Scott Francis

“In 1993, on a bit of a whim I signed up for a 20-day Vipassana (insight) Meditation retreat with Jack Kornfield at a retreat center located in the desert of Joshua Tree, CA. The personal opening that occurred during this retreat revealed to me a path of inquiry that has deeply shaped my entire life and ignited my curiosity and dedication to the study and practice of both yoga and meditation. Over the last 25+ years I’ve had the good fortune of sitting over 30 silent retreats, ranging from 10 days to 3 months and I’ve both attended and led many yoga retreats and trainings.

During this journey I realized the power of the complementary qualities of a deeply physical asana practice and the deep psychological practice of meditation. For me the practices offer a path of inquiry into my own personal conditioning as well as a framework of wisdom to grow and develop toward more connectivity, love, presence and joy.

These practices have supported my leadership growth in my career as an architect, as well as offered me a way to work with the subtle inner landscape of this mysterious mind/body unfolding. My understanding of the intertwining of the personal and the universal qualities of these practices inspires me to teach both yoga and meditation.

Over the years my yoga practice has included many different styles; Iyengar, Hatha, Ashtanga, Power Vinyasa and Restorative. Currently I enjoy teaching Warm Vinyasa and Restorative Yoga. The framework and manner in which I teach meditation is primarily guided by my own experiences on retreats and the guidance I’ve received from many Insight Meditation teachers and teachings. I’ve primarily sat retreats at Spirit Rock, IMS and The Forest Refuge. My primary teachers have been: Jack Kornfield, James Baraz & Guy Armstrong and I’ve been blessed to have sat with many other teachers who are part of the teaching fabric of these meditation communities. In my teaching I integrate the insights and experiences I’ve had when sitting different types of retreats such-as: Insight, Concentration, Loving-Kindness and Compassion.

More recently I’ve integrated the use of gongs and crystal bowls to help provide practitioners with the renewing and healing qualities of sound. I believe the integration of certain sounds can also help guide practitioners toward the knowing of the subtle inner “Sound of Silence”.

10 years ago I had the good fortune of stepping back from my full-time career as an architect to open and co-own Be Luminous Yoga with Michel Spruance. Today, I am grateful to have the opportunity to open Mind.Body.Hum with my wife, Maria Gehl. We are excited to fulfill a dream we’ve imagined of co-locating two studios to offer the two practices we both deeply cherish and share: yoga and meditation. Along with my passion for teaching and practicing yoga and meditation I still maintain my own art & architectural practice. Discover more about this work at: www.franciscreative.works.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit about me and I hope to see you at the studio.”

—Scott Franics
www.franciscreative.works