:46]:
Their style and their you know, The plastic surgery that they do or they they wanna be they wanna be looked after. And, you know, if you look at the Arab women, they are Some of the most beautiful women because they look after themselves in this way, in the way that they do their makeup, in the fact that they they, You know, they work out that they love plastic surgery so much. It's all about the proportions.

Oana Diana [00:45:10]:
Wow. Symmetry.

Hélène Ioannides [00:45:11]:
Symmetry of the face. And it's not just the Face, you know, it's also where can my waist look smaller? How can I get that done? Can I put some butt implants? So that's that's just That is culture over there. That is the way Right. Yeah. That's the way that they live. Yeah. And that's So normal. Whereas, you know, if you were to maybe talk to someone over here about doing Botox or getting your lips done, there's still A taboo around it.

Oana Diana [00:45:40]:
Yeah. A little bit.

Hélène Ioannides [00:45:41]:
Yeah. Whereas there, it's like, oh, I just got botox, so I can't do burpees.

Oana Diana [00:45:46]:
Wow. Is

Hélène Ioannides [00:45:47]:
that yeah.

Oana Diana [00:45:48]:
To that extent.

Hélène Ioannides [00:45:49]:
Yeah. It's like, don't don't get me sweaty. Just get me to do my leg lifts.

Oana Diana [00:45:53]:
Oh, wow. Yeah. So So you realized that there was still an emptiness within these

Hélène Ioannides [00:45:59]:
There was an emptiness within them.

Oana Diana [00:46:01]:
That needed to be Discovered? Worked on?

Hélène Ioannides [00:46:04]:
Yeah. It was a lack of self love. Yeah. And this is where my work on self love truly began. And I started to work with them on their mindsets and the way that they spoke to themselves and how they wanted to show up in the world, like and through to discovering, Who do I wanna be? Yeah. And how do I honor more of me every single day without putting other people before myself. Yeah.

Oana Diana [00:46:41]:
Were any of these women, in business?

Hélène Ioannides [00:46:44]:
A lot of them. Most of them were. Wow. Most of them were, and they run very successful businesses.

Oana Diana [00:46:49]:
And they were also, like, functioning from their masculine energy, Or it was a combination

Hélène Ioannides [00:46:56]:
of both? Combination of both. The Ideal woman or man, talking about both, has to have a balance of both. It's not about a woman only being in her feminine. It's about seeing where you are more dominant and how you can bring more of the opposite, the more feminine into if you're very masculine or if you are very in your feminine. You you know, you've surrendered when I say, you know, you've surrendered so much in life that you just expect things to happen for you, but you're taking no action. Again, that's, you know, that's a destructive feminine that doesn't work in your favor.

Oana Diana [00:47:36]:
No. I

Hélène Ioannides [00:47:37]:
agree. So In our, you know, day and age right now, we speak so much about the feminine because the male way of functioning has been so predominant.

Oana Diana [00:47:47]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:47:48]:
But it's not to that's not to say that we don't need a balance of both, and we we, you know, we don't have the masculine. Oh,

Hélène Ioannides [00:47:55]:
I see you watching. I see you watching. I'm really enjoying this episode. So if you're this far through the episode, make sure that you like and subscribe. It really helps our channel. Thank you.

Hélène Ioannides [00:48:06]:
A lot of these, clients of mine were so focused on getting results on Physically. Physically on their body that they would not trust and surrender to the flow of life when it would come to making certain decisions, when things would not go as planned as they Do many times when you run a business. You know, it's a lot of trial and error. There's a lot of figuring things out. Things don't always go as planned. And in that Aim of trying to control things more, I find that you actually create more stress and tension Yeah. In those times and spaces. Whereas if she were to take a step back and slightly, give up on it Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [00:49:12]:
Then your attitude towards it changes. And when your attitude towards the business that you're running changes, then The dynamics and the energy of what you're doing also changes. The people around you that are working for you. Yeah. You know? If you come with that approach of I need to get things done. They should have been done yesterday. And then suddenly, you you realize that, you know what? Hey. I'm just gonna take a moment.

