Embarking on a transformative journey often begins with a moment of deep realization, and for Harleen Bagga, that moment was sparked by the unwavering love for her children. Faced with relentless health challenges and a frustrating medical system, Harleen found herself at a crossroads: to succumb to victimhood or reclaim her life with purpose and resilience. Through profound faith, unwavering determination, and a passion for helping others, she reshaped her life and founded "Soul Therapy with Harleen Bagga." In this heartfelt interview, Harleen shares her inspiring story of perseverance, the pivotal moments that fueled her transformation, and her dedication to creating a ripple effect of positivity in the lives of others.
What inspired you to embark on the journey of rewriting your story?
My kids- knowing that I had no option. I could either choose to be a victim or take back control of my life. I could either allow the medical system and my health to get to me, or find a way to beat it to get back my life!
Could you describe the pivotal moment or turning point when you realized change was necessary?
My life had 3 pivotal moments:
- My daughter’s birth (2nd born)
I was being made to run pillar to post visiting different doctors in WA, USA, all bringing a myopic view to my condition, treating only the symptom rather than looking at the big picture to solve the puzzle and help me find relief. Before coming to the moment, I think it’s imperative to understand where the frustration was coming from.
My diagnosis took many years of being in the medical system. After my first child, because of my symptoms, I was put on steroids for 2 years. I was only 25 years old. After a few years, I had a miscarriage and then came along my 3rd pregnancy.
Post the first trimester, each month that followed became a fire drill for me. The doctors could not figure out why, because otherwise I was super healthy. But God had made the choice for me to walk this journey which is why my first trimester was great. In fact, I had put on extra weight, so much so that my doctor said, go easy on the eating! But each of the 6 months that followed, felt like an out of body experience. It’s like I was sitting in a class where both the teacher and I were puzzled with what was being projected on the screen. My body was repelling the baby like it was a foreign body. I was breaking out into uncontrollable itchy rashes without a definite pattern.
I was working for Microsoft then. It was not easy at all. Each month, no matter how careful I was, my body chose to announce its unhappiness with a new symptom, which made me go back to visit by OBY. Each visit I was asked to brace myself as the baby might not make it. We had decided we’d have to operate and get her delivered in the first week of 8th month itself. My last visit in the 7th month, my OBY told me very seriously that we’d have to operate on the baby next week, since the baby was not gaining weight. My mom was coming the next day, but I was so frustrated and angry with God, that I walked into the salon.
I am Sikh by faith, and our adaptation of Sikhism is by its 3 principles of doing good, sharing & building a community and practising gratitude & love to Him and His creations. In return, the faith asked us to never cut our hair so that anyone in trouble can identify us to be God's soldier(SIKH) and we can help them as the faith holds. My hair is naturally brown and up to my knees. My intention was to get it trimmed. But it turns out there was just 1 woman in the salon, it was afternoon and she didn’t know how to handle such long and thick hair. She could not get it to be straight. As a result, what was supposed to be a trim, turned out to be cutting my hair to be above my shoulder. It was my first ever experience and I was sobbing uncontrollably because in my mind this was sin and yet I chose to sit there. So I had no clue what she was doing, nor she seemed to care why I was crying. Now that I think about it, there was so much lack of empathy or accountability from that woman and salon. I could have donated that hair for cancer patients, earned some money out of it. But nothing was suggested. I walked out aghast, ashamed of myself. My mom saw me the next day, but said nothing.
When we went for the pre-surgery check-up, I had put on 2 pounds. My doctor was thrilled. She asked me to wait. My daughter was born in her ninth month, with a healthy weight. Sure, during childbirth my entire body broke out into red rashes again but that meant nothing in the big picture. In fact, while I have a picture of me holding my first born in the hospital, I don’t have a similar picture with my daughter. My husband took the executive call and said that he didn’t want me to remember this day with that picture. The day was about joy and not having a picture will enable that narrative. My daughter turned out to be healthy. Post delivery as well, she continued to put on weight beautifully and stay healthy.
That was the incident when I realized I needed to change my acceptance of God to be unconditional. He proved to me He had my back and it was me who doubted His intent.
- My flare up in Hyderabad India
We relocated to India in 2012, 3 years after my daughter was born because my condition kept getting worse. In Fact I had developed bad Raynaud’s, with my digits fully purple and we were unable to turn that around. It was the doctor who suggested that maybe I should go close to my family. My BP was staying at 60/40 ballpark, so I was forced to leave Microsoft. My team was excellent and they held onto the position for long waiting for me to come back.
Sometime in November 2012, my body had bad flare ups. I was shedding skin like crazy; my body was acting up, WBC count was low. Steroids were the only way to calm it down. Meanwhile I got put on some experimental drug. That drug worked fine but one of the side effects was disorientation which I didn’t know until the incident where I was in the middle of a highway intersection and I stopped the car midway feeling completely lost, not knowing what I am doing or where I need to go. It was the most horrible feeling anyone can experience I felt at that point.
I am a super involved mom, what if this happened with kids in the back seat. That one thought made me fight harder to get out of that state.
3. My offer at the VR team in Microsoft, India.
Once health got better, I joined Cutting Edge Industries Pvt Limited to then establish their Hyderabad branch, e-commerce presence as E-commerce head and then move on to Director of business development. Work was good, personal growth phenomenal but it was not enough with 2 kids and my health in mind. My husband was encouraging me to look at getting back to work with Microsoft.
I got the call, did the interview, got the offer but then my mind decided it was time to give back to society. The email from them in my inbox, somehow played a pivotal role. I showed it as proof to my husband to let him know I still had it in me. I could do anything if I put my mind to it, even after the 3 year gap. IT was maybe the proof my mind needed to tell me, if I can do this, then I can become successful in starting out a new career at 40 to help lost souls find their destination and calm.
