Beyond The Words

054 Finding Light in Darkness: Riya Sokol’s Journey from Stage to Soul

• Dimple Thakrar / Riya Sokol • Season 1 • Episode 54

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Hello, dear listeners! It's Dimple Thakrar here, welcoming you to another heartfelt and inspiring episode of Beyond the Words. Today, we have an extraordinary guest who will truly touch your hearts. I am thrilled to introduce you to Riya Sokol from Poland. From the moment I first encountered Riya in a mastermind, her energy and presence were nothing short of magical. You're going to love her story and the wisdom she shares.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Riya Sokol opens up about her remarkable journey from a childhood filled with challenges to finding her true home on the stage. Riya shares how her grandmother's intuition led her to perform at the tender age of six, igniting a lifelong passion for touching people's hearts through her presence. We delve into Riya's struggles with depression, the impact of her empathic nature, and how she discovered profound joy in connecting with audiences worldwide.

Key Takeaways

  1. The Power of Presence: Riya discusses how her presence alone can profoundly impact others, a gift she recognized from a young age.
  2. Navigating Duality: We explore the dual nature of public life—the adoration and the criticism—and how Riya learned to navigate this complex landscape.
  3. Finding Light in Darkness: Riya's journey through depression led her to a powerful realisation: the importance of finding and cherishing moments of light amidst darkness.
  4. Acceptance and Focus: By accepting her darkness and focusing on moments of joy and connection, Riya built a life that honours both her struggles and her strengths.
  5. Living with Intention: Riya shares her daily practices for maintaining mental health and staying connected to her purpose, emphasising the importance of intentional living and collecting positive experiences.

Memorable Quotes

  • "I was born on the stage, and that's where I truly feel at home."
  • "The road to depression is always open, but so is the path to joy and light."
  • "Acceptance of all parts of yourself, especially the darkness, is where true healing begins."

Connect with Riya Sokol:

Final Thought

As always, thank you for tuning in to Beyond the Words. Your time is invaluable, and we are grateful you've chosen to spend it with us. We hope Riya's story has inspired you to embrace all parts of yourself and find your unique gift within. Until next time, stay blessed and keep exploring beyond the words. 

Dimple Thakrar Resource Links:

Website: https://dimpleglobal.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dimple.thakrar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dimplethakrar/

Beyond the Words EP54

[00:00:00] Dimple Thakrar: Hello and welcome to Beyond the Words. I have the most incredible, beautiful guest today. I first met this, let me rephrase that, I first felt this beautiful woman in a mastermind and It was like she just floated in, we felt her heart and power, and she floated back out again. And it was just magical.

[00:00:30] Dimple Thakrar: Without further ado, I would love to introduce you to Ria Sokol from Poland, who is just you're going to love her, guys. You're going to love her. So welcome, Ria. Welcome. What a gift to have you here today. 

[00:00:47] Riya Sokol: Hi, gorgeous Dimple. I'm so honored and so happy to be speaking to you today. Thank you for this introduction.

[00:00:54] Riya Sokol: I had chills all over my body. And, like Only hearing the title of this podcast is just deeply touching my heart. So I just cannot wait to have this conversation that will be both in the words and beyond the words simultaneously. 

[00:01:11] Dimple Thakrar: Yes, exactly that. So let's start there. I like to introduce people with how they made me feel when I first met them.

[00:01:20] Dimple Thakrar: And I, as I say I've corrected myself because I felt you first. That goes beyond the words, right? So I would love to share with the audience and I would love to understand even deeper. You have this profound ability to for your energy to project through anything and everything. And so I want to understand where did that start?

[00:01:49] Dimple Thakrar: And have you always had this ability to touch people with your presence? 

[00:01:55] Riya Sokol: What a beautiful question. I was put, literally, I was put on the stage when I was six by my grandmother. And she sent me to audition and I won this audition and I was in the group of children, it was around 1892. children and I got chosen as a soloist.

[00:02:18] Riya Sokol: So that was pretty extraordinary. And I had no idea what is happening, obviously, like she just told me, go there and show how you can sing and dance. So I did. And then I ended up on the biggest stages, like for 2000, 3000 people. And the thing that I remember the most from that time is that. First of all, there was nowhere else on the whole entire world where I felt like this.

[00:02:50] Riya Sokol: And the second thing was this feeling that I was getting when I saw people's reaction as I'm standing on a stage. It was just such a bliss and joy. And laughter, like smiles on their faces, that it was something, can say that it was almost addictive. It was like, I was longing to see people in that state.

