FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH | S2 E6 K.A.S.T with Jasmin (We Are Strength) | Women in Strength

In Episode 6 of the KAST Podcast, we sit down with Jasmin, founder of We Are Strength, for a powerful conversation on mental health, therapy, and building resilience from the inside out.

Jasmin specialises in early intervention, focusing on recognising and addressing challenges before they escalate, a crucial but often overlooked part of mental health. In this episode, she shares how early support, self-awareness, and consistent inner work can completely change the trajectory of both your life and your business.

We go beyond surface-level conversations and explore what it really means to take care of your mind while pursuing growth and success.
We talk about:

What early intervention actually means in mental health
Why addressing issues early can prevent burnout and breakdown
The role of therapy in personal and professional growth
Building emotional resilience and self-awareness
Navigating pressure, discipline, and expectations

Whether you're building a business, working on yourself, or learning how to better support your mental health, this episode gives you real insight and practical perspective.

🎙️ Honest conversations. Real growth.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm Cal. And I'm Stam. And this is the cast. Cal and Stam Talks. Always reasonable, man. You know, God bless the voice of reason. We're coming to the end of season two. Close to the end. And we've had some challenges. Yeah, we've had some challenges along the way, but we're here. And today we want to introduce Jasmine.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Thank you, Stan.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

And I'm looking forward to speaking to you. Me too. I'm ready to offer us. So yeah, what's going on?

SPEAKER_05 0:31

So thank you for offering this space first and foremost. So yeah, I appreciate that. I appreciate you reaching out. So my name's Jasmine. I work for local government. So I do lots of different things really. And I've got a career and a historical kind of background in working with vulnerable families and vulnerable children as well. So I'm an educator, I'm trained in counselling. I'm a coach. I've worked with pregnant teenagers, teenage mothers, children in care. So predominantly, kind of, I come from a background where it's about supporting vulnerable families, vulnerable young people and children. Really kind of to equip them with the skills and support that they need to kind of transition through through life.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Okay, okay, okay. First and foremost, I want to say you're looking fabulous. I noticed the attire. It looks very, very fabulous. And you're matching. So when we initially had um a video call, you what stood out to me? I think I mentioned this. You said you work in like the early intervention kind of space, yeah. I myself went through the early intervention service, and it was a great help. So I don't know if you wanna maybe just start start there what it is, because this platform is about helping people and getting people into get get exposing the help that people need, and it's a help that I've received.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

So maybe you wanna did you want to say something, just before even we get into that, I think obviously you're representing a we are strength. So the question is what is we are strength? Just before we get into all the stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

So I created we are strength because through my career and the things that I've done, a lot of the things that I've experienced and witnessed and also gone through personally as well, is that um people go through lots of challenges, emotional challenges, and particularly people who look like me and who look like you, so people of colour, right? And we don't often reach for um the support that we need in order to become emotionally well and to thrive. So, what we are strength is about really, it's about providing information, it's about encouraging and empowering people to take the steps that they need to to become emotionally well and be emotionally well, right? So um we all strength starts from this basis that we all have what we need inside of us. So we have the resources, we have the our body, uh, our physiology is set up that we have most of the things that we need in order to thrive and achieve. So we are strength is about we have that strength, right? Often society and circumstances and life almost kind of disempowers people and makes them feel like that they um haven't got what it takes in order to thrive and achieve and be successful. So, what we are strength is is saying is that we do have that, we have the tools. Um, and really what we need to do is be able to tap into that in order to kind of make that successful, emotional kind of transition and and also to just to kind of show up in life and enjoy the experience of life. So that's what we are strength is. Um, it really is um, I've created it because I feel like there are services and early intervention support is very Eurocentric, right? So a lot of things that we see is very focused or or written in a way which is for a particular audience. So there is a lack of things that um look like me and look like you. So for black people specifically, right? So the mental health services, um, support services, a lot of that stuff is very Eurocentric. So it doesn't tap into our culture and who we are as people and some of our dynamics. So you it we are strength. When you go on the website, you will see it has got lots of black imagery on there, examples relating to black people, because I think when people see themselves, they can relate more to it. Um, when people when you know, it's just like with children and young people when they're growing up, they you know, children tend to do well when they see people who represent them, who look like them. And we aren't no different as adults. When we see people in spaces and doing things, and we see us in that space, then we are more inclined to believe that we can do it and that you know it reflects us, and people are more embracing and accepting of that. So we are strength, is really about this is about us, and this is a space for us to be able to thrive and and develop. And it's not to say that people who are not black are not included in that, it's just written from a culturally specific lens.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah, okay. So can you give me an example of something common? Maybe go leading up to the point where you formed We Are Stream. What was a common thing that kind of got like really got under your skin or bothered you where you say it was Eurocentric? And can you give us um like a parallel example of something that you've set up to kind of combat that? Yeah, it might be a bit of a broad question, but I think a common thing.

SPEAKER_05 6:00

Yeah, I think there is always, always. So always as we go about our daily lives, and I'm I'm sure you guys will see it too, is you know, you know, if you are accessing talking therapy, often the talking therapist is white, sometimes male, so they don't they're not represented. If you speak to people um for support, professional support, when you go into that space, it's not often people that look like us. Um, I think the thing that really, really encouraged me is I was seeing a lot um and understanding a lot that as a as people, as people of colour, black people don't tend to access the support that they need early enough. So you mentioned before, kind of like my my platform and my principle is about early intervention. So my grandma always used to say to me, kind of like um prevention is better than cure. And I say that all of the time, right? So, you know, we need to try and prevent ourselves kind of getting unwell, or if we see the signs of becoming unwell emotionally, then what we need to do is do the things now to prevent it from escalating. So I think the thing for me was there are so many people personally and professionally that I'm seeing and witnessing who are one minute they're okay, and then you can see they're becoming unwell. And at what point do we as a community intervene to kind of put our hands in to stop it from getting worse and remove some of that stigma that is there as well within our community, too. So I think the the push for me, the push for me to do this is, you know, I want to be able to support people to say, we all get unwell emotionally. We all experience times in our life when we are low. We all will all experience times in our life when we are wobbly and and you know, it we are struggling to kind of navigate stuff. Don't leave it for it to get worse and worse and worse until you need specialists' help and services. Try, there are lots of things that we can do now to kind of prevent that from happening. So I think personally and professionally, I was in that space where I was seeing a lot of people who look like me who are becoming very unwell. And then sometimes in our community, it's kind of like you know, they're mad or they're whatever, which is such an unhealthy approach, and it stops people from accessing the support that they need or saying, I need help.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Um, you know, they don't want to be even be classed as mad or like an outcast.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Um also so in regards to emotionally well and emotionally unwell, so you said people should get the help before it gets before it's too late or get severe. So what would be some things for like the viewers like signs that you are getting emotionally unwell, just so people can realize if you say it now and people are like, oh, you know what, that does sound a bit like me, so let me go and get the help now before it gets worse. So what would you say are some some signs or symptoms of someone getting emotionally unwell?

