This week, I sit down with Joelle Tamraz to discuss her award-winning memoir, The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on The Dark Side of Yoga. Here's a quick summary: "Joelle Tamraz was barely past twenty when she traveled to India in search of spiritual enlightenment. In Rishikesh, the home of yoga, she met an alluring older man who offered to teach her a secret practice. This encounter would realign her next twenty years. Joelle was controlled...
Over in our After The Org recovery group, the topic of 'good-girl conditioning' has come up on several occasions, and it inspired Maria Skinner to suggest we chat it out! I loved the idea, and today we're sharing the result. We lost a chunk of our convo to tech issues, but I was able to salvage the best parts. Please note: While the title of this episode is gender-specific - focusing primarily on the psychosocial indoctrination of those...
Hey friends. Once again, I'm coming to you solo with a new episode of Deconstructing Dogma, because our examination of how to make meaning without making a gd-mess is far from over. And in this week's release, I'm sharing more personally about my own journey with spirituality and ontological inquiry. dd #61 - The Empty Husk: Belief, Indoctrination, & Healthy Alternatives In the first few minutes of this episode, I share some...
In this week's episode of Deconstructing Dogma was inspired by an offline discussion with Adi & Tracy, and I immediately felt we needed to take things deeper. It's a convo that focuses on psychosocial 'safety' and what it really means - in our bodies, our relationships, and culturally. dd #59 - Safety & Belonging: How Our Definitions & Experiences Vary First: Adi shares about comments she made that inspired this discussion, sharing...
In this week's episode of Deconstructing Dogma, I'm coming to you solo with a metaphysical buzzkill - as I dissect dogma, magical thinking, and how they shape our perceptions of the world and of one another. I offer up some personal stories - a few of which I've shared before - to illustrate what I (we?) often mean when we say something looks, feels, or sounds 'culty.' And I celebrate how, at times, magical thinking can be...
This week's release features an excerpt from the episode that I recorded but didn't release last November; you might remember is as the one that was supposed to wrap the 'cult'ure series. I pulled it at the last minute & I'm still sitting on the bulk of the content (for reasons that I won't go into here). Pulled from the intro to that episode, I share a story about a recent run-in with my first-ever cult, Dahnhak (aka 'Dahn Yoga' aka 'Brain...
"You saved my life... don't give anybody that power. Anybody who lets you say that without correcting you, that's highly problematic." - Aimee Van Ausdall Welcome to Part 2 with Aimee Van Ausdall. If you missed DD#57, you're definitely gonna want to start there. dd #58 - Beyond The Org: Servant Leadership & No More Bangs! | Aimee Van Ausdall - Part 2 In this second half, we pick up right where we left off: For a hot-minute, Aimee became an...
"It is not, and it has never been disloyal to question things." - Aimee Van Ausdall Please help me welcome Aimee Van Ausdall to the pod! A few weeks ago, Aimee and I sat down for a candid, heart-hitting conversation; and this week, I'm releasing the first half. In Part 1, Aimee shares what motivated her to separate from 'the Org' in a very public way. We talk social justice. And she adds to our ongoing diet 'cult'ure convo. dd #57 - Leaving...
In this week's episode of Deconstructing Dogma, I sit down with new friend of the pod, Sara Avery, to discuss how she's discovered body acceptance and how a lifetime of being marginalized as a fat woman fuels her ongoing commitment to social activism. Content Warning: This episode makes brief mention of suicide. dd #56 - What My Body Is For: Self-Acceptance & Embodied Activism w/ Sara Avery
" hat's the thing that will allow the ladder of...
It's come to my attention that a Patreon sign-up glitch (that I have since fixed!) has led to some understandable confusion re: access to the 7-day free trial. If your attempt to access a free trial was unsuccessful, please follow the following steps to gain access.How to gain access to a 7-day free trial:1. Visit the TDP Patreon Home Page.2. Click on "Become a Member" or if you don't see that, Select the "Membership" tab.3. Browse the sliding...