[00:03:18] Riya Sokol: And somehow I think there happened some kind of conditioning where I knew that when I'm on, like to receive that feeling, to experience people's joy and happiness. I have to stand on the stage. I have to get on the stage and create that. So this is when it started, and then the story continued.

[00:03:43] Dimple Thakrar: Wow. So what I'm hearing from you is, and I want to ask you, I'm hearing you're an empath. I'm hearing you absorb the energy of others. And so that joy, that bliss that you were receiving from others, and a word that you used interestingly was addictive. 

[00:04:04] Riya Sokol: Yeah. 

[00:04:05] Dimple Thakrar: Talk a little bit about that.

[00:04:07] Riya Sokol: It was something like, feeling of connection, very special connection because it was an individual. It was like me and the crowd. Wow. As a whole body, as a whole body. And at the same time, I could feel my impact. I could feel like, It does something for these people. And we were traveling around Poland, but also around the world.

[00:04:34] Riya Sokol: This is when I first started visiting Europe and other countries, other continents, because This was really special for me that I could also get to know other cultures. And was performing internationally because these were different audiences, but still the feeling was the same. It was the special connection and the bliss.

[00:04:58] Riya Sokol: And in something that I didn't even know what I'm doing because it wasn't much of an effort. It was some kind of me being there. And I think as I was getting older, I was trying to understand why people love me so much. And this is where the story started to kick in and ego and all the wounds and so forth.

[00:05:22] Riya Sokol: But at the very beginning, it was just, Literally just being, just without any stories, without any effort, without any trying to prove anything or deserve anything. It was just literally happening as I was standing there. 

[00:05:36] Dimple Thakrar: Wow. This is fascinating. 'cause as a child, you said it was, you were when you were six that your grandma first put you on the stage.

[00:05:44] Dimple Thakrar: So there was very little ego as a child. There's just being, there's presence. We're in theater brainwave for most of that time. So you're super connected to source in the beingness of you, right? . So I'm curious, why did your grandma decide to put you on the stage at six? I've asked her 

[00:06:04] Riya Sokol: thousands of times.

[00:06:06] Riya Sokol: She said it was pretty obvious for her. It was like, this is where you belong. This is where, this is the right place for you. This is she told me it's like a puzzle. Like this puzzle goes here. And for her, it was just the most obvious thing. Another thing was that I was the only grand, granddaughter.

[00:06:26] Riya Sokol: So it's like there, I have brothers and I'm the only granddaughter. And it was almost like, maybe she had some kind of projection on me. But her thing was just like, until now I ask her and she's but of course, where else, like, where else were you supposed to belong? And the thing is also that because of my very difficult childhood in my family house, in my school world, it was a medicine for me.

[00:06:57] Riya Sokol: It was like my life. was the stage and then everything that wasn't on the stage was like a survival mode was like in between stages it was like as i'm between the concerts i'm surviving i'm you know trying to live but where i actually live where i actually grow and shine my light and feel the fulfillment is on the stage, so it was almost like taking me away from home and bringing me back home, and taking me away and bringing me back.

[00:07:36] Riya Sokol: So this is when recently someone, there was some kind of interview that I was giving and I felt I feel like I was born there. It feels I was always looking for a place on the earth where is my place and I realized it's not a country, it's not a city, it's the stage that is my home.

[00:07:53] Riya Sokol: This is where I feel I was born and actually this is where I want to die. I want to die on stage and I have so much clarity I will die on stage. 

[00:08:02] Dimple Thakrar: Wow. Wow. What a gift your grandmother gave you. Did she sing also or did she? She didn't 

[00:08:09] Riya Sokol: but until today she is coming on my events and the last one was for 800 people.

[00:08:18] Riya Sokol: Wow. And there is still a piece of me that is like going there to make her see what she created. To show her, I'm doing it. You told me to do it and I'm doing it. I'm doing my job. 

[00:08:31] Dimple Thakrar: Make her proud, right? To make her proud, the decision. And, the minute you told me the story that's what your grandma did, the word that came through for me was, wow she sent you home.

[00:08:43] Dimple Thakrar: She sent you home, right? She did, yeah. Yeah. And this is the power of intuition, right? Yeah. This is the power of the feminine intuition. When we tap into the alignment of what our soul is calling for. That must have been a big deal for her to take you on that stage at that time, but she tapped into her intuition.

[00:09:08] Dimple Thakrar: She's no, this girl has to be on the stage. And she probably didn't even know why. It was just a knowingness that's truth. It 

[00:09:17] Riya Sokol: was even more it was even like the intuition, but also this masculine I demand, it was almost like I demanded. It was almost like, no one can stop me. Yeah.

