Free Your Inner Guru

Prior to 2020, Kathleen Oh believed anti-vaccination was the best way she could protect her children. In this compelling conversation, Kathleen shares how a courageous and empathetic friend led her to understand the deep-seated racism and white privilege underlying her beliefs. Kathleen shares how stepping away from her former community put her on a path of healing and awareness of cult dynamics in her midst. In this first episode of 2022, Kathleen Oh and Laura take a deep dive into psychedelics, altered states, politics and predators in the world of personal transformation. And why it's necessary for all coaches to critically evaluate the training and bigwigs in their coaching lineage. Kathleen Oh is an integration coach helping people on their self-exploration journeys. She educates and guides curious explorers through microdosing psychedelics & breathwork, and most importantly, heal and expand into all that’s possible. She is sought after for her authentic, soft-but-confident approach. Per

Sean Tucker is a photographer, filmmaker and writer who inspires fellow creatives through his popular YouTube channel and new book “The Meaning in the Making,” in which he shares his philosophy for the creative life. Before Sean became a photographer, he studied theology and worked as a Baptist priest in South Africa. You’re going to hear about his journey into and out of the priesthood, then into photography, why he started his Youtube channel, and wrote his recent book The Meaning in the Making where he demystifies the creative process by sharing his stories and creative process. You're going to love this rich conversation. It touches on all the topic categories of this podcast: creativity, spirituality, finding and using your voice, and stepping away from structured, institutionalized religion. As we close out 2021, Sean gives us a real sense of what it's like to bring all parts of ourselves to our work, as evidenced in his philosophical approach to photography. He wants us to put our voice out i

Sarah Edmondson and Nippy Ames are subjects of HBO's documentary series The Vow, a story of indoctrination and exposing the NXIVM cult, and hosts of the podcast A Little Bit Culty. I am delighted to have Sarah and Nippy join me for a "part 2" conversation that begins on A Little Bit Culty today! One of my goals is that both of our extreme experiences be relatable to new age and self help consumers.  Take away the branding and sex trafficking of NXIVM, and the head shaving and fatal sweat lodge of my experience, and what remains is a seemingly regular self help organization. Maybe it is. Maybe it's a cult. Maybe it's both. One thing is certain: Our hindsight can become your foresight. Listen as we explore sales and recruitment tactics, coercion, the mind-fuck of "at-causedness," and "the NXIVM flip," which you'll find everywhere in new age and self help circles, masquerading as personal responsibility and looking to yourself as the creator of everything in your life, including narcissistic and c

We welcome back Shulamit ber Levtov, the Entrepreneur's Therapist for a deep dive into individual, organizational, and systemic abuse. Shulamit is a resilience and mindset consultant who uses her background as a trauma therapist to help women identifying entrepreneurs manage their mindset and pilot their emotions so they can overcome the anxiety and isolation of running a business. You may remember Shulamit from our conversation in Episode 88: Cult Dynamics and Abusive, Intimate Relationships. When we finished, it felt like there was a lot more to cover. So here we are. My hope for this episode is that it gives you context for your own experience, for the experience of someone you care for, and for the abusive culture and systems we are immersed in, whether we are conscious of it or not. Before we go any further, I don't think I've ever given a trigger warning before, and I don't like them for a couple of reasons. First of all, they can be triggering in and of themselves and put us into a heightened

Personal experience surviving spiritual and therapeutic abuse led Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman to study cult dynamics and undue influence with a variety of experts in the field. In the process, they recognized that cult dynamics run rampant in our society and are particularly prevalent in the self-help and coaching industries. Jenny and Mark now bring an anti-cult approach to all their work, with a knowledge that breaking free from undue influence is key to living authentically and doing what matters most. Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman are instructional designers, coaches, and consultants. They help people discover what they most want to express through life and work, live according to their values, and make their projects as impactful as possible. Conversation highlights Jenny and Mark break down their experience of large group awareness training (LGAT) tactics that are invasive and inappropriate so you can learn the tactics andStrategies to pay attention to language used and get a

It's a podcast swap! Steve McCready is our guest host, and I'm at the guest microphone. Steve McCready is the host of The Sensitive Rebel podcast. He is here to interview me about life before, since, and lessons learned from my involvement in the self help industry and my involvement in “that sweat lodge.” Over on the Sensitive Rebel, you will find an episode called Laura Tucker Helps Steve Free His Inner Guru. Steve McCready is a coach with a background as a psychotherapist. Steve and I share many interests including psychology, photography, and creativity. After a couple of Zooms geeking out on art and gear, we had a “what if” conversation about interviewing each other. To shake things up, we decided to be guests on our own shows! The timing is serendipitous. The 12th anniversary of the Sedona sweat lodge was October 8th. A dozen years later, I’m still peeling back layers of this experience and sharing them, but mostly on other podcasts! Steve’s background as a therapist enables him to hone i

