I resign as a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher.

I am finally ready to resign. I needed to witness, to get a more complete picture. In the time warp, I didn’t know. I couldn’t get a clear sense of the whole. Now, I’m clear. I sense a past and a future. I’m ready to serve what is emerging.

My Perspective

From the biggest perspective I can glimpse into, I sense something like this is happening: Anusara in its heyday represented an evolution for a small group of human culture. We were evolving how to be and teach embodied higher connectivity. While the brand is crumbling around us, the big question for me is what is emerging from that evolution and how can we work together to co-create something that is truly for the highest good.

What is the potential that is trying to emerge through us? 

First, we can consider the ways that Anusara has positively contributed to the world and see where that has the potential to go. Second, we can tap into the emergent potential that never existed before, but which is possible right now in this moment between us all.

What Anusara contributed:

1.  A non-denominational system for helping people (1) get in shape, awakening physical potential (2) awaken to Spirit within (3) connect with heart-centric awareness.
2. A teaching model that is highly replicable to enable more humans to become healthier and more awake to personal and collective potential.
3. A worldwide network of teachers centered in an explicit, systemic, and hierarchical curriculum and code of ethics. (That John Friend chose not to uphold).
4. An awakening of hatha yoga into non-dual Tantra.

Where we are now:

Like many of us, I was disoriented by the recent scandals in our community and the resulting fall out. If you need details, read Elephant Journal.The initial backlash to John Friend’s actions and responses created fallout and some reorganization. When you look back at the history of the human species, you can see that what happened in our community is not that unusual. Despite warning signs, it often takes a systems breakdown for human beings to actually make better choices. We have had a system breakdown in our teaching community, and now we are aware of a vacuum and a sea of choices about how to move forward.

What is emergent from the breakdown of Anusara

From a non-personal perspective, in pure curiosity for the emergent (or for what feels like it wants to emerge in our community), I sense a 3 potentials:

1. Smaller, more potent schools of Tantric Yoga emerge to carry on and evolve the tradition of Tantric Yoga. This group is seated in the depth of authentic teachings applied to modern life.
2. A group reclaims and potentially rebrands Anusara Yoga, sans John Friend. They refine what works from the system and uplevel the worldwide network with higher ethical integrity.
3. Others take the methodology and alignment principles from Anusara Yoga, and drop the Tantra. This may be shocking to the yogis. If, however, we see this move in the Integral context, it seems less radical. What this looks like is yoga movement and alignment with the depth of non-cultural, non-denominational spiritual awakening. In other words, if you have a human body, and are interested in awakening to your health and interconnected awakening without importing the cultural context of yoga, you qualify.