Vineela is a 29-year-old designer who completed her Master’s in lifestyle accessory design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
She hails from Hyderabad, the city of pearls and a home to many historical landmarks. Vineela spent most of her life in her native town and then moved to Ahmedabad to pursue higher education and a career.
Vineela keeps her circle smaller and considers herself a self-reflective person with an upper hand in creativity. She explains that she had always felt lucky and blessed to have gotten the opportunity to pursue her passion towards design. She also loves to practice slow living with a sustainable lifestyle.
While Vineela took her life one step at a time, she faced certain challenges when pursuing her master’s. She found herself caught between the health complications relating to autoimmune and the waves of pressure she faced from her peers. Even though she tried to feel better, Vineela elaborates that she felt pushed back square one repeatedly.
Although she had a good relationship with her family, there were some things she couldn’t share with them. As she actively pursued help for the situation, she recalled the Zoom session with the team from YourDOST, where they explained their tie-up with her university to support the students.
Remembering the brief, Vineela downloaded the YourDOST app and found the platform’s interface easy and helpful. Even though therapy was a new concept for Vineela, the fact that the platform provided anonymity gave her the confidence to open up. She started connecting with Ms Noreen Choudhri to understand more about her issues and work on them.
“I liked Ms Noreen’s style and approach to the sessions. I was surprised as she understood not only the issue at hand but also my way of expressing myself. She was empathetic and solution-oriented.”
As the sessions proceeded, Vineela explains that the situation opened up things about her childhood trauma, which indirectly built up a lot of pressure within her. Eventually, the counselor helped her understand that most of her behavioural patterns and reactions in a challenging situation were based on those traumatic experiences of her past.
Vineela says that once they identified the root cause, the path to overcoming it became clearer, and she could consciously reduce its impact on her well-being. These made Vineela gain trust in therapy and attend the sessions consistently. She began discussing her deep-rooted issues and also day-to-day inconveniences. Vineela adds that the counselor also introduced her to practising mindfulness.
“Before talking to my counselor I thought mindfulness was just about doing a little bit of meditation, journaling or talking to someone I feel comfortable with. With therapy, I understood that it could be as simple as just sitting with my thoughts or doing my chores.”
Vineela explains that this helped her become more grounded in the present. The counselor also taught her a few yoga techniques to help her calm her mind and encouraged her habit of self-reflecting through journaling.
Knowing Vineela’s busy routine, the counselor suggested that she quickly type on her mobile phone whenever she felt overwhelmed or sad instead of using the traditional writing method. Vineela expresses that all of the techniques were simple and effective, and they created a positive mindset within her.
“I struggled with peer pressure and body image issues, but with everything Ms Norren taught me, I started to believe that all of the issues can be resolved easily with the right kind of efforts.”
Vineela elaborates that the counselor encouraged her to explore herself, try out new things, and be more open to changes in life. This helped Vineela better understand herself and her interest areas. She was asked to try activities like going out at the weekend or buying herself a dress she’d never worn.
As she started prioritising self-care and mindfulness, Vineela realised that she could deal with her issues independently and rise above them. She adds that through Ms Noreen, she started seeing herself with a different perspective.
“My counselor insisted on getting me out of my comfort zone, which greatly helped. I remember buying a simple eyeliner for the first time and applying it throughout the week. It might seem small, but I felt the greatest, and it became memorable.”
She explains that eventually, the counselor directed Vineela to be independent in solving her issues rather than relying on anyone. Vineela elucidates that she has gained insights and techniques to handle her problems rather than getting a dictated solution.
Slowly but gradually, Vineela started rejecting the idea of body shaming and began accepting herself completely. Seeing herself differently helped her view life differently and approach her problems more positively.
She also learned how to tackle the peer pressure in her classroom and compartmentalise her situations. Vineela achieved this with the understanding she gained about boundaries from therapy.
As she improved, she continued to take the sessions to work on her past, present and future. It’s been more than four years since her first sessions, and Vineela explains that even though she was sceptical about therapy, she took a leap of faith. She feels elated that it worked and is still working.
As they explore relationship concepts in her current sessions, Vineela thanks Ms Noreen for helping her identify herself through the safe space she created to explore her feelings.
“Everything you do cannot be on a scale. I realised that improving daily without focusing on the results can someday reveal the wholesome growth we always wanted.”
With that being said, Vineela rates herself 4.5 out of 5 and takes life one step at a time. We are genuinely proud of her transformation and send our heartfelt wishes for her future.
Vineela’s Warrior Tips:
1.“To solve most issues in life, the first step is to look inward and understand yourself.”
2.“If you have trouble with self-reflection, speak to the experts on platforms like YourDOST.”
3.“Don’t be afraid to reach out and overcome the stigmas about mental health to improve yourself.”
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