#igotout is a hashtag, website and movement to make abuses of power unacceptable in all kinds of groups, not just cults. Gerette Buglion and Lisa are two of the founders of #igotout. They believe now is the time for survivors of cult dynamics to share their stories with unflinching honesty. Every story matters, and the ripple effect of speaking up can make a difference. Survivors of cultic abuse can raise awareness of undue influence and coercive control. The goal is to change the cultural acceptance of abuse of power in all kinds of groups, not just cults. Gerette and Lisa join me to share the story of how #igotout was formed, characteristics of cult dynamics in today's society, and how survivors can find support at igotout.org. Gerette Buglion, B.A. in Elementary and Special Ed, is the author of An Everyday Cult. She earned her ‘Masters Degree’ in Cult Awareness Education from the school of life. Gerette co-manages operations and communications of igotout.org, is a spokeswoman and activist for t

Host Laura Tucker is a survivor of the fatal 2009 sweat lodge at a self help retreat in Sedona in 2009. Laura shares her response to the line five minutes in to the first episode of Nine Perfect Strangers: "Remember those people who died in that sweat lodge? They thought they were being enlightened, but in reality they were being cooked." This episode includes the article Nine Perfect Strangers Made Me a Punch Line and Now I'm Punching Back - Survivor of That Sweat Lodge Stands Up For Survivors of All Bad Gurus and the conversation that has come to life as a result. Mentioned in this episode: Article: Nine Perfect Strangers Made Me a Punch Line and Now I'm Punching Back Episode 87 - Dr Janja Lalich: When Self Help Turns Cult Ways to support Free Your Inner Guru: Become a Patreon - patreon.com/freeyourinnerguru Shop the merchandise - freeyourinnerguru.com/shop Shop Laura's fine art photography gallery - lauratuckerphotography.com Stay in touch: Subscribe to the Free Y

You are going to love this conversation with Regina Louise, author of Permission Granted: Kick-Ass Strategies to Bootstrap Your Way to Unconditional Self Love. Regina Louise is a remarkable human being who engages in this conversation with grace, intelligence, empathy and generosity. Before Regina wrote her latest book Permission Granted, she authored two bestselling memoirs: Somebody's Someone and Someone Has Led This Child to Believe in which she shares her journey that included being in thirty foster homes as a child. Her memoirs became the award-winning Lifetime movie I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story. Regina joins me to explore topics of the day, including racism, privilege, being a social agent, COVID19, and how writing her 2 memoirs prepared her to write to Permission Granted, her first non-fiction self help book. Conversation Highlights: How Regina learned the value of her own permission when her fighting spirit was seen as troublesome.How women and historically underrepr

Wolf Terry joins Laura Tucker for a conversation about her controversial Yoga Journal article “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa.” Wolf Terry is a contributing writer for Yoga Journal. She left teaching yoga at the beginning of the pandemic after years of working at every level of the $88 billion industry in order to become a full-time writer. In 2018 Wolf lost her younger brother and best friend to suicide, mere months after her child was born. Since then she has been an advocate for mental health, as well as an outspoken activist on crucial social justice issues. Wolf recently came under fire in the Yoga and Wellness community for her Yoga Journal article “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa” in which she calls out the yoga community for abandoning its ethics. Host Laura Tucker is a survivor of the 2009 fatal sweat lodge at a spiritual and self help retreat in Sedona, Arizona. She and Wolf discuss their common concerns for the yoga, wellness, spiritual and self help industries including: w

Shulamit Ber Levtov joins Laura for a conversation about the parallels between cult dynamics and abusive intimate relationships, the intersection of conspiracy theory and the self help industry, and dealing with shit therapists. Shulamit Ber Levtov is a resilience and mindset consultant who uses her background as a trauma therapist to help woman-identifying entrepreneurs manage their mindset and pilot their emotions so they can overcome the anxiety and isolation of running a business. Full show notes with working links at https://freeyourinnerguru.com/shulamit-ber-levtov/ Conversation highlights: Shulamit shares how why she became a therapist after experiencing an abusive intimate relationship and how that helps her work with women-identifying entrepreneurs.The distinction between being victimized and having an identity as a victim.Why we shy away from words like victim, vulnerable, and cult.Conspirituality: the intersection of conspiracy thinking and the wellness and self help industries.The self

Dr Janja Lalich joins Laura for a dive deep into the intersection of self help and cults. Full show notes with links to everything mentioned at https://freeyourinnerguru.com/janja-lalich/ Janja is a researcher, author, and educator specializing in cults and extremist groups, with a particular focus on charismatic relationships, political and other social movements, ideology and social control, and issues of gender and sexuality. She is Professor Emerita of Sociology at California State University, Chico. She is the author of Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, the number one book used by former cult members and their friends and families to better understand cult experiences and their consequences.

