From Darkness to Empowerment: Discover Ligia Costa's Journey of Healing and Transformation

Olá! I am Lígia, and I was born in the beautiful Portuguese capital of Lisbon in the 1980s.

As a child, I was often called a crybaby because of my intense emotions and sensitivity. Being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I felt everything deeply, making me an easy target for bullying at school. My emotions were always just below the surface, ready to overflow, and this led to a lot of pain and isolation.

I found solace in books, drawing fantasy characters, and writing poetry. These creative outlets were my coping mechanisms, helping me escape from an abusive childhood and relentless bullying. Academically driven and an overachiever my dream was to become a reporter for a well-known Portuguese newspaper. In hindsight, my yearning to speak up for my truth and inspire others has always been there. However, I dropped out of school before finishing my A levels to follow my heart and moved to the UK to be with my soulmate, to whom I am still happily married.

Two years later, we were thrilled to learn we were expecting our first child. Unfortunately, I underwent emergency surgery to remove our baby due to an ectopic pregnancy. Though I later had two beautiful and healthy baby boys, the loss of our first child unearthed more childhood wounds.

Being a stay-at-home mum and feeling isolated made things worse. The birth of my second child triggered a deep-seated fear that I might become like my mother, unable to love both my children equally. The unhealed trauma from my childhood spiralled into a decade-long battle with chronic depression and anxiety. I felt unmotivated, emotionless, numb, and like the worst mum ever. One day, while driving from the school run with my youngest baby in the rear seat, I fell asleep. The anti-depressants were so strong that I struggled to keep my eyes open. I could have had an accident, I could have died, and worst of all, I could have killed my baby.

I managed to get home safely, but once inside, I cried out of guilt, frustration, anger, and pity. That moment was my turning point. I decided I would never take that medication again and would seek help. My children were not responsible for healing my trauma; I was, and I needed to take action.

I underwent therapy for three months. As I healed and understood the core wounds behind my feelings, I became motivated to learn about psychology and emotional trauma. This expansion of knowledge continued my healing journey without medication. Gradually, my creativity returned, and I started my first business, working from home to be around my children. Turns out, entrepreneurship proved to be a self-healing journey itself, filled with failures and restarts because I never felt deeply fulfilled and that my sensitive needs were being met. I knew I was meant for more, but I struggled to see what was missing.

During this journey of self-healing, I experienced my spiritual awakening in 2018 after my grandad passed away. I predicted his passing through a dream two weeks before he left this world. Having been clairvoyant since I was little, I had suppressed my ability to receive messages and premonitions to avoid worsening the bullying I faced. It took years and significant healing to realize that my mental health issues were symptoms of unhealed trauma and suppression of my true self.

I spent the next two years studying, learning, connecting with my intuition, and healing layers of trauma. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I had the emotional and spiritual capacity to embrace this connection with spirit and engage in shadow work. This deep inner work activated the feeling that my calling was more than what I was doing. By early 2021, I found myself at a crossroads, torn between a business I liked but found unfulfilling and a desire to pursue a holistic, spiritual path to impact more people in their healing journeys.

In October 2021, my dad passed away in a tragic car accident. My world collapsed. He was my anchor, the only parent who loved and cared for me. My inner child felt so alone, scared, and broken. I had to step back from my business and social life to grieve and understand who I was without a father. Losing someone so dear not only means grieving their loss but also the part of us that dies with them. We mourn for them and ourselves, recalibrating to a new reality that has changed us.

During this ongoing healing process, my spiritual awakening reached another level. I began to connect with my dad in my dreams and understand the signs he sent me in my daily life. With his guidance, I finally saw what had been in front of me all along: my soul's calling.

I found the courage and confidence to trust my intuitive abilities and guide women, particularly HSPs, who desire to rediscover who they are at a soul level, remember their truth, and reconnect with their sensitivity and soul’s calling. I help them embark on their self-healing journeys, embracing their power to heal and embrace their sensitivity.

I believe we all have the power within to be our own healers, and when we heal ourselves, we heal not only those who came before us but our future generations too.

Love and healing,

Lígia

Ligia's training and qualifications include:

Mindfulness and Meditation Certification, Journaling Therapy Coaching Diploma, Law of Attraction Certification, Akashic Records Practitioner, Principles of Business Administration (Level 2), intuitively channelling dreams and guidance since 1999, Soul Blueprint Practitioner, Trauma Informed Care and Coaching Certification, over 8 years experience in entrepreneurship.