With official correspondence silenced and the Anusara news front eerily quiet the past week or so, murmurs are still being heard from corners of the interwebs where pockets of yoga teachers (some still Anusara-licensed, some not) are gathering to talk next steps, as well as sharing true confessions of their experiences, whether or good or bad.
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Well that was fast. Much like everything else in this scandal so far, the move to unite the now-divided Anusara community has happened with lightning speed. Just under 4 weeks later, some 30 resigned Anusara teachers, including Bernadette Birney, Darren Rhodes, Amy Ippoliti and Christina Sell and 11 studios have joined together to form what is now the Yoga Coalition. Though they’re still in beginning stages, they seem to be on a mission and already have a website, a logo and a slogan: ‘Excellence through collaboration.’
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Douglas Brooks known to some as the ‘Godfather of Anusara’ took to facebook to present an open letter to new CEO Michal Lichtman, and his “common sense solution,” which in short, is for Anusara, Inc. not to reorganize, but to completely dissolve and die (in order to live).
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Two letters have gone out to the Anusara community over the last 24 hours. One is from “founder, student and teacher” no-longer CEO John Friend describing the reorganization of Anusara, Inc., with an introduction to new CEO Michal Lichtman, while the other is from Mrs. Lichtman herself.
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Letter from John Friend this morning to the Anusara community. He will be stepping down and making a public announcement in the next 10 days regarding reorganization of Anusara Yoga.
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Douglas Brooks, scholar of religions and Hindu Tantraism, and longtime colleague and companion of John Friend, shares his personal thoughts on where he stands in the wake of the Anusara controversy, and offers his take on “guru” worship.
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Amidst the allegations, the apologies, the assumptions and awkwardness of business as usual, Anusara teachers are finding their voice and many are speaking out to express their disappointment, sadness and, for these teachers, their resignation. Noah Maze, Bernadette Birney, and others follow the early departures of Christina Sell, Elena Brower, Darren Rhodes, Amy Ippoliti who resigned a few months ago before the sexual misconduct or accusations of corruption came to light.
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The first two letters from high-ranking Anusara Yoga teachers Desiree Rumbaugh and Ross Rayburn were posted to a closed facebook group for Certified and Inspired Anusara Teachers Only created last Friday to provide a space for conversation over the upsetting accusations and revelations about Anusara founder and leader John Friend.
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Yet another letter has been emailed to the Anusara community of teachers from their leader John Friend, late Friday afternoon. It has already been posted several places online and is confirmed to be authentic. This time, with apologies out of the way, there is barely a recognition of wrong doings or accountability, but rather a shift in gears to what sounds like moving on with business as usual, with everyone’s “love and forgiveness.”
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Finally, we are handed the words from John Friend’s mouth (or computer) via Elephant Journal. We appreciate EJ’s approach in asking some of the tough, yet painfully and glaringly obvious questions we’ve been waiting to hear answers to, though this ends up being primarily about Mr. Friend’s sexual relations.
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