Hélène Ioannides [00:49:38]:
I'm gonna approach this a little bit differently. Then the whole project, the whole business runs in a much smoother way. Yeah. But, again, always coming back to the fact that you have to be firm where you have to be firm. Of course. Setting your boundaries, understanding what your boundaries are, who you are in in that space, and then also knowing when to surrender, when to give in, when to take a back seat.

Oana Diana [00:50:03]:
Yeah. And when to be true to yourself.

Hélène Ioannides [00:50:06]:
And what does that voice continually try to tell you? Yeah. This is something that we, as women, forgets because one of our superpowers is our intuition. Yeah. You're feeling gut.

Oana Diana [00:50:24]:
Your gut feeling.

Hélène Ioannides [00:50:25]:
That is your gut feeling that is leading with your heart. That is not allowing the Mine to take over, but to just, like, sink into the body and feel feel feel into what is it that I I feel is aligned with the decisions I need to make. And when you're in your mask and you forget, Get you disconnect. You are in your head. You're completely disconnected. You're completely disconnected. But when you remember to be more present, be more true to yourself, and Remember that there's a voice Yeah. Within you that speaks louder than any other voice that if you honor, then that's your path.

Hélène Ioannides [00:51:05]:
Yeah. That's that's your indication. That's what I need to be following. That's what I need to be doing doing more of.

Oana Diana [00:51:13]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:51:13]:
Then life flows Yeah. In a easier way, and It there is just more trust in the process. Mhmm. And with that trust always, always comes a lot more abundance.

Oana Diana [00:51:31]:
Yes. So now you are actually Working as a coach, as an embodiment coach, we've done a couple sessions together. Mhmm. I actually found that the way you work is really different than what I expected. Like,

Oana Diana [00:51:49]:
than what I anticipated. Took me really deep in my session into areas that I didn't even know that I was suffering in. Mhmm. So that was really eye opening. And That's why a lot of the times when people think of life coaches, they think, like, maybe this is a bit of a stigma associated with it. Like, oh, like, what can they do that therapist can't do or what what can they do that I can't take myself by watching, I don't know, a YouTube tutorial Or meditation or affirmations online. But you had such a specific way of taking me through the process even in just, like, The 1 or 2 sessions that we did, like, where you took me through a meditation, where you led me through your guided, guidance to really, Like, take the lid out off of things that I didn't even know I was dealing with. And then it was like a Downpour of just things that came to light.

Oana Diana [00:52:47]:
You know? Mhmm. Because we feel the pressure. We feel the heaviness of what we're carrying, what we're dealing with, but we can't exactly pinpoint of where they they're coming from, where the trauma's coming from. Right?

Hélène Ioannides [00:52:59]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Oana Diana [00:53:00]:
So, I think that's the beauty in your work. Mhmm. And, obviously, you only get to see that once you start to do the Private 1 on 1 sessions Yes. Where you can have the time and the opportunity to dive deep because you get to know the client, and the client gets to Get comfortable with you.

Hélène Ioannides [00:53:20]:
Yeah. And also understand themselves because it's easy to do a meditation online or dive into a YouTube have to say. But it's not personalized. No. And the way that I work is very intuitive. Yeah. So the guidance that I teach women to have within their business, using their heart to lead the way, and their intuition is the same guidance I use for my own business. So when I'm working with you, I'm I'm receiving what needs to come through for you.

Hélène Ioannides [00:53:48]:
Yeah. And I I trust that. And I've I've learned that if an and, You know, if a message is coming through, if I'm having a thought, then that is what needs to be delivered to you. Yeah. And there is no structure in it. But when structure is needed, that is also, you know, something that I do with accountability and making sure that you are saying, doing what you said you would do Yeah. As well as recognizing your own emotions And sitting with them, most of the times, what we choose to do is run away from our emotions.

Oana Diana [00:54:24]:
Yeah. It's so scary to sit with what you're actually feeling.

Hélène Ioannides [00:54:28]:
But the more we bottle them up, it's like there's only so much capacity your body can take. Yeah. And then you end up feeling overwhelmed, and you end up crying. You don't even know why you're crying, you know, because that emotion needs to come out.

