2002

Yoga

In January I put in an application to attend a weeklong advanced yoga workshop with John Friend at the Inner Harmony retreat center in Utah. Although the workshop would not be until September, I was told to apply early as John’s workshops filled up quickly. I had not studied with John before, but all the Anusara teachers I studied with, Susan, Betsy Downing, Jenny Otto, Susie Hurley, Jamie Allison, and Desiree all talked about how great he was. I really didn’t expect to get into the workshop for Susan, who had been the previous two years, said that John was so popular that there was a waiting list for the workshop. What made it even more difficult to get in was that in order to become an Anusara certified teacher you needed a hundred hours of teaching directly from John and with John and Anusara becoming so popular, many were looking to study with him.  Oh well, I thought, it wouldn’t hurt to send in my application.

I was quite surprised when in early February Inner Harmony called and said they had an opening for the workshop and if I was interested in the spot, but there was one thing they said, John Friend would not be leading the workshop. John’s mother had died and from what I was told he was very close to his mother, so he was taking some time off. Instead of John, two of his top Anusara certified teachers, Sianna and Mitchel would be giving the workshop. Evidently since John wasn’t leading the workshop, many of the people who had intended to attend, including Susan, had decided not to go and so there were quite a few openings. I had really wanted to study with John, but thought I would get a lot out of it whoever the teacher was, so I decided to go.

Tadasana

As it turned out I did get to study with John Friend when in May he did a weekend workshop in Maryland. The workshop was two three-hour sessions and was held in a school gymnasium. I was quite surprised how many people attended, I had been to workshops with twenty or even thirty people, but John’s workshop had probably a hundred. There was a sea of mats spread out on the gymnasium floor, each six inches apart. I found a spot, put my mat down and the session began. I was quite impressed by John, he was clear, concise and provided considerable information. One thing John did was call on individuals, or sometimes several, to come to the front of the class and he would ask them to demonstrate a pose and he would provide guidance, suggestions and improvements to their poses. It was a very informative way of teaching although I didn’t relish the thought of being selected to demonstrate a pose. You would think with a hundred people in the class that the odds of John calling you would not be so great but sure enough he called on me and three others to stand before the class to demonstrate Tadasana, (mountain pose). If there was one pose I could do, I thought, it was mountain pose which is basically just standing straight and tall so I get up off my mat, go to the front of the class along with the others and John asks each of our names and proceeds to instruct us on how to do mountain pose.  Well it wasn’t quite so easy as standing straight and tall, John went though how to apply his Universal Principles of Alignment, starting with the foundation, the placement of the feet, then the inner and outer spirals, the seven loops, use of muscular energy and finally organic extension. It was a lot more than standing straight and tall and after twenty minutes of John’s instruction I it was exhausting.  After the second three-hour session in the afternoon I came away quite impressed with John Friend.

Ganesha

Also in May I did a weekend yoga workshop with Anthony Bogart titled, “Anusara Yoga Weekend Anusara Practice, The Ganesha Class, Removing Obstacles in the way of you Teaching and Practice”.  I didn’t know anything about Ganesha but learned he was the Hindu deities that had four arms and the head of an elephant and he was know as the remove of obstacles and to bring good luck. I found it all quite interesting but didn’t really connect with Anthony as a teacher. The workshop was the only time I studied with Anthony.

AOL in Gainesville