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Intuition training | Embodied Alchemy |  Business and Dream Actualization

I help creative entrepreneurs remember that business can be sacred: because the sky is your only limit here 🌞

I’m Ella, though I answer to Maya too. She/her or they/them.

I’m a coach, a movement specialist, an accredited guide, and someone who spent 20 years learning the hard way that you can’t separate your soul from your strategy without paying a price.

For over two decades, I’ve danced across continents. From the Olympics Opening Ceremony to Sadler’s Wells and The Joyce Theater in New York. I’ve choreographed large-scale commissions, directed Ella Mesma Company, published books, trained in everything from Afro-Brazilian dance forms to breaking to aerial silks.

I looked successful by every external measure. But inside, I was hollowing out.

I was the person who said yes when I meant no. Who worked myself into the ground because I thought that’s what success required. Who believed that business was about hustle and that spirituality was something I did on my mat, that was completely separate from my performance and work life.

I carried imposter syndrome despite decades of achievement. I had moments of freeze live on stage. I struggled with belonging, with self-doubt, with the quiet voice that whispered “you’re not good enough” even as I stood on stages around the world.

It took me years to understand that this wasn’t a personal failing. It was a structural problem and a nervous system that was completely unbalanced.

We’ve been sold a lie that business success requires us to disconnect from our bodies, ignore our intuition, and push through at the cost of our wellbeing. That strategy is masculine and spirituality is feminine and never the two shall meet.

How about you?

By bridging the false divide between intuition and financial success, I guide creators to build businesses and live lives that are both wildly profitable and deeply authentic—proving that the path of joy is not just the most fulfilling route, but also the most practical

When we live out our conditioning we have a wharped perspective of the world and are stuck in that story and there is a cost to that

By unlearning the belief, bias and conditioning we connect to our unique truth: Innocence connects us to who we really are and what we would really love so we can realise our true potential.

Connecting to our truth brings us greater harmony within and greater alignment with the planet.

This is why I believe the best work on the planet is in supporting leaders & creatives live by and fulfill their potential: To know who they are at heart, to know what they love to do at heart, and to know how they would love to create it…

From imposter to Centre Stage: My Journey to Joy

At my rock bottom, I found alchemy. I went back to Brazil and let Oxum heal my heart. I retrained as a kundalini yoga teacher. I studied trauma release, intuition training, embodiment practices. I became an accredited coach.

But here’s what really changed everything: I stopped separating my spiritual practice from my business leadership.

I learned that quarterly planning could be a ritual. That setting boundaries was sacred work. That difficult conversations could be transformative when I stopped avoiding them.

I learned that business can be sacred. That workflow can be a spiritual practice. That spreadsheets and soul work aren’t enemies, they’re dance partners.

This isn’t about making your business “more spiritual” by adding sage and crystals. This is about recognising that the work of building a sustainable, ethical, thriving business IS spiritual work. That leadership IS embodiment. That strategy IS an intuitive practice when you stop pretending otherwise.

Trained in Afro-Latin, breaking, aerial silks and contemporary dance, Ella has danced across continents, from the Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012, the Joyce Theater in New York City, to the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba; and then her own large scale commissions and choreographies being featured at Sadler’s Wells and The Place and across the UK.

Ella’s path has always been global, intuitive, and deeply rooted. From Bristol to Brazil, from Leeds to Lisbon, Ella gathers tools, builds connections, and maps movement as a language to come back home to the body. 

Over 20+ years, this journey has taken Ella from performer and choreographer to alchemy and embodiment coach, exploring how creativity, intuition, and ancestral wisdom can transform not just our bodies but our lives.

Dance, storytelling, and intuition helped Ella smash through the glass ceilings she built for herself, and as she picked through the shards of glass, she found her true path.

Now, Ella guides others on their journey HOME to themselves. Helping them access their power, overcome limits, and live boldly aligned lives. 👇

Stage your creative comeback:

Creativity isn’t always a lightning bolt of inspiration that strikes us on a morning walk (if only it were that easy!). It’s about flow, trust, and showing up for yourself. But what happens when the flow dries up? When ideas get stuck inside your throat…

Procrastination is silencing your best ideas. Self-doubt is blocking your brilliance. Outright self-sabotage is stepping out and strangling your potential. 

Through alchemy and embodiment coaching, we’ll choreograph your creative return to yourself, reclaim your voice, and break out of harmful patterns that keep you from making your art. 