Oana Diana [00:54:41]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:54:41]:
And it's just it's surging

Oana Diana [00:54:43]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:54:44]:
Through you. It's, you know, it's like this tiger that wants to be released. Yeah. And that's why I use breath work and somatic this is, to bring you back into your body, to help you understand where these trapped emotions are located and how You can identify them and what they're saying to you because every part of your body is also speaking to you. Yeah. And that's also where I use my My sound balls and

Oana Diana [00:55:12]:
I wanted to say that. Like, you just you you recently got into sound healing, and, I've heard you play them at a couple of your events, and that's something that you're really branching out to. And it's it's all new to me. Like, it's very interesting, The the healing through sound frequencies and the fact that you can do it from far away and how it works, and it's just When you're in the room, you feel your body vibrating. You know? You get chills. So, you know that it's something there. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:55:47]:
It's it's it really works on a cellular level to dig deep into unprocessed Yeah. Trauma, emotions that are trapped in the body, Memories that need to come to surface. Yeah. And through the frequency of sound, It's just so healing. It's so healing for myself. You know? Like, think about when you sing.

Oana Diana [00:56:20]:
How good it feels?

Hélène Ioannides [00:56:21]:
How good does it feel?

Oana Diana [00:56:22]:
While we belt it out in the shower.

Hélène Ioannides [00:56:24]:
Yes. Because you are vibrating. You are allowing yourself, first of or to bring sounds into the space and releasing through your voice. Wow. And through that release of of sound, you you are you are feeling better. Your stress levels get to decrease. You are You don't think when you sing, so it's almost like you are tuning into your intuition. You know? You are you are working from a different level of, Humanness.

Oana Diana [00:56:57]:
Yeah. That's why when we observe artists performing, we actually get to see that a lot of them go into a trance. Yes. Mhmm. Right?

Hélène Ioannides [00:57:05]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And finding my voice, because I do the sound sound balls, but I use my voice when I when I do the sound healing, has been one of the most therapeutic things for myself. And finding my own power, which is something that I know I'm gonna be putting a course together for women finding their voice to be able to express yourself in the most authentic way Mhmm. And have the confidence to know what you're saying, know who you are, and to express that, whether that's you you know, you wanna start a podcast And you feel like you don't have anything valuable to say.

Oana Diana [00:57:49]:
Everyone has something to say.

Hélène Ioannides [00:57:50]:
Has something to say. Everyone has their own story. Everyone has something to share, whether it's singing. You know, you wanna sing more. All of that connects to our Femininity and to our bodies and to sound frequencies, healing ourselves, getting out of the wounds that have been created within women years ago that we are not allowed to speak, that we need to dress a certain way, that we need to speak a certain way, that we need to sound a certain way. All of that relates back Yeah. To Ancestral trauma that in today's a and a day and age, so many more people are aware of. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:58:37]:
And the more we're giving ourselves permission to speak our truth and share from a place of authenticity and being able to be honest with yourself Mhmm. Then the more you're able to Truly live this life in your full potential as our own unique expression because we've all come here to be ourselves Yeah. And to be a unique version of ourselves, but we keep forgetting that by trying to copy each other.

Oana Diana [00:59:08]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [00:59:08]:
And that's where I found my own shift when I said, you know what? I don't wanna be doing boot camps anymore on fitness because it's it feels like it's superficial at this point in my life to only be working with women on that level, and I really wanna go deeper with myself and with the women that I'm working with. Hence, why, You know, in the last 6 months, we've started doing ice bath events, breath work events. I'm doing women's circles. I'm holding women's retreats. I've done this course, and I'm I'm working with sound healing. I'm performing on stages. Yeah. These are all things

Oana Diana [00:59:49]:
You recently started finding your own

Hélène Ioannides [00:59:51]:
Voice of the morning. Exactly. So that has been a process of me finding myself and gaining clarity in which direction and healing Healing. And healing myself. So by making space, by saying no to what didn't fully resonate and align with me made so much more space and time for the things that feel interesting and exciting and make me feel alive. With Yeah. And this is the work that I do with a lot of my clients. You know? When they find that they're doing something that doesn't align with them, how do you find more of you.

