May 28, 2026 • 9 mins
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Last week Vanessa ended her episode saying the podcast would be taking this week off while she was on vacation, but it might not surprise you that she is not exactly "good" at vacation .. so while she's definitely taking some much needed time off, she also could not resist recording this short episode after receiving a very unexpected and beautiful text from Timothy Jones, an inmate with the Prison Mathematics Project.
Our podcast is available through prisons across the US, and Timothy was moved to write in to Vanessa through their messaging system after listening to her recent "tax season meltdown" episode. He shared some beautiful words of affirmation that we can all tell ourselves daily, which stem from his own journey getting to know his true self and rewriting the false stories he was told about himself in childhood.
Links mentioned:
- Ep: Why smart people still feel out of control (and what to do about it)
- Ep: How math can help prison inmates turn their lives around w/ Christopher Havens
- Listen to new mini-series Heart Work by Imagine Learning, featuring Vanessa on episode 2!
- Learn more about the Prison Mathematics Project and ways to get involved
Contact us:
- Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
- Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vanessa Vakharia (00:04):
Okay, guys.
I feel, I feel weird saying,"Hi,and welcome to another episode
of Math Therapy," because I'mnot supposed to be welcoming you
to another episode of MathTherapy, because there's not
supposed to be another episodebecause I'm on vacation.
And as you heard at the end ofthe last episode, I was like,
"Guys, I'm going on vacation.
I will not be recording anotherepisode.
I'm not working for seven days,"which is true.
(00:26):
But David has always taught menot to leave the house without a
mic, and so I packed my mic justin case something crazy
happened, and something crazykinda did happen.
So I was like,"You know what?
Gotta whip the mic out." It'sgonna be short, but I do feel
like I have gotten a nudge fromthe universe, and I feel called
to tell you about it.
(00:48):
Because I woke up this morning,guys, and I had a text message
from jail, and I was like...
I, I'm sorry.
I have to read it out loud onthe pod.
Now let me back up and remindyou that I work with an
organization called the PrisonMathematics Project.
As you may recall, back inseason three, I interviewed
Christopher Havens.
He's an incredible human who iscurrently incarcerated, serving
(01:11):
a 25-year sentence, and hestarted something called the
Prison Mathematics Project, anincredible organization that
helps prisoners rehabilitatewith math across North America.
Now, as part of the volunteeringthat I do with them, I write a
quarterly column in theirnewsletter where it's like, it's
like a ask-the-math-guru typething.
So inmates will write in and saythings like,"I'm trying to work
(01:33):
on a math problem and I'mstuck," or, I'm getting really,
really frustrated.
I feel really anxious.
I feel stressed." And I'll helpthem out and we talk it through
together.
It's really, really cool.
But another amazing thing isMath Therapy, our podcast, is
available on the tablet systemthroughout every single American
prison, which means incarceratedindividuals get to listen to
(01:55):
Math Therapy.
Well, or I have the honor ofhaving them listen to Math
Therapy.
I also communicate one-on-onewith a few of them, and Timothy
Jones and I have been workingtogether so that he can create a
Math Therapy group at hisfacility.
And when I say working together,I mean he's done all of the
work.
He just submitted a 28-pageproposal.
I sent him, like, a couple ofbooks and, I'm a cheer squad.
(02:16):
But he's done it all on his own.
He's tutoring people at hisfacility.
He's creating a community andtrying to create an actual group
where they can work through maththerapy together, which is so,
so, so cool.
And everyone listening, I wantyou to know that I'm vouching
for this so, so hard, and I'mhappy to do whatever to make it
happen because, I mean, what acool vibe.
(02:38):
Now, on this particular day,Timothy Jones has texted me.
Why?
Because he listened to myepisode about my spiral.
So I feel like I have to readthis to you because as you guys
know, the past couple ofepisodes I've been working
through like my own anxietyspiral around feeling out of
control and that being triggeredby taxes and then turning into a
(02:59):
whole thing about to-do listsand like productivity and am I
good enough and blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
Anyways, I'm not even gonna saytoo much more because I'm gonna
let the words of Timothy Jonesspeak for themselves.
Because you know what?
This text message contains somuch great advice and just
reminds me that we are all, asRam Dass said, walking each
other home.
We all have these incrediblegifts to share with one another,
(03:23):
and I just feel so, so lucky tobe the recipient of such a gift
today, and I wanna share it withyou.
By the way, before I read thisout loud, I just wanna make sure
you guys know that I haveTimothy's permission to share
this with you guys Okay, so I'mjust gonna read the text message
out verbatim (03:37):
listened to your podcast and I had to respond.
I can relate with what you'regoing through.
I have to be doing 20 things atonce to properly function.
It drives people crazy.
Taxes are an issue, but here area few ideas.
Number one, convert your taxesinto a word problem.
Seriously, turn them intosomething you can relate to.
