John Friend Workshop at Inner Harmony
September 6-13, 2003
John Friend front center
I'm on the left behind the woman with a red shirt and glasses. Jamie and
Justin Allison behind me on my right.
Todd Norin right most on back row. Center tall guy with red hair.
In September I again went to Inner Harmony in Utah but this time to study with John Friend. I was somewhat lucky to get into the workshop as this was considered to be “the” workshop of John’s to attend and only sixty were selected. All of the top Anusara teachers had attended in past years and there was a waiting list to get into it. I had been on the waiting list last year when John decided not to teach that week and it was taught instead by Sianna and Mitchel. Because John wasn’t teaching it, many regulars dropped out and, being on the waiting list, I got in. I was just learning all this, who got in and why. One of the rules was that those that attended the week the previous year got first choice for the next year, and so, even though it wasn’t with John last year, it was the same week so I got in.
This time I flew directly into Las Vegas where Inner Harmony sent a van to pick six or eight attendees up who arrived about the same time. It was my first time in Vegas and I was quite fascinated with it as the van drove through town. Arriving at Inner Harmony I found it much the same, I got a bit better positioned bunk in the bunkhouse. There were several people from the previous year I recognized but didn’t remember their names. Tod Norin and his wife Anne Greene were there and greeted me warmly. The food, much the same, all vegetarian, I would be hungry. Water was still an issue and was rationed, if its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown flush it down still applied. Sometimes that was just a bit too much yellow.
Aspens
There was a gift shop at Inner Harmony that was open for a couple hours several days a week so one day I went to check it out. There were several others in the shop that day including Jamie Allison who I knew somewhat from taking several workshops with her. Other than a casual exchange of hellos, I had not really talked to her during the workshop. I was looking at various crystals on a shelf when she walked up to the display case next to me and looked a small white tea pot. After a moment I said, “That looks like a nice tea pot.” She looks at me with a slight smile and says, “Its not a tea pot, it’s a neti pot. You use it to flush out your sinus.” I never heard of such a thing, I reply, “I didn’t know that. Well have a good day.”, and I with some embarrassment returned to my shopping.
Sunset
The week went pretty much like the previous year, morning meditation, yoga practice, lunch, yoga practice, final relaxation with live music provided by Krishna Das or Benjy Wertheimer or both of them together. In the evening Krishna Das and Benjy Wertheimer led Kirtan music sessions in which they provided live music. The sessions with John were always intense, with poses increasing with difficulty from the beginning to end of each session, but also from the beginning to the end of the week.
John
demostrating one arm handstand
Something I learned about John is he remembers the names of every person who attends his workshops, or so I was told. The first workshop of John’s I went to there were probably sixty people, did he remember all of the students’ names? Well, he did remember mine but that might have been because he called me up to demo a pose at that first workshop. About nine months later I went to a second workshop with John and sure enough he remembered my name and again called me up to the front of the class to demonstrate some pose. Well then, we did have name tags on the front of our mats. John also liked to select tall men to demonstrations which at six foot two sometimes meant me. Fortunately at this workshop there was this younger tall guy with red hair that was taller than me, like by four inches, so John called on him several times for demonstrations although my turn would come.
Another thing I learned is that John teaches through demonstrations. On a few occasions, John would demonstrate a pose, but usually he called on people in class to do so. I had experienced this firsthand at the first two weekend workshops but here at Inner Harmony it was a regular thing. Being called on for a demonstration was not a bad thing, it was a great learning experience. People would ask some question about a pose and John would have them get up to demonstrate while he gave instructions to address their question. I learned not to ask questions. Aches, pains, injuries, John would have them get up to show how application of the Universal Principles of Alignment would help. One thing I noticed is that John would not call upon someone if he didn’t think they could do the demonstration. There were sixty students in the class, perhaps he would not notice and call on me but I knew my time would come.
Dinner
Bells
One afternoon one of the women at the workshop who I had talked to a few times asked me if I wanted to go with her into town to get a few things. I was surprised she asked me, but hey, I wouldn’t pass up a chance to spend some time with a beautiful woman, so I said yes. She was one of the few that had driven to the workshop so she had a car which we drove to the grocery store in the nearby town. She had a list of things from people asked her to get for them. One request she had was from the musician, Benj, who wanted a whole baked chicken. Benj is a big guy, like six foot six, and he said he was really hungry, the all vegetarian food at Inner Harmony just wasn’t enough for him. For myself I got a Coke and it really tasted good. On the way back to Inner Harmony the woman said she saw a sign for a park and asked if I wanted to go check it out and I said sure. Seeing the sign, we turned off the main road onto a smaller road which soon turned into a dirt road, and we came upon a small park with several small pavilions with picnic tables under them. We were the only ones there as we got out and walked around and then sat under one of the pavilions on the picnic tables and talked. After about forty minutes she said we better be getting back, and we returned to Inner Harmony. She was an attractive woman and I thought she like me, after all she asked me to go with her to the store. As we sat there, I wanted to reach out and touch her but could not bring myself to do so and always wondered what if I had. One of those could’ve, should’ve, would’ve moments. When we got back to Inner Harmony, we gave the chicken to Benj who later I heard ate the whole thing in one sitting.
Kirtan
John playing drum on right, Krishna Das on guitar, Benj playing drum,
Heather on right playing guitar
John and Hunuman
Instead of yoga Olympics on the last day of there was entertainment night with skits and music. A group of did a most humorous skit in which there were about six students and a teacher in which the teacher taught variations of Pavanamuktasana, wind releasing pose, the farting pose. Something everyone learns early in yoga is that certain poses make you fart, we all have had it happen at one time or another. There you are in class, and it’s been building but you’ve been holding it back. Then, laying there, you squeezed one knee in, and it pops out and giggle ripples through the class. It wasn’t you this time, but it will happen. So a group made a skit of it, with someone on the microphone and making fart sounds while the students on the floor made heavy sighs of relief. There were other skits, yoga stories about one of the many Hindu gods or goddess like one with John Friend and Hanuman. I heard Justin Allison play the guitar and sing for the first time, I could see why Jammie loved him. Ending with Kirtan music with Krishna Das, Benjy, Benjy’s wife Heather and even John Friend joining in playing a drum. It was a wonderful way to end the week.
Being immersed in yoga a whole week I learned more than I had the previous six months. Doing yoga poses eight hours a day increased my knowledge, flexibility, strength and understanding of John’s Universal Principles of Alignment.
Updated: 06.09.20024