AdaPia D'Errico is a global visionary leader, entrepreneur, investor, powerful keynote speaker, and author of Productive Intuition: Connecting to the Subtle. AdaPia D'Errico has co-founded businesses, launched brands, and re-defined industries. She is a respected fintech entrepreneur and real estate investment executive known for her role in launching the estate crowdfunding industry into the mainstream. Challenge is the teacher. From leaving her first marriage to a viral Goalcast video gone wrong, AdaPia shares her multi-year journey to connect with her inner authority. Her book, Productive Intuition is a powerful resource for learning how to connect with and harness the power for your inner guru. We begin with AdaPia's story and quickly moves into an exploration of the light and dark sides of leadership, corporate life, and the transformation industry. Next up are strategies you can use to become more integrated in your approach to life, and why everybody doesn't need to become a coach for a n

Jonny Barefoot is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, childrens' music teacher from Toronto, living in Japan. Jonny's passion is to hear the music in every aspect of his life. Jonny and I know each other from when we were teenagers. I've always been curious about his experience in Japan, and invited him on the podcast after we reconnected over social media. In this wide ranging conversation, Jonny catches us up on life in Japan and we explore the intersection of culture, spirituality, religion, education, and one of our favourite books - The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. Conversation highlights Jonny shares what it was like to move from Toronto to Japan.From teaching English to teaching music to children through the Music Together program.A look at the indigenous spiritual culture of Japan in contrast to Jonny's Catholic upbringing in Canada.Consistency of practice - whether it's music, meditation, going to church, or writing down inspiration when it comes. Creating music in COVID times.The i

Paria Hassouri is an Iranian American mother of three, pediatrician, and transgender rights activist. Paria Hassouri's memoir Found in Transition: A Mother's Evolution During Her Child's Gender Change begins in 2017, when she first learns that her fourteen year old is having gender dysphoria, and concludes in 2018 when her daughter Ava legally changed her name and gender. In this compelling conversation, Paria Hassouri opens up and shares her journey from grieving the vision of the child she always had to becoming an activist for transgender rights. Conversation highlights How Paria's childhood struggle with being bullied for being Iranian American had an impact on her fears for Ava.Why she wrote all the things many parents in her situation also experience and wouldn't dare to say.How Ava's gender dysphoria caused her to question her own identity as a mother.What Dr Paria Hassouri, MD has learned about gender dysphoria and how it is reflected in her pediatric practice.How Ava, Paria and the Hass

Suzanne Wylde is the author of The Art of Coming Home - Common sense self-development exercises to educate, inspire, and empower you. Suzanne is the author of The Art of Coming Home - common sense self development exercises to educate, inspire and empower you. Suzanne is an acupuncturist, holistic coach, and alternative therapist. She and I met online a number of months ago. Her pragmatic straightforward approach led to an invitation to come on Free Your Inner Guru for a deep dive. We get into her varied experience and education, and the conversation lands on processing emotions. It’s fitting. Emotions are running all over the place. They always are, but the COVID-19 roller ride coaster keeps going. Suzanne has been very generous and given me a link to an online version of chapter 9 in her book, Processing Our Emotions. The focus on emotion raises the question - and creates an opportunity to begin to unpack an important question - How are we to discern what we pay attention to, and allow to in

Kim Chestney is a globally recognized author and innovation leader. Her new book is Radical Intuition - A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power. I know you're going to love this conversation with Kim Chestney! Radical Intuition introduces four archetypes of intuition - the Healer, Sage, Visionary, and Mystic - and includes self assessments and quizzes to help us understand our own natural intuition affinities. We get right into the framework for intuition that Kim has developed - our five intuitive senses and four types of intuition, everyday questions like why our intuition speaks to us in the shower, and dive into the role intuition plays as we move beyond thinking into the age of imagination, creativity, and intuition. Conversation highlights: Why the best companies and leaders are using intuition to lead the way.Why intuition cannot be wrong.The four intuitive pathways: body, mind, heart and spirit.The 4 Intuitions: Healer, Sage, Visionary, Mystic. Which intuition archetype are you?T

Christine Arylo is a transformational leadership advisor, teacher, speaker and three-time best selling author. She is recognized worldwide for her work helping women to make shift happen - in the lives they lead, the work they do, and the world they wish to create. In her most recent book Overwhelmed and Over It, Christine advocates for us to return to feminine wisdom to get out from under the overculture of overwhelm in today's society and create a more sustainable and joy-filled life. Conversation highlights: Understanding the overculture and the many ways we don’t realize we are not free.Be awake as a practice, not a destination.Recognize and replace imprints that do not serve us.Know your heart, mind, body, soul when we’ve been trained in the mind and avoid going into our heart.Why now is the perfect time to look at what is not in alignment and what is not sustainable.Overgiving: what it is, why we are programmed to it, and how to disengage with it.Engage in the world from the inside out.8 differ

Nathanael Garrett Novosel wants to help you systematically create a life that is meaningful to you. In his career as a professional researcher and advisor, Nathanael has researched psychology, evolutionary biology, organizational best practices, leadership decision making, business, technology, finance, and philosophy to understand how the world as we know it works and why. In his book The Meaning of Life: A Guide To Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Natanael has laid out a framework to help you systematically create a life that is meaningful to you. Using the 8 Principles of the Meaningful Life, Nathanael and I explore a wide range of topics from why growth is the scientific point of life, the difference between beliefs, values and ethics, why people join cults, and why ethics with the ultimate trade between freedom and safety is at the core of our interactions with each other. It’s a conversation for the topics of today and events today. Although the subject material is serious, the conversation wa

A story about my first quiet Christmas resonates with Christmas 2020. May your focus this holiday season bring you ease and grace. Laura Original video on Instagram Original blog on lauratucker.com