SPEAKER_05 9:00

I think I think a lot of us will have had this happen. Um so we wake up and we're not in a we don't feel in a good mood or we feel upset and upset and angry or frustrated or anxious and we don't know what we're upset and anxious and angry about, right? So there isn't we think there isn't anything that's happened happened for us to kind of feel that way. Um so that uh ruminating, so when you are kind of keep thinking about the same problem over and over again, and you just keep thinking about, you know, sit there wondering. And when you're not worrying, you're worrying about why you're not worrying, right? So it's kind of like that rumination. The mind is constantly going around worrying about something that actually hasn't reached you yet, you know, it's something that is in the future, it's not even here, or it's something that's gone. So it's something that was in our past, it's not here now, but we are ruminating on it as if it's still here. So we're living in the past, right? So we're worried about things that have gone or things that aren't even here yet. Yeah, um, so we're not even in that present.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Would that be like anxiety, would you say?

SPEAKER_05 10:02

Yeah, anxiousness. Um, I think fear, you know, a lot of people, a lot of us have fear. Um, you know, I know me personally, for example, and I wrote a blog which is on my um, I I write a lot, I really enjoy writing. Um so I wrote uh insight on my um website, which is around some of the things that I struggle with. So I love to walk. So I you know, I find it very therapeutic kind of walking. Um, and that is the way that um I get into my creative zone, that is the way that I kind of ground myself and prepare myself, like walking for me is my is my thing. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Let me just jump in. You see, if you're walking, do you do you have a set schedule for your walking, or do you go by I you know what? I feel a bit off, let me go for a walk, or work was stressful today or this week, let me go for a walk. How do you with your walking?

SPEAKER_05 10:54

There is no particular scheme or or plan that I have at all. So I walk when I have the opportunity to walk. Okay. So sometimes I work from home. Um, so if I'm working from home and time permits between meetings, then I'll just get out, you know, go out and I'll just go for a walk around the area. I I do yoga. Um, so if when I go yoga, um I will sometimes finish yoga and then there's a park not far from where we are, and we will walk, um, I will walk around there. So it it just varies really. You know, there's no there is no kind of like every morning and getting up at five o'clock. That as well can cause issues because if you yeah, yeah, but not that in itself. But I think when people put unnecessary demands on themselves, I need to do this at five o'clock, I need to do this at six o'clock, I need to do this at seven o'clock, we just need to flow. Sometimes we just need to flow with life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

So stuff, stuff might happen just out of the ordinary, and then it might knock something back, and then it's like, oh, I'm not gonna make that time, then you start panicking and overthinking and before you know it, even at the spiral.

SPEAKER_05 11:54

Yeah, because society, you know, you'll see, you know, you need to start at four o'clock in the morning, start your day at five o'clock in the morning, and then you need to have this morning routine, and then you need to who says we need to do all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

I'm guilty of that. Is that a Eurocentric point of view though? Would you would you class that as Eurocentric or do you just no?

SPEAKER_05 12:12

I just think that that's life. I just I just think that that is life, and particularly now, um, there is so much information. We are drowning in information, too much, right? We are drowning in information. So, you know, depending on what what video you watch, what YouTube you watch, what you've got on your feed, it will tell you you need to do this and you need to do that. So there's a quote by I've been um listening to um a is a pastor called um Omar Altacore, he's really good. So I've been listening to him, yeah. And um one of the things he says is that we are drowning in information and starving in wisdom. And I think that is such a pertinent thing. Just because you have all of this information of what you need to do doesn't mean that it's wise, it doesn't mean that it's words of wisdom. You've gotta pick the sense from the nonsense, right? You've got to do you, yeah. Yeah, what works for you are supporting. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Everyone's day is different to your day. We work the same 24 hours, but we have different stuff to do.

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Absolutely. So sometimes I'm up, aren't I, until like two o'clock in the morning. Getting up at no five o'clock ain't gonna work for me because I've been up working, I'm quite productive, and ideas come to me at night. You know, that's that's when that happens for me. So having a morning routine with getting up at four or five o'clock in the morning is just not gonna fit with me. But I, you know, if I was a person going back to your original question about some of the signs, if I listened to some of the things that was out there, I would think, wait a minute, there's something wrong with me then, because you know, I don't do that, or that doesn't work for me, or I can't follow that. So I think I don't know, I think the message for people is is that you need to carve out what is right for you in this world. You, you know, your life experience, Stam, is your life experience, and yours is yours. There is no right, there is no wrong, there is no best, there isn't, you know, you are this is your experience of life. This is your world, and you're the CEO of your world. You create it and do with it as you can. But I think there's so much stuff that I've thrown at people. People can't pick the sense from the nonsense, and tomorrow I'm this, next week I'm that. You know, they watch this YouTube video, and then you know, they're on this health thing, and it it can be quite. I think a lot of that, the a lot of that sign is I don't really know who I am. If the wind blows this way, we go that way. If the wind blows that way, we go that way.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Kind of like blind leading the blind a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 14:32

Yeah, absolutely. There's an element of that too.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

I think a lot of people are trying to turn their opinions into facts, I feel, as well, on the internet.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Well, everyone who says something hasn't really got a message, and in this social media era, everyone's just trying to get attention and everyone's sound trying to sound clever and sound good. Yeah, so it's important to be able to discern and you know, take take a lot of things with a pinch of salt, I say. Yeah, but um what I want to pick up on is the word um what did you uh is it emotional intelligence, did you say? Or did you say uh emotion? So we always hear mental health, but I noticed that you say emotional. Can you take tell us the difference or because I've never heard anyone come lead from that standpoint?