[00:09:29] Riya Sokol: No one can get on a way, like this is where she belongs and get away of my way, like literally. So there was something like that. And she's been always like that, like very clear, very very demanding also. And we had a whole journey with, in our relation. But yeah, she sent me home. Definitely. She reminded me where I belong.

[00:09:50] Dimple Thakrar: So good. So talk to us a little bit then about, you mentioned that there was a It's been a journey, and your childhood has been a journey. Would you mind sharing a little bit about that? Sure. 

[00:10:02] Riya Sokol: So for sure I experienced a lot of violence, like really a lot of violence, physical, emotional, and and I think these, this was one of the reasons why I was running away on the stage, like just to be able to survive.

[00:10:15] Riya Sokol: I was suffering with anxiety and with sleeplessness with eating disorder. And then with depression, obviously I was also experiencing this. When you're on a stage, when you're a girl You get to experience people who love you for who you are and for your success because I was the chosen one But also you get to experience people who hate you for that because you took something away from them Or they just simply hate you because of Who you are because of your light, because of your talent and because of your luck, because this is what I was also being told that I was just lucky.

[00:10:52] Riya Sokol: And this was just my, something that happened by accident. So as I was getting older and I was I was experiencing so much of judgments and hate and criticism and projections. It started bringing me down and at some point I left the stage. I said, Oh, okay, I will just do something else because I couldn't find my way.

[00:11:17] Riya Sokol: It didn't feel right for me. There was just so much pain around it that it was like, probably this is not for me if I feel so much pain. So this was the first. 

[00:11:27] Dimple Thakrar: How old were you then? 

[00:11:28] Riya Sokol: Probably around 17, 18, something like that. And this was the first time. And also I fell in love really badly.

[00:11:39] Riya Sokol: And this was also the reason why I left the stage and I got involved into my first boyfriend. And then. Obviously the whole my life brought me back on stage and I was really successful as a singer. And again, I experienced the same thing, like people who love me, duality, people who love me and people who hated me.

[00:12:07] Riya Sokol: And for 10 years. For some reason I started collecting the people who hated me. I started collecting the comments. Like recently I even found like screenshots. Like I was like, why would I be doing it? But this was my mindset. It was like thousands, hundreds of thousands of comments of people who love me, like fans sending me flowers, emails, everything.

[00:12:35] Riya Sokol: And then five haters, and these five haters. I found in my special folder, so my mindset was very very focused on why they hate me, why they don't love me, what did I do wrong, what can I make right, how do I deserve, how do I improve, how do I fix myself, how do I convince them, right there. Yeah. And that ended up with a clinic diagnose of clinical diagnose of depression. Like it was super, super bad. And then the whole journey of recovery and that took me around five years going back and forth until 2018, when was the last time I was. having my episode. And since then, I am new me and in the whole journey of exploration.

[00:13:33] Riya Sokol: And somehow I got back on stage because I was getting, again, invitations. So I was brought back because as I got the diagnosed, I resigned again. I was like, okay, I'm done. Like I cannot handle it. So I quit and then I got invitations again. And this time it was because your story is so inspirational.

[00:13:55] Riya Sokol: Can you come on this event and tell us about it? And I was like, Oh my God, this is just again, my home calling me back. 

[00:14:04] Dimple Thakrar: So beautiful. And what I love about you is the first time I actually had a conversation with you one to one was The gift in your vulnerability, not many celebrities will speak of this vulnerability.

[00:14:16] Dimple Thakrar: Not many will speak of this rollercoaster of emotions and how it can impact your mental health in so many ways, right? Tremendously. And people don't realize that you're a human being with feelings. with emotions, with the same anxieties and hang ups as you're like at 17. Can you imagine? I remember what I was doing at 17 and I wasn't on the, on as big a stages as you, but for my whole life, from being age four to 16, I gave up the stage at 16.

[00:14:52] Dimple Thakrar: I had eating disorders, anxiety, right? I traveled the whole of the UK at my field was classical Indian dancing. So I understand what it's like to be a youngster on the stage. It wasn't a bigger stage as yours, but the feelings were the same, right? And so the rarity and the truth in which you speak about your focus on the five haters is so real and we can translate that to life, right?

[00:15:30] Dimple Thakrar: It doesn't matter whether you're on the stage or not, right? What matters is you were an, a 17 year old girl going through her initiation of becoming a woman when she needed security and love and safety, because her own inner world was already eating her up with her own safe, with her own critiques and criticism.

