Live life with steadiness, balance: Wellness expert

The proper perspective towards healing is the road to health and wellness, said a Dubai resident who quit her nearly a decade GCC-wide corporate strategy and communications job in exchange for well-being and trauma-informed activism.

The “turning point” to Nancy Zabaneh was her “complete exhaustion” at the workplace and her consequent pondering on “Who and I?” that resulted in her exploration of “holistic modalities to healing; combining transpersonal psychology, Kundalini Yoga, and trauma-informed care.”

Her thoughts on the power of openness to the power of healing is in connection with the 2025 theme – “Diabetes at the Workplace” – of the 34th year of November 14 (Friday) “World Diabetes Day.”

The awareness campaign of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has been ongoing since 1991. IDF operates in seven regions which include the Middle East and North Africa, involving 251 national diabetes associations from 158 countries. Its most recent data on people living with diabetes: seven in 10 are of working age; three in four have experienced mental illnesses; and, four in five had experienced diabetes burn-out.

November 14 is the birth anniversary of Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting. In 1923, Banting, his then American medical student Charles Best, Scottish biochemist-physiologist Dr. John James Rickard Macleod, and Canadian biochemist James Collip, received the high-status Nobel Prize-Physiology/Medicine Award for their 1922 discovery, invention and refinement of the breakthrough insulin from dogs.

“I do not see healing as a battle to win. Whether diabetes, trauma or any life challenge, it is about living with steadiness, dignity, and balance alongside these,” said the Arab Canadian mother who formed eight years back the Darshan platform for the Kundalini Yoga teacher training and community well-being platform, designed to strengthen awareness, nervous system balance, and inner resilience.

“Trauma does not create diabetes. However, research shows that long-term stress, overwhelming experiences, and early emotional strain can influence the body’s stress response, inflammation and lifestyle patterns.”

Thus, the possible spark of cardiovascular diseases, obesity and other co-morbidities: “When the nervous system stays under pressure for extended periods, the body may struggle to maintain steady blood sugar, energy, sleep, and cravings.”

“Science keeps evolving. Remission in Type 2 diabetes can occur through sustained lifestyle shifts, and innovative therapies, including stem-cell research for Type 1 diabetes, offer genuine hope for the future. I have seen healing unfold across many layers; the physical body, the emotional world, the nervous system, and the way a person related to themselves. Diabetes and trauma often call for the same foundations: awareness, consistency, compassion, and a supportive environment,” Zabaneh said.

She continued: “When safety enters the picture, something inside begins to soften. People relate to their condition in a new way. They start listening to their bodies with care rather than force. This simple shift creates space for real change. Life brings many circumstances, and we may not direct all of them. Yet, we can choose how we meet each moment.”

“Healing deepens through presence, courage, and the quiet, consistent choices that guide us toward clarity and heart. Healing is a living process, shaped by the relationships that support us, the understanding we offer ourselves, and the steady daily practices that guide us back to grounding and wholeness,” added the Compassionate Inquiry (Dr. Gabor Mate’s [psychotherapeutic approach) Arab Country coordinator and Beyond Addiction programme regional guide/educator.

“Whether supporting someone healing from illness or guiding a senior leader through exhaustion, I consistently see how emotional safety strengthens a person’s capacity to care for themselves. A trauma-informed approach offers presence, steadiness, and understanding. It involves people to acknowledge their feelings and experiences with compassion, which naturally supports healthier choices, resilience, and a greater sense of hope. This is deeply supportive for people managing with diabetes.”

Over-all, because of “connection, compassion, and the ways we choose to care for ourselves every day,” growth, a by-product of the process of healing, dawns.