Nzinga A. Harrison, MD

02/23/2026

The Fourth Agreement: Always Do your Best

Under any circumstances, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next.

LISTEN!!! This is a WORD that I needed to hear! There were so many things in this book that really made a difference for me but THIS ONE!!! Man!!

🔅 Just do your best in any circumstance in your life.
🔅 Say no when you want to say no, and yes when you want to say yes. You have the right to be you.
🔅 You can only be you when you do your best. When you don’t do your best you are denying yourself the right to be you.

The first three agreements will only work if you do your best.

The Four Agreements™ was published in 1997 and has sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone. It has been on the New York Times Bestselling list for over a decade and is published in 5…

02/09/2026

This blog from our very own Charity Cousin at really touched me. So beautiful

Parenting in recovery is about presence, not perfection. A parent reflects on healing, guilt, and showing up for their children.

02/06/2026

Oh man, I love this personal profile from Chad, one of our amazing Community Recovery Partners and Certified Peer Coach at health. He says:

As a group facilitator (and as someone in recovery myself), I understand how uncomfortable the idea of joining a group can feel at first. In my early recovery, sitting in a room with others and sharing my experiences felt overwhelming. Over time, I learned that healing is often rooted in connection, and that some of the most meaningful support comes from people who have traveled a similar road.

My favorite section header in the blog: "You don't have to do recovery alone"

💙

Hear from a Community Recovery Partner about peer support and how Eleanor Health’s All-Recovery Meetings create connection, reduce isolation, and support recovery at every stage.

01/22/2026

Yassssss!!!!!!! (Screaming in my Oprah voice!)

“NA drinks are now just as premium as full-alcohol options, and athletes, teams, and leagues are pouring money into the category.”

NA drinks are now just as premium as full-alcohol options, and athletes, teams, and leagues are pouring money into the category.

01/06/2026

Alrighty, as promised! As I read The Four Agreements, these were the sentences that really stood out to me under the first agreement which is:

🗣️ BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD

-Your word is the most powerful tool you have as a human.
-The human mind is like fertile ground where seeds are continually being planted. The seeds are opinions, ideas and concepts.
-Mostly we use the word to spread our personal poison. The word is the most powerful gift we have as humans – and we use it against ourselves.
-Gossip is pure poison. Emotional poison is transferred along with opinions. Using the analogy of the human mind as a computer, gossip can be compared to a computer virus. This code is inserted into the program of your computer when you least expect and most of the time without your awareness. After this code has been introduced, your computer doesn’t work quite right and stops producing good results. Computer hackers intentionally spread the virus.
-Being impeccable with your word means to use your energy in the direction of truth and love for yourself.

⭐ Impreccability of word will also give you immunity from anyone putting a negative spell on you. You will only receive a negative idea if your mind is fertile ground for that idea.

#1 is typically one of the easier agreements for me to practice, but is also the agreement I found degrading most quickly near the end of last year. I am turning over my top soil and using my word and energy in the direction of truth and love, not just for myself, but for all 🖤

The Four Agreements™ was published in 1997 and has sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone. It has been on the New York Times Bestselling list for over a decade and is published in 5…

01/05/2026

Ok, who else has read The Four Agreements?! It is on my list of books that has made a huge difference in my life. Rather than write a bajillion words in one post, I'll break this up into 4-5 posts. I've been off the Four Agreements wagon, and just stepped back on last week. It feels good!

The Four Agreements distills ancient Toltec wisdom into four simple principles:

1. Be impeccable with your word

2. Don’t take things personally

3. Don’t make assumptions

4. Always do your best.

Together, they offer a practical framework for reducing self-inflicted stress, improving relationships and living a life of personal freedom. 🙏🏾

When I read non-fiction books, I write out "Nzinga's Notes." Last week, I cracked open my notes from 2024, and I have revisited them almost daily since then! These are some of the sentences that stood out to me from the introduction of the book:

💡The belief system is like a Book of Law that rules our mind.

💡The inner Judge uses our Book of Law to judge everything we do and don’t do, everything we think and don’t think and everything we feel and don’t feel.

💡The Victim receives those judgments and carries the blame, the guilt and the shame.

💡True justice is paying only once for each mistake. True injustice is paying more than once for each mistake. Every time we remember, we judge ourselves again, we are guilty again, and we punish ourselves again, and again, and again.

💡 It is our agreements that rule our own life, and if we do not like the dream of our life, we need to change the agreements.

