Yes, I do see where the "touchy feely" aspect can turn someone off of recovery, especially if their skepticism is strong. It really is a leap of faith that one must undertake in order to do this. We've all been through this mess. Our stories are all similar. And I have seen people (myself included) go through this recovery and come out better on the other side.
There is a saying "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". That's how my life was before recovery. But recovery was something different. An approach to my life that not only hadn't I tried before, but was completely foreign. I tried it, simply because it was different.
As far as the touchy feely, you can take what you want from the readings and the conversations, but I do have one thought on the matter. Our sub-conscious is a very remarkable thing. It has taken us 20, 30, 40, even 50 years of being around alcoholics and their toxic environment to become the people we are today. I've noticed by simply reading these boards of encouragement, reading the al-anon daily meditiations, and emersing yourself in positive thoughts of change, your sub-conscious absorbs these positive thoughts and you simply get better. I can't explain it, but we all have our own ideas of how it works. By removing yourself from toxic situations, and emersing yourself in positive thoughts, it really does make a difference on your subconcious and your daily life simply does get better.
It takes time though, it's a lifestyle change and isn't going to happen overnight. That's where the leap of faith comes in.
I'm not a coddling myself person either, but I do think of the readings, daily meditations, and posts as tools, rather than being touchy feely.