‘Spiritual Incest’: Yoga ‘Guru’ Under Fire for Alleged Naked Wiccan Rituals & Misconduct
- Posted on April 17, 2012 at 9:52am by
Billy Hallowell
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John Friend is the founder of the popular Anusara yoga movement, but he’s also the center of a scandal surrounding alleged Wiccan parties involving naked massages, kissing and drug use, among other things.
Friend, who stepped down as the head of the Anusara movement in February to focus on what he called “self-reflection, therapy and personal retreat,” is having some bizarre accusations thrown his way. Critics claim he launched what the Daily Mail calls a “coven of women” called the Blazing Solar Flames. These girls would allegedly give him nude rubdowns in an effort to increase “energy.”
Image Credit: GetReligion.org
The Daily Mail continues, highlighting some of the purported issues arising:
He admitted to having sex with students, married women and his employees, cheating on his girlfriend and smoking marijuana.
There were also allegations about financial mismanagement in relation to pension funds.
More than 100 Anusara yoga instructors have now quit in disgust and the future of the movement which was once championed by the likes of model Gisele Bundchen is unclear.
A woman named Melissa (not her real name) came forward to explain that she met Friend in 2002 when she became an Anusara student. She eventually became a teacher and described how she became close with the Yoga guru as a result of their shared interest in Wiccan philosophy (she even claims that Friend dubbed her his “High Priestess”).
Melissa claims that the situation became sexual when Friend suggested that they get oil and give one another naked massages to commemorate the winter solstice (a holiday in the Wiccan faith).
“John wanted us to do the ritual in sexy underwear and kiss each other on the mouth, tongue-y kissing,” she explained. “It was certainly never the way that I had experienced Wicca.”
Image Credit: Pathos.com
The Daily Mail continues, providing more details about how the coven of Wiccan adherents apparently came to be:
The first meeting of what could become an official Wiccan coven took place in the summer of 2009 in Montreal when Friend hosted a yoga workshop in Montreal.
On New Year’s Eve that year they met again at his home in Woodlands, Texas when he and three of his women got together.
The plan was that they would take turns to massage each other and raise their spiritual energy, making it a more intense experience.
While Melissa claims that no literal sex took place, she said she found herself uncomfortable with the situation while engaged in the massage ritual.
Among other allegations, others claim that Friend engaged in sex therapy and that he encouraged students to share explicit images with him. Others have said that there’s even some financial management issues going on when it comes to pension funds — an allegation Friend has denied.
The Daily Beast provides even more context to the allegations that have been waged against the former Anusara yoga head:
Betsey Downing, a longtime teacher considered the “grandmother of Anusara,” confirmed in an email to The Daily Beast that she was on a conference call with Friend and other Anusara teachers during which Friend told everyone that the photo exchanges were a way of helping his married student heal from a sexual trauma earlier in life. “‘But I never kissed her,’” Downing recalled Friend saying. [...]
But in another instance, said Bernadette Birney, a former Anusara teacher, Friend attempted to “heal” a woman’s migraines by massaging her urethra—an admission Birney said Friend had made to a close friend of Birney’s.
Image Credit: YouTube
Reaction to these allegations has been swift. While many yoga instructors have left Anusara, others are defending Friend and even claiming that he should be — pending the charges are true — redeemed.
“We could focus on the shadow or we could focus on the good John has done for the world,” said Jackie Prete, an Anusara teacher who works in New York City. “People have been redeemed for doing a lot worse.”
But others disagree.
“It really reeks of spiritual incest,” said Livia Shapiro, a yoga instructor from Colorado who recently gave up her Anusara teaching license, the Daily Beast report. “I think these people are still under the influence of the anesthesia of John’s power.”
Kelly Morris, another yoga instructor from New York, also weighed in, taking aim at the notion that Friend may have been using his position to also pick up women.
“Attending a yoga class where a teacher is generating bed-buddies while expounding on spiritual matters is like attending church only to find out the priest is bonking the altar boy,” she said.
Friend apparently reacted to some of the questions regarding his conduct in an interview this year (Feb.) with Elephant Journal. YogaDork.com provides some key excerpts:
JF: This has been such a painful time for me as I self-reflect on how my personal decisions within my private life have become a source of deep anguish for my friends and community.
I am so deeply sorry for any harm that my actions have caused anyone.
JF: …first off, I do not use the term “Guru” to describe myself, and work hard to stay away from being so designated. Above all, I am a student of life and yoga, and then a teacher, and the founder of Anusara Yoga.
Secondly, it’s true. Over the course of my private life I have had consenting sexual relationships with women, some of whom have been my students and also my employees, some of which included married women.
JF: For the community, my deepest hope is this brings us closer together, in a more intimate and honest conversation around life. Some students and teachers will inevitably decide to move on, others will become more involved and take an expanded leadership role within the Anusara organization.
So, I envision the future of Anusara as including greater cooperation from all of our community.
We must all remember that any mis-steps by me do not invalidate any of the greatness of the Anusara yoga method.
