How To Set Boundaries Rooted in Love and Self-Respect with Mariya Graestone

If you have ever struggled to say no, to honor your limits, or to hold your peace when everything in you wanted to please, you know how painful the absence of boundaries can be. It’s not just about overcommitting your time or energy. It’s about the identity you lose when your worth becomes tied to how much you give. It’s about the quiet resentment that builds when your yes means betraying yourself. It’s about the way your body remembers every moment you ignored its signals in the name of keeping the peace.

Boundaries have long been misunderstood as selfish, harsh, or unkind. But what if there is another way to see them? What if boundaries were not walls that separate us, but sacred agreements that bring us home to who we are? What if saying no could be an act of love — for yourself and for others?

This is the truth we explore in my conversation with Mariya Graestone, Love Coach and creator of The Gates Method. Mariya has walked through deep seasons of loss, bankruptcy, and self-reinvention, and emerged with a wisdom that only comes from choosing alignment over approval. Her work is devoted to helping women set boundaries that feel good — boundaries rooted in compassion, integrity, and self-respect.

Her story is not about perfection or easy answers. It’s the story of a woman who dared to walk away from misaligned paths, release toxic jobs, and rebuild her sense of safety from the inside out. She teaches that true boundaries don’t close your heart — they help you love more freely, without losing yourself in the process.

In our conversation, Mariya shares how she learned to trust herself again after years of burnout and self-doubt. She reveals how the spiritual practice of grounding, assessing, trusting, expressing, and stewarding — the foundation of her GATES Method — allows women to honor their needs while staying open to love and connection.

I also open up about my own journey — navigating heartbreak, legal battles, and seasons where I questioned my worth and purpose. There were moments when silence felt safer than speaking up, when I feared that honoring myself would cost me love. But every time I chose truth over approval, compassion over collapse, something inside me came alive again.

When we learn to hold boundaries with grace, we stop confusing love with sacrifice. We stop negotiating our peace for proximity. We begin to understand that compassion without clarity drains us, while compassion with boundaries frees us.

This conversation is not just about saying no. It’s about remembering that your energy is sacred. It’s about choosing alignment over accommodation, self-trust over self-abandonment, and peace over performance.

For any woman who has ever felt guilty for having needs, this is your permission to reclaim your voice, protect your energy, and honor the truth of who you are. Because when you hold yourself with love, you invite the world to meet you there.

Let’s stay connected! If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to follow along on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts for more episodes that blend Sol, strategy, and healing. Your support helps us spread these messages even further, and I’d love to keep this journey going with you.

Connect with Mariya, the love coach through her website and instagram profile.