Oana Diana [01:00:29]:
Yeah. And how do you have the courage to take that stance?

Hélène Ioannides [01:00:32]:
Yes.

Oana Diana [01:00:33]:
Right?

Hélène Ioannides [01:00:33]:
Yeah. How do

Oana Diana [01:00:34]:
you have the courage to take that stance and and say, okay. I'm gonna do something for me now to feel good, to To grow.

Hélène Ioannides [01:00:45]:
Yeah. That really starts from making small decisions every day. Yeah. So I was saying more no's. Mhmm. Saying

Oana Diana [01:00:54]:
No is also an answer.

Hélène Ioannides [01:00:56]:
No is also an answer, and it's a powerful one. And you don't have to give an explanation either.

Oana Diana [01:01:01]:
That that that's good, you know, because a lot of people feel that they need to validate their no

Hélène Ioannides [01:01:08]:
and over explain. And in that

Oana Diana [01:01:11]:
Or say sorry. Yeah. Why do we need to apologize for saying no?

Hélène Ioannides [01:01:16]:
We don't.

Oana Diana [01:01:17]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:01:17]:
We've just been taught that we need to. Yeah. Whereas your no is is enough as it is, and it's just a no. And when you feel comfortable with that, god, you get so much power. You just feel so much more solid in who you are. Yeah. It feels good. It feels like a weight just drops from your shoulders.

Hélène Ioannides [01:01:42]:
Because in that moment of acknowledging that my no is powerful enough and I don't need to overexplain or justify myself, I'm also saying to myself, the decision that you've made is the right one.

Oana Diana [01:01:55]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:01:56]:
And I don't need to have your validation for my no Yeah. Or your validation for what I do, and that comes up everywhere in our lives. You know? Whether it's how I'm dressing. Mhmm. It's not just with setting your boundaries, but it just comes to the point where I no longer need Your validation for me to know that Yeah. I feel comfortable with who I am. And a lot of people may look at me with my transition or throughout my life. I think, you know what? She's a bit weird.

Hélène Ioannides [01:02:28]:
She's a bit crazy. But knowing that I am that as well gives me the confidence to just be me. Because if I'm not me and I'm pretending to be someone else. I personally feel suffocated in my own existence.

Oana Diana [01:02:45]:
Of course, you suffer. You're in constant suffering.

Hélène Ioannides [01:02:49]:
In conflict with who you wanna be. So what better way to be than just be ourselves and had the confidence to support that Yeah. And the courage to say, fuck no. This is not me anymore. This is who I Choose to show up as.

Oana Diana [01:03:07]:
That's powerful. That's really powerful. So you really Have tapped into your own way and rhythm to guide and help other women Get in touch with that side of themselves. Yeah. And embody that.

Hélène Ioannides [01:03:25]:
Embody that. Yeah. Yeah. To empower them, Allow them to embody that and feel empowered in who they are Mhmm. And Know that that's enough.

Oana Diana [01:03:40]:
I'm really happy that we had this conversation.

Hélène Ioannides [01:03:43]:
And it's just It's really refreshing talking about it as well because, You know, doing client having sessions 1 on 1 with clients and having the events, you don't really sit down and think about all the things that you have done and how I've

Oana Diana [01:03:58]:
Your accomplishments Yeah. And how you've made an impact on their lives. Like, I mean, you know that you are because they do tell you Yeah. And you see the changes, but to have somebody kind of, I guess, interrogate you like I did or really Genuinely be intrigued about the work that you do and and having your your viewers and the world know about the work that you do is really, really special. Because I think that there are, there are a lot of different types of coaches out Yes.

Hélène Ioannides [01:04:30]:
And there's the right one for every person as well. You know? You may look at me and feel triggered or inspired by me.

Oana Diana [01:04:37]:
Exactly.

