Meet Besima Rios

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Besima Rios. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Besima below.

Besima, we sincerely appreciate you joining us today and agreeing to talk about some very personal topics. So, to kick things off, let’s talk about a tough one – divorce. Can you talk to us about how you overcame divorce?

​FROM HEARTBREAK TO HEALING: MY JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION
​Even though I was the one who filed, I never wanted to get divorced. It felt like the biggest failure of my life. I had to tell myself that just because a decision hurts, it doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision. I was so heartbroken.
​I prayed to God a lot during that time, asking for healing and for answers on how to heal myself. The answer I received was to practice Reiki, energy healing. I watched a YouTube video on Reiki and used it to heal my heart. I then began listening to Aaron Doughty’s meditations on YouTube and started my inner work. I took online classes and became a certified natural healer, allowing me to practice Reiki in combination with massage therapy. I love helping my clients and being part of their wellness and self-care journey because, in a sense, by healing others, I heal myself. By sharing my gift of healing, I believe I’m making this world a better place.
​RECLAIMING SELF-LOVE AND TAKING THE LEAP
​After my divorce, I had to learn how to love myself again. That part was so difficult! As a matter of fact, I’m still working on it. I would be lying if I said that a part of me didn’t die with my divorce. What kept me going were my kids. I wanted them to have a happy mom, not a depressed mom feeling sorry for herself. I started meditating and began healing my inner child and my childhood trauma, doing a lot of shadow and inner work. I realized that I needed to heal the part of me who confused my marriage for love. I knew I had to start focusing on me and giving myself the love I was always so desperately seeking from others.
​One of the first things I did was start my own massage business. I was scared and wasn’t sure if I was ready, but they say when it’s scary to jump, that’s when you jump. I’m glad I did.
​A PURPOSE REVEALED
​Following that, I went to Sedona, Arizona, to attend Aaron Doughty’s live four-day meditation event. I got to meet him and thank him for his YouTube meditations that literally changed my life. On one of the days of the event, we did a somatic breath release. The meditation was so intense that my life’s purpose was revealed to me. I made a promise to God and to myself that I would work on fulfilling my purpose. I won’t go into details about that right now.
​To help me overcome my divorce, I also got a full back tattoo, using good pain to offset the bad. I’m scared of heights, but I went and climbed Bell Rock in Sedona, and I also went skydiving. It was the most terrifying yet freeing experience ever.
​A lot goes into healing; it’s not a straight line. Some days are easier than others. Some days, when you finally think you’ve healed, more things that need healing will surface. It really is a beautiful thing to work on yourself—to be able to sit with your feelings, with your pain, with your heartbreak, and to be able to say: “I see you, I feel you, I release you!”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

​I am originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I came to the US in 1995 as a refugee with my dad and my twin sister. Today, I am a US citizen. (I don’t know why I had the need to say that. Haha.)
​I became a Licensed Massage Therapist in 2011, and ever since then, I fell in love with how massage therapy helps people. A little over two years ago, after working for so many years at different spas and massage establishments, I decided to start my own business. I wanted to have more control over my life and also be able to offer my clients therapeutic and customized sessions with different massage modalities. I wanted more control over my time to be able to be more present with my kids.
​The name Touch of Balkans Massage LLC comes from, well, of course, “touch” for massage, and “Balkans” for the region where Bosnia is. Even though I studied massage therapy here in San Antonio, I wanted to stay true to my roots by incorporating Balkans into the name of my business.
​The mission of Touch of Balkans Massage is simple: “To make this world a better place one healing session at a time.”
​When my clients come to see me, I will do anything in my power to help them feel better (within the means and scope of my practice, of course). When they leave here feeling a better version of themselves, they might go home and be a better version of themselves to their spouse, children, or they might even go and do something nice for a complete stranger. I call it a ripple effect. When we put good out, good comes back to us! It’s the universal law.
​So, I encourage you to book your massage session at Touch of Balkans Massage and help me make this world a better place one healing session at a time.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

​While we are not responsible for the pain others inflict on us, we are fully responsible for our own healing. Happiness is fundamentally an inside job, and we cannot put the responsibility for it into someone else’s hands. Meditation is an effective tool. By practicing mindfulness and expressing gratitude for the things we already possess, we naturally attract more things to be grateful for. Connecting deeply with ourselves and trusting our gut instinct will always guide us in the right direction.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

​Over the past year, my greatest stride was conquering my fear of public speaking. I forced myself out of my comfort zone and, in February, shared my healing story with a live audience at the Break Free Summit. I’m very proud of this achievement. I’m now eager for more speaking opportunities, driven by the conviction that sharing how we overcame our challenges can powerfully inspire healing in others.

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