[00:15:56] Dimple Thakrar: Because that's natural. It's part of the initiation. And then it compounded with your external world also showing you that. It's huge. And then your courage to come back to home for the greater good of all. I honestly commend you. It's, it takes, and I'm going to say this, it takes balls. It takes courage to do what you're doing.

[00:16:26] Dimple Thakrar: So tell us, how do you on a day to day basis now, stop yourself from going back down the loop of depression? Because I've been there twice, clinical depression, so I can understand the loop is always available. So how do you on a day to day basis keep yourself healthy? I must say that 

[00:16:55] Riya Sokol: Yeah, the loop is still available.

[00:16:57] Riya Sokol: The depression is always available. And my focus to go there is always available. That road is always opened. And if I'm honest, I, Sometimes maybe it's, it sounds controversial, but I say that I never got out of depression, I built my entire world here, like I was so focused for five years to get out of there, get out of depression, get over it, find my way out, run away from it.

[00:17:31] Riya Sokol: And I kept coming back. It was just all the time this, it was, at some point I was like, I was such a mess because it just felt that it would be better to just stay there and not ever get out because these ups when I was, okay, I'm fine, I recovered, it's fantastic. And then getting back there. Jesus, like one time, fine.

[00:17:59] Riya Sokol: Three times, okay. But after seven, eight, ten times, it's oh it's even worse than the first time, so, I remember that moment when I was sitting again in this place inside of me, In this darkness and in this I cannot breathe. I want to die. All these things.

[00:18:19] Riya Sokol: And I, and this is what came to me back then. Deep deep inside in the middle of this hell. It came like, how about. I won't leave, I will just live here, but I will start building everything here, without getting out of here, just building here, like in this dark place, dark room, like how about I bring everything that I can, and this was the moment that when I started collecting my breaths.

[00:18:54] Riya Sokol: Because I remember noticing that every breath is so painful. But then I noticed that there are, like, milliseconds when it doesn't hurt so much. And sometimes it was like once a week. Sometimes it was once every two weeks, but I was like it happens. It happens that it is that it doesn't hurt.

[00:19:19] Riya Sokol: I opened this notebook and I started writing down one breath that didn't hurt. And I was just sitting with this notebook and looking at it, this one time that it didn't hurt. And I literally prayed to this breath and I was like, I'm going to wait until another one comes and I got so focused on waiting for the one that will not hurt that when it came, it was like, and I wrote down the second time it didn't hurt.

[00:19:47] Riya Sokol: And then I had two times within a month that my breath didn't hurt. It's like for a second or two and literally, this is how I started recovering. And then after some time it was 10 times, then it was 100 times, then the whole notebook was there and I was like, I have the whole notebook. And these were my evidence.

[00:20:10] Riya Sokol: Like these were my proofs. Like I can see it. It happens sometimes that it doesn't hurt. And I had to cling onto it. Like it happens. Like you have to believe it's, It repeats, so this is why I say like I, I just literally covered all the darkness with breaths that didn't hurt with every time when I was With this relief of oh wow, oh my god, and then again like down But it was like I had it for a second.

[00:20:45] Riya Sokol: Yeah, exactly so basically every time of course after six years almost now since I'm free. I recognize that my mind always has a choice. What am I going to be collecting? So if I am noticing myself that my mind wants to check for bad comments under my reels. I'm like, are you gonna collect it?

[00:21:15] Riya Sokol: So I'm choosing it. I have the whole wall from, I got it from my team of people's miracles that were sending messages to us. What happened to them after my teachings, after my programs, and I have the whole wall and we keep adding it. And so when you ask me, it's, Like collection. I'm, we are all collectors.

[00:21:35] Riya Sokol: Like what do we collect? So I keep adding all kinds of things to my life to keep collecting oxytocin, serotonin, joy, celebration. Depths of conversations, meetings, like hours. Like I really put a lot of effort to collect that because I can see if I let it go, my tendency is to go down. This is. There is always a way there, like it's still open for me.

[00:22:06] Riya Sokol: I can go there. Yeah. And I just have to be very focused and aware. 

[00:22:11] Dimple Thakrar: Just what I'm hearing, thank you so much for sharing, what I'm hearing is you started with acceptance. You started with accepting who you are, all parts of you, loving all parts of you, even, especially the darkness. Yeah. And then you shifted focus to, which is really hard when the majority is dark, you shifted focus to where are the moments of light?

[00:22:41] Dimple Thakrar: Where are those treasured gems of light? And then you compounded by focusing on those gems. It's genius. It's genius and so simple, right? So freaking simple. I tell you the gift you've given me today, I had a moment of that darkness again this morning and it's always available. It's always available and I certainly know that I find myself beating myself up for those moments.

