We were lucky to catch up with Vimmi Jaggi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vimmi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I have taken many risks without defined plans in life; luckily, most of them have supported moving forward. I genuinely believe in serendipity and self-reliance. Without empowerment, I could have failed in all the risks I took in my life. I am an immigrant from India. I moved to the US without a plan or much support. During those days, I was in the film industry career, which, in general, is a harsh career to get jobs in, and as an immigrant with an accent, it was even worse.

I did manage well and was able to survive. Well, until I quit the film industry to become a very low-paying counselor with homeless children in Hollywood. The switch was big, but in 2008, the recession and lack of job satisfaction pushed me to do something different that could feed my soul. That job was very confusing for this Indian female, but it became the anchor of my career. That job introduced me to “the” American life more than anything ever will. I recently took another risk of leaving to work for others and to work for myself. It has been hectic and fascinating and has had its share of hardship. But I continue to manage day-to-day balance and can still define so much within this entrepreneur world I am buckled down into. I was able to take risks for two main reasons: faith in myself and faith in my higher power. I love living an in-depth life connected to myself, and the more I dig deep within, the more faith I have in myself. Without me, there won’t be “we,” so yes, dig deep within and dive in.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Vimmi Jaggi, and I am a licensed clinical social worker, in other words, I am a licensed psychotherapist, a trauma specialist. I truly love the work I do. I got into this field by serendipity. I started as a counselor for homeless teenagers in the Hollywood area. Then, I went in for certification for substance abuse counseling and ended up in the Masters in Social Work program at USC.

Looking back at my journey, I often sit with amazement, like my path was already defined for me; I just had to accept it and give it a go. Being an immigrant, a queer, a female, and many other identities that I hold, I know this work defines me, and I am a vessel that can hold space for my patients and loved ones.

I call my brand “Digging Deep Within” because without digging into ourselves, we won’t know ourselves, and without knowing the depths of who we are, we can never be authentic to anything. The work of digging within ourselves is hard work. It demands integrity, kindness with self and others, and connection. One of the parts of therapy with my patients is to help them be true to themselves, be self-compassionate, and connect to others through their authentic selves. I often tell others that the hardest thing I have ever done is learn to be kind to myself, which is the real truth. Kindness is not about holding myself accountable, not accepting my wrongdoings, not slipping into excuses or anything else, but being kind to myself so I can be kind to others.

I have developed this little practice of sorts to work along with my patients. I call it the “Cognitive Triangle,” I am hella proud of myself for this. Nothing in this world is from mere blankness or vacuum, so my practice is also based on what I have learned and practiced from others’ work and my experiences. I am always excited to learn more about what’s happening in the trauma therapy space and offer my lessons to my patients. If any of you readers end up coming around my way, I would love to hold space for you and teach you the depths of the Cognitive Triangle. The cognitive Triangle focuses on the body, mind, and heart. Without these three features, we can’t heal; when we can’t heal, we can’t be kind. And the world needs kindness, more and more of it. In addition, I am a yoga teacher (see the body component) in my Cognitive Triangle. When I do yoga, my mind slows down, my heart rate gets back to ease, and I find myself in the present moment. Now, that is a great space in this world that is always on one fire after the other.

Life’s external factors, such as stress and trauma experiences, including but not limited to childhood abuse, physical abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, racial and social traumas, as well as anti-LGBTQ+ policies, are taking a toll on our bodies. These show up as fatigue, sadness, anxiety, overthinking, thoughts of self-harm, and disables us from our lives. In such times, we all can use trauma-informed and nonjudgmental professional support to help us heal from the root causes of these symptoms. For years, I’ve been assisting patients to dig deep within to reflect and learn from our cultural, generational, or circumstantial patterns. Sometimes, these cycles are amassed for generations; sometimes, our current circumstances originate these patterns. When these patterns are maladaptive, we can break these cycles in therapy to live healthily. Therapy is a space to share, learn, dig deep, and find ways to help us live healthier by breaking such maladaptive patterns. Learning to love ourselves and offering kind and gentle compassion to ourselves allows us to grow, no matter what we have gone through. There is hope. I wish to work together to help you find these hopes and choices.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that “nothing in life is ever black and white” because I truly believed in black and white ONLY. The more I was able to dig deep within and the world that surrounds me, the more grey shades and spectrums of hope showed up. I grew up in Indian culture that ingrained black and white survival skills in myself. In addition to these, Indian culture also taught me healing, silence and stillness. With the education, experience and faith in myself, I am leading a life that is more holistic.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than the training, education, I believe my experience of working in multiple platforms helped me become more engaged and self-reliant. I believe the most important thing is to have faith in oneself. We don’t have to believe in any religiosity, caste, creed or other institutions but we must believe in ourselves. The faith in oneself is not easy but with practice, we can develop this faith and grow from within.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vimmijaggi.com
• Instagram: @diggingdeepwithin

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Self