Day Three with John Friend

Today was another incredibly full day…so full in fact that I will probably be asleep by 9pm tonight and so won’t write too much here. Today in class we looked at the symbolism of the numbers 6 and 8, drew some more intricate geometric designs, did asana practice, looked at the alignment of the knees to prevent injury and heal imbalance, and touched on fractals. John gave two very inspiring lectures about the wonder of Nature as witnessed through the creation of form and impressed on us the importance of the work we are doing as teachers and students of yoga at this time in history. The world is so incredibly magnificent and our human minds and bodies are both so wonderfully complex and at the same time so powerfully simple when you know how to see the patterns…it really does blow your mind….And by the time we got to the afternoon our minds were blown so we finished the day with some deep hip opening asana, pranayama and meditation that took us all into an incredibly sweet savasana and then we all floated out for the evening.

John is as funny and charismatic as I had thought he would be and at the same time he is a very strong teacher and expects alot from his students. I have no doubt that his senior students know his fiery side as well as his loving side.  As a teacher it is always very interesting to observe other great teachers and see how they interact with students, present material, and hold space. And of course John is a master at all of these aspects of teaching so he is wonderful to be in the presence of. But for all you newer yoga teachers out there take heart in knowing that even John Friend with his multiple decades of teaching experience makes small mistakes like forgetting the second side of a pose, or getting someone’s name wrong- the thing is it is how he rolls with those mistakes that really allows him to hold the seat of the teacher without compromise. He is a fabulous teacher and this will not be the last time I make the effort to study with him- not just because of his skill level as a teacher but for the Shakti that pours through him and allows all of us (his students) to shift up to a new level of understanding. To me this is what makes the difference between a good teacher who may posses great skill and a truly great teacher who takes their inspiration from a divine source. A good teacher can teach you alot, a great teacher can change your life.

On that note I will leave you with another wonderful quote on Sacred Geometry again tonight.

“In nature, we find patterns, designs and structures from the most minuscule particles, to expressions of life discernible by human eyes, to the greater cosmos. These inevitably follow geometrical archetypes, which reveal to us the nature of each form and its vibrational resonances. They are also symbolic of the underlying metaphysical principle of the inseparable relationship of the part to the whole. It is this principle of oneness underlying all geometry that permeates the architecture of all form in its myriad diversity. This principle of interconnectedness, inseparability and union provides us with a continuous reminder of our relationship to the whole, a blueprint for the mind to the sacred foundation of all things created.” – Bruce Rawles