Because your ideas deserve to fly free, and your creativity is waiting to retake centre stage. 

That’s where I come in… 

As an Alchemy and Embodiment Coach, I work with creative entrepreneurs & directors to unblock what’s holding them back, reconnect with their intuition, and turn creative frustration into creative freedom. Whether you’re navigating a relationship, a career shift, or a traumatic past, struggling to trust your vision, or feeling disconnected from your creative fire, we’ll rewrite the rhythm together. So you can tap into your vast creative possibility and step into your Goddxx-like potential.

I envision a world where creative souls no longer sacrifice financial well-being for authentic expression—where prosperity flows most abundantly to those who are most unapologetically themselves. Where intuition is recognised as our most valuable business asset, and where building wealth through one’s most aligned creative work is the rule, not the exception. A world where every creator who dares to trust their inner wisdom becomes living proof that joy is the most direct path to abundance.

Who am I now? 

I’m British born of multiple heritage: Nigerian-British and white British. I’m recently married to the love of my life. I’m conscious of my many privileges and I believe true spiritual work requires looking at our own bias, examining how colonialism and patriarchy show up in our businesses and leadership, and doing the uncomfortable work of change.

I’m a multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, movement specialist, accredited coach, published author, teacher, and the director of Ella Mesma Company.

I’m deeply grateful for the practices and traditions that inform my work, from the dance forms rooted in the African diaspora to the ancient wisdom of alchemy. I acknowledge the painful history of colonialism and enslaved peoples that contributed to the creation of these cultural legacies, and I honour the resilience embedded in them.

I’m based (mostly) between the UK and Portugal. I work with creative entrepreneurs and directors worldwide who are ready to stop choosing between soul and strategy.

How I work?

I don’t do hierarchical structures. I won’t tell you I have all the answers. I won’t make you dependent on me.

I do trauma-informed, collaborative coaching that treats you as the expert on your own life. My job is to hold space, ask great questions, provide tools and frameworks, and walk alongside you as you find your own way home to yourself.

You’ll get practical tools: for conflicts, to establish boundaries, planning templates… You’ll also get deep embodiment work: somatic practices, intuition training, shadow work, and nervous system regulation.

Because you need both.

My coaching combines the discipline of dance (structure, practice, showing up even when it’s hard) with the ancient wisdom of alchemy (transformation, turning lead into gold, the journey of becoming) and the healing power of embodiment (returning to the body, listening to what it knows, trusting your intuition).

Everything I deliver is in service of creative entrepreneurs and directors who’ve been told they need to choose between success and soul. Who’ve been running their businesses well but are feeling hollow. Who are ready for their next chapter but don’t yet know what it looks like.

My calling is creating electric moments where your purpose ignites, and in our spaces together, your creativity knows no bounds.↓

Find your inner voice, move into outer brilliance 

As a multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, movement specialist, accredited coach, published author, and the Director of Ella Mesma Company, I bring my experiences in dance, coaching, and movement practices to deliver a truly holistic, one-of-a-kind approach to creativity. Through alchemy and embodiment coaching, I empower individuals to break free from limiting beliefs, embrace their cultural and social identities, and reconnect with their authentic selves.

Check out my credentials

  • Published Author of Journal To JOY , a book which has helped hundreds of people transform their lives
  • Director of Ella Mesma Company (A Dance & Circus Theatre Company) that has created over £300,00 of investment into the work, employed over 66 artists and £360,00 turnover
  • Certified TRE (Trauma Release Exercise)
  • Facilitator and bodyworker (Myofascial release & Rolfing)
  • 550hr Certified Yoga Teacher (Karam Kriya, Embodied Dancer, Yoga Body)
  • MA in Dance (LCDS/Kent University),
  • Certified Wheel of Consent practitioner (Betty Martin)
  • 5 times Accredited Coach (Natural Success, ILM Level 3, Relational Dynamics & Mind Matrix)
  • Holistic Pelvic Care practitioner (Certified by Tami Kent of Wild Feminine)
  • Sekhem Level 1, Usui Reiki Master (Natural Healer)
  • Mental Health Awareness Training, LGBTQIA+ Awareness Training, Trauma Informed Training (Curious Arts, MHFA England, The Centre For Healing)

A transformation that lasts a lifetime

One of my most recent clients has created a 4-day work week, moved to Egypt, then India, and now spends her days off travelling and enjoying life while being paid the same salary as before. And this is just 1 example of our transformative work together in action.

