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Founded by John Friend in 1997, Anusara yoga is a school of hatha yoga which unifies a radically life-affirming Tantric philosophy with the Universal Principles of Alignment. The principles are transformational tools that, when applied, restore healthy balance to the body, and open the heart in a profoundly therapeutic and deeply strengthening manner.
Anusara's incredible popularity and growth is due in large part to its uplifting philosophy, rooted in a tradition that celebrates the body, heart and mind as forms of Supreme Consciousness, or the Divine. The teachings embrace that the Divine has become our innermost self, chosen to take our form in order to experience the gift of embodiment.
This gift is our very selves in all of its forms—the light and the dark, the full spectrum of sensation, perception, experience, thought and emotion. Anusara’s philosophy says “Yes” to Life in this way, and affirms for the practitioner the first principle that Life is a gift.
The word ‘anusara’ means “to be in the current, or flow”, and takes its name from a line in a Tantric text called the Kularnava Tantra, the “Ocean of the Heart” tantra.
shaktinipata anusarena shish’yo anugraha arhati
Translated by Douglas Brooks, the text means “by stepping into the current of Grace, the true seeker becomes able to experience the very Grace that sustains and nurtures his or her every action.”
This unique system of yoga aims to empower the practitioner physically, mentally and spiritually in the deepest ways of creative freedom and self expression. The Anusara community, or ‘kula’, is connected through these ideas, and supports all students to recognize their inherent goodness and individuality, and serve life fully from there.
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