Uncertainty is Possibility

Jasmine Teo

What if the thing you've been trying to avoid — uncertainty — is actually where all the good stuff lives? Uncertainty is Possibility is a podcast about what happens when you step off the 'straight path'. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes because life pushed you. It's a podcast that helps you stop feeling like you need to have it all figured out. It's about what becomes possible when you develop the presence to hold necessary discomfort and gain the self-trust to step into possibilities. I'm Jasmine, your host, and I'm a psychotherapist, coach, an ex-lover of certainty. This is the season of life that I'm currently in a romantic relationship with uncertainty. I believe that: Certainty is the possibility of one path. Uncertainty is the possibility of many paths that haven't been closed off yet. Uncertainty is not the absence of something. It is the presence of possibility. This podcast weaves together personal stories, honest conversations with guests, and the wisdom that comes from learning to hold discomfort and trust yourself anyway. Come curious. Come as you are. We meet here.

Episodes

  1. ep 06 / a peek inside your therapist's brain (p/s it's messy and human) - with Carmen Yoong

    22 May

    ep 06 / a peek inside your therapist's brain (p/s it's messy and human) - with Carmen Yoong

    The vibe of this episode is the conversation you will overhear when you’re at a cafe sitting beside two therapists having coffee and matcha! I met Carmen in Melbourne, introduced by a mutual friend and we have not stopped talking since. She is a therapist who specialises in couples and relationships, and she is also one of the few people in my life I feel completely safe with from the very first conversation. Carmen moved back to Malaysia after her Masters in Counselling, and just three weeks before we recorded this, she took the leap and left her corporate job to do client work full time.  We talked about the fear that lives alongside big decisions and why waiting for the fear to disappear is the reason so many of us never move. We also dived into the cost of following a life trajectory that was never really ours. And then we spent a long time on something I find super fascinating (and also oftentimes hard to navigate!): what it is like to be a therapist in friendships and in relationships Oh, and of course, we talk about some money matters and ghosting your therapist hahaha. If you have ever been curious about what therapy is really for, or wondered whether individual/couples therapy is something that could be for you, this one is a really good place to start. IN THIS EPISODE What Carmen's first three weeks out of corporate life actually felt like, and what helped her nervous system slowly find its footingWhy the fear doesn't disappear before you take the step, and what it looks like to take the step anywayThe inner critic that says rest is not allowed, where it comes from, and what it looks like to slowly build a kinder relationship with itValues: what they are, how we figure them out, and why small steps towards living more aligned with them changes everythingThe occupational hazard of being a therapist with friends: what we see, what we hold back, and how we decide when to say somethingWhat couples therapy is actually for, and why Carmen wishes more people knew about itThe biggest misconception Carmen sees around couples therapy in Asian culturesOn ghosting your therapist: why it happens so often and what might be a better thing to do FIND CARMEN IG: https://instagram.com/clarityandbondtherapy Carmen offers couples therapy, individual therapy, and a free 15-minute consultation. DM her directly. WORK & CONNECT WITH JASMINE Presence coaching programme. Join the waitlist: https://texturedlifewellness.com/coaching1:1 Therapy. Free 15-min consultation: https://tidycal.com/texturedlifewellness/free15IG: https://instagram.com/jasmineteo.jiaminWebsite: https://texturedlifewellness.com

    1hr 35min
  2. ep 05 / What If Not Having a Plan Is the Plan? - with Charlie

    14 May

    ep 05 / What If Not Having a Plan Is the Plan? - with Charlie

    I met Charlie on the very first day of our psychotherapy training and I immediately knew she was someone I wanted to be around. Over the time of our studies together, driving to class, and just being in each other's lives, I've watched her move through the world in a way with a kind of groundedness that doesn't come from having a plan. It comes from knowing herself and what she desires in life. And then TAKING STEPS to make it happen. Charlie grew up with very little certainty. Moving countries, moving houses (46 of them, by her count), not knowing when a parent would show up. And rather than becoming someone who desperately chases stability, she became someone who has genuinely made peace with not knowing, and built a life and a business from that place. IN THIS EPISODE How Charlie's childhood (moving constantly, financial instability, parents who came and went) shaped her relationship with uncertainty, and how that looks nowHer philosophy on money: how much is actually enough, what she's figured out about saving and investing, and why she doesn't want a mortgage (or anything that ties her to one place)Her business, Your Sacred Space: women's circles, community, and why she built something intimate on purpose, and how she's about to pack it all into a van and drive it across AustraliaWhat she's learned about the people we let in: why we don't outgrow people, we outgrow the version of ourselves that tolerated their behaviourHow to have the hard conversation with a friend you've grown away from, and why kindness always gives you a better chance of something coming back aroundThe wellness industry and why "trauma-informed" doesn't mean "trained to work with trauma" — a conversation we felt strongly aboutHow to find a therapist: what to look for, why the vibe check is everything, and why ‘shopping’ for a therapist is importantWhy your friends, even the ones who love you most, cannot give you the same thing a therapist canWhat happens when you share a new idea too early, and why the knife to kill your idea should only ever be in your hands FIND CHARLIE Instagram: @_yoursacredspace Follow along for her van build, pop-up events on the road, and women's circles wherever life takes her next. CONNECT WITH JASMINE Instagram: @jasmineteo.jiaminWebsite: texturedlifewellness.com WORK WITH JASMINE Presence. A 4-month 1:1 coaching programme. For people who live for something greater than themselves and want to build the inner life to match. Join the waitlist: https://texturedlifewellness.com/coaching1:1 Therapy. Free 15-min consultation to start.

