I had the pleasure of attending John Friend’s workshop this past weekend in Maui. The workshop took place in Haiku, at a very beautiful studio called The Studio Maui.
John Friend, the founder of Anusara® yoga, always has a lovely way of guiding his students directly to their hearts, while encouraging them to life life fully. This weekend was no exception!
I joyously partook in the Intermediate-Advanced portion of the workshop, and assisted John during the all-levels sessions both Saturday and Sunday. We opened each morning with a powerful practice including a potpourri of standing poses, some arm balances and deep backbends. In the late afternoon session we grounded down with seated hip openers, twists and forward bends.
Descriptive words such as “raw power” and “refinement” were used to help guide us to the essence of our hearts and this amazing practice. Sometimes we need to be more powerful, sometimes we need to be softer. Refining our understanding of these 2 principles in our practice helps us create balanced action, and helps to systematically align our bodies, in an orderly fashion, so we can express our freedom and beauty.
Raw Power and Refinement
Raw power comes first, refinement second. Some aspects of our practice that encompass raw power are:
- the breath
- a strong foundation
- rooted tailbone
- muscular energy
- hugging the mid-line
- shoulder blades on the back
And some principles of refinement include:
- softening the skin
- broad back body
- mudra
- a soft mouth
- loops
- spirals
- quality of the eyes and face
Just like nature works in an orderly fashion, so must we to shine out fully. Examples of how nature works in an orderly fashion:
- the colors of the rainbow are always in sequence in the same way
- we start with planting a seed, stalk, which grows a stem, leaves, and fruit
Just like you can’t go to the fruit first, you must plant the seed first, same-same with our asana practice. We must plant strong foundations with raw power before producing the fruits of our refinements. Start with a solid foundation, find freedom!
The Colorful Anusara® yoga Community
There were yogis there from all of the Hawaiian Islands, but students came from the mainland too. West coast, east coast, and a woman that was next to me one day had come all the way from France.
The “kula” (community of the heart) that gathered was colorful and playful. There was lots of laughing and cheering one another on during demonstrations and partnering. Just another confirmation that John’s message “Live life, fully. Get into it! Live it!” was fully received.
Thank you John for giving me the opportunity to assist you and the Anusara® kula this weekend. Thank you for everything you poured into us.
