Janet Cramer-Carelli

My power yoga journey began in 2003 after coming across Baron's 'Journey Into Power' at a Barnes and Noble during a very low point in my life. My young husband had died suddenly about a year before, leaving my 3 ½ year old son and I at a very unexpected point in our lives. Often feeling helpless and alone yet having my little one still so dependent on me, I realized from Baron's book that I was stuffing down feelings for what I thought was for my son's benefit. I eventually realized that, like Baron says, 'in order to heal, you need to feel'. Local power yoga classes, reading 'Journey' and making an honest go at meditation started to make me feel sadness and anger about my husband's death that in over a year of 'grieving' had not surfaced. Although the journey of newfound honesty through consciousness seemed like the tougher path than continuing to go unconscious with the help of mindless binge eating and purging, obsessive behavior, and drinking alcohol, it had to be taken for me and my son. I took a leap and went to an all levels Baptiste Bootcamp in Mexico in July 2003. With the amazing experience there including all the tools needed for my own Journey into Power, I went home an ever-growing, hopeful, more confident, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, happy person. With only about 6 months of yoga practice myself, I knew that I had to teach this Baptiste yoga so that others could realize and find what they are missing - their true, honest, self!

Within a few months, I did what was necessary to start teaching power yoga at gyms in Tampa and throughout 2004 and 2005 completed 3 teacher trainings with Baron, including Level 1 and Level 2 Bootcamps.

Although teaching and practicing in the Baptiste style for almost 2 years and growing personally in ways unimaginable by the time I attended Level 2, I realized in Montana many of the ways I was still covering up feelings and wearing a mask when I got scared. Since level 2, thanks to Baron and the Baptiste team's words and encouragement to search inside myself, I don't hide my fears as often. And when I do, I am more often conscious of it and can make the decision to come clean.

I teach Power Yoga at Gyms and yoga studios in Tampa. I'm a newlywed to an amazing man and soon to be new mom to a baby girl (August 06). I'm also an awesome mom to my 8 ½ year old son. They are as lucky to have me as I am to have them. I give much of the credit to me finally finding the love for myself and others to Baron and Baptiste Yoga.

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