[00:23:17] Dimple Thakrar: I'm here again. Really? I should know better. I, like, all that talk comes available, right? And it's the neuropathway that is a highway to that. That's what I've developed. But what you did, which was smart, you chose the dirt path that wasn't quite developed, not the highway, the dirt path. The one that has only been walked on a few times, not even a few times at the beginning.

[00:23:45] Dimple Thakrar: And you compounded and you made that the highway and the other the dirt path. So smart. So genius. Genius. I commend you. So what next? What's next for you? You've Absolutely conquered Poland. What next Rio? What is the 

[00:24:05] Riya Sokol: I have to tell you and I think there is something magical about our meeting today because as we spoke the last time, I told you about my dream because just now I am very successful here in Poland and Not yet known in the world and I told you that like I feel the call and I feel that I am Not getting where I'm meant to be and what happened last night like something that really surprising because I go to sleep every night.

[00:24:40] Riya Sokol: I go to sleep around 10 PM because I like to get up at five. This is my routine since the last two years. And last night I went to bed half past nine and. I was lying in bed looking at the ceiling until the last time I looked at the clock it was 2 p. m. 2 a. m And I was clear that it's not the time for me to listen to anything or to do anything It was clear just lay lie down here and Be perceptive.

[00:25:13] Riya Sokol: Be, like, how to? Receptive. Receptive. Be receptive. This is what I was hearing. Be receptive. Be awake and be, listen, feel because this is not without A reason, like there is a reason for you to be woken up just now. And I had so many things that I recorded this morning on my magical notes, like voice notes to speak out loud what came to me and everything, but one of the things was To do what our beloved friends did years ago, Melanie and Lair she is talking a lot about the one year of live streams.

[00:25:56] Riya Sokol: And this is one of the things that came to me to start doing it, but in English, like to start sharing. So I think this is the first time I'm speaking it out loud after last night that I commit to start doing it anytime soon and start letting my voice out there in English too. 

[00:26:19] Dimple Thakrar: I love that. I love that, so it, you will not believe, but I normally go to bed at 10 and I wake up at 5, because it's my habit as well, I like to meditate and do the things.

[00:26:32] Dimple Thakrar: Last night I lay in bed and it was 1. 11 before I could sleep. Receiving. Oh my god! How incredible is that? Yeah. Receiving. And I was, and usually, if I'm lay like that, it's usually frustrating for me. I'm like, I need to go to sleep. There was not. There was just peace.

[00:26:56] Dimple Thakrar: Just peace. It's okay. Just peace. Interesting, right? We are all so connected in so many ways, right? We're all so connected. So I want to thank you so much for coming on this podcast today Ria. It's been eye opening. I always want to gift my audience nuggets, gold, gems that they can use in their lives if it feels aligned.

[00:27:28] Dimple Thakrar: And you have gifted us so many today. So thank you for that. Where can people 

[00:27:33] Riya Sokol: find you? First of all, thank you for the invitation and giving me this opportunity to speak in English and to share my story also in English so people can get inspired from both of our stories. Thank you so much. I feel really honored and people can find me literally everywhere.

[00:27:50] Riya Sokol: I am available on Instagram, on Facebook. Facebook, on TikTok, on YouTube, and also on Spotify and all the music platforms because I have my music, I have my codes, I have my meditations all over the place. So R I Y A Ria Sokol everywhere. And again, thank you for reaching out to me. 

[00:28:14] Dimple Thakrar: I appreciate you. So one last, we will put all the handles in the show notes as well, so please read Riya's bio, everything will be available there.

[00:28:25] Dimple Thakrar: So this one final question I always ask all my guests as we part, and that is, if you could give the audience one piece of advice that goes beyond the words, what would that be?

[00:28:39] Riya Sokol: It would be find your deepest and most profound gift in the darkness. This is where it is. Instead of trying to run away from it, instead of trying to fix yourself there or heal yourself can you just see that this is where your gift lies and it will be your medicine. 

[00:29:03] Dimple Thakrar: Complete acceptance in the darkest hour, because that's where the gift is and the medicine at the same time.

[00:29:10] Dimple Thakrar: So profound. Thank you Ria so much. Thank you. So my beautiful audience, What a gift and a privilege to have you here today. I never ever take it for granted. Time is our biggest and most valuable commodity and you've chosen to share it with us today. We appreciate you. God bless.

People on this episode

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Dimple Thakrar

Host
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Jo Day

Producer
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Riya Sokol

Guest