Meet Giselle Bonilla

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

Hi Giselle, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I found my purpose by choosing to participate in my healing mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually no matter how hard and painful it got for me. My journey began during my graduate school program at Lesley University where I was studying clinical mental health counseling with a specialization in expressive arts therapy. It allowed me to experience multiple forms of healing by experiencing different outlets for my emotions/feelings through the arts, which created a space for me to start processing my traumas. That just planted a seed in me, I continued to water that seed by exploring other forms and outlets with holistic therapies. Once I was fully in the awareness that healing is not just physical and mental, but that it’s also emotional and spiritual everything else with time just became more clear and more aligned when it came to my purpose in life. I began to connect more with myself in a way that allowed me to really understand my needs, meet my needs, and show myself more compassion and grace. This allowed me to understand other people’s needs and show them more grace and compassion as well. The more I connected with myself, the more connected I felt with everything that was a part of this earth. I became a guide for others in their healing journey, and even though I have always been a guide it was not made clear to me until I started my own healing journey. One of my biggest challenges was moving to the Dominican Republic to start a non-profit. Living in the Dominican Republic has forced me into a space of connecting even deeper with myself, which brought to surface feelings, relationships, memories, emotions (that had manifested physically for me) that I didn’t even know needed healing. It allowed me to better understand the human experience as a whole, while also connecting more with my being. I was able to connect more with my ancestors, and that was when everything just made sense for me. I now work as a guide for others in a way that focuses on my own rich family, cultural and ancestral wisdom, experiences, knowledge and strengths.

What I did throughout my healing journey and living in my purpose; I co-founded a non-profit in Boston, MA in 2019 called Time Of Butterflies that focuses on creating a supportive community that provides a healing space for women of color. I founded Centro Bonilla, a non-profit in 2022 in the Dominican Republic that focuses on mental health with a holistic approach that works with different individuals and families who come from low-income households. I currently run my online private practice called Holistic Wellbeing Counseling where I offer a various of services to individuals.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I co-founded a non-profit in Boston, MA called Time Of Butterflies that focuses on creating a supportive community through workshops and events that provides a healing space for women of color. I founded Centro Bonilla, a non-profit in the Dominican Republic that focuses on mental health with a holistic approach that works with different individuals and families in different communities who come from low-income households. I currently run my online private practice called, Holistic Wellbeing Counseling where I offer a various of services to individuals. All of these have one thing in common that is very special to me which is I get to guide and witness other people’s healing journey.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

One main thing that I came to learn about myself in my journey is that I was someone who gave more than what I was receiving, whether it came to being someone’s therapist, romantic relationships, friendships, family relationships, love, compassion, patience, grace, and loyalty. In order to find a balance I started to practice self-love, setting boundaries, and meeting my own needs (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually). My advice is to start with love, especially self-love, you are able to truly understand love once you truly love yourself. The way that you love yourself is a reflection of how you choose to love others or how you allow yourself to be loved. An example can be if you are always putting other people’s feelings/emotions before your own that is self-neglect and a lack of self-love, start affirming and believing that your feelings/emotions are just as important or even more important depending on the situation. Remind yourself that you are worthy of love and care especially coming from you.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The book that definitely played a role in my journey is “Love, freedom, aloneness: The Koan of Relationships” by Osho.

Here are some nuggets and wisdom from it:

“Once you are in contact with your soul, your love becomes not a relationship but simply a shadow to you. Wherever you move, with whomsoever you move, you are loving.”

“Turn your light toward yourself first, become a light unto yourself first. Let the light dispel your inner darkness, your inner weakness. Let love make you a tremendous power, a spiritual force.”

“If you cannot worship existence within you, you will become incapable of worshipping existence in others; it will be impossible.”

“Love is the possibility of knowing oneself; love is the right way to know oneself.”

“Create loving energy around yourself. Love your body, love your mind. Love your whole mechanism, your whole organism.”

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