Hélène Ioannides [01:04:38]:
You know, that's that's because everyone is there to teach you a lesson and for you to take what you need from them. But at the same time, you find who aligns with you. That's why We actually need more people doing this work, more coaches, more people that feel aligned

Oana Diana [01:04:57]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:04:57]:
In being of service to people in this way because there are so many personalities out there that You may align with 1 person, and you don't feel so connected to another. Absolutely. So, therefore, you know, if you feel that the work that I do aligns with You there's a reason you're being called to do this work.

Oana Diana [01:05:18]:
Yeah. And, again, comes back to your intuition, what you feel. Right? And the only way to know is by trying. For me, there was a fear around actually doing the 1 on 1 Coaching because there's always a fear associated with the fact of being completely vulnerable in front of somebody new and letting them know, Like, your issues and things like that, even though you know that I know that you're not there to judge or Yeah. You know, you're just there to help. But I think easing into this kind of work and getting more in touch with your intuition and that side of you through women circles Mhmm. It's really good because it puts you in a collective environment, in a community where you see that other people are doing the same work. Yeah.

Oana Diana [01:06:05]:
Right? So that's a really good starting point, if you feel called to do that. Yes. And then from the women's circles and the work that you do in That that's where I realized where I could go deeper

Hélène Ioannides [01:06:20]:
Mhmm. And

Oana Diana [01:06:21]:
where I do need to work on or where I do have Blockages.

Hélène Ioannides [01:06:25]:
Right? Yeah. Yeah. And the more we come together as women Yes. The more powerful it is because we can share our stories with one another, empower, uplift one another, and at the same time, Support one another where we need to. So, you know, if you feel that you need that support from The facilitator, the space holder, or perhaps one of the other women, you know, there, then that's an opportunity to connect Yeah. On a deeper level with yourself and to dive deeper into doing this work. And when we come together, we hear other people's stories, and we re we are learning in the process Yeah. While we are listening and perhaps even realizing that, hey.

Hélène Ioannides [01:07:13]:
Maybe my story is not such a big of a deal.

Oana Diana [01:07:15]:
Exactly.

Hélène Ioannides [01:07:16]:
I'm making a bigger deal out of this and what it needs to be, so it puts things into perspective. Yeah. And at the same time, you you know, when you are hearing someone else, for you to be in that space to be receiving that message Mhmm. There is always a lesson for you to learn, and that's why maybe we are triggered by some people. We think, oh, what she said, I I don't feel that that really resonates with me. Or, oh, I see, you know, I see my my mother in that too. Mhmm. Perhaps I could do some more work around that.

Hélène Ioannides [01:07:51]:
It brings more awareness, and being able to have these open, vulnerable conversations with one another allows us to be more human Yeah. To feel our emotions

Oana Diana [01:08:06]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:08:06]:
And give ourselves permission to speak about them either 1 on 1, you know, on a more private Yeah. In in more private a session level. And in-depth. Yeah?

Oana Diana [01:08:18]:
Because you

Hélène Ioannides [01:08:18]:
go deep. Yeah. You go deep in the 1 on 1 sessions, and they are catered, you know, for for that kind of, depth and awareness and extraction of emotions to help Bring you back into alignment and understanding and awareness of what is it that I'm here to work on, and How can I really sit with myself and see Yeah? What's actually happening as opposed to the story I've told myself for so many years? And this Or

Oana Diana [01:08:54]:
or or feeling the persona that you thought you should be or that thought that you were for so many years. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:09:00]:
Right? Yes. Yeah.

Oana Diana [01:09:01]:
And I just wanna say that, this work is by no means easy.

Hélène Ioannides [01:09:07]:
No.

Oana Diana [01:09:08]:
It's not.

Hélène Ioannides [01:09:09]:
No.

Oana Diana [01:09:10]:
We have this idea that, oh, I'm gonna go through meditation, and then, like, time is up. I'm done. No. It's so much more than that. It's Really going to

Hélène Ioannides [01:09:19]:
It is, and there will always be resistance. Yeah. There will always be resistance on our behalf to do it because that's where the work that needs to be done Needs to be done.

