Posts tagged be discerning
Have You Ever Felt Judgment From A Spiritual Teacher?

Many years ago, when I lived in Connecticut and had a debilitating chronic illness, I attended a gentle yoga class. I enrolled in the class for relaxation and socializing. The teacher said that the class was intended to be slow and gentle unlike many yoga classes which were competitive, high-energy, and athletic. I had chronic fatigue and no stamina, so slow and gentle was definitely my speed plus this class was spiritual, so she seemed to be the right teacher for me at the time to try to muddle through my chronic illness. But even though she seemed spiritual, I was surprised to see that she was judgmental. On one instance, during her yoga class, I’ll never forget it, she asked us to do a pose which I wasn’t able to do. She asked us to thread our fingers through our toes and I just couldn’t do it. She looked at me, shook her head, and started laughing. It would’ve been different if I was laughing and making fun of myself, but I couldn’t do it. I was frustrated. It was preposterous to me and she just looked at me and laughed.

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The New Know-It-All Bullies

I am fortunate to say that I was not bullied growing up, but sadly, I see that bullying and more specifically, cyberbullying is on the rise.

I do not believe in public humiliation, so I won’t use her name, but there is a very famous business coach, a millionaire, who uses bullying tactics to get her new clients and to control the clients she has. she was the first to say, “Make your mess your message“, “ It’s either a Hell yes or a no”, and “How you do anything is how you do everything.“

Yes, she’s got some catchy sayings and some great messages.

But it is never okay to bully. (Shame, judge, criticize) someone publicly. This is a manipulation tactic to control another person, to silence them, and embarrass them into submission. Unfortunately, it is used a lot in the coaching world and it puts a coach in a position of power/authority.

No longer are bullies on the playground, but they are adults with deep wounds that others are hiring. I followed this coach for some time before I realized that she was a bully. I was so impressed by her ability to go from a secretary to a millionaire and to have a thriving business with a huge staff and a huge following. I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur like her. I wanted to learn how she did it.

It wasn’t until I hopped on a free group coaching call that I clearly saw her scare tactics in motion. She coached us one-by-one on our specific problems and then at the end, she invited us to her live in-person event in Vegas on specific dates. I remember the first woman she coached. She said, “Thank you. Unfortunately, I can’t attend because my daughter is having her first baby and of course, I don’t know the exact date it will happen, but she is due around the same time as your event and I plan to be there two weeks to help out, so I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it this year, but would love to attend next year.“

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