SPEAKER_05 15:20

They're they're just words, I think, to do I think that's the first thing, and I I don't want us to get hung up on words, and I think so um we have physical well hell and wealth and we and health and we have mental health and wealth, the you know, our biology, our physical being, and our mental well-being. But part of that mental well-being is emotions, that's what runs things mentally, right? Is is how you feel your emotions, right? So, for example, um, you may feel um angry and be caught up in that anger. That will have an impact on your mental wellness because you are in a state of anger, you may be in a state of fear, um, paranoia. All of these things are emotions, that's what they are. So it's kind of so when I refer to emotional wellness, what I'm referring to is about understanding where you are emotionally, right? So if I feel frustrated, today I feel really frustrated. I'm not, I I'm acknowledging there's a saying it says name it to tame it, right? So I acknowledge that today I feel really, I feel really frustrated or I feel really angry at what you've said or what you've done. I'm acknowledging my emotions, denying your emotions, um, trying to suppress your emotions. Those are some of the things that can make people become emotionally unwell, right? Um, so when I refer to emotional wellness, it is kind of synonymous with mental wellness as well, mental health. I think the term mental health is used in so many different contexts, particularly clinical contexts. And I'm not a clinician, I'm not a doctor. So I use the term emotional wellness because I think people can connect to that a lot more and it removes some of that stigma as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Just how you broke it down, yeah. Thank you so much for breaking that down. It may because this term mental health, it can almost get a bit like you said, is that that word's linked to like the clinical world. And the average person isn't clinical, you know, like that's especially maybe subject that you would have studied. Yeah. So to just put it in simple terms, you know, you you just feeling off in the morning, you just feeling maybe angry or sad, yeah, you know, that is helpful to the viewer to know that you know what, this is maybe mental health or my my mind is feeling off just because I might be feeling not happy or sad. So I think it's important as um an identifier for people to know that because it's it's it's not common to be to for people to put it like that, to put that oh if I'm feeling off, uh yeah, this is uh this is an indicator that I might need to speak to someone or do something to, you know. So it's important.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

It makes sense even suppressing it, because when you think about it, you know, like some people always bottle up something, but and then they just lose it. Yeah, and that's where probably it even comes from because you just bottled it up and then you just can't take it anymore. So yeah, no, I totally get that.

SPEAKER_05 18:12

Are are you aware of um kind of the nervous system and how the nervous system works? I've been uh lately I've been talking with a coach and he's been taking me through Yeah, because I think in terms of the nervous system, and and I'm not uh you know a scientist by any shape or means, but I love learning and I love reading and I love researching, and I don't take one thing and accept it as the truth. So part of my researching and what I do is I look for lots of different counter-arguments to understand things and then form my own opinion. And I think we're not good at that at that as people, neither. As as as you know, we take what one person says and we take it as gospel and take it as truth without exploring the things ourselves, right? So, how the nervous system works is is that we have um an autonomic system, nervous system, so that means it's automatic. So our body naturally, um our physiology is amazing. So we don't have to do anything for us to physically heal, you know that, right? So if you cut yourself, Stan, your blood clocks on its own. It doesn't need you to do anything, it clocks on its own.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

The skinny has its own intelligence, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 19:19

So it's called the it's so that there's two different systems in the autonomic um nervous system. There's a sympathetic system and there's a parasympathetic system, right? So the sympathetic system is around what your body does to protect itself if you are in a state of danger or fear. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. Yeah, absolutely. So your pupils dilate, so that means it will take in more light because you want to see what the fret is around you. Um, your heartbeat speeds up, um, you your blood will rush to different parts of the body. So you can run. So in order to do that, it has to conserve energy in other ways. So your digestive system, for example, that stops. So when you are in fight and flight mode, because to digest takes so much energy, like it takes a lot of energy. So when you are in, when your sympathetic nervous system is working, your digestion stops. There's certain things that stops. Saliva in your mouth, this is why people say you get dry mouth when you're in fear, because all of that stops. Because what the body is doing is saying, I'm I'm I'm I'm checking out this danger here. We need to protect you. So I'm stopping all of the energy going there, and I'm pumping all the energy to your muscles to get away from it. Exactly. Yeah, we don't have to do anything to enable that to happen. The body is so amazing that that happens on its own, right? In a similar vein, we have the parasympathetic nervous system, which works in opposite to the sympathetic. So that balances it, right? So the parasympathetic nervous system is when our heart rate slows down, our pupils kind of constrict. Um, that's telling our body we're safe now, we're we're all right now, you know, you don't need to worry now. So your digestion starts to kick back in, and you know, the adrenaline kind of comes down. So it works to balance that autonomic nervous system, right? Yeah. So I say all of that to say that happens naturally. You don't have to do anything for that to happen. I don't know, need to do anything to happen. In terms of our physiology, that happens naturally.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Right.

SPEAKER_05 21:26

We can use those tools to engage it in order to emotionally heal too, right? So we can use those same, that happens automatically for our physiology, but it doesn't automatically happen for our emotional wellness. But that but we can we can engage it, we can use those tools, right? To also emotionally make ourselves feel better and feel well. So some of the examples might be um like what I do. I I'm really into meditation and I'm really into yoga. What that does is that provides um. The cortisol it reduces the cortisol the stress.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

It activates the parasympathetic.

SPEAKER_05 22:05

Absolutely. Yeah. Activates and engages the parasympathetic nervous system.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Actively say, you know what? I'm feeling a bit on edge. Let me counter that by going to do a bit of meditation. Absolutely. Yeah. Or whatever, something to just calm, bring yourself, calm yourself.

SPEAKER_05 22:19

Absolutely. Mindfulness. Mindfulness. I've got that book. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Mindfulness book. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 22:24

So I'm training in that, right? So I'm very into mindfulness. I'm very into meditation. I'm very into yoga. I'm not kind of mastering the breathing techniques yet. I'm doing one thing. But that is my thing. Because I think we can do that pausing and just being with yourself. There is um there is a hypothesis called the bio biophilia hypothesis. And what's what that is, is that that is a proven scientifically that being in nature, being outside in nature, yeah, is good for us. That that gives us serotonin, it gives us dopamine, it gives us the happy stuff that we need. So that's not just, you know, people say, why is it that I feel really good when I go for a walk? Or why is it whatever? But you know, there is scientific evidence which proves that it and it's called bio biophilia hypothesis. That's what it's called. Biophilia hypotheses. And that all those are the things that we need. So what I'm saying is it's there. It we just need to know it and engage it and be aware, be aware of ourselves and be aware of it's about being grounded as well.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Yeah, because when I go on walks and I see like wildlife, it makes me feel different. Remember, and you laughed at me when I told you I saw the sheep, and you asked if I talked to the sheep.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Remember? So yeah, no way though, because in that in that group chat, there's he's always bantering me, yeah, he's always winding me up. So I just took the opportunity. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

So no, I like going on walks and it just helps. I I think even thoughts around this whole podcast and how it even started, it was from just going on walks, and I just had ideas, and then we all spoke and then put it into practice.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Is that what you get a lot of your good ideas?