Oana Diana [01:09:28]:
But I think it's the fear that holds us back. You know? Also, the fear of coming face to face with your true self. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:09:35]:
You know? I find that it is the fear of coming face to face with yourself, but It's also this limitation that we have been made to feel that it's easier to not face your emotions. But in actual fact, it's so liberating. So because I've been on the other side of it, and I've seen so many clients come through to the other side of it, it's never easy. You go through a lot of in-depth Pain and awareness about yourself. But when you come out to the other end, You are a different person.

Oana Diana [01:10:19]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:10:19]:
So why would you not wanna go through that? Why do you why do you want to stay in the dark pretending?

Oana Diana [01:10:26]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [01:10:27]:
That to me feels much more painful. Of course. But most people can't they don't choose to see that. They choose to see, you know, Why why do the work? I'm happy.

Oana Diana [01:10:41]:
Because we are creatures of habit. We are creatures of habit, so we like to sit and dwell In things that are comfortable for us Yeah. Instead of facing the unknown and the uncomfortable. Right? Yes. And it's like one of those things that It gets worse before it gets better, I think. You know?

Hélène Ioannides [01:10:59]:
Mhmm. You have to go through it to come up to the other side. You can't Yeah. Yeah. Most people think when they've had an awakening

Oana Diana [01:11:07]:
Mhmm.

Hélène Ioannides [01:11:07]:
Or a transformation, it's been this, oh, la Love. Like instant. Yeah. I've had an awakening, but it's you've been through the shits to get there. Yeah. You've been through a lot of darkness, a lot of self reflection. Yeah. A lot of times thinking and processing and analyzing and thinking and dreaming about it and feeling, you know, like, feeling all of this stuff and then being able to then one day look back and think, it was all worth it.

Hélène Ioannides [01:11:38]:
Yeah. Because I see the world in a different way. I feel different, and I can show up for myself in the most authentic way possible.

Oana Diana [01:11:48]:
Yeah. But I do wanna say one thing, Helene. I think that you cannot really start any self development work unless you're handling some level of self awareness.

Hélène Ioannides [01:12:02]:
A 100%. And I think that's really important. A 100%. I think the people that are under the belief that they have no trauma Yeah. Are the most troubled ones because they have never been able to acknowledge that, oh, shit. Somewhere along the line, I must have fucked up with someone that was raising me

Oana Diana [01:12:24]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:12:24]:
Did something that triggered me, or my friendship, whatever it is. If you think that, oh, you know, I'm trauma free, and I I have Nothing to work on. That's the trap in itself. Yeah. That keeps you asleep forever and in a perpetual pattern of never being able to see yourself for What it is, you know, who you are, what you can improve on.

Oana Diana [01:12:49]:
I think the people that don't wanna admit to trauma is they're the ones who Maybe feel like when you're saying that they have trauma, it's like you're kind of putting a blame on x, y, zed from their family or down their ancestry line. But it's not about that. It's about, Again, bringing awareness that it exists, that it did happen, and how can we work to heal it or break the Patterns. Patterns. Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:13:14]:
Yeah. And it's never about blaming anyone. Because blaming again, you you you're not in the in the state the right frequency. You know, it's not about pointing the thing. It's actually finding love and compassion and understanding that that person, whoever raised you

Oana Diana [01:13:28]:
did their best.

Hélène Ioannides [01:13:29]:
That did their best in what they did and With what they knew. If you find peace of mind in that

Oana Diana [01:13:36]:
Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:13:37]:
To accept them, That is a huge milestone for you Yeah. To be able to get to because you're not holding on to resentment. You've released You you're not holding on to hatred towards them or judging them. There's that judgment subsides Yeah. Because you've come to terms with understanding that the more compassion and kindness and love that you bring to that person Yeah. The more you Love, compassion, and kindness you bring to yourself.

Oana Diana [01:14:07]:
Exactly. It's like whatever you put out, you get back. Correct. To frequency. That's how it resonates.

Hélène Ioannides [01:14:15]:
Yeah. So today's episode has been absolutely amazing. I have loved sitting here talking about myself. To you, Joanna, thank you so much for asking all the questions that have come in.