You can also teach yourselftaxes either online or buy one
(03:59):
of those books.
Then there's the option of, asyou asked for, an accountant.
If you go with an accountant,then have her or him show you
how to do taxes so you will knowhow in the future.
Organization.
Hire a personal assistant orsomeone to come in and organize
everything for you.
You can also set one day asideand spend that entire day doing
nothing but organizingeverything.
Then you have to spend at least20 to 30 minutes each day
(04:22):
updating your stuff so you donot get behind again.
I would just like to interruptright now by saying that Mel
Robbins gave this exact sameadvice on one of her recent
podcasts.
She called it like setting asidea personal admin day where you
like sit and just get everythingorganized, do all that admin
work.
But she did not mention the partof you need to spend some time
every day updating your stuff soyou don't get behind again.
(04:45):
Great advice.
Back to the text.
Now onto the main issue, yourdownward spiral.
I can definitely relate.
I've gone through spiralsmyself.
As a child, ages six to 18, Iwas raised in institutions where
I suffered daily forms of abuse,including verbal, being told I
was stupid, useless, unlovable,et cetera.
Over time, I came to believethese lies.
Later in life, something wouldhappen and I would remember that
(05:05):
I was stupid, which opened thedoor for other misbeliefs to
creep in until I was spiralingdown once again.
One thing led to another.
I started self-therapy late inlife, and I had to start with
the root cause.
I had to figure out what was thestart of my issues, in my case,
abuse, and then I had to changemy way of thinking.
For me, it was why I used tobelieve, but now I know.
(05:26):
Why was because when you're toldsomething over and over again on
a daily basis, it then becomesyour truth.
Next, I had to change that lieinto my new truth.
I started by writing down all ofthe false things that I was told
and why they were false.
Then I wrote down all of thethings that I knew to be true,
all of the good things about methat contradicted those lies.
Whenever I would start tospiral, I would pull out my
(05:48):
notes and read them out loud,reinforcing my new truths.
Writing it down, then reading itout loud helps to reinforce the
positive message.
You utilize multiple senses whendoing this.
You have to think about what towrite, then actually write it,
then read it, then say it outloud.
So you cover mental, visual, andaudio reinforcements.
Fair warning, I've doneself-therapy for 20 years and
I'm still a fucking train wreck.
(06:09):
It is a daily ongoing projectthat takes dedication, but I'm
so much better than I was.
Vanessa, you are a wonderful,intelligent, creative, talented,
and caring person.
I can tell you that every dayand it don't mean squat unless
you believe that and you say itabout yourself.
Make a list of all youraccomplishments.
Don't be modest about it.
Whenever you start to doubtyourself or you start to go into
a spiral, pull out that list andlook at it.
(06:30):
Think about all that you had todo to achieve those things, and
tell yourself that you arefucking awesome.
If you ever need to vent, needan ear to listen, want to bitch
or moan, or simply wannacomplain, remember I'm here.
You have a captive audience inme.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
He said,"You have a captiveaudience in me," in air quotes,
and a smiley face emoji.
(06:50):
Yeah, that's, that's a good one.
Always remember you help others,and that makes you a very unique
and special person.
Each morning when you wake up,tell yourself that you're
awesome, you're special, andthat you are loved.
Hope this helped.
Okay, I'm, I'm kind ofspeechless and don't wanna even
say anything'cause I feel likethe letter speaks for itself.
So I think I will just leave itthere and say, wow.
(07:12):
I hope you take a lot of thosewords to heart yourself.
He-- I couldn't have said it anybetter, and I think a lot of
those words will probably findtheir way into my next Math
Therapy book.
Some really, really, really goodadvice in there.
And honestly, I'm just gonnarepeat that line again.
You guys, you are all wonderful,intelligent, creative, talented,
(07:35):
and caring people.
I can tell you guys that everyday, and it don't mean squat
unless you believe that and sayit about yourself.
I think I'm just gonna wrap itup right there and say thank you
guys all so much for listening.
I hope you take that advice toheart.
I know I will be.
And just a reminder that therereally is kindness everywhere,
there is wisdom everywhere.
We are all here on the planetjust helping one another out,
(07:57):
and it's kind of amazing tothink that you don't know where
that, that next little gem, thatlittle diamond, that little
thing that makes you go,"Huh,"and makes your life a little bit
better will come from.
So hopefully it came fromTimothy Jones today because I
know it did for me, and I hopethat shed a little light on your
day and gave you that feelingthat you just never know.
(08:19):
You just never know.
All right, guys.
Thank you so much.
I will be back next week with anactual episode, a full ep- well,
this was an actual episode.
What am I talking about?
This was an episode.
But you know, this was a miniepisode.