SPEAKER_02 23:59

Because just going on walks, literally. I just feel like I feel like where we're from, I feel like it's just so enclosed, a lot of pollution, you can't think there's always a police siren, car this noise, and that buses. When you go into the like the woods or in the greenery, you just can just you can just lose yourself. Absolutely. Literally, you ain't gotta think about anything.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

I feel like uh that that environment is more conducive for like more positive thoughts and positive thinking.

SPEAKER_05 24:23

Scientifically proven to be, yeah. Absolutely. That's not just somebody saying it. You say lose yourself, but you probably find yourself more generally.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

You probably, yeah, because I'm so I'm so used to yeah, probably. I'll probably find myself. Yeah, to be fair.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

What's the reason? Do you go into nature at all? Um no, I mean it. I know like that's like anything, like I know about nervous systems and all of that practice is just kind of grounded. You know, you know what? You know what that makes me think of what you just told me. You know, in the Bible, in the Psalms, it says he makes me lie down in green pastures. I think that's what that means. We came from nature.

SPEAKER_05 25:09

We could we we we weren't we weren't born in hospitals. Hospitals in a you know, we we naturally come from a place of nature, that's where we're born from. It's a little bit like um the social thing as well. So um, you know, like um a lot of people tend to be nowadays, especially when they're emotionally unwell, they become they get socially isolated, so they want to be on their own and they wanna that's the opposite of of what we actually need. Yeah, yeah. We need we are social beings, we need so there is there is a time for everything, right? So there are some times that we need to be with ourselves and be kind of get to know who we are and our inner being, and then there are times that we need social connections. There was a study that um I looked at a couple of months ago now as part of an assignment that I'd written, and it was talking about um our neurons in our brain, and we have neurons, mirror neurons, which mirror kind of it acts to mirror um what other people do. So basically, you know, what we do naturally is, you know, if you put your hand like that, we'll, you know, we sometimes we mirror what other people do. And the reason why is because we crave social connection. Um, and they found in this study that when people who are lonely or socially isolated, it activates, so the brain activates the same regions that happens when you're hungry and when you're in pain. So when you are lonely, it activates the same parts of the brain when you're in pain and when you are hungry. So that suggests that being lonely is harmful, right? Because being in pain is harmful, or being you know, hungry is harmful.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

So could that even in turn be where maybe someone's overeating? Because they're lonely. Probably. Or they're that connection, or they're like maybe just overdoing it with that.

SPEAKER_05 26:53

Possibly, yeah. I just think it's really interesting that these are the things that are natural happening in our mind without, you know, in our brains without thinking it of it, you know. I think we are asocial beings, which is probably why so many people struggle during the pandemic, because it cut off social connection. We are social beings, we are all of these things. And I think I want to just kind of counter something, and that is what I'm not saying is is when people are um acutely unwell, um, that they've got everything they need inside them to heal. Of course, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that to when you can feel yourself becoming unwell, there are things that you can do. Um, and to stop yourself becoming unwell, there are things that you can do. But once you've kind of got past that kind of like moving from early intervention to needing specialist help, that just is what that is. So, you know, it's kind of like, you know, if you are um kind of clinically unwell, I'm not saying you can reach for the things inside of you. You need specialist services then. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. If you fracture your finger, there's nothing much that the doctor is going to be able to do. They'll just wrap it up and say, keep it, and your body will naturally heal it. If you break your leg, they're not gonna leave you with a broken leg, they're gonna have to. Do you see what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 28:05

So what I'm saying is at different stages and different uh levels of um emotional injury, shall we put it? Yeah, there's uh different yeah, different things you can do.

SPEAKER_05 28:14

Absolutely, that's what I'm saying. I don't want my words to be twisted like oh Jasmine said this, no.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

In regards to stigmas and stereotypes, in regards to mental health, what do you think it we can do to kind of get rid of them stigmas and stereotypes? So obviously you've worked in a different field. So, what do you think is a main one that what what could people do to make it more normal like normalize, normalize it instead of people judging, like you said, you know, when people see people getting unwell, they might just push them to the side. So, what do you think it is we can?

SPEAKER_05 28:47

I think we have to start for myself. I don't think we can control anybody as much as we might like to. There is nothing Cal you can do to control me, and there's nothing that I can do to control you. Like, we the only people we can control is ourselves. That's the only um you know power we have is within our own self. Unfortunately, we can't make anybody do anything else. So I think it's about starting with yourself and inspecting where you are at. Um, so we cannot stop racism. Um, we can have all of these policies in place, but people are still discriminated against, right? Yeah, um, you know, we have we have policies which means um, you know, I know me, I I need to make sure I'm treating people with a disability favorably when they're coming in for interviews. Um so all of these policies are there to um try and mitigate against discrimination, prejudices, and racism. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. Yeah, because there's always gonna be people breaking rules. Exactly. So we don't have any control. I think it starts from us, it starts from you, right? So the very fact that you've got this podcast and you're talking about matters pertaining to mental health and emotional well-being, is a really good, which is why I was so keen to come on here and happy to come on here is because you're talking about things that are quite taboo often in our community that people aren't talking about. We're making we're normalizing it, right? We're making it normal. There are lots of things that society is doing, which is normalizing things which I don't think should be normalised, but this we're making it normal.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

So I think that's that's um this is this might be a bit off topic, but you said you've worked with uh young women and and that have children and stuff like that. And I I'm currently studying, and one of my current assignments is post-natal depression, and I don't really know much about it, and I'm pretty sure a lot of the viewers don't, but a lot of us have children, and we don't really know about is there anything in a short you can tell the viewers and people in regards to it what it is? Because when I first saw it, I was like, What's that? So I just wanted to ask about because I feel that it's it's something that's just yeah for men, a lot of men, if you are like Stan, do you know what postnatal depression is?

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Um my understanding is I'm gonna say once uh a woman has a baby, her physiology changes, her hormones change due to having the baby, and then sometimes the mother can't connect with the baby or they feel depressed due to the toll of having the baby. That's my guess.

