John Friend Opens Up About The Sex Scandal That Shook The Yoga World

In a 2012 scandal that's been dubbed Anusaragate, John Friend—the creator of a wildly popular style and school of yoga called Anusara—was left estranged from much of the yoga world amid rumors of sex scandals, financial mismanagement, and inappropriate relationships with students.

Left to his own devices, the fallen guru spent his time in solitude with his mat, until fate led him to a small studio in Denver where owners (and sisters) Desi and Micah Springer invited him to heal and own up to his mistakes by encouraging him to take accountability for his actions.

I feel the pain in my heart about the mistakes I made. It was never my intention to hurt anyone or myself. When those things occur, it's important to feel it and remember it, and that's how we change. I'm using the pain I feel to step forward into the future in a positive way. I'm certainly not going to repeat that path.

That time to self-reflect was critical. There was a response by the [Anusara] community to ostracize instead of work together. I didn't have much of a choice. They didn't want me to have any function in the organization, so I was isolated for some time.

It was my personal business, but some thought that I should be ostracized forever for this transgression. I am responsible for my mistakes, and my clear intention is to be utterly transparent and have integrity in my private relationships.

At this point I am disassociated from the Anusara organization by our mutual choice. People make mistakes; so let's try to help each other—that's my big focus right now. As a yoga community, we haven't had the best behavior in the last couple of years. I believe that we can all improve, and that's what I'm trying to do with myself.

In the past, I thought I was being somewhat moderate with my habits. I had a beer on the weekends and used marijuana, but I never felt like I was partying every day. I was 50 pounds heavier than I am today. I was also working way too much, sometimes 100 hours a week, staying up past midnight on most nights on my computer. The imbalance in my life was more due to overworking than partying.

I understand that I'm the one accountable for my own life. There's no one else to blame. I can see now that I had set up a dysfunctional organization. That was a giant wake-up call for me.

After the scandal I began studying a routine (of postures) that Desi wrote called The Roots. It had so much power for transformation and health, and it totally revolutionized my approach to alignment. This new alignment system eventually become Sridaiva, a new type of yoga I am practicing.

For Desi and I, divine destiny refers to fate. Like when you run into someone on the street and that person happens to have a special gift or knowledge that's valuable for you. It seems like coincidence, but there is something really powerful in that.