I hope you guys, by the way,listen to what dropped yesterday
from HeartWork AKA ImagineLearning's podcast because I am
featured on that with DeborahPeart and one of my old
(08:40):
students, Emma Fogel, and it isa crazy second episode of a
three-part series, thisinvestigative, like really deep
dive series into math anxiety.
So go look up Imagine Learning,go do that, and I'm gonna let
you guys go.
You rock.
Text the podcast if you have anythoughts.
Look up Prison MathematicsProject.
They're looking for help.
They're looking for volunteers.
They're looking for funding tokeep on going.
(09:00):
It's an incredible, incredibleprogram.
All right.
Bye guys.
See you on the other side.
Okay, guys.
I feel, I feel weird saying,"Hi,and welcome to another episode
of Math Therapy," because I'mnot supposed to be welcoming you
to another episode of MathTherapy, because there's not
supposed to be another episodebecause I'm on vacation.
And as you heard at the end ofthe last episode, I was like,
"Guys, I'm going on vacation.
I will not be recording anotherepisode.
I'm not working for seven days,"which is true.
(00:26):
But David has always taught menot to leave the house without a
mic, and so I packed my mic justin case something crazy
happened, and something crazykinda did happen.
So I was like,"You know what?
Gotta whip the mic out." It'sgonna be short, but I do feel
like I have gotten a nudge fromthe universe, and I feel called
to tell you about it.
(00:48):
Because I woke up this morning,guys, and I had a text message
from jail, and I was like...
I, I'm sorry.
I have to read it out loud onthe pod.
Now let me back up and remindyou that I work with an
organization called the PrisonMathematics Project.
As you may recall, back inseason three, I interviewed
Christopher Havens.
He's an incredible human who iscurrently incarcerated, serving
(01:11):
a 25-year sentence, and hestarted something called the
Prison Mathematics Project, anincredible organization that
helps prisoners rehabilitatewith math across North America.
Now, as part of the volunteeringthat I do with them, I write a
quarterly column in theirnewsletter where it's like, it's
like a ask-the-math-guru typething.
So inmates will write in and saythings like,"I'm trying to work
(01:33):
on a math problem and I'mstuck," or, I'm getting really,
really frustrated.
I feel really anxious.
I feel stressed." And I'll helpthem out and we talk it through
together.
It's really, really cool.
But another amazing thing isMath Therapy, our podcast, is
available on the tablet systemthroughout every single American
prison, which means incarceratedindividuals get to listen to
(01:55):
Math Therapy.
Well, or I have the honor ofhaving them listen to Math
Therapy.
I also communicate one-on-onewith a few of them, and Timothy
Jones and I have been workingtogether so that he can create a
Math Therapy group at hisfacility.
And when I say working together,I mean he's done all of the
work.
He just submitted a 28-pageproposal.
I sent him, like, a couple ofbooks and, I'm a cheer squad.
(02:16):
But he's done it all on his own.
He's tutoring people at hisfacility.
He's creating a community andtrying to create an actual group
where they can work through maththerapy together, which is so,
so, so cool.
And everyone listening, I wantyou to know that I'm vouching
for this so, so hard, and I'mhappy to do whatever to make it
happen because, I mean, what acool vibe.
(02:38):
Now, on this particular day,Timothy Jones has texted me.
Why?
Because he listened to myepisode about my spiral.
So I feel like I have to readthis to you because as you guys
know, the past couple ofepisodes I've been working
through like my own anxietyspiral around feeling out of
control and that being triggeredby taxes and then turning into a
(02:59):
whole thing about to-do listsand like productivity and am I
good enough and blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
Anyways, I'm not even gonna saytoo much more because I'm gonna
let the words of Timothy Jonesspeak for themselves.
Because you know what?
This text message contains somuch great advice and just
reminds me that we are all, asRam Dass said, walking each
other home.
We all have these incrediblegifts to share with one another,
(03:23):
and I just feel so, so lucky tobe the recipient of such a gift
today, and I wanna share it withyou.
By the way, before I read thisout loud, I just wanna make sure
you guys know that I haveTimothy's permission to share
this with you guys Okay, so I'mjust gonna read the text message
out verbatim (03:37):
listened to your podcast and I had to respond.
I can relate with what you'regoing through.
I have to be doing 20 things atonce to properly function.
It drives people crazy.
Taxes are an issue, but here area few ideas.
Number one, convert your taxesinto a word problem.
Seriously, turn them intosomething you can relate to.
You can also teach yourselftaxes either online or buy one
(03:59):
of those books.
Then there's the option of, asyou asked for, an accountant.
If you go with an accountant,then have her or him show you
how to do taxes so you will knowhow in the future.
Organization.
Hire a personal assistant orsomeone to come in and organize
everything for you.
You can also set one day asideand spend that entire day doing
nothing but organizingeverything.
Then you have to spend at least20 to 30 minutes each day
(04:22):
updating your stuff so you donot get behind again.
