Tag Archives: john friend

Sex, Drugs and Lies: What is the Future of Anusara Yoga?

Seekers of enlightenment sometimes get sidetracked, as is the case with several swamis, gurus and world-renowned yoga teachers claiming to be holy, or at least ‘holier than thou.’ The latest attention sucking scandal involves John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga. Unimpressed and indifferent, those outside the yoga community just see it as some ordinary freak that smokes pot, fudged some paperwork and likes to have sex; lots and lots of sex. But inside the yoga community there are lines being drawn, mass exoduses by those affiliated with his school of yoga, and sides being taken.

Those who love John Friend are calling him just an ordinary human for allegedly lying about employee pension plans, smoking pot and having sex with his students. “Everyone makes mistakes, that is how we grow spiritually, and John Friend is no exception,” read a comment on Facebook. The other camp however, those who can smell a fraud from a mile away, are in no way calling his behavior excusable, and they are making it known.

Yawn. It is not just high-esteemed master yogi’s that have fallen victim to inappropriate self-indulgences. The Catholic Church has experienced its fair share of sex scandals, politicians frequently get caught lying or cheating, and the high school valedictorian surprises everyone by getting busted for selling cocaine. To mull over another ‘good guy gone bad’ story is a waste of time indeed, but we all love to paw at people’s misfortunes. Some might call this fussing or fretting an addiction in itself, one that feels nearly impossible to break, as we stay glued to the tabloids and blogs that dig up the latest dirt on authority figures.
(more…)

How Practicing Yoga Enhances Your Sex Life

In light of the recent sex scandal regarding Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, who admitted in an interview with Elephant Journal to having sex with his employees, yoga students and married women, it is no surprise that the results of several research studies prove yoga boosts libido. Guilty, ashamed or just an excessively aroused yogi, Friend is no exception when it comes to the overwhelming evidence that yoga makes you more interested in sex.

William Broad, the author of the book The Science of Yoga, said yoga started in medieval India as a sex cult to harness the type of sexual energies that could lead to enlightenment. While Friend and other yoga authorities, such as Bikram Choudhury of Bikram Yoga fame and Amrit Desai, the founder of the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts, have admittedly exploited sexual energies, many students of yoga are innocuously tasting the enhancement yoga brings to their sex lives. (more…)

Most Popular Yoga Classes

yoga chartChoosing a yoga style is like trying to find a great pair of jeans. You may have to test out a few dozen styles before you find a pair that fits your body and your personality.

Here are five of the most popular yoga classes and an introduction into the philosophy, history and style of each.

Ashtanga Yoga: One of the oldest form of yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, is Sanskrit for “eight limbs,” which represent the eight aspects of yoga as outlined by the sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. Even though Ashtanga yoga is believed to be 5,000 years old, if not older, its modern popularity is credited to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who in 1948, under the guidance of his guru, Krishnamacharya, created The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India for teaching this specific style of yoga.

(more…)