Five Ways to Detect Toxic People

When I wrote “Five Ways to Detect Toxic People“, it was published by Elephant Journal back in September 2013. I was struggling to find balance at the time after I'd separated from my husband of 17 years and had been living solo for about a year. I was teaching yoga full time and fully embracing meeting new people, many through the yoga community.

Thinking About Healthy Relationships vs Toxic

Although most of the relationships I had at the time were nourishing and healthy, there were a couple that were most definitely toxic. This article was born out of my frustration with those relationships and my inability to cut them off. It's been a practice over the years to work on boundaries in my relationships. I've also worked on the ability to let go of relationships that no longer work, a challenge for sure.

When you start to exude the yoga glow people are attracted to you. I wouldn’t go so far as to say yogis turn into gods or goddeses but for people who take on a serious practice of getting rid of their walls, self awareness, connection and spirituality start to radiate a quality of being that attracts others to their light.

This can lead to some problems.

Begin to open your heart and you start to let people get close to you. Not all of them belong there. Some of them just aren’t a good fit and some are downright toxic. Some have problems of their own and may be looking for someone to fix or distract them rather than create true relationships. Some may have begun their own spiritual journey but still have some serious bricks to take down before they can truly connect. Some toxic relationships come from your own bricks and insecurity yet to be excavated and removed.

After reading the article again for the first time in a couple of years, I still find these five ways to detect toxic people very useful. I hope you'll share any additional insight you have on this topic!