SPEAKER_05 31:08

Yeah, and I don't know enough about postnatal depression to take on postnatal depression, but I would imagine it's like with a lot of depression, is you know, young people going through adolescence and their body is changing, and you know, there's a lot of a lot of young people, adolescents still might kind of do very risk-taking behaviour or become quite low and in the room and isolate themselves. You know, that is part of that. My body's changing, my mind is changing, and I'm having to manage and cope with it. So I don't the honest response is I don't know enough about postnatal depression per se to be able to kind of talk on that.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

I don't think we've ever mentioned it. You want some help with your assignment basically? You know what? I just we'll reach to Chat GPT. Do you know what? I'll watch Chat GPT and get some information from other places to answer that. But no, I'll just answer them because it's just something that I when I came across it, I was thinking, do you know what? It's never been something we've ever spoken about or anything. It would be more represented on the from the female perspective, yeah. Just because I thought because you mentioned working, but no, that's fine. Oh, yeah, but yeah, go on stone.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Yeah, so your service, I want to just make it clear. We are strength. We are strength, yeah. We are strength. So on a day-to-day, what does it do? And like like how can someone access the help? And what help do you like? I know you kind of went through what you do, but how can someone access the help?

SPEAKER_05 32:30

So we are strength, we've got a way, I've got a website, um, and on that website I provide lots of insights and and information and resources and tools. Yeah, so that's what's there at the moment. Um, I'm still very new in this, so the site only, you know, we only came into fruition in in January. So eventually I would like to kind of move into different spaces. As I said, I'm very into yoga, meditation, mindfulness. Um, so I would like to do stuff around that um because I'm a big believer that kind of yoga and meditation and mindfulness is a tool that people can use to support themselves to become emotionally well. Yeah, you do yoga, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

I've done yoga, a lot easy. A lot easier. Um I'm gonna try it, you know. What would you have to do? I'm gonna try it.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

We shy away from it.

SPEAKER_05 33:28

Absolutely. Yeah, I'm gonna try it. It's really I might try it. I might try it. And and and there's there's a book that I read uh by um um Van der Koch, um, and basically what it's it's called The Body Keeps the Score. And basically keeps the score. Yeah, so when you are emotionally um or mentally unwell or you experience trauma, our bodies keep the score, so it's in our bodies. So can't cause it, yeah, yeah. So it I say it holds it. So you know, I don't know if you've ever been through any pain or heartbreak or anything, can you you feel it in your stomach, you're like, ugh. Yeah, yeah. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Like you feel sick to your stomach. Yeah, yeah. So no appetite got it.

SPEAKER_05 34:11

Nobody's punched you, you know. It's the emotion, it's it's physically, and that's quite similar to trauma. So when people go through trauma, um that you know, they often feel it physically in the body, and that's because the brain don't differentiate between physical pain and emotional pain. So sometimes we need to move our body, we need to kind of like yeah, yeah, yeah, it builds up good kind of you know, serotonin and dopamine and kind of our brain waves are different. Um they said there's some research that was done that says um that our cortisol, our front cortisol thickens as a result of doing yoga and meditation. And by when because it thickens, what that means is that we're able to have more attention and focus and we're not easily distracted and dissuaded, and you know, we are more in tune with ourselves when we've got a thicker cortisol, when you know our cognition, our medical cortisol. Yeah, so that our brain, our front part of our brain. Yeah, um, there was some research that was done that with um monks and people who meditate regularly. Oh, okay. Um, so their brain waves are different from people who don't meditate, and um just being able to be, you know, I don't know, you know, I uh went for a period in my life where um it was really hard for me to focus and um and and be attentive about a particular thing. My mind was just always busy and full. And through meditating and and practicing yoga, I'm it is a lot easier for me to engage my mind and take out the stuff which I think is rubbish and keep the things that I think is is right for me. Okay, so meditation yoga is scientifically proven to be really good for people's mental and emotional well-being.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

So that's so that's wellness, like what you said, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:50

Wellness, emotional and photography also unplugging as well. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

With me, what you mentioned at the start, you said some people can be stuck in the past. I'm always like not like not like actively thinking about the past, but sometimes I just get caught in just get caught in something, and then I have to like push myself out of it, yeah, kind of thing. So I might even try it. I've done yoga before, you know what I did like big cram yoga, the hot one. I like my mum does that. I do hot yoga, this is what I do. I liked it because it was a challenge to stay for the 90 minutes, yeah. And once once uh I got to the end of the 90 minutes, I thought like, yes, I've done something. And then how did you feel after? You feel light, you feel like reset, you feel aligned. Yeah, I feel like I'm floating on a cloud, like I really feel I don't I can't really explain it properly, but um yeah, yeah, yeah. But um meditation, I'm yet to kind of I've dabbled in it, but I think yeah, that's something I do want to get into. Yeah, what would be a starting point for someone that wants to get into meditation?

SPEAKER_05 36:52

So there's lots of meditation apps. Um I use I'm not getting any kind of um I've not got any sponsorship for these people, but I use Insight Timer because it's free. Insight timer, yeah. Yeah, and it's it's free, so you don't have to pay for that. Um, I have a paid version, but the free version is just as good. So guided meditations are really helpful. So we're kind of like, you know, like sometimes in the morning I'll put on a guided meditation. So I did a guided meditation before I came here. I'll have when I'm walking, I'll have walking meditations. So I put my headphones on and do a walking meditation, which is about visualization or you know, things like that. So I would start with um kind of insight time or something like that, or just Google kind of like you know, free a beginner's guide to meditating. You can find them on Spotify, yeah. I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

I'm gonna do, I'm actually gonna try. Yeah. I'm always up really early. I naturally wake up at like 4 a.m. Yeah and I'm just lying, I don't know what to do. Like meditate.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

Yeah, do you are you aware of shadow work?

SPEAKER_05 37:52

Yeah, so um, yes, I am. So rather than Part, I want to pass it on to you and bring that into conversation. I'm still in my learning journey on shadow work. So I recently went to a sister circle, so basically, it was a circle of women um kind of talking about um where we are at life and in life. It was a very diverse group of women from different backgrounds and stuff. It was really, really powerful. And one of the things that I walked away from is that we really should work on those sides of our personalities that we sometimes suppress, that we don't like, you know, because we've all got things about us that we might not like, or we don't want to admit we're like that. So I know, for example, that I do not like criticism. So I don't like when people criticize me. I can see the smile.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:45

It's good that you can even admit it. Yeah, I don't like that, and you know, and I don't like people telling me what to do, neither. So it's kind of like, you know, those are the bits about my personality. Now I'm saying that here because I'm being very genuine and I want to be open with you. Yeah, so this is what I'm doing. So shadow work is working on those things, it's acknowledging these things about your personality that you may not like. And some people might have darker things in their personality, and it's and and being emotionally and mentally well is dealing with those things that are in the shadow that are dark. And a lot of people are walking around with their eyes closed, they don't know who they are the good, the bad, and the ugly. And for us to kind of live an optimal kind of life, and it's like I think life is such a beautiful thing. Like the fact that we are here and we're experiencing life is amazing. You know, it is beautiful. We can see, we can talk, we can communicate, we can feel the breeze, we can, you know, it life is a massive, beautiful experience. But a lot of people are walking around with their eyes closed and they're not experiencing life because they're worrying about what's gone in the past, they're worried about what's in the future, or they're too busy kind of suppressing who they are. So shadow work is about that, isn't it? It's about dealing with put doing the work to deal with those bits of our personality that we often suppress. So that is definitely my next thing to kind of delve into.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

