Show Notes
Zara was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, baptised at 17, and devoted her life to the organisation. At 19, after experiencing sexual assault within the organisation and being subjected to an invasive disciplinary process, she was disfellowshipped and shunned. She lost her family, community, home and sense of belonging almost overnight. But leaving wasn’t the end of Zara’s story. Fear, motherhood and deeply ingrained beliefs eventually drew her back into the organisation, where she spent years navigating doubt, coercive control and the pressure to conform. A confrontation over the safety of her children became a turning point, forcing Zara to question a system she could no longer reconcile with her own values. Today, Zara is a proud queer woman, mum and advocate for survivors of high-control religion. Through her work with Recovering from Religion, she helps others reclaim their autonomy, identity and critical thinking. In this episode, Zara talks openly about shunning, gendered control, the danger of questioning, the long process of deconstruction, and what it takes to learn to trust yourself again. Most importantly, she shares what it means to build a life that finally feels like your own. “You are enough.”
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For 10 years Nicola Ranson was a disciple of the guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (AKA Osho) from India to Oregon until the commune collapsed amid criminal activity. She became a somatic psychotherapist specialising in trauma and has worked with many cult survivors. Nicola taught Counselling Psychology for 17 years on the adjunct faculty at National University. Her memoir, A Slice of Orange: loving and leaving the Osho/Rajneesh cult will be published by Unsolicited Press this December
Bec Sonkkila survived six years in the MISA yoga cult. Rebuilding her dismantled identity became her life's work. Today, she is an international recovery and relationship coach specialising in coercive control and post-cult identity. Using somatic practices, hypnotherapy and lived experience, Bec helps clients distinguish genuine connection from compliance. She splits her time between New Zealand, Australia and Finland, and is writing a book about finding a self you can trust.