sashah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Holy shit I am not alone. Thanks for this post.

You're welcome. I'm glad it helped you. Hopefully others with similar experience will chime in too.
>
> I was in a cult-like group. It was advertised as
> s a yoga class. The entire group was very cultish.
> They made you feel that anyone who is not a part
> of this group is wrong and you HAVE to recruit
> them otherwise just don't be around that person.

That's a huge red flag.

> Its where the leader/guru (which everyone praised
> and thought was brilliant, but probably was just a
> charismatic psychopath) had us to physically
> strenuous 'exercises', breathing 'exercises' etc.

Another huge red flag--anytime there's a "leader" or "guru". Good wording--most are "charismatic psychopaths" (and narcissists).

> Most of which were supposed to spiritually
> transform us, and make us more compassionate and
> accepting of everyone. Well, not everyone is nice.

Seems a common thing for these "guru's" to say that what is actually brainwashing is "spiritual transformation".


> There are abusers who take advantage of vulnerable
> and open minded people who don't know what they
> are getting into. It was the perfect environment
> for us victims to get brainwashed because we did
> exercises which made us in a trance like,
> susceptible and vulnerable/triggered state.
Vulnerable and open-minded people who are willing to be compassionate to anyone are easy prey in their eyes.

And we
> all trusted the leader, because she was
> extraordinarily charming and seemed to be
> brilliant like no other.
As many of these predators seem to be, the more you read about them on this website.

They instructed that
> everyone was to trust each other,
Blind trust--another red flag.

and we were told
> to get rid of our ego which is "evil" and become
> 'one' in the exercises.
Group think. You're no longer an individual. Makes it easier for the leader to control you all now.

Most likely, these
> exercises induced some kind of vulnerable state,
> trance state or maybe caused something like
> vertigo...idk I don't fully understand it.
It's like hynosis/brainwashing.

> Whatever it did it felt very convincing and
> transformative. But it wasn't.
She made you think it was "transformative".

The feeling was
> temporary and dangerous because in order to get
> there, we had to put ourselves in emotionally and
> physically harmful situations, often
> re-victimizing us.
And unfortunately you all trusted her and each other by then thinking you were "safe" and what you were going through was going to cause a wonderful "spiritual transformation"

I wouldn't be surprised if it
> caused serotonin syndrome or such.
Which is very dangerous. See previous posts in this thread about that.

Sometimes I
> felt very weak, agitated and often high, like I
> was on heroin. Then you get addicted to the group
> activities.
Which is exactly what the "leader" wanted.

>
> I also went to a workshop - it was supposed to be
> the 'ultimate' experience which I fully believed
> would completely transform my life, my being,
> everything (1000s of dollars) where we were
> exposed to full days of these exercises that were
> similar to hot yoga, as well as 'meditations' that
> put us into a suggestible state, which
> re-traumatized us because we were supposed to open
> up our most painful wounds, to 'heal' them and
> transform.
There's interesting info on this website about the founder of hot yoga.

We believed in the leader so
> thoroughly, so that however painful it was, or
> however physically difficult it was, we were
> encouraged to go into it deeper.
Because she knew you all would want to stop so she had to encourage you all to go into it deeper.

We were told that
> by doing this, we would rid ourselves of our ego,
> which was 'evil' and become one with the universe.
> Apparently there are lots of sick fucks who
> endorse these teachings around the world.
Yes unfortunately this is very true. But you don't have to follow any of this anymore.
>
> Ok I know you think this sounds like who is that
> stupid to join this group.
I don't think anyone would say that. It's not about being "stupid", it's about being in a vulnerable state. Forgive yourself, learn from your experience, heal, grow, and put it behind you.

Nobody chooses to join
> a cult. They are groomed and sucked into it
> gradually, and they are not aware they are in a
> cult.
Yes that's how they're designed to be.

They - or at least, I - believed they were
> doing the right thing, and that this was an answer
> to all the problems of the world. There was much
> more sick shit in this cult like group but I don't
> have the stomach to talk about that right now.
I'm sorry for the experiences you had. I hope you heal, find peace, strength, and can move on from your ordeal with the help of this website or therapy or whatever you choose to do to heal.
>
> These 'transcendental' meditation - yoga exercises
> are more common I guess. Its really sick. They are
> definitely not what they seem when you are in the
> moment. You don't realize you are being
> manipulated and abused.
Have you found healthy replacements for them? Practicing good self-care?
>
> They prey on vulnerable, compassionate and
> previously victimized people.
Yes they do because they're easy prey.
>
> In the group, you are taught that everyone is
> good, victim blaming, and to trust everyone
> (basically being trained to not listen to your
> gut). I found similarity in what the victims of
> NVXIM cult claimed they experienced.

Your gut is still there. It was always there. It will be much stronger now. Continue to trust it.

Not just by modern-day yoga fans, Patanjali was misunderstood even in history
In his new book, Alistair Shearer traces the origins of Maharishi Patanjali's 'Yoga Sutra' and writes why modern postural yoga is missing the big point.

Alistair Shearer 1 February, 2020

The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West by Alistair Shearer

[theprint.in]

In a nutshell, Patanjali's yoga emphasised steadiness of mind, not physical strength or flexibility.

For India’s revolutionaries in freedom struggle, gyms & akharas were a cover for politics.

"In the 1930s, for example, the teacher Tiruka (Raghavedra Rao) traveled around India gathering techniques that could be disseminated to freedom fighting 'yogis..."

[books.google.com]

[forum.culteducation.com]

Quote

Singleton mentions that some militant nationalists and freedom fighters used yogapractice as a front for instruction in violent methods of resistance.

One of them wasTiruka, or Sri Raghavendra Rao, who pretended to be a travelling guru teaching yoga,while in reality training recruits in a combination of exercise and combat practices (103).As Singleton observes:“To ‘do yoga’ or to be a yogi in this sense meant to train oneself as a guerrilla,using whichever martial and body-strengthening techniques were to hand, and it is thusthat the yoga tradition itself, as Roselli [1980:147] puts it, ‘could be used to underwriteboth violence and non-violence’” (my emphasis, Singleton 2010:104).

In a way, the violent, institutionalised ascetic of India’s recent past was creativelyre-fashioned by nationalists like Tiruka “to fit current needs and future aspirations” (myemphasis, 102; also 101,106).

The “close relationship that obtained between nationalist struggle on the one hand and the early formulations of modern (postural) yoga on theother”, is close relationship that obtained between nationalist struggle on the one hand and the early formulations of modern, a figure instrumental in the infusion of physical cultural principlesin the akhâla; yogic physical culture pioneer, Swami Kuvalayananda; the influentialmodern transnational gurus, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh and ParamahamsaYogananda, as well as the Rajah of Aundh (103-104).Depending on the context and discourse at work, the hatha yogi could either becast as “reviled other” or held up as “the ideal of embodied power in the world” (106).

Regarding the latter, Singleton notes how modern physical culture proponents in India often selectively “combined in themselves the mythos of the medieval siddha with th emodern day strong man.”

Singleton, Yoga Body page 106

[books.google.com]).

The equation of yoga with physical fitness began in health clubs and gyms run by Indian freedom fighters during British rule. Martial arts training was conducted in the guise of spiritual practice, which led to a modern yoga which emphasized physical training, while claiming justification from Patanjali.

Calcutta Yoga: How Modern Yoga Travelled to the World from the Streets of Calcutta by Jerome Armstrong

The Jugantar movement started by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh used the guise of a fitness club to take in young teenagers and turn them into revolutionaries.
Jerome Armstrong 2 February, 2020

[theprint.in]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2020 12:42AM by corboy.