It's an uncharted territory for a lot of people, and I feel like therapy is one thing, emotional wellness is another thing, but understanding up because of what you just mentioned. I only bring it up because of what you just mentioned in terms of like past.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Um I had a session on Tuesday and I was dealing with a couple things, and it's about being in tune with yourself. So for you, Stan's what I'm gonna say. Yeah, if you I'll I'll do a little challenge on here. That Jasmine just said she hates Chris. We all have things that attach to our past where we still have that same thought process about ourselves now. That may have existed then, yeah, understanding that may not be a version of you now, so it's not necessarily attached to you. Yeah. So you can disconnect from it and change your mindset about yourself or your feeling yourself about how other people do. So from that experience or Jasmine doesn't like criticism, yeah, but it's something that you just experienced.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

I'd I'd say uh so like a basic character flaw that I've kind of I so um when I was younger, I kind of used to get not bullied, but I I noticed um people pointing out how I look. I used to have loads of spots, I used to be very self-conscious, I used to believe I was ugly. I said this in uh past podcast, and also um You're beautiful by the way. Thank you, thank you so much. I receive it, thank you. Um I used to feel like I always targeted. So let me give you uh a practical example. Even forming this group, even coming like just basic decisions. So we've got we've got a group chat, all our decisions, that's where we kind of touch base with this, and a lot of simple things I would feel like is a personal attack on myself. I'd eat very very easily offended, and everything was just personal. Just like we had a situation the other day, I had to sign some paperwork because this is a proper business. And in that paperwork, I'm reading everything, I'm scrutinizing everything, and in one part of my mind, I'm thinking this whole thing is written towards me. This is all about me like attacking me. And then we were going backwards and forwards, we were deliberating. I was like, no, I want this changed, I want that changed.

SPEAKER_05 42:34

Because I all thought it was so you thought it was written to address you.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Yeah, to oppress me. Yeah, yeah. And then a few days went past, and then I don't know. I think I came to myself, I don't know what state of mind I was in around then, and then I just came, and I thought, you know what? Like, I'm actually being a bit difficult in this situation, and I realized this is that old thing, like always being bullied, always being attacked. I'm always my guards always.

SPEAKER_05 42:56

So now you were defending yourself here. Yeah, I was just in defense mode.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

I was just kind of suspicious, like you know what I mean. So that's one thing about myself.

SPEAKER_05 43:03

I can be very suspicious, very You know, there's a lot of black people who are like that because of lots of our experiences that we've gone through, you know, discrimination, racism, prejudice, microaggressions, um, all of those things can make people become quite defensive. So our upbringing, childhood, like you've appointed to, so you're not any different from a lot of people out there.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Maybe, yeah. And sometimes I even see it maybe in my parents, and I think, have I inherited it? Like there's like I've even seen things that something can be passed through DNA, genetically, some type of stresses and traumas.

SPEAKER_05 43:34

Well, don't get me there. Don't get me there. There's a really good book by a doctor, Dr. Joy DeGrue called Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. So if your readers read Joy DeGru, post-traumatic, because basically what that says is that our traumas are held in our genes and sometimes they're getting passed on from generation to generation, epigenetic, epigenetic.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

Is it Dr. Francis Well Cressing? I think her name is. On YouTube, if you just type that in, a late a lady from uh America, yeah, but I don't even know if she's still alive because the video looked quite old, and she was explaining that that a lot of trauma's been passed down through slavery and stuff. So maybe that's where I've I've got it from. But yeah, that's my answer. Okay. Um S reason Carl.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

I've got I got a few. No, thank you. I've got a few, to be fair. I've working on them, but I think one big one for me is impulsiveness, impulsiveness and low self-low self-esteem. I don't think so much now. I think the podcast has kind of helped me in going therapy, but I I don't know, even a lot of people even used to say I wouldn't talk. I didn't I I you never used to really make eye contact neither. I just was very wasn't confident in certain things, and I don't know what that was. And I felt like I was judged a lot growing up, just going through certain things, and yeah, I don't know. I think that's my one.

SPEAKER_05 44:49

You know, when you say impulsive, do you mean just do things, go and do things without thinking about it before?

SPEAKER_02 44:54

Yeah, definitely. Even if it's like a like, for example, if me and Stan would argue, I'll just block him, like straight and just delete his number. That's that's just me. I'm just like everyone says it, uh it's not good, but that that was just me. I I think it's just my coping mechanism, just out of sight, out of mind. I ain't got to deal with it anymore.

SPEAKER_03 45:11

So if you look at both of those examples, sorry to cut you because I want to hear all of that, but if you look at both of those examples, you're fire and you're flat in that scenario of if there's a challenge, yeah, you'll fire it and you'll fight.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

That's a good way to put it, you know, because it's like like one disagreement we had, we've had the disagreement in the group, whatever it may be. Then I hit I'd I'm for about two guy two days. I'm trying to like reach out to this guy, yo, I'm ringing him, like I'm messaging in the group. I'm like, yo, I'm eager to just move forward. And he's like, I think, oh, if I mess this up, kind of thing, and I'm starting feeling bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:48

I think he said something like he's trying to get a doctor's appointment with me or something like that. Yeah, literally, but yeah, no, that's that's one of them. But it does make sense to obviously acknowledge your your flaws, I would say. Well, to be fair to him, yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_05 46:02

And depend depending on how dark they are, um, you may need support with that, right? So, you know, some people have gone through through some really traumatic things in their past, and it might be unsafe to just kind of make them resurface without having something to hold it. Do you know what I mean? You know, you know, so like you may need therapy, do you know what I mean? You you know, regular therapy with, you know, a you know, a psychotherapist or you know, a you know, a clinical practitioner, because you know, people have been through some very dark things, people have been abused, you know, sexually, physically, emotionally, and just to do bring up the stuff that might be manifesting now can cause a lot of pain and and and sorrow. Yeah, so you might you need it's not just you shouldn't just bring things up and then think, yeah, I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Therapy would give them the the healthy coping mechanism because I suppose people can then use that, they might use alcohol or drugs to deal with it because it might be so, you know, they might want to run away from it, alcohol or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 47:02

