Beyond Words with Najwa Zebian

Najwa
  • 5.0 (89)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Let’s use the power of words to heal. 

  1. 1D AGO

    029- When Love Feels Like Danger: Why Your Nervous System Pushes Love Away

    Send us a text When love feels like danger, it’s not because you don’t want love. It’s because love has hurt you before. In this episode of Beyond Words, I explore why so many of us instinctively pull away from love — not out of fear of intimacy, but out of fear of repetition. When vulnerability once led to betrayal, abandonment, or emotional punishment, the nervous system learns to associate love with danger. We talk about: Why intensity at the beginning of a relationship is not the same as safetyThe difference between someone whose love is their nature versus someone who follows a toolbox to make you fall in loveHow inconsistency reveals when someone’s mask has slippedWhy your body learned to protect you — and why it isn’t brokenHow to rebuild trust slowly, consciously, and without self-betrayalWhy consistency over time matters more than grand gesturesThis episode is for anyone who has ever felt guilty for wanting love, ashamed for trusting, or afraid to open up again. If love once felt like the place where pain entered your life, this conversation will help you understand why — and how to begin teaching your nervous system that safety can exist again. Your fear makes sense.  Your body is loyal, not broken.  And love was never the danger.

    49 min

  2. JAN 20

    028- Stop Being Nice to People Who Aren’t Nice to You

    Send us a text You’ve been taught that being nice is the safest way to survive conflict—especially with people who are cruel, dishonest, or inconsiderate. But niceness can become a way of abandoning yourself. In this episode, I’m talking about why you keep meeting mistreatment with more kindness, more patience, more understanding—while forgetting the most important person in your life: you. We’ll unpack: Why “being nice” can be a trauma response (fawning)The difference between niceness and kindnessWhy self-respect starts with accepting what just happenedHow boundaries aren’t punishment—they’re protectionWhy you don’t have to endure someone’s hell to “earn” their heavenWords That Found Me: Brené Brown — “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” Words From Me to You: Welcome Home — “Give Yourself Validation” If someone’s approval requires your self-abandonment, let them keep it.

    31 min

  3. JAN 13

    027- If They Wanted to, They Would?

    Send us a text “If they wanted to, they would” is missing one word — and that word changes everything. In this episode of Beyond Words, Najwa unpacks the difference between wanting and trying, and why intention without effort doesn’t protect your heart, your time, or your dignity. Wanting is easy to say. Trying is what shows priority, care, and commitment. You’ll be invited to look at the people in your life (and yourself) through one simple lens: Behavior over intention. Actions over words. Effort over excuses. Because when nothing is being done, “they want to” and “they don’t want to” lead to the same outcome. Najwa also explores how mixed signals keep you stuck on hope, how breadcrumbs train you to survive on scraps of love, and why waiting for someone’s actions to match their words isn’t patience — it’s self-abandonment. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why “If they wanted to, they would” isn’t the full truthThe difference between being unable… and being unwillingHow effort reveals your place in someone’s lifeWhy mixed signals are a signal — and what to do with themHow to become a “person of choice” in your own lifeA simple self-check: “This is me trying.”Segments: Words That Found Me — Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”Words From Me To You — an excerpt from The Only Constant (page 205) on scarcity, breadcrumbs, and why we hold on.If this episode supported you, it would mean the world if you left a rating or review wherever you listen or watch.

    42 min

  4. JAN 6

    026- Your Partner Comes First

    Send us a text What do you do when your partner says they’re uncomfortable with a “friendship” you have with someone else? In this soul-nourishing conversation, I’m joined by one of my dearest friends—IN-Q (you may know him as @inq.life)—for a deep dive into love, boundaries, trust, and the quiet ways we betray ourselves when we try to be “easygoing” at the cost of emotional safety. We talk about the difference between secure love and detached love, why “unconditional” doesn’t mean “anything goes,” and how your non-negotiables aren’t demands—they’re clarity. We explore the nuance behind opposite-sex friendships, the idea of “leaky energy,” and what it actually means to honor your relationship without policing each other. We also go inward: why expression heals, why the right words can become medicine, and why the most powerful relationship you’ll ever build is the one where you learn to speak to yourself with respect. This episode is for anyone who’s ever asked: Am I allowed to have needs in love?When is compromise healthy—and when is it self-abandonment?How do I walk away from someone I still love?What does trust actually require?And it ends with something you might not know you needed to hear: I don’t need to know you to be proud of you. Guest: IN-Q (@inq.life) Find IN-Q: in-q.com | Inquire Within | Never-Ending Now Poetry Journal | retreats + tour dates via his newsletter If this conversation held you, share it with someone who needs permission to choose themselves—without guilt.