Oana Diana [01:14:27]:
Me the chance to sit here and pick your brain, interrogate you. I don't like that word. But, yeah, I've always been fascinated by your story. I mean, when I first met you and I first came to your event, I had no idea about your backstory. Think everything that we go through in life is non coincidental. It's Definitely.

Hélène Ioannides [01:14:44]:
Carving our path. Yeah. And I think

Oana Diana [01:14:48]:
I don't think. I know, and you can contest to that, that you have if you wouldn't have had the experience you did living in Saudi. You would not be Helene who is Yes. Here in true form today.

Hélène Ioannides [01:15:02]:
Yes. Absolutely. I I give great thanks to all of my experiences in my life.

Oana Diana [01:15:10]:
Your teachings.

Hélène Ioannides [01:15:11]:
Yeah. My teachings, my hardships because they've made me who I am. Yeah. And I can sit here and talk about them, embody Yeah. Embody them and feel empowered by them Yeah. Which is the line of work that I do.

Oana Diana [01:15:31]:
And there's 1 more thing I wanna say that, you are

Hélène Ioannides [01:15:35]:
a coach, and You became a coach through your experiences, through your work with other women, but I think we should mention that You've also had a coach, a 100%. Every coach needs a coach Yeah. Because You can't do this work by yourself. Like, you always need another perspective. Absolutely. To guide you through. You know? Even when I was, doing fitness. I would have a trainer helping me train as well Yeah.

Hélène Ioannides [01:16:02]:
To improve. You know? Athletes need coaches. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. You know? It's it it's not a it's not something that we get to do by ourselves. So if anyone feels called to do this kind of work, Please feel free to get in touch and tap into that power and understand that you are not alone, and you shouldn't be trying to do this by yourself because, in fact, we need one another, and we need that support. And That's what I do best, and that's why I love what I do.

Hélène Ioannides [01:16:35]:
And I feel empowered when I do what I do. And for you to also understand that you can Be a fully aligned version of yourself in this world where you can show up as the most confident, Powerful, embodied woman that you were born to be. So on that note, thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much, Joanna, for you. Interviewing me. Thank you. And we will be with you next time.

Oana Diana [01:17:10]:
Thank you so much for watching this episode. It's been an absolute pleasure filming it for you guys. If you like the work that we are putting out into the world, please make sure you like this video and you You subscribe to

Hélène Ioannides [01:17:21]:
our channel. It really helps the work that we do.

Dr. Stephanos Ioannou [01:17:24]:
And if you would like to follow our journey on our IG accounts as well as learn more about our services, We provide everything for you in the description below. Thanks for watching. That's a wrap. That's a wrap. By the way,

Oana Diana [01:17:37]:
By the way, I was holding my,

Hélène Ioannides [01:17:39]:
my Mushroom ring. My mushroom. Yeah.

Oana Diana [01:17:42]:
Yeah. I was in the mushroom ring. I've been holding this, I don't know exactly what crystal it is. So when Helene and doctor Stephanos do their events and their circles, they have a little Gift for everybody, and it's usually crystal in the form of a mushroom. And I stopped by this one because I've been looking for a crystal like this for a long time. Walked into a crystal shop couple times wanting to get 1, but never did. I

Hélène Ioannides [01:18:12]:
love the jade one.

Oana Diana [01:18:13]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The green one. And then you said to me at the after the event that this crystal is for opening your throat chakra, and I'm sitting here with you today.

Hélène Ioannides [01:18:24]:
And you're holding that as your little anchor to

Oana Diana [01:18:26]:
help you with that. Really needed it to just I was fiddling with it the whole time.

Hélène Ioannides [01:18:31]:
I didn't notice what you're playing with. I realized you were holding something, but I yeah. Yeah. It's to open up the throat chakra and finding power in our voice is Just one of the most liberating things. I I'm yeah. I just have to say that. And Jade specifically is for the throat chakra and to give you the ability to be able to express yourself. And you know what they say about crystals.

Hélène Ioannides [01:18:58]:
They pick you. You don't pick them. Yeah.

Oana Diana [01:19:00]:
So there you go. Good timing. Yeah. Good timing.