#300 | Part Six: Hungry Ghosts, Unraveling Colonial Bodies

We are haunted beings. Unintegrated traumas, like ghosts, possess us, poison us — until they don’t.

Colonization, rupturous, severs the body from its relations, from ancestors and earth. It flattens the diversity of human experience, relying on the multifaceted dynamics of intergenerational trauma to replicate itself, in perpetuity. Like ghosts, these traumas haunt us, hijack us. The line between the abuser and the abused is blurred, trauma compounds, cutting in all directions.

Decolonization is an ongoing counter-process to this. Naming these ghostly bodies, making them visible, speaking to them, opens up revolutionary space for healing, reforging relation to all beings, corporeal and non-corporeal alike.

This compilation of eleven interviews pulls on the threads of these subjects, navigating the contours of developmental psychology, ancestral trauma, whiteness, depression and shame, gender and masculinity.

Timeline:

00:00: Intro

7:20: Riane Eisler [w/ Kollibri terre Sonnenblume] (Human nature)

18:31: Commentary

24:05: Darcia Narvaez (Evolved nest)

47:23: Commentary

50:13: Lyla June (Intergenerational trauma)

1:10:15: Commentary

1:15:05: Dare Sohei (Animist attachment theory)

1:43:46: Commentary

1:48:21: Matthew Remski (Neoliberal spirituality)

2:06:55: Commentary

2:11:41: Tada Hozumi (Cultural somatics)

2:33:22: Commentary

2:38:19: Sunil Bhatia (Decolonize psychology)

2:53:27: Commentary

2:57:33: Mikkel Krause Frantzen (Depression)

3:10:34: Commentary

3:15:40: Anthony Rella (Shame)

3:32:19: Commentary

3:37:49: Margaret Killjoy (Majoritarian reality)

4:04:20: Commentary

4:09:16: Ian MacKenzie (Masculinity)

4:29:42: Outro

VIDEO EPISODE:

#300 | Part Three: Plague Days, Fertile Grounds

May we live in interesting times.

The fertile grounds that bred a novel, deadly coronavirus and the misinformation that accompanied its spread is our subject. Over the last year-and-a-half since COVID spilled over, and more specifically, when our collective reaction to it began to reshape every aspect of our lives, I conducted numerous interviews to make sense of this thing. 

Disruptions in the very fragile (and simultaneously resilient)  global economic system, mass death, overburdened healthcare workers, the widespread proliferation of conspiracy theories, fascistic outbursts, mutual aid networks, and the uncomfortable questions that arise, characterize this audio narrative I’ve cobbled together for your listening pleasure.

Timeline:

00:00: Intro

12:12: John Feffer (Globalization)

24:42: Commentary

28:46: Alley Valkyrie (U.S. Cultural Tendencies)

35:13: Commentary

44:32: Jared Yates Sexton (QAnon)

55:58: Commentary

1:01:18: Derek Beres, Julian Walker, & Matthew Remski (Conspirituality)

1:15:18: Commentary

1:20:54: Amy Lou (Healthcare Worker)

1:35:09: Commentary

1:40:25: Shane Burley (Mutual Aid)

1:50:53: Commentary

1:54:45: Duncan Tarr (Prisoner Solidarity)

1:59:16: Commentary

2:05:18: Ja Reyalidad (Authoritarianism)

2:17:13: Commentary

2:20:32: Joe Brewer (Regeneration)

2:43:16: Commentary

2:46:16: Bayo Akomolafe (Hibakusha, Trinitite, Corona)

3:08:37: Outro

VIDEO EPISODE:

#266 | Redpilled: New Age Spirituality, Online Influencers, & QAnon w/ The Conspirituality Podcast

Intro: 11:24

In this episode, I speak with Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker, hosts of the Conspirituality podcast.

In continuing my exploration into QAnon and the widespread proliferation of and cult-like adherence to conspiracy theory thinking in the United States, I felt it was time to have this discussion with the hosts of this timely, well crafted, and increasingly needed podcast project. Conspirituality uncovers the intricate dynamics at play in the merging of the Health and Wellness community and its online influencers with this far right conspiracy theory — including the cult dynamics at play in its popularity and spread, the role social media plays in disseminating these ideas, and what the popularity of these ideas means for political action and discourse in our time of rising authoritarianism and right wing populism.

As the alt-right and New Age horseshoe toward each other in a blur of disinformation, well-intentioned discourse and honest debate are being smothered. Charismatic influencers exploit their followers by peddling dangerous conspiracy theories. In the process, spiritual beliefs that nurture creativity and meaning are transformed into memes of a quickly-globalizing paranoia.

