AUTHOR • SPEAKER • TEACHER OF PRESENCE

 

About Myrto Mangrioti

How a lifetime of searching became The Art of Living.

AUTHOR • SPEAKER • TEACHER OF PRESENCE

 

About Myrto Mangrioti

How a lifetime of searching became The Art of Living.

I was always curious about life.

Some of my earliest memories have nothing to do with school, careers or success. They have to do with questions.

 

As a child, I was fascinated by life. I loved reading books about spirituality, consciousness and the bigger questions that most children never think to ask. I wanted to understand why we are here, what makes people who they are, and whether there was something beyond what we could see.

 

I didn't have the words for it then, but I was searching for meaning.

 

As I grew older, those questions gradually gave way to everyday life. Relationships, university, work, responsibilities and ambitions took centre stage. I studied, built a career, and eventually found myself running my family's business. Like many people, I became focused on building a successful life, solving problems and doing what needed to be done.

 

For many years, I barely thought about the books that had filled my shelves as a teenager. Life had become busy, and my attention was somewhere else.

 

I had no idea that, years later, those same questions would find me again. This time, they would come through experience rather than curiosity.

Life became busy

Life unfolded much as it does for many of us. I studied Computer Science in London and, over the years, found myself in very different worlds. I worked in advertising, explored several careers, spent twenty-five years as a production assistant in the music industry, and at some point became involved in a family business.

 

Each chapter brought new experiences, wonderful people and valuable lessons. I embraced every opportunity to learn, grow and contribute. Looking back, I can see that I genuinely enjoyed building things, solving problems and taking on new challenges.

 

There was another thread running through all those years. From a very young age, I had learned to measure my worth by how much I did and how much I was appreciated by others. Being productive felt good. Being needed felt even better. I never questioned it because it was simply the way I had learned to move through life.

 

At the time, it simply felt normal.

 

Then life took a turn I could never have predicted.

The Weight of It All

In 2012, my brother asked for my help with the family business he had started a few years earlier. I thought I was stepping in temporarily. Life had other plans.

 

The work quickly became my life. I woke up at five every morning and was usually the last person to leave the office.

 

Sixteen-hour days became normal. Every day brought new challenges, new decisions and more responsibility. I kept going because that's what I had always done.

 

I believed that working harder would eventually make things easier. I just needed to solve the next problem, get through the next challenge, and then I would finally be happy.

 

Eventually, my body began sending signals that something wasn't right. At first, I ignored them. Until one day, it became impossible to ignore them any longer.

I was sitting at my desk when I had my first panic attack. At the time, I didn't know what it was. I thought something was seriously wrong with me.

 

The panic attack passed, but for the first time in years, I stopped long enough to look at my life instead of simply getting through another day.

 

What I saw shocked me.

 

I couldn't recognise myself, literally and figuratively.

 

I had spent my life trying to become good enough. Good enough to be appreciated. Good enough to be accepted. Good enough to deserve love. Somewhere along the way, I had become so focused on being the person I thought I needed to be to feel worthy that I had completely lost touch with myself.

 

I realised I had no idea who I was.

Finding My Way Back

I was always so focused on trying to become the person I thought I needed to be that I had never stopped to ask myself a simple question:

 

What do I want for me?

 

I realised I didn't know the answer. I had spent so much of my life trying to meet other people's expectations that I had rarely stopped to consider what made me happy, what mattered to me, or what kind of life I wanted to create.

 

Looking for answers, I found myself returning to the books I had loved as a teenager. This time, I wasn't reading them out of curiosity. I was reading them because I needed to understand myself and make sense of what had happened.

 

I read books, listened to podcasts, worked with coaches, went to therapy and explored spirituality, psychology and personal development. I meditated and started yoga again. I began practising being more present in the moment.

 

Each experience helped me understand myself a little better. It also led me to an insight that would eventually become the foundation of my work.

The Art of Living

Over time, one thing became increasingly clear.

 

Even my search had become another goal. I wanted to be more present, more peaceful and more accepting. Without realising it, I had approached spirituality in much the same way I had approached everything else. There was always another book to read, another podcast to listen to, another workshop to attend and another way to become a better version of myself.

 

Then one day, I saw that I was doing exactly what I had always done.

 

I was still postponing my life.

 

I was still looking somewhere ahead for the peace, happiness and sense of enoughness I wanted to feel today.

 

That's when I understood that life isn't something we experience after we arrive somewhere else. It unfolds in the ordinary moments that make up our days. A conversation with someone we love. A cup of tea. A walk in nature. The breeze on our face. Music. Laughter. Watching the sunset. The simple moments we so often rush past while waiting for life to begin.

 

That was the moment I finally understood what life was really about.

 

Today, I describe it as a life where presence, acceptance, peace, joy, authenticity and freedom are woven into everyday life, instead of being postponed until some imagined future.

 

I call it The Art of Living.

Today

Today, through coaching, speaking, books, workshops and retreats, I help people bring more presence, acceptance, peace, joy, authenticity and freedom into everyday life.

 

Everything I create is an invitation to experience life more fully.

My work is shaped by both lived experience and years of professional training.

 

  • Author of As I Am and ROADMAPS
  • Speaker, including the United Nations and international stages
  • Teacher of Presence - The School of Awakening
  • Certified Deep Transformational Coach  
  • Certified Jack Canfield Success Principles & Methodology Trainer
  • Certified RIM Essentials Facilitator
  • Certified Oola Life Coach
  • Certified Green Gap Coach
  • BSc Computer Science
  • More than 35 years of experience across business, leadership and personal development

My work is shaped by both lived experience and years of professional training.

 

  • Author of As I Am and ROADMAPS
  • Speaker, including the United Nations and international stages
  • Teacher of Presence - The School of Awakening
  • Certified Deep Transformational Coach  
  • Certified Jack Canfield Success Principles & Methodology Trainer
  • Certified RIM Essentials Facilitator
  • Certified Oola Life Coach
  • Certified Green Gap Coach
  • BSc Computer Science
  • More than 35 years of experience across business, leadership and personal development

"Life isn't something we experience after we arrive somewhere else.
It's happening right now."

Looking back, I can see that every chapter of my life was preparing me for this work.

 

The years of achievement.
The difficult decisions.
The questions.
The books.
The business.
The moments of joy.
The moments of uncertainty.

 

They all led me to the same understanding!

 

It took me fifty-six years to understand what I now call The Art of Living. How to create a life you don't need a vacation from.

 

My hope is that, through everything I create, I can help others experience it a little sooner.

Let's talk

If something you've read on this page resonated with you, I'd love to hear your story.