I would just like to interruptright now by saying that Mel
Robbins gave this exact sameadvice on one of her recent
podcasts.
She called it like setting asidea personal admin day where you
like sit and just get everythingorganized, do all that admin
work.
But she did not mention the partof you need to spend some time
every day updating your stuff soyou don't get behind again.
(04:45):
Great advice.
Back to the text.
Now onto the main issue, yourdownward spiral.
I can definitely relate.
I've gone through spiralsmyself.
As a child, ages six to 18, Iwas raised in institutions where
I suffered daily forms of abuse,including verbal, being told I
was stupid, useless, unlovable,et cetera.
Over time, I came to believethese lies.
Later in life, something wouldhappen and I would remember that
(05:05):
I was stupid, which opened thedoor for other misbeliefs to
creep in until I was spiralingdown once again.
One thing led to another.
I started self-therapy late inlife, and I had to start with
the root cause.
I had to figure out what was thestart of my issues, in my case,
abuse, and then I had to changemy way of thinking.
For me, it was why I used tobelieve, but now I know.
(05:26):
Why was because when you're toldsomething over and over again on
a daily basis, it then becomesyour truth.
Next, I had to change that lieinto my new truth.
I started by writing down all ofthe false things that I was told
and why they were false.
Then I wrote down all of thethings that I knew to be true,
all of the good things about methat contradicted those lies.
Whenever I would start tospiral, I would pull out my
(05:48):
notes and read them out loud,reinforcing my new truths.
Writing it down, then reading itout loud helps to reinforce the
positive message.
You utilize multiple senses whendoing this.
You have to think about what towrite, then actually write it,
then read it, then say it outloud.
So you cover mental, visual, andaudio reinforcements.
Fair warning, I've doneself-therapy for 20 years and
I'm still a fucking train wreck.
(06:09):
It is a daily ongoing projectthat takes dedication, but I'm
so much better than I was.
Vanessa, you are a wonderful,intelligent, creative, talented,
and caring person.
I can tell you that every dayand it don't mean squat unless
you believe that and you say itabout yourself.
Make a list of all youraccomplishments.
Don't be modest about it.
Whenever you start to doubtyourself or you start to go into
a spiral, pull out that list andlook at it.
(06:30):
Think about all that you had todo to achieve those things, and
tell yourself that you arefucking awesome.
If you ever need to vent, needan ear to listen, want to bitch
or moan, or simply wannacomplain, remember I'm here.
You have a captive audience inme.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
He said,"You have a captiveaudience in me," in air quotes,
and a smiley face emoji.
(06:50):
Yeah, that's, that's a good one.
Always remember you help others,and that makes you a very unique
and special person.
Each morning when you wake up,tell yourself that you're
awesome, you're special, andthat you are loved.
Hope this helped.
Okay, I'm, I'm kind ofspeechless and don't wanna even
say anything'cause I feel likethe letter speaks for itself.
So I think I will just leave itthere and say, wow.
(07:12):
I hope you take a lot of thosewords to heart yourself.
He-- I couldn't have said it anybetter, and I think a lot of
those words will probably findtheir way into my next Math
Therapy book.
Some really, really, really goodadvice in there.
And honestly, I'm just gonnarepeat that line again.
You guys, you are all wonderful,intelligent, creative, talented,
(07:35):
and caring people.
I can tell you guys that everyday, and it don't mean squat
unless you believe that and sayit about yourself.
I think I'm just gonna wrap itup right there and say thank you
guys all so much for listening.
I hope you take that advice toheart.
I know I will be.
And just a reminder that therereally is kindness everywhere,
there is wisdom everywhere.
We are all here on the planetjust helping one another out,
(07:57):
and it's kind of amazing tothink that you don't know where
that, that next little gem, thatlittle diamond, that little
thing that makes you go,"Huh,"and makes your life a little bit
better will come from.
So hopefully it came fromTimothy Jones today because I
know it did for me, and I hopethat shed a little light on your
day and gave you that feelingthat you just never know.
(08:19):
You just never know.
All right, guys.
Thank you so much.
I will be back next week with anactual episode, a full ep- well,
this was an actual episode.
What am I talking about?
This was an episode.
But you know, this was a miniepisode.
I hope you guys, by the way,listen to what dropped yesterday
from HeartWork AKA ImagineLearning's podcast because I am
featured on that with DeborahPeart and one of my old
(08:40):
students, Emma Fogel, and it isa crazy second episode of a
three-part series, thisinvestigative, like really deep
dive series into math anxiety.
So go look up Imagine Learning,go do that, and I'm gonna let
you guys go.
You rock.
Text the podcast if you have anythoughts.
Look up Prison MathematicsProject.
They're looking for help.
They're looking for volunteers.
They're looking for funding tokeep on going.
(09:00):
It's an incredible, incredibleprogram.
All right.
Bye guys.
See you on the other side.
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