Absolutely that, absolutely, and the body works in a very similar way, you know. Like, um, you know, like if there's something wrong with you, if you've got an infection or whatever, you know, we'll get inflammation, right? Inflammation for those of you, my husband gets inflammation, don't you? So when for those of you have inflammation in the body, it is very, very painful. Like when your glands are inflamed or your back is inflamed, it's really painful, right? That is your body, though, protecting itself. Area, yes. What it's doing is that I'm inflaming it because I'm sending a signal to say, I had blood, I need you to come here to treat this. I need all of the healing genes and chemicals to heal this. So that inflammation is part of healing, but it's very painful.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

Yeah, it's kind of like an operating room is in service, kind of like uh no one come in, kind of. That's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_05 47:51

Like I've had inflammation now, you know, like you know, when you have swollen glands and stuff like that. All of that is to do with healing. So if you've if you take the physical and put it into kind of an emotional sense, then if you're dealing with things that are causing a lot of pain, it sometimes it might look worse before you know it might be very painful then in order to do the work on it. So I think you have to do shadow work, depending on how dark and traumatic your history is. I think it is important that you know you get specialist support and help sometimes to go to go through that journey.

SPEAKER_02 48:26

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

So they've just touched the old version of the code.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

And they kind of hardly.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

Let me ask Voice Reason. Do you think there's a stage you can get, maybe an age or a stage at life when this is just you? Like, you know, like there's a saying you can't teach an old dog new trick. Do you think there's a uh a point where like someone can be just so hardened that you can't undo that? You think someone can literally just be set in their way and get it?

SPEAKER_02 49:03

Everyone has feelings and emotions.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

It would just take something and change, right? But something has to change for you to change, basically. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:11

That some people are more hard and resilient in certain ways. So some people might take years to change, some people might take a week or months, but people can change, I suppose, because unless they're not human, because we all got feelings and emotions, in it. It just how deep whatever is how the message is delivered.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

Because obviously, we are how we're talking now, this conversation is very very free-flowing, there's a lot of information in the world. Yeah, it's not being rammed down your throat. This is what you need to do. It's just normal conversation about everything that people experience in life. People can take this, and when we chop it up, you're gonna see that there's so many gems in what we're speaking about. It's natural for people to go through this. And someone who thinks who is not necessarily hard-headed, that's probably the wrong term, but someone who's so set in their way, it's all it takes is for them to hear something and be like, hold on, I'm gonna think about this, and do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 50:04

Like it's got a next one that's awareness, in it. It's it's it's normalizing something, innit? And getting rid of the stigmas.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

Okay, cool. What I want to cover though is you talking about things being Eurocentric and then you deliver you you want to develop like you basically How shall I put this? Let me just say it plain. How important is it to like have a black therapist or have black support?

SPEAKER_05 50:30

Let's just put it because I th I think it's very important. I think for some people, sorry, you carry on your thing.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

No, because we had we had a guy here, Quessy, begim up, every time, and I asked him the same question, and he's a uh clinical person-centric counts counsellor, yeah, and he said it can overall he said it can matter, but it's just depends on the case. Um it's correct me if I'm wrong. It seems as if maybe your standpoint is it's essential to have people that look like yourself. I don't know, I don't want to I don't want to put words in your mouth. That's why I say correct me if I'm wrong. Okay, yeah. But I want to know your standpoint.

SPEAKER_05 51:07

I don't think you're wrong. Um, I just think I just need to be clear in terms of what I'm saying. So um I think it depends on you. You are your starting point. So there are some people who may feel uncomfortable about speaking to somebody who looks like them. Um, so you know, some people might not want to speak to a black therapist, you know, some people may not want to have a counsellor who is black because then it may remind them of their past or they may feel distrusting, you know, and that is fine, right? What I'm saying is, all right, let me give you some let me give you some hard facts, and then and then I think that will enable you, I think, to come to what I've come to and why I've established we are strength. Black people's mental health, the disparities is stupid. And when I say stupid, I'm what I mean is in comparison to non-black people, on every single level, our outcomes are worse. So, in terms of accessing mental health support services, black people are more likely to be needing specialists in crisis help and less likely to be getting help at the early help stages with section P. Would it be sectioning? Yeah, three black men, yeah. So you guys are three and a half times more likely to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, right? Does that mean because we're more likely to be schizophrenic? I don't know. That begs the question. So that's the first fact. That's not Jasmine saying that is there was a study that was done, it was called by um Lampard.

SPEAKER_02 52:42

Is it certain things to do with how we act when we're angry and our body level?

SPEAKER_05 52:46

It's a combination of different things, I think. But I think the facts are what the facts are. Black men are more likely to be detained under the mental health act than people who are not black. So you are more likely to, they're more likely to detain you under the mental health act than anybody else, right? We have less chances of or less likely to have lower stays in hospital. So when we do become in crisis, they keep us in hospital longer. We are pathologized. Um, we are um we are more likely to go back into hospital because of mental health than people who are non-black, right? Um, we are more likely to suffer depression, we are more likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression and schizophrenia. So when you think about it then, what I'm saying is in terms of accessing mental health, our outcomes are worse. In terms of experiencing mental health services, our outcomes are worse. So we're more likely to be detained, we're more likely to stay in hospital longer, but that right. And then in terms of kind of the prevalence, it is worse. So, what is that data telling us? Is that saying that we are a people who are more mad than anybody else or more, you know, got more significant mental health? What does that data tell us? Or all I can look at that and say dope. Yeah, exactly. Or what's what what is what is it that is happens before we get into crisis, right? So, you know, I've watched a podcast, one of your one of your podcasts before, and I think you both, all three of you, I think, uh received talking therapy, right?

