Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, also known as Anusara Yoga (In

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

:अनुसार योग) is the successor of a modern school of

hatha yoga Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह� ...

founded by American-born yoga teacher John Friend in 1997. Friend derived his style from the

Iyengar Iyengars (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Iyengars are divided i ...

style of yoga and reintroduced elements of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

spirituality into a more health-oriented Western approach to Yoga.

Style of yoga

The Anusara style emphasizes a set of Universal Principles of Alignment which underlie all of the physical

asana An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and late ...

s and are connected to philosophical aspects of the practice. The school's ideology is "grounded in a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness". The term "Anusara (a-nu-sar-a), means 'flowing with Grace,' 'flowing with Nature' and 'following your heart,'" as interpreted from the Sanskrit ' (अनुसार), meaning "custom, usage, natural state or condition". Instructors who are certified to teach Anusara are exclusively associated with the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, formed in 2012, after John Friend and Anusara Inc. were embroiled in a scandal that resulted in Friend's stepping down from his role in Anusara. Friend transferred all rights to the name “Anusara” to the newly formed school and dissolved Anusara, Inc. The Anusara School of Hatha Yoga (ASHY) became a non-profit corporation in 2017 and is recognized as a 501(c)(3) by the United States Internal Revenue Service. It has over 800 teachers worldwide.

Founder

John Friend (born May 30, 1959) started practicing yoga postures as shown in the book ''Integral Yoga Hatha'' by

Swami Satchidananda Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integra ...

at age 13. He lived in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

until 19 years old, and then moved to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Before becoming a yoga teacher, Friend worked as a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The allegations accused Friend of being associated with a

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...

made up of Anusara teachers and employees, and that Friend engaged in sexual relations with women in the coven, several of whom were married. Friend was also accused of de-funding employees' benefits plans without notifying them, and for arranging delivery of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

shipped for his own use to Anusara's main office. Friend soon announced his resignation as officer and director of Anusara Inc. In September 2012, Friend returned to teaching a set hatha yoga sequence of 108

s called "The Roots" based on Anusara's Universal Principles of Alignment.

References

External links

Anusara yoga site
{{Asana Yoga schools Yoga styles