I came across this title after listening to the podcast, Consprituality. The podcast consists of three guys who try to explore various health fads, misinformation, and how spiritually minded people can be lead down rabbit holes. I started listening to this podcast because I liked how each of the contributors came from the yoga world but each had different backgrounds.

Matthew Remski was originally raised religious (Catholic if I remember correctly) and then delved into yoga & Buddhism and more. He saw & knew many of the “on trend” yoga teachers and influencers (before influencers were a thing). I tracked down his book, Surviving Modern Yoga, to read because I wanted to learn what high demand groups looked like outside of religion.

This topic was important to me because in 2016 a high demand religious group I was part of dissolved rather quickly when the wife of the founder died from cancer and one of the other leaders was convicted of rape. It was a traumatic chapter of my life that has taken 10 years to dissect - and still dissect. When I joined this church it was filled with loving members that just wanted to help strengthen their relationship with God. Immediately, I felt part of the family and supported at every juncture in my life. I also joined at a very vulnerable part of my life. (That’s a whole different blog post) I didn’t know at that time just how vulnerable I was. So, when this group of people love bombed me and were there for me how could I not help but go all in?

The thing with high control groups is that once you go all in it’s easy to give over control of so many aspects of your life. It isn’t just religious groups or churches that fall prey. In high control groups you are taught that if you question things then you are “not enlightened”, “rebellious”, “back sliding” , etc, etc. High control groups also dish out so much same for not measuring up to their standards, rules and expectations. They demand so much of your time, energy, money & life. They have their own style of “language” and look down on those not “in the know”.

When I started really delving into my yoga learning I saw some red flags in groups/styles of yoga that very much reminded me of my old high control group. It made me want to learn just what really happened to me, why I went through what I did and how it related to yoga or the wellness industry in genera.

Surviving Modern Yoga, is full of interviews of yoga practitioners who were once part of something beautiful that eventually turned into harm - to them and the greater yoga community. So many of us first come to yoga for some sort of healing or respite. The paths that lead us to yoga varies so widely. Many times we find a very charismatic yoga group or instructor that helps tremendously. For most there is no “rabbit hole”, we don’t go “all in” and we just fit in yoga when we can. For some, it is a complete shift, life changing alteration.

This book helps you evaluate your own situational vulnerabilities and how high demand groups target these vulnerabilities. It teaches you to listen for loaded, red-flag language (other wise know as: word-salad). It does this through interviews with people and their experiences in these yoga/wellness groups. It exposes the questionable behavior of some yoga leaders and shares stories of survivors.

If you’ve been in the yoga world for more than 10 years you might be familiar with some of the more popular yoga teachers that have been out there or the styles of yoga that were once a viral sensation. So, some of these interviews are pretty shocking and sad because no one listed to the victim when they spoke out about a popular yoga teacher. These were not just “yoga teachers” but spiritual leaders that could guide every aspect of your life, give you ancient knowledge and enlightenment. How in the world could a leader of this caliber even be possible of doing bad things?

In any group, there are charismatic people, those you look up to and put on a pedestal. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem is when you start to give your power over to them.

For me, now, it is a delicate balance of being vulnerable and open to new relationships and experiences while not giving over my autonomy and personalty. I really like all that yoga has taught me and want to hold onto the good.