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    Love & Light Confessionals

    The new-age & holistic wellness world is all about love, light, authenticity and wellness for all, right? Not always. Love & Light Confessionals, formerly Kumbaya Confessional, is the insider exposé on the bizarre epidemics of the crunchy hippie world: cults, spiritual charlatans, toxic positivity culture, illegal pyramid schemes, fad diets and more. Hosted by holistic wellness practitioner Katya Weiss-Andersson of the Queer Wellness Podcast, theme music by Will Shishmanian, logo by Nikkita Tetreault. To support this work, go to patreon.com/katyaweissandersson
    enKatya Weiss-Andersson38 Episodes

    Episodes (38)

    The Fall of the Coaching Industry

    The Fall of the Coaching Industry

    Despite what most coaches would have you to believe, many of them are struggling to make the kind of money and bring in the kind of engagement, attention and enrollment they used to. Why is the coaching industry crumbling? To answer that question, we delve into several more: Why do people say the coaching industry is a giant pyramid scheme? What should people do if they feel that they've been scammed by their coach? And what's about ethical coaches?

    Clinical input and research courtesy of Mary Claire Ferachi (MA, LPC, LAC) and Katie Smith (MA, LPC, MFT-C)
    Theme music by Will Shishmanian

    Uncanceled: Surviving Susun Weed

    Uncanceled: Surviving Susun Weed
    Susun Weed is a well-known herbalist living on a farm in Upstate New York. For decades, her survivors have told stories of being beaten, broken down, drugged and trafficked by her while paying for her courses and apprenticeships, yet Susun remains praised and platformed in the American herbalism community. How can this be, when so many (including law enforcement) have known about her abuse for so long?
    Love & Light Confessionals
    enFebruary 02, 2022

    Culty Hot Yoga

    Culty Hot Yoga

    What drives someone to do vigorous exercise in a hot room packed with smelly, stinky people? Is sweating actually an effective form of detox, and does hot yoga really deliver the workout you think it does? This episode investigates three specific hot yoga brands- Bikram Yoga, Forrest Yoga and Baptiste Yoga- and explores the question of whether or not it's ethical to create your own trademarked yoga name brand in the first place.

    CW: sexual abuse

    Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to 'Cornucopia' by Jose Calarco

    James Arthur Ray

    James Arthur Ray
    What happens when cultural appropriation becomes deadly? James Arthur Ray killed three people in October 2009, but has been able to successfully re-launch his career as a spiritual self-help salesman. How was he able to manipulate people to override their most hard-wired survival instincts, and how was he able to bounce back and even profit off of the story?

    Seeksafely.org
    Support this work: https://www.patreon.com/katyaweissandersson

    A Cult Murder Mystery Dilemma

    A Cult Murder Mystery Dilemma

    This episode does two things: 

    1. Explores the story of the mysterious death of Carla Jean Shaffer and the local self-fashioned guru, Aaravindha Himdara, who swears he had no part in it
    2. Explores the dilemma of what happens when both sides of a story give you red flags 
     

    The Twelve Tribes Cult

    The Twelve Tribes Cult

    The Twelve Tribes is a messianic cult with communities and businesses worldwide; they camouflage themselves seamlessly with hippie communities and recruit new people as actively as they can. Not only are their teachings horrifically racist, antisemitic and homophobic, but countless survivors have reported experiencing child abuse, sexual abuse and more. What's worse: no one quite knows who's died and been buried on their grounds.

     

    The Love Has Won Cult

    The Love Has Won Cult

    The Love Has Won cult has been preying on people, abusing their followers and drawing in money for years, but it looks like their leader, 45-year-old Amy Carlson aka "Mother God," has been found dead. This episode takes a closer look at this QAnon-aligned, Colorado-based spiritual group.