This was personal for me. My gut told me, my entire life was me being prepared for this one instance. God had chosen me to be the beacon guiding others like me, enabling them to then go on to enable others and thereby facilitating change, making a difference and building a community. That’s when I registered and started my dream “Soul Therapy with Harleen Bagga”. A place where we focus on sustained living and elevated thinking.
What role did faith or spirituality play in your transformation?
I thought God had abandoned and forsaken me because no matter what I did, my 2nd pregnancy led to one complication after another. Each month was a fire drill with my OBY telling me, the baby might not be fine. The last straw was in the 8th month checkup, where we did a colour scan and the prognosis was that the baby is not growing and that I need to get operated asap to get the baby out to neonatal care.
I was so hurt and angry, that post my appointment I walked in a salon for a haircut. I am a Sikh and as per our religion we are not supposed to cut our hair. I was rebelling against our maker that if HE cannot take care of me and my family then I will not take care of what He is asking from me. Very childish if I think about it now but at that time the anger was real. What was supposed to be a trim, turned out to be a big haircut, with my knee length hair being reduced to shoulder length which I didn’t realize because I was crying on the chair the whole time and the barber apparently could not cut my hair straight because it was so thick and long.
After mom arrived, when we went in for the ‘proposed’ surgery, we saw that the baby had grown. The doctor was very happy with it and asked us to wait it out. With every week that followed the baby continued to grow. It seemed to be that God had heard my ultimatum and responded.
Not only did my daughter reach full term, was born healthy, but she turned out to be a good gymnast as well.
But lessons didn’t just stop there. In a few years, I had become bed ridden. I still feel guilty about failing to teach my son how to read. He has so much potential. He was in kindergarten and I remember his teacher telling me about the different color bins for different reading capability. It hurt me so bad to know that my son could not be in a better group because I was not able to teach him. But as God would have it, by 1st grade Gurtej was at the top of his class at reading. For me that journey that he took was so emotional. I have only gratitude and humility for the small mercies that God invokes on us.
My entire life, if I play it back like a movie, I can see places where HE has protected me, taken care of me even as a child, a student, a girl travelling in crowded public buses in India. He continues to cast His armour around us as a family and for that I am eternally grateful. The work I do is just my way of spreading the blessings and love he bestows on us onto others I meet on a day to day basis.
How do you define success and fulfillment in your life now compared to before?
Through the eyes of every person whose life I touch and positively empower because what I am also doing is creating a domino effect of positivity through them. We pride ourselves for the sustained solutions and elevated thinking we mould our clients with. That in itself is success redefined.
I have now begun to measure myself through the impact or footprint I am leaving behind in sands of time rather than any materialistic accomplishment and all of this possible through the Lord himself. There is no greater accomplishment than this to know that you are accomplishing your purpose every single day. And that they are people who depend on you
Can you share a specific moment or achievement that stands out to you in your journey of rewriting your story?
The first few clients that I had, when I was able to help them in the way that worked for them and they gave me strong positive & elaborate feedback on how what we did here helped them more that what the previous therapist or counsellor did and I saw the change impact their life for better, it was the biggest validation I could get or sign from God or reassurance to let me know, I was finally on the path that God has made me for. This was my purpose and the reason God created me!
How do you integrate gratitude and self-awareness into your daily life?
My work is to only look at the dark side of humanity. To take from people their darkness and swap it with sunshine and strength. My passion to keep going strong is constantly refuelled by my spiritual side. I do a lot of scripture reading(understanding) and that is where I get my sense of gratitude and self-awareness from. There is so much depth & knowledge in our religious text, if only we could all really understand it.
What are some practices or habits you've adopted that have contributed to your personal growth?
Being a good listener and trying to understand what the other person is saying without judgement. That has been inculcated by reiterating the phrase, “you don’t know, what you don’t know”. So, when someone is talking, I just have to remind myself, do I really know all about them, and where they are coming from, and why they are saying what they are saying? If not, how can I judge them or pretend like I know what is right for them without knowing the full story. This one reminder also makes me a better and more accepting human being.
In what ways do you continue to push yourself outside of your comfort zone?
By researching, listening, forcing myself to not stoop to labelling and taking the easy route with a client. I remind myself, money is good and very important but that is a by-product. My karma is to do God's work. For that I have to allow myself to walk in the clients shoes, irrespective of my personal values and give to them a solution that works for them in their context. That is my strength as I am told by all my clients. This coming from those who have been around the block with other psychologists or therapists, some for years too, is the fire that enables my ability to continue to push myself and adapt and grow with every client that comes in.
What impact do you hope to have on others through sharing your story?
1. Never give up on yourself. It's never too old to grow, learn, start something new as long as it keeps you happy.
2. Have an anchor in your life that acts as your eternal fountain of hope, something that will never run dry. For me it is God.
3. Find what motivates you, what drives you. Use that to realize your dreams.
4. Take control of your health. Our gut health, mental and emotional well being are strongly connected to our illnesses and health conditions. Don’t wait for shit to hit the ceiling. Please take help preemptively if needed. You have one life, why would you want to risk it?
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations or goals for the future?
I have authored a book called “Why relationships fail? Tips to make connections that last”
I have a full calendar of people typically through referrals or Google search.
I work long and hard – go to war for each of my clients, making them come out of the box they are in.
But where I do want to go is tie up with educational institutes, corporate offices and curate programs that are preventative in nature that will enable emotional and mental wellbeing. Not another commercially driven coaching certified program that is shared by rote or curriculum based, but a curated solution that is fluid enough to enable and empower based on the people in the room.
