How to shift from depression to living a heart centered abundant life

Are you stuck living out the same day, same emotional state, same thoughts, same feelings…

This never ending depressive cycle that you can’t seem to get out of???

I remember thinking to myself years ago… “What’s the point of all this?”, “I don’t want to be here”, “I hate my life”

I would repeat these statements again and again and again. I would feel the corresponding emotions that came with these thoughts and I would get more and more depressed.

I did it for so long that it became my emotional home.



When I began my spiritual journey, I would have moments of hope, excitement and joy, only to fall back into the dark hole of depression. I couldn’t escape, at least not for very long.

I tried positive thinking, the law of attraction, I tried to “trick” myself into being happy and it wasn’t sustainable. I couldn’t maintain it, the pull of depression was too strong and I didn’t feel strong enough… Maybe there was something wrong with me, I thought… Other people can make the law of attraction work, why isn’t working for me???

I took some dark turns on my journey and as I reflect back, I am amazed how I made it through and teh best part.. Now I can share my journey with you.



In this post I am going to share with you some MAGIC!

Yes… Magic. I am going to share with you what supported me to push through those barriers and break FREE of the cycles of depression. I call it magic because that’s exactly what it feels like, when you feel just about ready to give up and then all of a sudden your prayers are answered!


Seven years ago I was divinely guided to a workshop in Perth, Australia. A cacao ceremony and breast massage workshop. This was something I had never done before, never heard of and was completely out of my comfort zone.

This is the first I experienced Cacao and it was the first time I didn’t feel alone.

Cacao became this wise grandmother figure for me, reminding me I was never alone, holding my hand and guiding me as I began my journey of self discovery and healing.

Cacao is a plant medicine, the rawest form of chocolate, and when processed in the traditional shamanic way with pure intention and love, it is Magic.

She supports you on your journey from head to heart.. Softening and opening your heart so that you can let love in and reconnect to your true, authentic self..

She reminds you that you are never alone, never have been, never will be..

Cacao came into my life at the perfect time and has been a guiding light, whenever I fell back down and journeyed down the rabbit holes, I would hear this whisper, Grandmother Cacao was calling me home.

Offering wisdom, insights, healing, self-awareness, reconnection, support, grounding, relaxing, clarity, focus, and more. When working with Cacao, you are working with energy and the possibilities are endless. She will work with you, where you are at and offer you what is needed at this time.

Journeying with cacao has been transformational not only for me but for those who I work with and share this medicine with. I have been guided through cacao into living a heart centered, abundant life.

Please note that it is important to work with good quality, ethical ceremonial cacao.
You can purchase cacao from my online store here
I also offer online cacao ceremonies via my online store and in our Flying Spirit Community


So now I felt supported and I had this knowing that I wasn’t alone… But that didn’t quite fix everything. I was still experiencing highs and lows and not living the life I truly knew I was destined for… What next???

I didn’t realize at the time but having this support system was VITAL for what came next…

Can you guess what it was???
Yep… Breathwork.


If you know me already, you know how passionate I am about breathwork and this is because I have experienced the MAGIC first hand.

I never even considered that I was a traumatized person walking around with a bucket load (a very big bucket) of stuff all up in my beingness, weighing me down so heavily that I could barely hold myself up at times, literally.

I was so heavy it was hard to get out of bed most mornings. I’d get some burst of motivation and be like “Yeah I’m going to do this, I’m feeling great, I’m going to make my dreams come true”, only to fall back down even deeper and heavier and it just felt absolutely hopeles… I just couldn’t do it.


Well when you’re carrying a lot of baggage it’s pretty hard to run, sprint, skip, jump and skyrocket through life and create an abundant life. When you have so much pain inside it’s hard to be in your heart because that means you would have to feel it…

When we hold trauma in the body, we tend to hang out in the head to avoid feeling. This was me.


Through breathwork I made an incredible discovery…

I was in fact traumatized.

I had no idea just how much I was holding inside. Breathwork and the right support system, safe place and incredible practitioners allowed me to let down my walls, feel my emotions and express.

Through expression we release bound up energy and release the heaviness weighing us down.

You feel lighter, clearer, connected, grounded, relaxed, in tune, and often quite raw, vulnerable and open.

It can be scary to be so open and vulnerable when you don’t feel safe. Feeling safe and having someone support you in this process is absolutely VITAL to prevent re-traumatizing yourself.

Feeling emotions after such a long time of suppressing them can be incredibly overwhelming.

By pairing my practice with Cacao, I felt safe, supported and held. By working with caring practitioners who held me and welcomed all of me I began to feel safe, trust and let go. I am so grateful for my teachers, I really couldn’t have made it this far without them, that support saved my life.

Breathwork involves deep, connected belly breaths, movement, vocal and emotional expression, bodywork and meditation. It’s a powerful healing modality that connects you to the energy and emotions that are held inside so that they can be fully felt, expressed, released and integrated.

We don’t always know or remember what the trauma is and we don’t need to. Your body remembers everything and by connecting to the felt sensation as you breathe, you acknowledge what’s inside and allow it to move.

Sometimes you may cry or laugh or have other experiences and have no idea what they’re connected to and you do not need to. Through breathwork I learned to trust the process and be present with my experience, knowing that I am moving and releasing energy and it is serving my highest good.

Getting Strarted

In my free downloadable ebook I share with you a little more about Cacao & Breathwork and included is a guided audio to get you started. I invite you to start there and see how these practices resonate with you.

Subscribe to our newsletter and you will receive your copy straight to your email.

If you would like to go deeper with your healing I recommend working 1:1 with a practitioner. If you would like to work 1:1 with me you can email me at info@moniquecarmela.com
More info on working 1:1 here

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