María de los Ángeles Bugnon is not just an author — she is a healer of stories, a guide through emotional landscapes, and a voice for those learning to rise from pain. In her powerful debut, Balance, she opens a door to deep personal transformation, offering readers a space to reflect, release, and reconnect with their most authentic selves.
María, your book Balance feels like a torch of light for those walking the path of healing. Could you share a pivotal moment in your life that inspired you to write it and guide others in healing childhood wounds and emotional pain?
There was a moment in my life when time seemed to collapse. In 2014, my younger—and only—brother took his own life. At the time, I couldn’t fully grasp the depth of that rupture, so I did what I had always done: I kept going. I kept surviving. But grief is an alchemist, and pain that is buried never disappears—it waits.
In 2018, at the age of 27, my entire being—body, mind and soul—came undone. It was as though every suppressed emotion, every unspoken truth, and every fragment of sorrow I had carried since childhood rose at once, demanding to be seen, honoured, and released. I could no longer hide. I could no longer wear the armour I had stitched together to survive. That was the true pivotal moment—not merely the loss, but the moment I stopped running from it.
I returned to my childhood diaries—pages inked with the voice of a girl who had always known more than she could say. Within those fragile, honest lines, I found the beginnings of my healing. I found her. And I made her a promise: I will no longer abandon you. Balance was born from that vow—a sacred offering to my brother, to the little girl within me, and to every soul who has ever felt unseen, unsafe, or unloved. It is not a story of despair, but of remembering, transmutation—of turning wounds into wisdom and grief into grace.
The book takes readers on a journey from your early years to profound transformation. What part of your story was the most challenging to revisit and describe? And how did reconnecting with those moments contribute to your own healing process?
Revisiting the death of my brother and the violence—the emotional, psychological and physical chaos of my early years—was excruciating. Writing about the nights I stood between my parents to stop the war between them, or the moments I wished to disappear completely, felt like reopening wounds that had never truly closed.
But it was through that re-encounter with my most fragile self that something extraordinary occurred: I began to see her not as a victim, but as a warrior of light.
Writing became my ceremony. It allowed me to reclaim the broken fragments of my soul, to honour the girl who survived when no one else protected her, and to offer her the love and safety she had always longed for. Balance became not merely a book, but a rite of passage back to wholeness.
In Balance, you emphasise mental alchemy and conscious manifestation. One of its core themes is breaking the victimhood cycle. What mindset shifts or daily practices do you recommend for those who feel trapped in their past but are ready to take responsibility for their transformation? Are there any practical tools from the book that readers can apply right away to start creating a more harmonious reality?
The most powerful shift begins with a simple yet radical realisation: You are not your past. You are the alchemist of your present. To step out of victimhood, we must first meet ourselves with compassion—then with sovereignty.
I encourage readers to create sacred moments of silence each day, even if only for five minutes. To breathe deeply, place a hand over the heart, and whisper: “I choose to come home to myself.” Transformation, in truth, is not born from grand gestures, but from sacred repetition—from choosing, again and again, to respond rather than react. To speak lovingly to oneself. To honour discomfort as a messenger rather than an enemy.
In Balance, I share guided self-inquiry rituals, journaling prompts, and energy-clearing techniques—particularly focused on reprogramming subconscious beliefs inherited through generational emotional wounds, and healing the emotional body. One beautiful practice is breath-infused visualisation, in which you imagine your past self being held in divine light, forgiven and released.
These practices are not intended to fix you, but to remind you that you were never broken. Your true power lies not in what you control, but in what you are willing to feel, release, and re-create. Because healing and transformation are not destinations—they are ways of living. Ways of remembering. Ways of returning home to your essence—softly, steadily, wholly.
You’ve worn many hats—English translator, tourism expert, international model, and now yoga instructor and author. You’ve travelled the world, represented Argentina in beauty pageants, and transitioned into a deeply spiritual path. How has your global experience shaped your understanding of universal human emotions such as trauma and healing, which you explore in Balance?
My journey through different cultures, languages and roles has revealed one undeniable truth: pain is universal—but so is the longing for peace.
Whether walking barefoot through sacred temples or stepping onto international stages, I have witnessed the same thread in every human heart: the ache to feel seen, safe and loved. As a model and representative of Argentina, I embodied outer beauty—but within me, there was a sacred rebellion, a soul screaming to express the inner beauty of truth, healing, and vulnerability. That calling eventually became louder than the applause.
Yoga, sacred wisdom, energetic healing, and writing allowed me to integrate all these versions of myself. My travels taught me that while the body may move across borders, true healing occurs inward—in the sanctuary of the heart.
Your mission is to elevate human consciousness and cultivate sustainable joy through inner alchemy. What is your vision for the global impact of Balance? And how do you see it contributing to the collective awakening during these transformative times?
Balance was never meant to be just my story. It is a mirror, a medicine, and a map—for those ready to awaken from their pain and step into presence. We are in the midst of a great remembering. The world is shedding old skins, and many feel lost between who they were and who they are becoming.
My vision is for Balance to serve as a safe bridge—a soft yet powerful guide into the realms of emotional liberation, inner sovereignty and conscious creation. If one reader dares to integrate their inner child, if one man’s divine love awakens, if one woman breathes more deeply after reading a page, if one soul begins to write their truth—then Balance is fulfilling its purpose.
I believe healing is contagious. And each awakened heart contributes to the collective return to love.
Official Website: angelados.com
YouTube: @mariadelosangelesbugnon
Instagram: @iamangelados
Read the book Balance: hotm.art/balanceab