Currently, there are 1,500 licensed instructors and 600,000 students under the Anusara yoga umbrella. There’s no telling how these allegations will impact this massive movement.
(H/T: The Daily Beast)
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Comments (81)
Detroit paperboy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:15pmIf someone massaged my urethra I would forget all about my migraine, hey, wait…. Do I even have a urethra ???
Report Post »jzs
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 1:25pmYes, you do have a urethra. And massaging your urethra is basically the same as massaging a woman’s.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 2:36pm.
If someone massaged my urethra I would forget all about my migraine?……
Well, Detroit it would all depend who was giving the massage. I mean if you opened your eyes and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was standing there, I think what ever relief you think you might have gotten. Would be nullified when your head exploded…..
Report Post »Hollywood
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:25pmThis dude would be a perfect guest on the Oprah Network. After all, she believes there are many paths to God. Maybe by massage??
Report Post »Bill Rowland
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 4:06pmPT Barnum was right, there is one born every minute and there must be a milliom out there.
OMG 2012
Report Post »jzs
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 8:21pmI’d let Debbie Wasserman-Schultz massage my urethra.
What???
Report Post »SpeckChaser
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 8:32pmJZS
She would probably be a good catch for you!
Report Post »jzs
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:11pmSpeck, she would be. But, alas, she has already has a husband to exchange the massaging of urethras with.
Report Post »blaaaaackwoman
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:59amAll those spiritual practices are a sham. Remember the Beatles guru, Maharshi whatever, he was balling the ladies, Krishnamurti was screwing his best friends wife behind his back, who was that bug eyed creep in Oregon who had all the Rolls Royces back in the 80s, he also, some would say, was a phoney sex craved perv.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:55amHe’s just in it for the chicks…. Can’t really blame him !
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 2:40amYoga girls are hot! They wear trendy clothes and put out with losers who practice sucking their own…. toe.
Report Post »Gourdy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:55amThis huckster is giving yoga, a 2500 year old practice, a bad name. There is a lot of machismo displayed when guys diss yoga, but I doubt anyone criticizing it has tried it.
Report Post »ApostolicIlx
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:56pmhttp://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/not-as-old-as-you-think, I was pretty surprised to find out it is not, in fact as old as everyone says. Nice sales pitch though. Kind of like, “only driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday.” Not that I couldn’t be wrong, but there is some compelling evidence.
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 3:15amOh man, John really messed up his karmic wheel. Maybe he should spend a million years as a castaway breaking rocks in India.
Report Post »foobear
Posted on April 19, 2012 at 5:15amYoga is fun, the women are hot, but anyone pretending that stretching is a “spiritual” discipline just needs a good boot to the head.
Honestly, not surprised by anything in this article.
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:18am600,000 students under the Anusara yoga
We have just id part of Obama’s base.
Report Post »3katmomma
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:04amPlease check your anatomy. I don’t think it was the urethra (that’s the tube coming from the bladder to pass urine) that was massaged.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:03amHaha, oh yeah that rub-down really is filled with ‘energy’ and I bet oak trees are too. Ah what the heck, let’s go bless some highways too. Oh brother, where art Thou?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:02am.
Report Post »Yoga? Hell it’s a Sex Club…..Up Dog, Down Dog, Raw Dog, there‘s no tell’in what their doing……
dmerwin
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:58amAnd?
Report Post »conservativemom99
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:53amPeople are looking for something to belong to…somewhere to feel connected and wanted. It’s sad that they turn to this type of thing to find that…or to Occupy for that matter..
Report Post »StopWhiningAlready
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:51amConsenting adults. Not sure what the big deal is. People can worship a pair of dirty shorts for all I care. Why does it matter? Who are we to judge? Sounds to me like he figured out a great way to stay in shape, meet women and earn a living. That people are stupid and decide to buy into his philosophy is their problem. Get over it people.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:49amI don’t know enough about this type of yoga to comment on its validity, but it’s a good idea to keep in mind that just because one leader is bad, doesn’t mean the entire practice is bogus. In the same way that megachurch sex scandals don’t negate the message of Christ, there may still be benefits found in the practice of this form of yoga.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:23pmLOCKED… and you will apply that logic to the Catholic Preists as well?
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:30pm@Pax
Of course. I’m still a Christian despite the Catholic abuse scandal. Keep in mind less than 1.5% of priests have even been accused of sex crimes; and that’s half of what the number is among Protestant congregations.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:37pmWonderful! Not many here will given their past rhetoric.
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on April 18, 2012 at 2:46amSorry but a hippy bending over a trendy in no way relates to a priest and an alter boy. Stop the comparisons!
Thank God for spell check on theblaze.
Glenn has invested technology into making us look somewhat intelligent.
Report Post »123456beatriz
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:47amThis guy is UGLY!
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:39amYoga Bare says; Don’t worry. I have a band-aid for your boo-boo.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:37amI always thought yoga was a scam. Now we have proof.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:13amYoga is not a scam.
