Fiona Pinar: resilience, identity and a strong mind | What we learned at ZZEN Talks

During the conversation, one idea keeps coming up: the difference between suffering and getting stuck in suffering.

Fiona explains it very clearly:

• You cannot negotiate with reality

• Avoiding the problem only delays the process

• Time spent resisting is time wasted

And he offers a very powerful reflection:

If something is not going to change, accepting it sooner does not make you weak, it makes you free.

It doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It means he decided not to make it his identity.

While she was in hospital, something decisive happened. Her mother told her that there were prostheses for running, and that was a turning point for Fiona. In that moment, she went from being a victim to being a person with a purpose.

‘Right, I've got my target.’

From then on, all his mental energy ceased to be directed towards the past and began to be directed towards the future.

She sums it up herself:

• busy mind → less suffering

• direction → less anxiety

• action → less fear

That is why he says that sport was his medicine.

Not because of physical appearance. Because of the mind.

One of the most striking moments in the episode is when he explains the pain of phantom limb.

She could still feel her leg, which no longer had cramps, itching, spasms... Her brain kept searching for it.

And this connects to something interesting: the mind takes longer to accept reality than the body. And that is why the psychological process matters so much. Having a healthy and well-cared-for mind is one of the most important things in life. 

When asked what changed after the accident, his answer is surprising: he did not become a different person. He simply stopped hiding who he was.

Before the accident, he had insecurities, but afterwards he learned to accept himself as he was and not to worry about what other people might say.

“The biggest change was accepting myself.”

And here's a key idea from the episode: When you accept yourself, you stop wasting energy fighting against yourself.

A very interesting part of the conversation addresses something broader. In today's world, we live trying to avoid any discomfort, constantly seeking to avoid mistakes, avoid pain, avoid frustration...

But Fiona argues the opposite: if you avoid all problems, you don't evolve.

Fiona does not romanticise suffering, but neither does she deny it; she simply learns to live with it. Because learning comes after the shock of reality.

The most striking thing about the episode is this statement:

If I knew how I feel now, I would go through the accident again.

And it's not because he wants to lose his leg, it's because it allowed him to develop a mindset that he didn't have before. A much stronger and more powerful mindset to face his daily life.

That completely redefines the idea of ‘bad luck’.

The episode is not just a story of extreme resilience. In fact, it speaks to something much closer to home: how mental management works on a day-to-day basis.

Often, it is not what happens that blocks us, but our interpretation of it. Two people can experience the same situation and react completely differently depending on their internal dialogue.

That's why at ZZEN Labs we insist so much on the importance of habits, rest, and mental clarity. It's not about performing better out of obligation, it's about thinking more clearly.

When the mind is saturated:

• exaggerates problems

• anticipates negative scenarios

• gets stuck in the same thought

When the mind is clear:

• decides more easily

• accept what you cannot change

• act rather than react

Ultimately, we cannot always control what happens, but we can train ourselves to process it. And promoting a clear mind and a state of ZZEN with natural nootropics such as ZZEN Calm can make all the difference in our daily lives.

The episode leaves us with several reflections, but three ideas summarise its message particularly well:

1) Reality is not negotiable: The sooner we accept what has happened, the sooner we can start building from there.

2) The objective organises the mind: Having direction reduces mental noise and prevents energy from being wasted on the past.

3) Growth begins when resistance ends: It does not appear when everything is going well, but when we stop fighting the inevitable and start moving forward.

If you want to truly understand these ideas, it's worth listening to the entire episode. It's not just another motivational story; it's a conversation about identity, pain, and purpose.