EDITA BERKOVA INTERVIEWING MAGDALENA VOKACOVA

1)   What does being in harmony with yourself mean for you?

I admire the way Jan Werich aptly put it: “Once a man already is, he should try to be. And once he is trying to be and he is, he should then be what he is and not what he is not, as often tends to be the case.” When I was nineteen, I thought I would like to be myself. But there was a catch – I didn’t know who I was. Who should I really be? Who was Magdalena?

Examining who I was brought me to study at DAMU (Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts). There under the influence of theatrical improvisation the original question expanded to “who else I was” and “what other persons were me”. I stopped searching for a Magdalena, and started discovering all my faces and potentials. The first part of that work lies in making these discoveries and the second one in accepting them, in integrating the variants of “me” – the inner successful and unsuccessful, the educated and stupid, the beautiful and ugly, the pleasant and nasty.

For me, being in harmony with myself means accepting myself, and it needs to be on all levels.

2)   Are there things you would like to integrate in your life, but “something” keeps diverting you? What is it? How do you cope with it?

That’s a clever question. By coaching others to make use of their potentials, I constantly work on myself. Meaning I will integrate in my life that which is important for me, but sometimes it takes me longer than I would like it to.

And how do I cope with it? From time to time I give myself space for taking a break … “I will subject myself to coaching by myself.” I contemplate who I am, what I want, how I feel, what is going on, what group of people I have around me, what energises me and what on the other hand drains my energy. I carry out something of an internal audit, checking how many “I-shoulds” on one side and “I-wants” on the other, appear in my life.

3)   Are you a woman, who takes regular exercise? Is it a natural thing for you or do you have to force yourself into exercising? Do you consider physical exercise to be important? How is it with you? Have you got any advice for other women?

Well, honestly, I must say that I take a regular exercise MOST OF THE TIME, if this exercise is understood as an intended movement aimed at stretching, strengthening and toning the body. But if we were talking about exercising in the sense of cradling the children, tidying up at home and in the garden, walking the dog, hurrying to the nursery school at the last moment, jumping about during workshops and in the theatre, training theatrical improvisation etc., then I would be exercising absolutely all of the time.

Physical exercising is undoubtedly important and for me it’s one of the ways I can be alone with myself and harmonise with myself.

Advice for others? If you don’t fancy exercising, try to connect it with something you enjoy … for example you can combine it with seeing your friend. Or a more instant option – if you don’t want to make arrangements with anybody, start with a real mini-step – ten sit-ups, perhaps in the morning. Don’t try to do the whole quarter of an hour at the beginning. Ten sit-ups a day, that’s seventy a week, two hundred and eighty a month and three thousand three hundred and sixty a year. You will definitely notice that and it is quite enough.

4) How can you retain your femininity and sex-appeal while fully engaged in business?

Oh, I thought being fully engaged in business wasn’t at all possible without femininity and sex-appeal!

Those who do what they enjoy are sexy of their own accord. But, seriously, a woman needs time for herself. Just take a look at the paintings of old masters, for example … what are most of the women doing in them? They are lounging in baths, on sofas, chairs … Woman’s beauty was never captured during vigorous activities in contrast to the ideal of male beauty – a warrior, hunter, ruler. We need to counterbalance our business involvement with lazing, resting, relaxing, strolling and pampering. An investment in yourself is a very important investment and one which is definitely worthwhile.

5) How do you combine business and motherhood???

This is an absolutely relevant question at this time. My system is based on delegating absolutely everything, which can be delegated. I have time blocks for work, when I don’t want to be disturbed by anything, and I have the same time blocks for the family, when I switch off all the communication devices and I am a wife, mother, cook, housekeeper and friend. But there are times when I mix it all up. Sometimes it is wonderful, and sometimes I am very nervous because of it. So then I’ll book myself in with myself for some coaching, allowing me take a breather and sort myself out again.

Coaching will calm me down, because I will realise that our perfection lies in how perfectly imperfect we are.