Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Creating a Healthy Relationship (with Yourself) with Najwa Zebian

Oct 2, 2023

Poet, activist, and author Najwa Zebian explores breaking free from the roles others place us in, creating healthy boundaries and feeling worthy from the inside-out. They discuss self-compassion, finding courage to act authentically, balancing intimacy and autonomy in relationships, and the power of forgiveness as a gift we give ourselves.

01:05:45

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Episode guests

Najwa Zebian

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Quick takeaways

Building a home within oneself empowers self-worth and boundary-setting in relationships.

Authentic self-expression requires self-discovery, self-acceptance, and surrounding oneself with supportive environments.

Recognizing and questioning patterns and conditioning is vital for authentic self-discovery and establishing healthy boundaries.

Deep dives

The journey of self-discovery and personal growth

The podcast episode explores Nezwa Zabian's personal journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Nezwa shares her experiences of feeling a deep void and struggling to find her place in the world. She talks about her process of moving to Canada, facing cultural differences, and feeling even more isolated. Nezwa discusses how she found solace in writing and how helping others empowered her to heal herself. She emphasizes the importance of building a home within herself and the significance of self-acceptance and self-awareness in the process. Nezwa shares her insights on the balance between autonomy and intimacy in relationships, and the need for healthy expectations and connections with others. She also discusses the power of forgiveness as a gift to oneself, allowing for personal growth and moving forward from past pain.

Embracing Self-Acceptance and Building Inner Home

01:20

The Conditional Nature of Healthy Adult Relationships

01:15

Choosing Personal Change Without Pleasing Others

01:14

Introduction

2min

Journey of Self-Discovery and Finding a Voice

7min

Navigating Pain and Trauma in Comparison to Others

2min

The Transformative Power of Self-Leadership

20min

Creating a Healthy Relationship with Yourself

4min

Balancing Intimacy and Autonomy in Relationships

31min

The Power of Forgiveness and Self-Worth

2min

“The mistake most of us make is building our homes in other people. When we do that, we give them the power to make us homeless.”

Poet, activist, and author Najwa Zebian joins Forrest for a conversation focused on discovering what truly matters to us. They use Najwa’s personal story as a way to explore how we can break out of the roles others place us in, create healthy boundaries, and feel worthy from the inside-out. Topics include balancing intimacy and autonomy, self-compassion and self-love, and finding the courage to act authentically.

About Our Guest: Najwa Zebian is an activist, poet, educator, and the author of six books including her recent works Welcome Home, Conversations on Letting Go, and The Only Constant, which will be coming out March 2024. She was raised in Lebanon and moved to Canada at 16 where she later earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Western Ontario.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:05: Najwa’s personal background

6:10: Humility, asking for the things you need, and comparing your pain to others

11:15: Loving your current self into becoming your authentic self

17:10: Navigating change in the face of social pressure

20:45: Intrinsic self-worth, and the beauty of being undefined

32:00: Intimacy and autonomy

40:05: Choosing vulnerability, and paying attention to surrounding influences

50:45: Healthy shared expectations in relationships

53:45: Forgiving others as a gift we give to ourselves

58:30: Recap

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Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Creating a Healthy Relationship (with Yourself) with Najwa Zebian

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The journey of self-discovery and personal growth

The importance of authentic self-expression

Recognizing and navigating patterns and conditioning

Balancing autonomy and intimacy in relationships

The transformative power of forgiveness

Embracing Self-Acceptance and Building Inner Home

The Conditional Nature of Healthy Adult Relationships

Choosing Personal Change Without Pleasing Others

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts