Ep. 139 Vasavi Kumar on The Gift of Seeing Yourself First
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Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
On the podcast today is Vasavi Kumar, Founder of the Real Rich Community, Licensed Therapist, and Host of the Being Human with Vasavi podcast.
Vasavi Kumar leads the coaching industry with 10 years of experience, and has helped thousands of women overcome major life obstacles to create new heights of success. Her work is known internationally from speaking engagements in India and across the USA.
Vasavi is recognized for getting to the bottom of the intersection of self and business roadblocks and her methods teach clients how to master the art of getting what you want, by mastering their mind.
Vasavi is the Founder of The Real Rich community, Licensed Therapist, and Host of the Being Human with Vasavi podcast. Vasavi holds dual Masters degrees in Special Education from Hofstra University and Social Work from Columbia University. She's been featured in The Wall Street Journal, FOX, VH1, and was a regular on NBC’s Kansas City Live as the “Keepin’ It Real Guru.” She believes that when you cultivate a solid relationship with yourself, you can be, do, and create anything you want.
Vasavi shares her mental health journey, getting sober, and allowing herself to really get to know herself.
What it means to allow ourselves to sit with our emotions and self-soothe, and why her relationships have been the greatest eye opener.
The gift of seeing yourself first, the role of mirror work, and asking yourself what you need.
Why we need to start with self-like before self-love
Plus, Vasavi shares the role of joy in her journey, her go-to mantra for self-love and self-compassion, her biggest dream, and so much more!
My biggest takeaway from my conversation with Vasavi is that when we allow ourselves to see ourselves first, acknowledge and validate our experience and our emotions, we can step into greater self-trust. Here’s the thing though, we’ll all experience moments of adversity, things will happen! We’ll have the highest highs, and the lowest lows, but the gift is in those moments where we don’t allow it to break our like and love of ourselves. If we can continue to see ourselves first, we may just be surprised at how capable we really are.
I’m so excited to share this week’s new episode with Vasavi, and I can’t wait to hear what you think! Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“When you know yourself, what you’re going to realize is that you’re a lot more capable than you’ve given yourself credit for.”
“We’re looking to people, places and things to soothe us and parent us, and give us love and attention and validation. This is the beautiful thing that happens. When you stop invalidating yourself, when you stop minimizing your emotions, when you allow yourself to feel the next time someone says to you don’t feel that way, or it’s not a big deal, you’re going to be slightly offended but in a good way! You’re going to be like, don’t tell me how to feel or how I should feel. You’re not in my body, you don’t have my experience.”
Ever since she can remember, Vasavi has been relentless to find her own voice and access the freedom of her creative spirit.
A first-generation Indian immigrant, she grew up in a traditional Hindu household on Long Island, New York. Living and going to school in a predominantly all-White town, she struggled with figuring out her own unique identity, the mental heartache of bullying, and shame from outshining the other students in her class due to her strict upbringing and focus on academics. Back then, she longed for acceptance, and believed that she had to dumb herself down to fit in and be welcomed into social circles.
Education being vitally important, Vasavi holds dual master’s degrees in Special Education from Hofstra University and Social Work from Columbia University. She’s the Former Co-Host of Studio 512, a lifestyle and entertainment morning show in Austin, TX and was featured in The Wall Street Journal, FOX, VH1, and was a regular on NBC’s Kansas City Live as the “Keepin’ It Real Guru.”
“Ultimately everything is an opportunity to look within.”
She pushed past the barriers of her youth and was building her six-figure business as a Coach and Licensed Therapist. She looked spotless on paper. She appeared like what so many women aspire to be – she had it all and was doing it all. What she quickly came to realize was that as well as she looked on the outside, she was crumbling on the inside.
She was not happy with herself and she was using everything on the outside to cover up who she was on the inside. She’s often asked, “How have you been able to get back up no matter what you’ve gone through?”
Her journey after that point included realizing and tackling her own mental illness, going through a divorce, and admitting her own addiction to drugs and alcohol, going through rehab, taking a step back with a relapse and then going through recovery again. She took her recovery on the inside as serious as she had focused in the past on her skills on the outside. Her spiritual healing included really learning about her own Self and being comfortable with being alone. She learned lessons of how to love who she is and connecting with that woman, feeling safe with her thoughts, and found healthier coping skills to turn her chronic dissatisfaction into internal contentment.
From her own mental health challenges, divorce, addiction and RECOVERY, she’s learned that missteps and wrong turns don’t break your love of Self. You have the power to overcome your rock bottom moments successfully, and come out the other side stronger.
“Do the things that are an embodiment of you seeing yourself. Is it movement, hydration, meditation, is it self-talk? It’s all the things, by the way. Is it boundaries, is it allowing yourself to change your mind? Is it dressing like a million bucks and feeling really good? See yourself, see yourself behind closed doors because when you see yourself and acknowledge who you are, getting on social media is just a byproduct.”
Vasavi is not-your-typical Therapist and Business and Mindset Mentor. INFJ. Taurus. Enneagram type 4. First-generation Indian immigrant.
She helps you release the outdated beliefs that have been holding you back in life and business— so you experience real change in your life and business.
Her mission is to help you know yourself so well that you have the confidence to be, do, and create anything you want. She helps you release the outdated beliefs that have been holding you back in life and business— so you experience real change in your life and business. Her mission is to help you know yourself so well that you have the confidence to be, do, and create anything you want.
“So you’ve got to see yourself, you’ve got to see what you need and you need to give it to yourself.”
To connect with Vasavi visit her website https://www.vasavikumar.com and on Instagram @mynameisvasavi Facebook @VasaviKumarUnfiltered you can find Being Human Podcast here you can take her “How Well Do You Know Yourself” quiz here and find her Real Rich community on Facebook
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