John Friend (yogi) 19 he moved to Houston, Texas where he studied various styles of hatha yoga including Ananda Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga. He also began teaching yoga part-time while working as a financial analyst. In 1984, Friend began practicing the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Primary Series and, in 1986, quit his analyst job to teach yoga full-time. In 1987, Friend graduated to Secondary Series while studying with Ashtanga founder K. Pattabhi Jois in California where he also studied with Iyengar Yoga teacher Judith Lasater. That same year, Friend attended an Iyengar Yoga convention in Boston, where he met B.K.S. Iyengar, after
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga six series are: Earlier practitioners of the style report that originally there were four series on the Ashtanga syllabus: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, and Advanced B. A fifth series of sorts was the "Rishi series", which Guruji said could be done once a practitioner had "mastered" these four. According to Sharath Jois, one must master poses before being given permission to attempt any others that follow. However, Manju Jois disagrees. According to Manju's accounts of his father's instruction, Pattabhi Jois also occasionally allowed students to practice in a non linear format. Many of Pattahbhi Jois' students now teach their Mysore