Conspirituality attempts to bring clarity to this conversation. A journalist, cult researcher, and philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds. (https://conspirituality.net/about)

Derek Beres is a multi-faceted author, media expert, and fitness instructor based in Los Angeles. A former reporter and magazine editor, he has written for dozens of publications, including MTV, Rolling Stone, Women’s Health, Yoga Journal, and National Geographic online. He is currently a columnist for Big Think and a marketing writer for StackSocial. His new book, ‘Hero’s Dose: The Case for Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy,’ will be published in Summer 2020. 

Matthew Remski is a cult survivor and researcher. His 2019 book, ‘Practice and All is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics and Healing in Yoga and Beyond,’ is the first systematic analysis of pervasive cultism in the modern yoga world. His current research is pivoting to look at cultic dynamics in conspirituality and eco-justice movements.

Julian Walker grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa and has lived in LA since 1990. He is fascinated with the intersections of yoga/meditation, psychology, science, and culture. He has written extensively on cults and gurus, spiritual bypass and quantum woo in New Age circles, trauma and the body, and neuroscience and somatic psychology informing the practice and teaching of yoga. 

Episode Notes:

- Learn more about Conspirituality and listen to and subscribe to the podcast: https://conspirituality.net

- Support the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/conspirituality

- Read Derek’s recent article about ‘How QAnon is monetizing child trafficking victims’ at Big Think: https://bit.ly/3lm4Bvx

- Also, read this Twitter thread from a QAnon researcher about how it has elements of both a cult and an addiction: https://bit.ly/2QjKFuC

- The song featured in this episode is “Dari Dalmam Kalbu” by Space Gambia Experience from their self-titled album: https://youtu.be/W_X8y7ReXJQ

Video Segment:

#227 | Somatic Dominance: Climate Collapse & The Spectre Of Cultic Yearnings w/ Matthew Remski

Intro: 10:23 | Outro: 1:38:01

In this episode, I speak with yoga practitioner, teacher, and author of ‘Practice and All Is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics, and Healing in Yoga and Beyond’ Matthew Remski. 

As Matthew revealed in his article ‘Yoga’s Culture of Sexual Abuse: Nine Women Tell Their Stories’ published at The Walrus, contemporary yoga has an appalling and pervasive sexual abuse problem. “Modern yoga has been fraught with stories of charismatic male yoga teachers who promoted their teachings as spiritually pure and later abused, or otherwise took advantage of, students who believed their mentors were gurus or saints.” (http://bit.ly/2SFaNT8) Not only is sexual misconduct and abuse an all-to-common occurrence in countless yoga studios around the world, “somatic dominance” (as Matthew has termed it) is often employed by yoga instructors to assert control over their students, creating a dynamic that leads to “trauma bonding” — a crucial process that occurs between cult leaders and their followers as a means of obscuring abuse. In this interview, Matthew explains what these dynamics look like in practice, and how these dynamics can, and do, manifest in all kinds of contexts, including within collapse-conscious activist and support groups (at least potentially). As we enter into a more climate disrupted future, various cult-like groups and charismatic figures will likely emerge to take advantage of people’s yearnings for spiritual guidance and counseling. Matthew provides much-needed insight into spotting these abusive cult dynamics in group contexts, insights that will prove to be increasingly useful in addressing the complex outcomes of the various crises manifesting in the world today.

Matthew Remski writes and presents on yoga and ayurveda in the shadows of capitalism and climate change. He is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction and has practiced meditation and yoga since 1996, learning from teachers from the Tibetan Buddhist, Kripalu, Ashtanga, and Iyengar streams. He currently facilitates programming for yoga trainings internationally, focusing on yoga philosophy, culture, and the social psychology of healthy communities. In all subject areas, Matthew encourages students to explore how yoga practice can resist the psychic and material dominance of neoliberalism, and the quickening pace of environmental destruction.

Episode Notes:

- Learn more about Matthew and his work: http://matthewremski.com

- Read his article ‘Yoga’s Culture of Sexual Abuse: Nine Women Tell Their Stories’ published at The Walrus: http://bit.ly/2SFaNT8

- Learn more about his book ‘Practice and All Is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics, and Healing in Yoga and Beyond’: http://bit.ly/2QykG2x

- Learn more about and sign up for his upcoming course ‘6 Critical Problems in Modern Yoga, and How to Work with Them’: http://bit.ly/2QeJSw3

- The songs featured in this episode are “Mirror Memory” and “Shells” by Teebs from the album Anicca.