and support me.”
When Friend’s alleged transgressions
were exposed in 2012, Savage felt
disappointed and frustrated—equally by
Friend’s behaviour and the community
response and infighting. He witnessed
Anusara splinter as practitioners and
teachers found smaller groups they could
confide in and vent to. Savage did what he
found necessary to hide his deep
disappointment and sadness and to retain
his composure. “I was my students’ teacher,
and I just tried to continue,” says Savage. “I
compartmentalised.”
Decades of social-science research show
that community, along with faith and work,
is the secret to emotional well-being. At the
Harvard School of Public Health,
researchers have found that the keys to
happiness include a supportive network of
family and friends, and knowing how to
bounce back from stressful situations.Basically, community gives us identity and a
sense of purpose, which in turn keep us
happy and healthy.
Which helps explain why, as the Friend
scandal broke, Savage didn’t want to
reinvent his identity. He had already
invested in an entry-level Anusara teacher
training and had just entered into the full
teacher-certification program. “Every time
I tried to teach something other than
Anusara, it didn’t feel right,” he says. So he
continued teaching Friend’s method, even
as the business was failing. Back at the
Anusara headquarters, the administrative
staff had significantly downsized, and many
of the senior teachers who helped organise
events and trainings had departed. Savage’s
community— and the ground beneath
him—was crumbling.
In July of 2012, Savage and two other
Anusara devotees started damage control.
They signed a licensing agreement withFriend to use his intellectual property, and
in October incorporated as First Principle,
Inc., calling themselves the Anusara School
of Hatha Yoga and listing themselves as the
only three teachers. That number has since
jumped to just over 550 today, with up to
55,000 students—a huge decline from the
nearly 1,500 teachers and estimated 600,00
students pre-scandal. But Savage and his
colleagues are more intent on ensuring
history doesn’t repeat itself. They’ve
installed a board of directors, elected by
teachers and global representatives, who
continue to develop the Anusara
curriculum. “We want to avoid a single
point of failure,” a criticism many teachers
had about Anusara under John Friend,
Savage says. “I reformed Anusara to help
people have community again.”
Of course, not everyone has returned,
including former top Anusara teachers
Elena Brower, Amy Ippoliti, and Desirée
Rumbaugh, who have moved on to pursue
new businesses and host non-Anusara
trainings and retreats. One senior Anusara
teacher who wished to remain anonymous
says that she is now happy to be a part of
the bigger yoga community, but also“The saddest part was that the community used to be a real
asset,” she says. “It was scarring and disillusioning how
everyone scattered.”72 PHOTO: (POSED BY MODEL) ©iSTOCK.COM/JUANMONINO
august/september 2015yogajournal.com.au