Lopa van der Mersch is many things: Ayurvedic practitioner. Mother of two. Sustainability advocate. TEDx speaker. Recovering cult member. Her adventures have taken her around the world in search of health, spiritual fulfillment, and deep energy. 2 Years ago, she added a new chapter to her life story: Founder and CEO of Rasa, the adaptogenic coffee alternatives revolutionizing people’s relationship to their energy.
Many of us spend our lives seeking spiritual truth and fulfillment. But, for Lopa, that journey led her somewhere she never expected — a cult. She might not have found all the answers she was looking for, but she did learn a tremendous amount about outsourcing your inner knowing, losing (and reclaiming) your voice, and finding your unshakable source of integrity within.
Back in what she calls her “cult days,” Lopa’s whole world revolved around rigid adherence to dogma. She’s worked hard to turn the traumas of her past into lessons for her future — embracing nuance over dogma, empathy over authority, and flexibility over rigidity. The strategies she’s developed for applying these lessons took a lifetime of unique experience to discover.
In this episode, Lopa shares her story from before her cult days, experiences within the cult, and what it was like leaving and recovering from that cult. She speaks about her evolving spiritual beliefs and how she has reclaimed her voice and inner knowing.
We dive into the following:
- How she found herself in a cult & what she experienced within one
- How abusive relationships & cults have similar patterns
- Religions vs. cults
- Leaving & recovering from a cult
- Why it's harmful to outsource your spiritual sovereignty
- Reclaiming her voice & inner knowing
- Embracing nuance over dogma
Tune in to hear the rest of her story & wisdom!!
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Resources:
- Books:
- Song: Lingala by Lee Burridge & Lost Desert
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Follow along with Lopa & her work:
- Website: wearerasa.com
- Instagram:
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