For years, I was conditioned to believe that a man and a woman being alone together—regardless of the context—was inappropriate or dangerous. Even after leaving that world behind, I was surprised by how quickly that old conditioning crept in during a simple lunch with a colleague.

Struggling to feel at home in your body after purity culture? You're not alone. If you grew up in high control religion like I did, you were likely taught that your body wasn’t really yours. It was something to control, cover up, and constantly monitor and police.