2012 is only a month old and already there's been more drama in the yoga world than we usually see all year. First, there was that yoga injuries article in The New York Times, which prompted responses from many of yoga's leading teachers and much discussion both inside and outside of the yoga community. Now, another story seems poised to make waves: the possible fall from grace of Anusara yoga founder John Friend. Last week, blogger YogaDork published information from an anonymous website, alleging personal and professional misconduct by Friend (for all the details, see here). A response of sorts has now been posted on both YogaDork and Elephant Journal, in the form of a letter Friend sent to members of the Anusara community, acknowledging that there is some truth to the accusations. An interview with Friend by Elephant Journal editor Waylon Lewis is expected to be published this afternoon, and hopefully will begin to elucidate the direction Anusara will take in face of this scandal. Stay tuned...
[Update: Here is the interview, in which Friend admits to inappropriate, though consensual, sexual relationships with female students and employees and supplies documents relating to the discontinuation of the Anusara employee pension plan.]
Anusaragate originally appeared on About.com Yoga on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 16:13:36.
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