Hi Sashah, It's good to see you posting here again. I am glad you are now out of that cult/cultish-group and are in the process of healing. Do not worry about fully understanding the brainwashing that was going on. Personally, I think all that matters is that you know there was brainwashing, and that's all that's necessary to know. Every cult/cultish group has to use some s
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

Thank you! I am getting help from a regular therapist. She encourages me to take the positives out of what I got out of the group. I hope you have a good life, too!!
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Incultrecovery Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What needs of yours are you trying to meet? I used > to do a lot of yoga but now have moved on to more > dance and Pilates. I have also meditated but now > prefer to use grounding skills and refocus my > thoughts. But I hear you after leaving groups I > think it’s good to be skeptical. I
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Resilient Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Allalong, this is a great question that I wish > more people would ask themselves. I have gone down > more than a few rabbit holes searching for > practices and techniques that make sense, > delivered by trustworthy people. it's not easy to > navigate those waters when you're searching fo
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

It's okay. I'm putting it behind me. I was focusing too much on the negative experiences when I wrote my posts. They weren't cults in the true sense of the word. I'm focusing on the good that I did get out of them, because there was good stuff I learned and experienced that help me change and grow. I'm trying to focus on the strength I've gained from looking within v
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

> I generally tend to pass on anything that sounds > authoritative. LGATs and cult leaders are noted > over and over to be very authoritarian. You can > feel a definite contrast on exposure, > especially if you have had experience with the > ones that are not like that. You can > usually tell just by cracking the book open in a > few places and reading a few paragra
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I'd like to edit my original post. I am embarrassed. I was in a place for a moment of wanting to discard anything that reminded me of spirituality. But I know that is not necessary. I'm going to donate the following books by the authors: Eckhart Tolle Wayne Dyer Oprah Deepak Chopra Louise Hay I'm going to keep books by the following: Brene Brown Thich Nhat Hanh
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

kdag Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > allalong, > > I understand your concern. I would definitely > NOT lump The Dalai Lama in with the > charlatans. He is a legitimate religious leader. > I don't know as much about Thich Nhat Hanh, but i > believe that he is also legit. Oops. I meant no disrespect to Buddhists. I don't k
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

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
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

facet Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hello allalong, hello everyone, > > This is an interesting article about chakras that > I stumbled across in my own researches, it gives a > nice grounded look into the subject. > > Thank you, this was an interesting read. I did not mean to disrespect the teachings of chakras. My point was
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have a bunch of books I've already donated a while ago--books by Marianne Williamson, Bryon Katie, etc. with thanks to this forum. However, I can't seem to let go of others. I feel like I'm going to be back to where I started when I first got into spiritual type stuff. I'm going to donate the following books by the authors: Eckhart Tolle Wayne Dyer Oprah Mark Nep
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

sashah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @allalong exactly. These self-proclaimed gurus > never admit the potential harms of the exercises. > They also often advise against taking medication, > going to counseling, etc.I just posted a reply to > this thread too. They are very dangerous. How do they get away with it? It's so irresponsib
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Rose Mitchell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @allalong it sounds like you didn't have a good > experience especially as the breathing class > sounded quite stressful! "Stressful" isn't the word I would use for it, and frankly it sounds invalidating. > > I think one of the issues is that rather than yoga > having c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Rose Mitchell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @allalong it sounds like you didn't have a good > experience especially as the breathing class > sounded quite stressful! "Stressful" isn't the word I would use for it, and frankly it sounds invalidating. > > I think one of the issues is that rather than yoga > having c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

facet Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi allalong, > > I note the date on your posts were a while ago and > wonder how you’re getting along with this? Did you > work something out in the end? > > It is not the same for everyone, though for me I > had to drop nearly everything. I used how things > felt as a guide and gradually
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

That's a great idea, It's also before for so called gurus who change their websites around.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It is irresponsible for these so called gurus to tell people to abruptly stop taking medication. With some of these websites they're written in ways where you can tell what's true and what isn't. Everyone's got an agenda. I've read "it's the wild west out there on the internet". People paying to have negative reviews taken down, People buying websit
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Although this is somewhat biased because it's written by a yoga blogger, here's an interesting post about the dangers of the type of breath work I mentioned. I'm so glad I walked out. The instructor told me it wasn't holotropic breathwork, but it was--it was just called something else. I'm not finding too much about the dangers doing a quick google search, but the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Friends, have a look at descriptions of what > happens to us when our serotonin > levels are elevated. > > This is very interesting. It just discusses it from too high a dose of SSRIs, but I wonder if there's research out there that says you can get it from certain types of yoga and meditation.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

FYI:
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Is there a place for me to discuss this? I was in two cultish groups that met most of the criteria for a cult, and most of the criteria for being run by a cult leader. The only things I didn't experience was sexual and physical abuse in one cult. And the other cult that did me the most harm, I also didn't experience financial abuse. But these two cultish groups did me a lot of h
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I had "soft addictions", or whatever the term is, more like negative coping mechanisms. Not drugs or alcohol, but another 12step subject. But I got involved in two "soft cults" and yes I absolutely agree that any sort of involvement in a cultish group should be seen by a mental health professional as a behavioral addiction. I was using it to treat my anxiety and depression. I
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

sig Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sorry to hear of your encounters with incompatible > therapists. > > Licensing is usually based on having a graduate > degree such as M.A., M.S.W., or Ph.D., together > with 1-2 years experience. They don't look at the > school of thought your therapist belongs to. > > The one you desc
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Maybe it's because I had a bad experience with a therapist who spoke to me very firmly when I said something negative about Landmark, in Landmark's defense. There was other stuff very off with her that I'd rather not get into, but it was confirmed by a colleague. I have a good relationship with my current therapist. However, it got off to a very rocky start, because I was in a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am concerned about how yoga has changed so much recently. It used to be you take a yoga class, do some poses, leave feeling relaxed, and that's it. Now it seems that the yoga industry is full of the religious aspects of yoga. And there's zero regulation of any of this. What is going on? A studio I was in for a while I stopped attending, because I just wasn't comfortable with
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yoga, meditation, Zen-Buddhism, etc. What's safe to do? I'm distrustful right now of anything new-agey or spiritual due to my experiences.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I was in two "light cults/cultish groups--one for 3 years and one for 5 years. I lost who I was. I became a robot to their teachings. I could get into it more, but I'm trying to focus on the recovery aspect. It's been 2 years since I've been part of these groups. I've been working on getting my self back, physically and mentally. What confuses me is this: What
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Hi Paul, Paul T Harrison Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Oh thanks for asking :-) One way is to have my > yoga mat in the floor by my bed. This way I get up > and first thing start dong poses on my back while > watching TV or listening to music. Then I keep > stretching every chance I get throughout the day > including in bed and while
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Paul T Harrison Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Right on!!!! Thanks Paul!! :-) What kind of yoga do you do? If you don't mind my asking, how do you keep things like yoga/spirituality simple? T
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I was in a couple of "soft cults". Although they were nothing like what you experienced, they effected me. I don't have drug or alcohol addiction, but I didn't have the best coping mechanisms. I do agree that some personalities are more apt to fall for becoming addicted to a spiritual group. It's all I thought about and talked about for the time I was in them. What�
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"