Other clients have launched businesses, rebuilt relationships, and found the courage to pursue lives aligned with their deepest desires. The impact of what we do rarely stays neatly within our alchemy and embodiment coaching sessions. Instead, it spills out into every part of your life, giving you clarity and confidence to navigate life joyfully and purposefully.

 

Joy is calling, are you ready to take your first step towards it? 

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“Ella is a wonderful, true and helpful soul who helps you connect with your heart and all your chakras.

She has many tools in her box and can gently help you find kindness and balance for yourself, nature, the universe and relationships along with anything other issues that are troubling you.”


DIANA PINEIRO, GODDXX PATH STUDENT

Bold values, big dreams and a whole lot of soul (go into this)

🌈Imagination as liberation

Creativity isn’t just about making. It’s about unlearning limits and dreaming bigger.

 I create spaces where you can push beyond who you’ve been told you should be and reconnect with your wildest visions. Moving you toward a life that feels as expansive as a sunlit horizon.

✨Intuition in motion

Your body knows before your mind catches up. 

Coaching with me is about listening deeply to your body, instincts, and truth. Through reflection and intuitive guidance, we’ll rewrite old patterns so you can fully trust yourself and open your life to joy.

🦋Transformation through action

Change doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from choosing. 

Together, we turn insights into action, dreams into steps, and blocks into breakthroughs. Whether rewriting old beliefs, stepping into your creative power, or launching something new, we move forward with courage, curiosity and community.

𖣂Honouring roots & legacy

The work we do isn’t just personal. It’s collective. 

Guided by the wisdom of those who came before us, we honour the cultural, spiritual, and creative lineages that shape our journey. 

With integrity at the heart of everything I do, your transformation remains true to you, while its ripples are felt far beyond you.

“I am so grateful for your energy & wisdom & I am so grateful for following my intuition to join your course in the first place

—it is just so beautiful.”

STELLA MCGOWAN

Honouring roots and acknowledging stories

I honour the courage of those who came before me. Their strength has shaped my being and life choices and given me wings to fly high and live out big dreams.

We can be sold a story of Love & Light that ignores the unequal world we live in so this is why I offer a tiered payment scheme to try to address the distribution of this work.

I believe true spiritual work is about looking at our own bias and the discomfort that colonialism and patriarchy create and considering how we work with awareness of our impact  so we can also create long term change (not only for ourselves but for future generations: this work is not just for our comfort, but for collective liberation).

I am deeply grateful for the practices and traditions that inform my work, from the dance forms rooted in the African diaspora to the ancient wisdom that guides my coaching. I acknowledge the painful history of colonialism and enslaved peoples that contributed to the creation of these diasporic dances and the resilience embedded in these cultural legacies.

I believe these teachings are the change because the people learning it then go out and create as conscious creatives… I strive to celebrate these legacies, create spaces for transformation, and invite others to reconnect with their own truths, striving for authenticity in everything I do, and ensuring that the power of these practices is honoured and upheld with care, reverence, and integrity. (Connect to my lineage here)

I also donate 10% of all Maya Gandaia Ltd earnings to 4 chosen charities: 

CARE: Poverty-fighting work around the globe. CARE place special focus on working alongside women because equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.

The Runnymede Trust: For over half a century, the Runnymede Trust has spoken truth to power on race and racism. Their work is rooted in building a more equitable and just future for our communities, one in which we all have the potential to thrive.

Mayekoo: A trusted crowdfunding platform connecting donors with registered and vetted social impact organizations across Africa. I currently donate to projects cleaning up the oceans that are being polluted by Western fast fashion

The Billion Trees Project: Supports the reduction of extreme poverty and restoration of healthy forests by employing local villagers to plant millions of trees every year.

Lineage and Acknowledgements

Of Nigerian and white British heritage, I draw from Tantric/Kemetic chakra traditions and Yoruba Orishas through movement, bodywork and intuition training. I acknowledge my privileges and honour the cultures these practices come from, sharing not as an authority but as someone transformed by these teachings. 

Other links

Mexico Retreat

Join us in March 2026 for an epic 6 day experience: Alchemy to JOY

(A journey to the Sacral Chakra of Mother Earth in collaboration with Ira Calixto, Casa Mama Yemi Project and Sota Space)

Joy in Community

Find out about our year round events

(Plan your year and connect with our community)

Let’s connect
  • © Maya Gandaia, 2025