I came to Greenleaf in the fall of 2007, shortly after taking leave of my magazine job to work on a book. As my own boss, I had newfound flexibility in my schedule, but I arrived at Frank’s door not just because I suddenly could: It was because I suddenly had to. The strain and solitude of writing the longest, most ambitious story of life-a memoir, full of deeply personal elements-were testing my sanity. I was sitting at my computer for hours, but instead of an LCD screen it felt like I was staring in the mirror, all my foibles and patterns reflected back at me.
I had never practiced yoga before, never had a desire to, but I also had never experienced such overwhelming unease. I was in desperate need of escaping myself. Greenleaf Yoga offered me that refuge-or maybe the better word is catharsis. In the sweating, in the trembling, in the humbling and vertiginous postures, there is peace. Frank is an original, funny, nurturing, and profound without having to try. He has shown me how to slow my breathing and my brain, which makes him not just an instructor but also an ally. — Jesse Katz