Dismantling Lineage and Recognizing Spiritual Abuse
w/Koreen Valdovinos & Justyn O'Neill
During this Yogini's Wisdom Circle at the Seeker Yoga school, we will gather together to discuss the impact yogic lineage has on women, how to recognize spiritual abuse in circles and navigating religious trauma inside of your yoga practice & your individual religious or spiritual traumas.
We will include some practices that utilize meditation and pranayama for processing stored trauma or beliefs. Together we hold the intention to move beyond our pasts and generational spiritual trauma of our families/cultures that we are a part of. Religious trauma is real.
We can also educate ourselves as seekers on cult dynamics and embody healthy boundaries around charismatic leaders. We can look at our own experiences with spiritual abuse and our own desires for community & spirituality. We can inoculate ourselves from common predatory spiritual leaders tactics and practice yoga to embody this.
When: Wednesday March 13th 6-8pm
Where: The Seeker School, Richfield (off 35W & 62nd, address will be sent upon registration)
Cost: $30
email to register Justyn@theseekeryogaschool.com
payment: Venmo to @TheSeekerYogaSchool
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Things to ponder, from and article by Ginny Shaddock on Yoga and Cult Dynamics
The yoga sutras warn us of this – how we must practice nonattachment to the fruits of our actions as well as nonattachment to our own desire to be more enlightened. But what we know theoretically, and what we recognize is happening in our subconscious, are very different realities.
Yoga teaches us to shed our false identities and our cultural conditioning, to listen to our inner voice, and to surrender to our challenges and accept them as a karmic lesson rather than something we need outside help to conquer. This means that seeking external answers to our problems, answers that can only come through the guru or cult leader’s blessing, wisdom or attention, is the antithesis of an authentic yoga practice. The only real threat is when a yoga teacher passing on knowledge does so with inference that results can be attributed to their superiority as a mentor, rather than from the system of wholeness that is yoga. Yoga teaches us that a teacher is needed but not the answer.
Sometimes, cult dynamics form when interpretation of the teachings hint that we must trust the process (rather than our instincts) and that suffering is a part of purification.
No one can take credit for your spiritual growth or enlightenment. That is a personal journey. A good teacher can help you see the path, but you must walk it yourself. The true meaning of the wisdom teachings of yoga will vary depending on each individual’s interpretation and a strong mentor knows this and invites you to question their interpretations and world view as you form your own. Those trying to convince you that they are going to be the solution to your problems and that they have the answers you need to be whole, are likely not as far along the spiritual path as they make out. After all, humility is the first and strongest sign of someone who understands the deepest dimensions of yoga.
Respect is one thing. Adoration and unwavering devotion for a teacher is another. Like all things in yoga, we must maintain a healthy balance.
-Ginny Shaddock