    1hr 17min
  3. 4 May

    ep 04 / Life as a Filter

    We spend so much energy trying to decide whether something will work - in our own heads, alone, before anything has been tested. Whether to apply for a job. Whether to ask someone out. Whether to create and share something. And in doing all that thinking and not doing anything, many of us just stay stuck. In this episode I want to offer a reframe that has genuinely changed how I move through life. Life is actually a really good filter, but only if you are putting things through it. This isn’t about being reckless or thoughtless. It’s about understanding that uncertainty is not the enemy here. Uncertainty is the mechanism. Uncertainty is what allows life to give you real information; information you cannot get by staying inside your own head. IN THIS EPISODE What actually keeps us stuckHow I stopped seeing every step as high-stakes, and what changed from thenThe food analogy: why you sometimes don’t know what you want until life shows youOn applying for jobs, putting out work, and letting life respond instead of “pre-deciding”My Secondary school teacher’s quote that changed how I think about controlWhat it means when you genuinely can’t put things out or get started on something, and what’s actually worth looking at thereWhy being stuck is not your personality. It’s just a part of you. And there’s a huge difference in naming that differently. "Uncertainty isn't the obstacle. It's actually the mechanism. It's what allows life to give you real information — information you can't get by staying inside your own head." ✨ TRY THIS ✨ This week, pick one thing you’ve been sitting on. Something small is fine. An application, a message, an idea you’ve been meaning to share. Put it out in the smallest way possible. Don’t pre-decide the outcome. Let life do the filtering. Notice what comes back, and notice what you feel when it does. 🌸 CONNECT WITH ME 🌸 Instagram: @jasmineteo.jiamin (I always reply to DMs!)Coaching: Presence, a 4-month 1:1 coaching programme. For people who want to build a life of impact and love their lives while doing the work. May and June intakes are sold out. Waitlist open for July. Apply here.•  1:1 Therapy - limited spots left for May and June. Free 15-min consultation to start.

    23 min
  4. ep 03 / She Was The First Person to Show Me a Different Life Was Possible - with Leigh Khoo

    21 Apr

    ep 03 / She Was The First Person to Show Me a Different Life Was Possible - with Leigh Khoo

    I'm sooooo excited for you to meet my yoga teacher and friend, Leigh! Nine years ago, I walked into Leigh's yoga class and felt my body for the first time. Without her, I genuinely don't think I would be sitting here, doing this podcast, living the life I'm living now. Leigh Khoo is a yoga teacher, retreat leader, and the very first person who showed me that a path of uncertainty could be beautiful. Before I met her, I had only ever seen one kind of life: stable, structured, certain. Leigh changed everything for me. "Oftentimes we think of the worst-case scenario with our conditioning and fear shaping it. If we sat with it and distilled our answer a couple of times over, then maybe what's the worst is just all in your head." — Leigh IN THIS EPISODE How a yoga class in 2017 changed my relationship with my own body, and eventually, my whole lifeWhy Leigh was the first person to make an uncertain, non-traditional path feel not just possible, but worth wanting and buildingHow being in a space you have outgrown feels like wearing ill-fitting clothes and taking it off is a such a reliefLeigh's teaching philosophy: what yoga actually is, why the philosophy gets lost in studios, and what it means to live it off the matThe 'brushing your teeth' metaphor for daily practice, and why you can't only show up when things are hardHow Leigh plans her year with financial clarity but total flexibility, and why she's 'set up for things falling apart'What her husband's early observation — 'you're so proper with students, but so different with me' — taught her about alignmentBuilding community without trying to: why like-mindedness is the foundation, and organic is the only way'What's the worst that can happen?' — a real conversation with a friend stuck in an unhappy job for yearsOn holding space vs. giving unsolicited advice, and why offering solutions too early makes it about you, not them FIND LEIGH Instagram: @livingyogawithleighPatreon: patreon.com/livingyogawithleigh — audio yoga practices, ~4 per month. (also Jasmine’s personal source of yoga practice!)Website: living-yoga.coUpcoming: Hatha Yoga & Vedanta Immersion in Bali (June), 200hr Teacher Training (June–August, Singapore weekends), Ladakh Retreat 20–26 September — one last spot in female twin sharing. DM Leigh to book. CONNECT WITH JASMINE Instagram: @jasmineteo.jiamin   Coaching: Presence, a 4-month 1:1 coaching programme. For people who live for something greater than themselves and want to build the inner life to match. May and June intakes are sold out. Waitlist open for July. Apply here.•  1:1 Therapy. Free 15-min consultation to start.

