_ Dear Yoga friends, students and colleagues,
 
Today, alongside many of my colleagues, I choose to resign my Anusara-Inspired Yoga license.  It has been more than three months since my yoga world was shaken with the unfortunate news of misconduct by John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga.  I have been deeply saddened and shocked by his actions, and I no longer align with John Friend and his vision for Anusara Inc.

I have been a part of the Anusara community for 14 years, and have clocked thousands of hours training and teaching in this system.  I align myself with the Anusara method which has transformed me.  I offer gratitude to John Friend for offering this beautiful method – the marriage of elegant alignment principles with the heart-oriented teachings of Tantra. 

I kept my license until now because I was interested in supporting the proposal of a teacher led Anusara yoga school separate from John Friend that would embrace the values that I hold most dear with regards to this beautiful method, and which would have allowed me to continue to be in association with other amazing teachers of this method.  I have waited patiently in respect for the dedication of time and energy on the part of committee members working for this change.  But, this is not going to happen at this time and not under the banner of Anusara, and so I choose to move on today, and I see a bright future ahead!

What I have loved most about being part of Anusara has been belonging to a group of intelligent, creative and compassionate souls who share my enthusiasm for this method.  Today, I resign my Anusara license, but I take these practices and teachings with me, and I keep my many friendships and connections with others who share the love of these practices.  I will continue to offer alignment based, heart oriented, non-dual, Tantra inspired, body-mind positive yoga practices.  I give credit and honor to those who have taught me and continue to teach me, even as I make own authentic, heart offering, shaped by my years of practice and experience.  I continue in my dedication to refining my practice and teaching, serving my community, seated in my heart, and unfolding my highest potential as an human-being.

I am flying free and high toward a bright future!  I look forward to sharing this future with you!

Much love,

Annie Barrett
RYT 500, E-RYT 200

Pause, soften and breathe.  Each time I do this, I can feel my edges softening, tensions releasing and I can connect to my spacious interior.  Indeed, "pause, soften and breathe" transports me right into the interior of my own heart, my spiritual center, the midpoint between earth and heaven.  This is the place where I am most at ease. This is where I feel most free and spacious and where I most want to dwell.  This is ultimately why I practice yoga.  I practice so that I can abide more fully in the heart, in my own heart, and in bigger heart that embraces us all.

Consider this: Love is our most natural state.  Love is at the core of who we are and why we are here.  Love is what we are made of. 

Where there is love there is life.  Mohandas K. GandhiEarth's the right place for love. I don't know where it's likely to go better.   Robert Frost

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.  Rumi

Whenever we begin our yoga practice, and when we conclude our practice, we bring our palms together in front of our heart in the sacred gesture of Anjali Mudra, the seal of the heart.  We do this acknowledging that the true work of this practice is the work of opening the heart.  When we say "Namaste" and bow our head to our hearts, we honor the sacredness and light in our own heart and the sacredness and light in the world around us.

I bring my hands together, and I bow to each of you joining me on this journey called life...

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.

Namaste, Annie