You offer an interesting perspective. As a long-time student of John Friend and as a soon to be certified Anusara yoga teacher, I thought I’d share mine. John advocates diversity, free thinking, and non-conformity and he highlights students’ individual talents. He doesn’t berate or belittle students; he does have very high standards for the certified Anusara yoga teachers – and sometimes he gets fiery if he feels there’s something out of alignment happening, which is what you witnessed on Saturday of the Portland workshop.
Anusara yoga welcomes students of all religions and philosophies, including atheists and agnostics, into class. However, in order to be certified Anusara yoga teacher, you must have a trust in Supreme Consciousness.
As far as reading ancient texts, John doesn’t assume that students either have or haven’t read them – because plenty of folks have never even heard of them. He does require his certified teachers to be knowledgeable in a number of ancient yoga texts, which you can check out on the website (www.anusara.com) under Curriculum.
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timeasmymeasure
offering my perspective
Date: 2009-09-11 04:10 pm (UTC)Anusara yoga welcomes students of all religions and philosophies, including atheists and agnostics, into class. However, in order to be certified Anusara yoga teacher, you must have a trust in Supreme Consciousness.
As far as reading ancient texts, John doesn’t assume that students either have or haven’t read them – because plenty of folks have never even heard of them. He does require his certified teachers to be knowledgeable in a number of ancient yoga texts, which you can check out on the website (www.anusara.com) under Curriculum.
Hope my perspective has been helpful.