Episode 4 - Learning to Love Your Layers with Jasmine Rice
By Jessica Garrison
Trigger warning: suicide
Although the conversation this week contains some heavy topics, they are also very important to bring to the forefront. I thank our guest, Jasmine Rice, for her vulnerability, honesty, and good spirit as she shares her life with us this week, and I’m so excited for everyone to listen!
Self-care wasn’t in Jasmine’s vocabulary until about five years ago, but she began her self-care journey cognitively after going through a divorce. Her self-care evolves every day, but in the beginning, even taking a shower was nourishing for Jasmine. I’m glad she mentioned this (along with so many other helpful tips) because showering can become quite laborious if you’re depressed. If you understand this feeling, instead of thinking of showering as a chore, you can start to think of it as a form of self-care.
As a people pleaser, setting boundaries is challenging for Jasmine. She doesn’t want to rub people the wrong way by setting a boundary and sticking to it, but sometimes it’s necessary. She shared an example about her dad during this segment that proves she’s better at setting boundaries than she thought. Even if setting a boundary is difficult, if it’s important to you, then it’s worth it in the end, and you can expect to see the benefits of that decision.
Jasmine has been in and out of therapy since she was 13 after a suicide attempt, and even though she didn’t want to go at first, she’s realized the advantages of seeing a therapist. She describes her connection with her physical body and how much healthier it is to have a balance now that she is properly taking care of her mental health.
In supporting women, Jasmine joined a women’s networking group and has learned it’s important to stay true to who you are. Comparison is something we all do (and are taught to do as women), but not everything is what it seems, and Jasmine speaks to this so strongly throughout her episode.
Although our purpose and why are always evolving, Jasmine’s current why is helping people. She describes some hardships she experienced that helped to shape her why, and I love how encouraging she is with her purpose. It’s easy to become bitter when bad things happen to us, but Jasmine doesn’t want others to go through what she did and is spreading some positivity.
Jasmine shares the experience of her first job that had no boundaries when talking about living out of her own expectations versus others’. She and Melissa agreed that it starts young, when people put expectations on their children that they should be living up to. Some of them have good intentions, but sometimes it’s too much pressure to live your life for someone else because there’s no way to make everyone happy.
My favorite segment from this episode was probably accepting the layered aspects of yourself, as Jasmine shares her history in more detail. There are so many factors that led her to become who she is today, just as we all find ourselves along the way.
Now that Jasmine has been embracing her layers, taking care of herself, and setting necessary boundaries, she’s become more comfortable and confident with herself: “I love myself, and I don’t think I would’ve said that five years ago.” We want everyone to not only cultivate healthy relationships through F.E.E.L., but to also fall in love with themselves; it’s one of the most rewarding and special experiences there is.
Feel free to visit the Resources page on the Embracing Layers website for some of Jasmine’s brilliant recommendations and join the conversation on our Substack!
Ways to Engage: Self-love can be a fleeting emotion, but ask yourself if you truly love who you are. What emotions does this bring up for you? Why do you think you feel that way? Even if it’s uncomfortable, you owe yourself the opportunity to begin a journey towards self-love and self-acceptance.