>~~> John Friend is
Report Post »texasbeta
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:20pmAs scam for what? It isn’t a spiritual movement or a get well trick. It is a workout, a stretching routine. You think it is a scam stretching routine?
Report Post »Gourdy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:41pmYou’ve clearly never tried yoga. This “scam” has been road tested for 2500 years.
Report Post »texasbeta
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:08pmIt is a stretching exercise that makes you stretch. What’s the scam? If you yoga makes you bend, and bending stretches you, then how is that a scam? What did you want it to do, tie your shoes?
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:27amI bet she forgot all about her migraine…………
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:23amLooking for a belief? How about some stimulate-Friend relief; while “Dancing with the divine”.
‘holy’ stupidity!!!!!
Psst: Why a “priest” anology –dummy?
>The fertility doctor who empregnated many (stupid) unsucspecting women is more like it.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:42amOoops
;^. impregnated
Report Post »TEARS FOR AMERICA
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:19amYoga Friend = Negative Energy = Congregant Screwed = RELIGIOUS SCAM
Report Post »auntmoxie.com
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:10amI think I’m going to up upchuck my oatmeal.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:07amUrethral massage to heal migraines? What the….? And people believe this crap??? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »CA_Refugee
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:26amWait a second…this is a bedroom paradigm change for men…this totally changes the “Not tonight honey I have a headache” roadblock.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:39amHoly crap, you’re right! Ha ha ha!!!! I’ve never even tried to use that “excuse” as I’ve never wanted to say “no” to my husband. :)
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:56amI wonder if he meant Urethra Franklin, Bio. (With big-time apologies to the Queen Of Soul.)
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:14amJack, LMAO!!!!!
Report Post »mycomet123
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:03amWiccan is a pagan religion. Pagan religions foundation is the physical/carnal realm (i.e.-mother earth bs). Most if not all pagan religions have sexual orgies focusing in on experiencing the heights of the carnal/sensual experience as a part of communing with the earth–since they believe we all orginated from mother earth (mother earth being their god).
Report Post »Loki
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:53amwow.. ive sure have been going to the wrong pagan gatherings..
we mostly talked about donating time and money to the local humane society, volunteering to clean up roadside trash, and potluck dinners….
bring sex into ritual is not part of main stream paganism…
maybe we can examine christianity and use jimmy swaggart, jim bakker and the pedo priests as an example for the whole faith of christianity….
Report Post »StopWhiningAlready
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:55amThe fact that I’m actually taking my own time to respond to your stupidity makes me almost as dumb as you. Read a book for crying out loud and educate yourself. Pagan religions are varied and diverse. Not all of them are as you have described.
Report Post »Vydunas
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:02pmYes, the Craft is a sexual religion: read Gerald Gardner, the Farrars, the Frosts, or even early Starhawk. I spent 25 years in it, before I became a Christian. There’s a tendency for 2nd generations of religious movements to ditch the edgy elements in a practice. Thus, Protestants have lost things like the Real Presence and Confession, and self-initiatory neo-pagans tend to lose things like ritual nudity. There are many paths, and as long as they “harm none”, it’s not the job of a Wiccan to enforce orthodoxy.
The main problem with John Friend is that he was responsible for a school of yoga, which with its historical ties to Hinduism tends to be fairly puritanical. There are also valid questions about power-over games (Where are all the other guys? This is Wicca, not Krishna and the milkmaids.). But it seems that the chief victim of John Friend’s dalliances is John Friend.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 3:59pmLoki… Guess that Burning Man gathering out in the desert doesn’t have a few group nude massage sessions. Oh… and then there is the annual run to the Bay Buck Naked in San Franweirdo by the pagans there. Yeah, you belong to the wrong pagan group. Maybe you could suggest that everone could liven up the meetings.
Report Post »Diana Renata
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 8:25pmPsst… excuse me sir, your ignorance is showing. :)
This guy is no more representative of Wicca & Paganism, than Westboro Baptist Church is representative of Christians.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:03amI‘m sure I’ll get bashed for this, but what kind of man does yoga anyway?
Report Post »TEARS FOR AMERICA
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:20amOne who loves groupie, ignorant women (and men).
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:46amThe stretches are actually pretty good. The hour and a half yoga session is, in my opinion, one of the hardest workouts for P90X. Especially if you’re not naturally flexible or able to hold positions for extended lengths of time.
No idea how P90X‘s yoga lines up with this goofball’s, of course. This seems more of the spiritual variety than the physical workout variety.
Report Post »Gourdy
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 11:12amGive it a shot — but be prepared to have your a** kicked! It’s not for sissies. I run and cycle, but yoga is one of the best, most complete exercises there is. My main instructor is ex-Navy, and I know all kinds of guys who do yoga.
Report Post »ZAP
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 10:03amHook this guy up with the Secret Service
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 9:59amHe confesses his sin. God forgive him. I pray for his soul.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 17, 2012 at 9:58amWater always finds it’s own level!
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