Baron Baptiste Part 3
This might conclude the story but who knows...
Even though I didn't think I got much out of the Connecticut Master Class at the time, I was definitely reinvigorated. As soon as we got back I went on Ebay looked for Baptiste swag and content. I found the Baptiste Bootcamp in a box for $5. You can beat that. It has flash cards and CDs with four practices and a meditation. I did have to buy a CD player but that's okay. I'm happy to have an audio practice that's not connected to my phone.
In January of this year (2026) I led my first Power Yoga Teacher Training. It filled to capacity because of the Baptiste Methodology. I believe this wholeheartedly. During the first couple of weeks, as I perusing social media again (stop judging me; we all do it) I start getting hit hard with ads from Baron Baptiste for a virtual Level One Journey Into Power training. I've taken two Baptiste trainings but not the official JIP training. It wasn't until after the second weekend of my PYTT that I decided to be a YES as they say. On February 18 I signed up. Paid in cash I might add. $1,997. Such an odd amount. It makes me wonder if something interesting happened that year for him. Orientation was scheduled to begin March 16. The day after my PYTT concluded. Talk about committing to the practice!
It's time! I finally decided that I'm worth it.
Training days were Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:30 - 5:30pm. I believe there were 14 people in our group. When it first started, Comcast was upgraded our cable/internet and we were constantly dealing with outages. My video dropped 15 minutes before the end of the first session. I was so embarrassed but it was out of my hands.
My perception of Baron from the two Master Classes was that he's a super star. He has high expectations and is catered to. I was ready for him to be unapproachable.
The way the training was set up was Baron is lead facilitator and he has a co facilitator, named Nick who did a lot of the asana work. There was also the support team to help keep everything running smoothly. I felt like this is a well run online operation.
Normally I like to be on perimeter. I like to observe and give others opportunity. It seemed clear that I have the most teaching experience of the group. This time I decided I was going to put myself out there. "I want to stop demoing and be able to make eye contact when I teach." The eye contact thing is a mystery to me. Perhaps it's not meant to be but I struggle with it. Demoing has wrecked my body. I needed to break my habits. Honestly I don't know if I succeeded with this during the training but I succeeded with putting myself out there.
And then there was face to face time with Baron. He actually spoke directly to and with me. My preconceived notions couldn't have been further from the truth. Baron's one of the kindest and most genuine teachers I've met. He literally practices what he preaches. I'm so glad I experienced that.
A lot of the training was repetition. "Repetition is the mother of mastery." An actual slide from my training. We had to practice teach. Hard enough to do it virtually. I struggled reciting the slides verbatim to lead. I've taught thousands of classes and now you're telling me to do it a different way. I was frustrated and embarrassed. It was good lesson in being human. I spent the next few days after the training concluded unhappy with the result. I then realized it was because during the training we were learning to teach like Baron Baptiste. I had already found my voice and had no intention in changing it. I didn't want to sound like Baron. I want to sound like Jaime.
Looking back, I didn't get what I thought I was signing up for. I thought I was paying for methodology, sequencing, and coaching. Those things were certainly part of the experience. What I didn't expect was how much of the training would challenge the stories I had been telling myself. Stories about not being ready. Stories about staying on the perimeter. Stories about needing permission. Somewhere during those hundred hours, I stopped looking at Baptiste Yoga as something outside of me and started recognizing it as a language I had been speaking for years.
100 hours in three weeks. Level One Journey into Power complete. There's a Level Two in person in Buffalo this fall. It happens to begin September 20 which happens to be the last day of our Strength in Transition retreat. Ironically with that title, there's no way I could pull that off.
My name is Jaime Russell. I'm a certified Baptiste Power Instructor and I'm proud of it. Practice with me!
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