SPEAKER_04 54:24

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:25

I I applaud that because what that is doing is that is saying, I'm getting my help earlier. I'm not waiting until I get in crisis and then I'm on medication and then they've been hospitalizing me, and then I've got a diagnosis of schizophrenia. I'm getting the help from the get-go, right? So I think that is a positive thing. So to answer your question, I think if we are more likely to speak on the conversation, if our families are more embracing, rather than saying, mm-mm, you can't come to my house because that a cultural thing. I think it is, and I can't speak on every culture, I don't know. But what I know of is that in our community often people are ostracized. We if they've got mental health problems, we we're kind of like we repel, you know, we shun them away. Um, or when people have, you know, some of especially men, like, you know, is it, you know, sometimes we we don't allow our men to be vulnerable. Um, um, and they have to carry a lot, right? So um, where does that go? Where does it go? So I think I think if we are open and have conversations, if you see images and pictures of other people who are going through what you're going through, if you see people speaking about it, if families are more embracing to have the conversation about it, that's what I mean about um it being more open. So there's a book um by I can't remember the guy's name, um, but it's called it's it's called White Therapy Can't Talk in Black. Okay. Um and basically what he's saying is in this book is that sometimes you have to understand the cultural context in which we are operating in. Sometimes you need to understand about our culture and what we're experiencing and map.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

What may have led, what could have contributed culturally to the conditioning. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

In certain cultures, yeah. Vulnerability and strength don't go hand in hand, I feel. I feel that when you think about strength, or if you ask certain people strength, you see it as that, for example, kids will see their dad as he don't cry, he he just he's just hard. You don't have no feeling. He has feelings, but he don't it that he's the protector, so he can never be vulnerable. If if you saw your dad cry, you think something is seriously wrong. Yeah, like it's it's just a normal to if you was to see your dad cry. So I feel that being vulnerable in certain communities ain't it ain't seen as strength when it when it is strength. So basically that's that's what I feel.

SPEAKER_05 56:53

Yeah. And the implications of that, sorry to interject, but there are implications of that. It's a bit, you know, there's there's it's some um, I think there was an not an inquest, an inquiry, um, because that black women are more likely to um die in childbirth than white women. And I think a lot of that comes from this view that black women are strong, and black women themselves often say, 'I'm a strong black woman,' and so when we're in pain and crying out in pain, they think, oh, they're exaggerating, they can manage that, but actually it's a sign of something else going on. So that, you know, how scary is that? You know, what is it that is causing black women to be more likely to die in childbirth than anybody else? Like these statistics point to stuff, and I'm not saying it's one thing, I think often it's a combination of uh a number of different things.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

One question is what's an uncomfortable truth people need to hear?

SPEAKER_05 57:44

In my view, is that we have to do the work on ourselves. That is the uncomfortable truth. The problem isn't outside of us, they need to look, yeah. We have to look inside.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

Okay, cool. I agree, you know what, Jasmine? I agree that people need to do the work on themselves. And what I would say is growing up, I saw the older generation blaming other, I don't know, just other people, things, places, just always pointing the finger outwards. So are you just saying that uh there should be less blame game and like look look more within?

SPEAKER_05 58:15

Like um I am saying that. I'm saying that the only people we've got control over is ourselves. Okay. And if we really want to thrive and experience this gift of life, yeah, then we need to be prepared to do the work on ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Like Michael Jackson, what's the what's the song? I'm I'm starting with uh mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. Okay, cool. And um I've got a question for you. Um, what does strength look like in 2026?

SPEAKER_05 58:42

I think the answer to the last question, doing the work on yourself. Doing the work on yourself. You have to do the work on yourself. We've got to open up our eyes, um, and we need to, there are so many things that we can do, which doesn't cost a lot of money. Um, you know, speak to people, you know, people who are like-minded like you, who kind of you can really kind of track with and who you can really get something from, um, access some of the tools that are available to you, kind of be in with yourself, sit with yourself, limit the amount of rubbish that is on social media, limit that time because we are only a product of what we take in, right? So if you bake a cake and you put rubbish ingredients in the cake, then the cake is not gonna taste very good. And we are exactly the same. Whatever you put in to yourself, what information you're feeding yourself, what food you're feeding yourself, the things that you do always all reflect on how you then present and show up as a person. So put good things in.

SPEAKER_01 59:40

Okay, okay, cool, cool. Well, I think an hour wasn't enough. I could like I honestly, we could have gone for another hour because I couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 59:50

I feel like I've learned so much again. I've not learned enough. They were just scratching the surface.

SPEAKER_00 59:55

Like you'd like to watch this back, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

Like, comment, subscribe.

SPEAKER_02 59:59

If you keep watching this episode, you will learn. Yeah, there's so much stuff, and you know what? I'm gonna appreciate. I mean, tell like thank you for coming down. We appreciate it. Thank you for inviting me. Genuinely, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:11

It's been like like you're just sitting there in your presence, you're alright, you're a powerful person, and I think our community needs more teachers, leaders, and people just to stand up and just people just need to just being in your presence. I can tell you're educated, well-versed, and you know what you're speaking about, and you speak what you know about, you know, and um you got a lot to offer. And um I think there's a it's there's a lot of ignorance in not just our community, in society in general, and you know, with people like yourselves, we can we can start like I don't know the right wording because I'm on the spot here, but there's a lot of ignorance, and you are someone that is clearly not ignorant, you know. Um I can take I can take a lot from that. It makes me want to know more, you know, like you're referring to a lot of a lot of facts, yeah, a lot of studies, a lot of you know what I mean. It's not a lot of it's not hearsay, it's not just your opinion. You're not really giving your opinion once, really. Your knowledge is admirable, yeah. And I think that's important, you know. A community hasn't got enough leaders, so I'll round it up. Yeah, um, thank you so much, Jasmine. Thanks for having me, guys. How do people how do people reach out to you?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:18

How do people so so go to my website weoffstreamth.com. There's lots of stuff on there. I'm on social media as well. Um Instagram Instagram and Facebook. And what is the app for Instagram? I think it's We Are Strength 2025, I think. We'll get them all. We'll put it, we'll put it in the bio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, thank you. No, thank you so much for having me. It's been it's been a pleasure, it's been really I I've felt really comfortable, and the energy is really positive and good. And yeah, just keep on doing what you're doing. I think we need more black men in this space who are talking about things which is gonna help people and not things that are gonna turn people in a different way. So well done, and thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:55

Appreciate it. Thank you. So, yeah, that's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:58

So I'm Carl and I'm Stam, and this is the cast, Cal and Stam Talks. I'm the boy Sabreza, and today we had the lovely Jasmine. Um, I'm overwhelmed and I'm grateful. I'm leaving this podcast today. I'm feeling grateful and inspired. Um sorry, before I go, what's that book? You have you've got a book there. What is that?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:19

It's just my notebook. Oh, should have a book.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:21

Okay, I was hoping you wrote a book.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:25

It's just my notebook. I just thought it's in case I needed to kind of refer to any factual stuff coming up. Um I've got it in my in my book. I didn't need it because you guys kind of gave me made me feel quite good to just follow. So I didn't need it.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:40

Never war.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:42

Cool, like, share, subscribe, send this to your neighbour, send this to your friend. Please, we need to get the word out there, we're growing.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:50

And yeah, literally, literally. Um, yeah, season two's soon coming to an end. But yeah, like what Stam said. Um, also listen to it on Apple Music, all the podcasts, Spotify's, and yeah, we've got much more to come.