Creating a Healthy Relationship (with Yourself) with Najwa Zebian

10.02.2023 - By Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Forrest Hanson Play

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“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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