    2h 14m
  5. 2 Apr

    ep 02 / You Know What You Want to Do. So Why Can't You Start?

    Perhaps you know what you want to do. And you've known for a while. And yet, something keeps stopping you from actually starting. In this episode, I'm sharing something I've been applying in my own life: What it actually takes to step into something uncertain, when every part of you wants to wait until it's perfect first. I'm a recovering perfectionist. For most of my life, I couldn't put something out until I felt that it was good enough (based on my own standards, which is high to begin with). What I've slowly come to understand is that perfectionism is often not about high standards. It's about wanting to control the outcome. And the outcome we're most trying to control is this: What people will think of us when they see us in an uncertain, unfinished, imperfect state. ♡ THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: you've been wanting to leave your job but can't take the leap… oryou've had a project, a business, a piece of writing, an idea just living in your head for months or even years… oryou just know something needs to change but the not-knowing keeps you stuck♡ IN THIS EPISODE: Why perfectionism is really about controlling uncertainty, not achieving high standardsThe loneliness of being seen as "put together" when you know what’s really going on inside youWhat I did differently when I started this podcast, and why it workedA practical exercise: how to strip back your list until you find a right-sized step you can actually takeWhy the first step is sometimes just about making the thing existTwo questions I now use to guide every big decision♡ TRY THIS Write down everything you think you need before you can start the thing. Then ask yourself honestly: Which of these are truly essential, and which are there because you're trying to control how people will receive you? Strip back to the bare minimum. That's your starting point. If nothing feels removable, sit with this: Is it that these things are all necessary, or is it that you don't feel safe leaving any part of it to uncertainty? 🌊 WORK WITH ME 🌊 Presence: A 4-month 1:1 coaching journey For people who live for something greater than themselves and want to build the inner foundation to do it without sacrificing their well-being. We work through presence, self-trust, and creating healthy relationships with yourself and your communities. DM me for the full curriculum and join the waitlist here. 1:1 Therapy A deep reorganisation of your internal world for a healthier and more secure relationship with your Self, which will have a positive ripple effects on your interpersonal relationships and your communities.  Here’s the link for a free 15 min consultation. I’D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU! Instagram: @jasmineteo.jiamin Website: texturedlifewellness.com

    20 min
  6. ep 01 / Why I Started This: On Uncertainty, Possibility, and Living Vicariously Through Others

    13 Mar

    ep 01 / Why I Started This: On Uncertainty, Possibility, and Living Vicariously Through Others

    Welcome to the very first episode of Uncertainty is Possibility. This one is just me — there are no guests and no agenda! Just me sharing why I wanted to start this podcast, what it's going to be, and who it's for. Come in, have a listen, and see if this is your kind of conversation. IN THIS EPISODE Why I started this podcast, and why nowMy own story: from a stable and safe career path in Singapore TO moving to Melbourne not quite knowing what will come nextWhat it actually felt like to leave a certain path, and what I found on the other sideThe thought experiment from my psychotherapy training that changed how I think about uncertainty entirelyWhat this podcast is (and what it very much isn't)The two things I believe we all need to live the life we actually want: the capacity to hold necessary discomfort, and the self-trust to step into possibilities THE ACTIVITY FROM THE EPISODE This comes from a lecture when I was training to be a psychotherapist. Try it yourself: (a) Think of something about yourself you feel truly certain about. (b) Think of something you feel truly uncertain about. Notice the felt experience of each. What is the same? What is different? Now flip it: What would it feel like to become uncertain of (a)? What would it feel like to become certain of (b)? Sit with that. Something usually shifts. THIS PODCAST IS FOR YOU IF You live for something greater than yourself — your relationships, your communities, the work you feel called to do. You've been on the straight path and you're sensing a quiet wondering about what else might be there. You're wanting to step off the path you're on, but finding it hard to do so. Or you've already stepped off, and you would love to have some company on this journey. I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Instagram: @jasmineteo.jiamin \ @therapyforteachers.sg Website: texturedlifewellness.com 1:1 Therapy & Coaching enquiries welcome via DM.

    19 min

About

What if the thing you've been trying to avoid — uncertainty — is actually where all the good stuff lives? Uncertainty is Possibility is a podcast about what happens when you step off the 'straight path'. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes because life pushed you. It's a podcast that helps you stop feeling like you need to have it all figured out. It's about what becomes possible when you develop the presence to hold necessary discomfort and gain the self-trust to step into possibilities. I'm Jasmine, your host, and I'm a psychotherapist, coach, an ex-lover of certainty. This is the season of life that I'm currently in a romantic relationship with uncertainty. I believe that: Certainty is the possibility of one path. Uncertainty is the possibility of many paths that haven't been closed off yet. Uncertainty is not the absence of something. It is the presence of possibility. This podcast weaves together personal stories, honest conversations with guests, and the wisdom that comes from learning to hold discomfort and trust yourself anyway. Come curious. Come as you are. We meet here.