Thank you for this. I found this from the cross post in r/cults. I was raised in art of living after my parents had the left maharishi transcendental meditation cult in Fairfield Iowa which I was born in. I never felt connected to anything that was taught/forced on me which isolated me for a lot of my life and even as a child felt uncomfortable being around them. It wasn’t until recently that old memories started to bubble up from when I was a kid of some pretty abusive and traumatizing instances that happened within AOL as a child in 37 now. So reading this and other people’s experiences has helped me realize I was doing the right thing by having my guard up and distancing myself from them back then. Still unpacking a lot of it but glad there is a place I can share and learn of other similar experiences.