Tomorrow, I'll post sentences about the first agreement. ⭐

The Four Agreements™ was published in 1997 and has sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone. It has been on the New York Times Bestselling list for over a decade and is published in 5…

01/02/2026

Happy New Year!! 🎆

I've never been one to make New Year Resolutions, and interestingly, I don't typically find myself being especially retrospective or introspective at the start of the year BUT this year! I was minding my own business, and the Washington Post Daily 7 email popped up in my inbox. One of the teasers was "Do you want to be more kind and compassionate in 2026?" And I was like whoa...

Compassion and kindness are two of the most important values and expectations I hold for myself. Under the stress and emotional toll of 2025, I have absolutely felt my natural compassion and kindness fraying around the edges. I took note of this about a month ago. I mentioned it to a couple of people. I pulled out my notes on The Four Agreements and made a commitment to get back on the wagon. But I didn't actually do anything... 👀

And so I felt like this teaser was meant especially for me. I clicked on the article, read the blurb and the article introduced me to Metta meditation.

Because I refuse to pay a subscription for news no matter how many teasers they send me ... 🤷🏾‍♀️ I went to ChatGPT (which I do pay a subscription for) and asked about Metta meditation.

Long story short, I decided to start a Metta meditation practice. This was on 12/29/2025. It is already making a difference! I pulled out my notes on the Four Agreements and read them yesterday. I'm getting back on the compassion/kindness wagon!

This post is my Metta meditation. I'll post on Monday about The Four Agreements.

For Myself:
Inhale: May I be healthy.
Exhale: May I live with ease.
Inhale: May I be fulfilled.
Exhale: May I live with joy.

For Someone I Love (I visualize the person):
Inhale: May *insert name* be healthy.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with ease.
Inhale: May *insert name* be fulfilled.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with joy.

For Someone I Feel Neutral about (I visualize the person):
Inhale: May *insert name* be healthy.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with ease.
Inhale: May *insert name* be fulfilled.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with joy.

For Someone I Have Negative Thoughts and Emotions about (I visualize the person):
Inhale: May *insert name* be healthy.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with ease.
Inhale: May *insert name* be fulfilled.
Exhale: May *insert name* live with joy.

For All Beings:
Inhale: May all be healthy.
Exhale: May all live with ease.
Inhale: May all be fulfilled.
Exhale: May all live with joy.
*For this one, I have found myself visualizing certain groups ie people with addiction, people with depression, children in foster care, people with childhood trauma

Now get this part. Would you believe, Varuna Srinivasan, MBBS MPH sent me a Happy New Year email and closed it out with a Metta meditation.

SAY WHATTTTTTTTT 😲

This is confirmation.

For all of you reading:
May you be healthy.
May you live life with ease.
May you be fulfilled.
May you live life with joy.
🖤

01/01/2026

Today is the seventh and final day of Kwanzaa.

Imani
“to believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”

In our family, we pour libations, call the names of our ancestors, light all seven candles on the kinara, and end with the Harambe ritual.

Harambe means “Let’s pull together.” Everybody raises their fist in the air and as we pull down, we call out “Harambe!. You do this seven times — and on the seventh, you hold Harambe for as long you can! It gets competitive and though I always convince myself this is the year I will win, I live in a house full of swimmers with incredible breath control so… 😑🙄😫🤣

After Harambe comes Zawadi — the giving of gifts.

May Imani carry us forward with faith in ourselves, our community, and the future we are building — together. Bring on 2026! 🌟

My Dad sent me this incredible
Kwanzaa card — and I felt this message in my SOUL!!

HARAMBE! 👊🏾

12/31/2025

Today is Kuumba, the 6th day of Kwanzaa — creativity with purpose. Not just art, but innovation. Not just ideas, but ideas that leave the world better than we found it.

What will you create that future generations can stand on?

Habari gani!

12/30/2025

Nia — the fifth day of Kwanzaa — calls us to remember why we are here. It’s about Purpose: building, creating, and contributing to something greater than ourselves. Today we honor our collective responsibility to uplift our communities, nurture our gifts, and leave a legacy our children can stand on. A perfect day to ask: How will my purpose serve others? 💫

Habari gani?!

12/29/2025

Kwanzaa Day 4!

Today we honor Ujamaa, the principle of building and sustaining community wealth.

It’s a reminder that prosperity grows strongest when we create, support, and circulate resources among each other — not just individually, but collectively.

We rise higher when we rise together. 👊🏾

Habari gani!

12/28/2025

Day 3: Ujima – Collective Work & Responsibility

Today’s Kwanzaa principle teaches us to build and uplift our communities together. Ujima reminds us that our progress is shared — we solve problems collectively, celebrate wins collectively, and invest in one another so we all rise. A powerful reminder that none of us has to carry the load alone. 🖤

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): to build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and solve them together.