    1h 14m

  5. 12/30/2025

    025- You’re Not Stuck. You’re Grieving. (A conversation with David Kessler on loss, meaning, and healing)

    Send us a text We think our time is endless. So we waste so much of our lives chasing what we think life “should” look like, and calling avoidance “moving on.” But you don’t move on from pain without it being dragged behind you. In this episode of Beyond Words, I’m joined by my very first guest, grief expert and bestselling author David Kessler. We talk about what grief really is, why denial can be a form of grace, and how judgment keeps us stuck in pain. We explore finding meaning—not in loss itself, but in who we become after it—and why grief needs witnessing, not fixing. We also talk about grief in relationships, including narcissistic abuse and gaslighting, how to support someone who is grieving without abandoning yourself, and why the worst grief is always your own—because it’s the one you’re living. Guest: David Kessler Website: grief.com Support Groups: Tender Hearts (online) Social: @IamDavidKessler Timestamps (Simplified) 00:00 We think our time is endless & why avoidance isn’t healing 02:38 What grief really is: a change we didn’t want 06:00 Denial as grace & how the brain processes loss 11:32 Finding meaning: not in the event, but in who we become 16:16 Why grief must be witnessed, not fixed 20:59 Grieving identities, futures, and relationships 26:45 Judgment, self-compassion, and why shame keeps us stuck 34:35 Cultural rituals of grief & what we’re missing today 40:59 Boundaries while loving someone who’s grieving 46:32 Grieving narcissistic relationships & the death of self 53:21 Freedom is found in reality 56:26 Words From Me to You: don’t do grief alone 58:26 “The worst grief is yours” 01:00:35 Where to find David’s work & support

    1h 2m

  6. 12/23/2025

    024- How to Take Things Personally (In a Way That Finally Sets You Free)

    Send us a text They knew what they were doing. They knew it would hurt you. And they did it anyway.We’re told, “Don’t take it personally. It’s not about you.” But what if that message is exactly what keeps you in cycles of betrayal, self-blame, and repeated hurt? In this episode of Beyond Words, Najwa Zebian reframes what it means to take things personally. Not as self-blame, not as shame, and not as “I must have deserved this”, but as a powerful way to validate your pain, revoke people’s access to you, and rebuild your definition of love. If someone has lied to you, betrayed you, humiliated you, or consistently disrespected you behind your back, this conversation will help you say: “You no longer have access to the perimeter of my life where you can get close enough to hurt me in that way.” In this episode, you’ll hear: Why “don’t take it personally” can become spiritual gaslightingThe difference between internalizing blame and claiming your painHow to use hurt as data: this person knew what they were doingWhy people who rely on your maturity count on you not reactingHow to revoke emotional access and rebuild your sense of self-worthHow to redefine love so it no longer equals being used, walked on, and manipulatedNajwa also reads from her book The Only Constant, exploring what it really means to take something personally, without making it mean you deserved the pain. 🎧 Listen when you’re ready to stop minimizing what was done to you, and start holding people to their choices. Books by Najwa Zebian mentioned / related to this episode: 📚 The Only Constant 📚 Welcome Home 📚 The Book of Healing Explore the books here: https://www.najwazebian.com/books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Najwa+Zebian

    29 min

  7. 12/16/2025

    023- How to Be Your Own Medicine: Stop Waiting for the Person Who Hurt You to Heal You

    Send us a text We often wait for the person who broke us to bring us the medicine that will heal what they broke. Their apology. Their acknowledgment. Their guilt. Their suffering. But when you give someone the power to heal you in the same way you gave them the power to break you, you place yourself in a dangerous position, because the source you’re waiting on has already proven to be a source of pain. In this episode of Beyond Words, Najwa Zebian explores what it truly means to be your own medicine. Not as a way of becoming cold, detached, or self-sufficient in isolation — but as a way of reclaiming your power, your compassion, and your wholeness. This episode is for anyone who: Is waiting for closure that may never comeGives endlessly to others but neglects themselvesConfuses love with self-depletionHas been conditioned to believe they are last on their own priority listNajwa speaks about: Why the person who caused the wound cannot be the source of the cureHow people-pleasing trains us to abandon ourselvesThe difference between survival safety and expansive safetyHow to give yourself the empathy, validation, and care you give so freely to othersWhy revenge is a distortion of your medicine, and self-return is its true powerThis episode includes a reading from Mind Platter and reflections from The Only Constant on healing, self-worth, and becoming the person you’ve been waiting for. 🎧 Listen when you’re ready to stop begging for crumbs,  and start giving yourself the whole meal.

    27 min

  8. 12/09/2025

    022- You Don’t Need a New Life. You Need a New You.

    Send us a text We often believe that happiness lives in a different version of our life — a new job, a new relationship, a new body, or a new place. But real transformation doesn’t start from the outside in. It starts from the inside out. In this deeply reflective episode of Beyond Words, Najwa reminds us that the most important glow up isn’t about what the world sees, but who we become within. She explores the illusion of external validation, the beauty of integrity, and what it truly means to embody the person you say you are. Najwa reads from her first book Mind Platter and shares insights from The Only Constant, guiding you to shift your focus from changing your circumstances to strengthening your character. You’ll learn: Why external success can never heal internal emptinessHow to stop chasing validation and start embodying wholenessWhat it means to have a “soul’s glow up”How to rebuild your self-worth from the inside outYour job isn’t to create a new life that looks better. It’s to become a new you that feels better. #BeyondWords #NajwaZebian #Healing #PersonalGrowth #GlowUp #SelfWorth #Podcast

    35 min
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Let’s use the power of words to heal. 

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