Let’s talk
Intuition training | Embodied Alchemy |  Dream Actualization

This is your permission slip to roll up onto your tiptoes, reach up high and tickle the sun’s warm belly with your fingertips because the sky is your only limit here 🌞

Let’s talk about you

I use intuition to support leaders like you empty of you the things that keep you stuck and connect to what you are here to create and share: to connect you to your contribution and heart.

I want to help you see your s*%t. Every bias, belief, and excuse that’s kept you playing small or feeling like a victim of a system that wasn’t built for you. Through my work as an alchemy and embodiment coach, I want to reunite you with your true gifts so you can live your boldest, most aligned life.

Together, we’ll light the way for you to embody your Goddxx-like potential and reconnect with your authentic self. 

In a world designed to keep you in survival mode and monkey mind, holding the frequency of light and joy is the most spiritual and political revolutionary magic.

Because when you become your happiest, healthiest, whole-st self, you don’t just change your life. You shatter limits. You expand possibility. You create ripples. Big, world-shaking ripples that inspire generations to come.

I embolden creative visionaries to trust the very parts of themselves they’ve been told to hide, transforming their unique intuitive gifts into sustainable prosperity.

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 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

Ella or Maya, pronouns she/her or they/them is a Multidisciplinary Artist, Choreographer, Movement Specialist, Accredited Coach, Published Author, Teacher, and the Director of Ella Mesma Company.

At 14, Ella discovered salsa and and then Afro-Brazilian dance forms, even training under a Yoruban priest in Salvador da Bahia aged 22. But, like many, struggled with belonging, self-doubt, and finding her voice. Through her early contemporary dance training in Leeds (with one of the founders of Phoenix Dance Theatre), Ella learned to work hard, play hard, and dream big. She now carries that discipline, resilience, and bloody good Yorkshire tea everywhere she goes

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 Lagos, 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 women and non-binary folk 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.

A dance of intuition, grace, and joy 

When I was 12, my family moved from a small town to a big city. I was enrolled in an an inner city secondary school and on the first day, even before registration, I saw a child being beaten up and I felt intimidated. My new school was also very segregated (and a classmate told me)as a multiple heritage person I thought I didn’t belong anywhere.

I began trying hide my true self to survive and be accepted, and then luck struck: the most popular girls in my year took me under their wing. But actually, it wasn’t a space I felt good in, because there was almost always someone within the group being pushed out, and week to week I felt anxious about if I would be next.

To survive, I decided that rather than be me, I would watch how the others behaved and reference from then. I made jokes that weren’t mine, I dressed in a style that wasn’t mine, and that culminated in this constant anxious feeling that led to physical illness. When I took a week off, I began to feel better: I even started to dress in the way I like to dress again, but when I came back, it finally happened it to me… they had decided to push me out of the group this time.

The funny thing was, rather than that being my lowest moment as I had feared, I felt relief because I realised that I hadn’t been being me and that it was making me really unhappy, because I didn’t feel free.

Now, without these ‘friends’, I could be me again and through that experience, I realised I had an opportunity to carve out who I really wanted to be instead of pretending to be who I thought I should be.

In that time, I signed up for subjects I really wanted to do: like dance for the first time ever, and I just began to pour my heart into my creativity. As a result, I started to connect to this joy of who I was outside of being accepted, and as I did that I began to form friendships based on who I really was and to be myself. I realised that it is me, not other people who bring the best out of me and that it is doing what I love that helps me find myself. 

By choosing how I want to live and doing the things that bring me joy, I connected to my heart and attracted like minded people to me. I realised I get to decide on the life I want to live and how I want to live it and so the journey began… 

It was not a straightforward one… there were many moments when I forgot this innate wisdom, or gave away my power and had to work hard to remember my heart… but all of these twists and turns mean I am uniquely placed to support creatives (like you!) to come back home to themselves and their unique gifts and talents. 

As a coach, I will support you to move through life on your terms… to find your healthy boundaries, to connect to what lights you up and the gifts that are you uniquely yours.

My alchemy and embodiment coaching combines the discipline of dance, the ancient wisdom of alchemy, and the healing power of embodiment practices. Everything I deliver is in service of women, non-binary people and anyone who has ever felt the pain of being othered in your creativity.

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 on a journey with 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, but will you take your first step towards it? 

Let's Talk About You

“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

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.

Roots in Nigeria (and Yorkshire!)

Of Nigerian and white British heritage, I am inspired by my roots’ joy, power, and heart and how that energy has guided my journey back to myself.

Quick Links

Top Clicks

Stay Connected

Let’s talk
  • © Maya Gandaia, 2025