Cultish

self-and-identity

• The language is everything. It insulates you, makes you feel special—you have this other language to communicate with.

  C2-011

• Getting your new name was the biggest deal ever. Until last year, Tasha's California ID still read 'Daya Kaur Khalsa.'

  C2-005

obedience-and-authority

• 'Old soul' meant someone had been coming back life after life and couldn't get it right. Even years after escaping, Tasha shudders at the phrase.

  C2-002

• Just learn the right words and rewards would be hers—mantras for a soul mate, money, beauty. Disobey and you'd return at a lower vibration.

  C2-004

belonging

• Tasha, who experienced an agonizing lack of belonging her entire childhood, was struck by this yoga group's sense of closeness.

  C2-006

• Being told you're not good enough multiple times a day could ruin some people. Without her university and community, she'd have felt so awful about herself.

  C2-007