The Rima the Jungle Girl Podcast

As a psychotherapist, Rima has a unique perspective of anxieties & fears being triggered by the global Pandemic. We cover: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & getting bumped down as a society; ideas & practical tools that help Rima & her clients; ego death & awareness; what balance & self-care mean now; being our own healers; why living in the moment & following our intuition is important; adapting/being mentally prepared for big changes; addressing expectations, stories, delusions & accepting a new post-pandemic reality.

A lot is changing rapidly in the world as we are being forced to slow down globally. This episode was recorded 02/12/20, before quarantines forced us to slow down anyway in the West, but this content is even more applicable now as we have more time & space to explore our habits & “typical pace” of life. We are sold from a young age: the more you do, create, produce, the more you’re worth & the happier you’ll be. Rima has found the opposite to be true & shares her personal story of going at lightning speed through her 20s before learning the value of going inward & slowing down her pace. She shares similar stories of clients' ups & downs & gives insights & tools to use & apply to your own exploration of whether or not you’ve been going too fast in your life. We explore values & how to re-examine inner stories that may no longer be serving us.

Rima’s life as a childless 30-something woman is a provocation for many people & a normal topic of conversation. Convinced that other childless women experience the same, this episode looks at why we should stop shaming women for not wanting children, the true confessions of many clients who admit to wishing they never had kids & why this shame can be very triggering for some women. She examines the roles of tradition, culture, religion, patriarchy & the idea of “nature” in why women are coaxed to have children & become wives from a young age. Rima hopes we can have honest conversations on what it means to raise children & why it might not be for everyone - and why that’s totally okay. There is no parent shaming in this episode, just a plea for women to be treated equally, regardless of their desires to reproduce. From the state of the world today to simply already being happy & content, there are many reasons why women choose not to have children.

They say that it’s best to refrain from blasting your politics & religion at parties to avoid offending people & to get along with everyone. But nowadays, when we have every acquaintance we’ve ever met at our fingertips, it’s easy to blur the line, overshare & not consider the real-world ramifications. Rima has examined this tendency in her life & the lives of her clients, & she opens the conversation up of where to draw boundaries & how to understand the impact of our on-line habits. Many people she’s talked to have been alienated from friends & family because of their beliefs, leading to detrimental outcomes of divided communities in a time where we direly need to come together. We examine: how what we share can divide families & friends apart; our communication styles; how to adapt advice from previous generations to our non-stop technological advances; how to decide who we want to be on-line & in our relationships.

Rima & Russell examine the dilemma of using plant medicines in the west while not engaging in cultural appropriation. You’ll hear: a definition of ayahuasca, what it’s used for, and where it comes from; what the term ‘shaman’ means & what it signifies now; what a ceremony might look like & what the role of the leader/facilitator is; what integration means & why it’s important for ayahuasca participants from the west; a discussion about how Westerners can engage with the medicine without engaging in cultural appropriation; ways to make the medicine accessible/non-exclusive while maintaining respect & integrity; the idea of money/profit & how it relates to ayahuasca; how ayahuasca offerings can be promoted authentically; ways we can use the message & teachings of Ayahuasca to engage in constructive conversations about her evolution & adaptation & more.

Rima, a licensed psychotherapist, discusses why movement is so important for mental health and how yoga helps to manage anxiety. Most adults don’t breathe properly and many people also aren’t moving enough. People who are depressed or anxious tend to spend too much indoors and hunched over a computer screen. All of these factors can cause our body to tighten and cause us to hold on the tension and stress that we don’t need. Movement helps to circulate and then release the stagnant, anxious energy that can reside in our body.

The secret to being happy in life and in love is to know exactly what you want, like, need, desire, whatever. But getting to know yourself can be one of the hardest things for some people. For others, spending time alone and being independent comes naturally. For those that don’t feel this way, being alone can feel like the scariest thing in the world. When we don’t know what we want, like or need, it’s impossible for us to advocate for these things in our relationships. We lose ourselves in the relationship. We put the relationship and the other ahead of our own needs. When we don’t take time to take care of ourselves, we burn out and we can become sick, mentally and physically. Long term, this spells disaster. We explore 7 steps to get to know your true self.

Breaking up is hard to do but knowing when it’s time to do so can be even harder. How do you know when that time comes? With Rima’s first long term relationship, breaking up was SO HARD to do - even though it was what she had wanted for longer than she cares to admit. But going through with it and sticking to her boundaries was very challenging! Over time, it’s gotten easier as she learned to recognize the signs and patterns and knows how to end things gracefully. Now, she’s found that many of her clients struggle with similar challenges, so Rima talks about 9 signs that it’s time to break up with bae!

Relationships are tough and dating an addict is even more challenging. Knowing whether or not to leave is confusing, and we explore considerations to take in this episode. If you choose to stay and work through the relationship with an addict, here are 5 ways to deal with and manage the relationship. We explore how to be supportive, how to maintain trust and boundaries, and how to take care of yourself first.