We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anne Marie Kramer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with anne marie below.

Alright, Anne marie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

I grew up in a really unhealthy environment. Like, it was chaotic—lots of abuse, drinking, smoking, just that kind of energy where no one’s really connected to themselves or each other. And deep down, I just knew I didn’t want that. I didn’t even know what I did want yet… I just knew it had to be different.

In my early 20s, I went to school for exercise physiology. At the time, I think I was just trying to get healthy and stay accountable to something that felt good, you know? Like if I could figure out how the body worked, maybe I could stay out of the mess I came from.

And that helped—for a while. I got strong, I got fit… but something still felt like it was missing. There was this emptiness, even though on paper things looked good.

Then I found yoga. And that changed everything. Yoga was the first thing that connected me to spirit, to something bigger—but not in a religious way. More like, ohhh, this is what it feels like to come home to myself.

And from there, it’s been this slow, layered journey over 20 years. I found breathwork. Then somatics. And honestly? Those are the two practices that cracked everything open. They helped me process stuff I didn’t even know I was holding. They brought me back into my body in a way I didn’t think was possible.

For me, breathwork and somatics aren’t just tools—they’re the most powerful healing modalities I’ve ever experienced. They’ve helped me become who I actually am—not the version I built to survive.

Anne marie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Honestly, I got into wellness because of my parents.
I grew up around a lot of unhealthy behaviors—abuse, addiction, emotional volatility—and I just knew I didn’t want to live that way. I wanted to feel good. I wanted to live a different kind of life. And more than anything, I didn’t want to repeat the same patterns. I went to college and got a degree in exercise physiology, then found yoga and that is when my journey began.

I didn’t have kids until I was 40, and a big part of that was fear. I was scared I’d pass on the abuse, the trauma. I didn’t trust that I could parent without repeating what I experienced.

But over the years—through yoga, through breathwork, through somatics—I’ve slowly reprogrammed my nervous system. I’ve learned how to feel safe in my body. How to be less reactive. I’ve released so much grief, so much rage, and that’s what’s made me a better mom. It’s what’s made me me.

Now, everything I teach comes from that lens—trauma-aware, somatic, nervous-system-first. Whether it’s breathwork, somatics, power yoga or yin… it’s all about helping people come home to their bodies and release the stress and stories they’re holding onto.

I train facilitators now. I lead workshops, privates, and I still teach yoga because I love it.

And something I’m really proud of—I built three massive yoga studios in California. They became multi-million dollar businesses. And during COVID… I walked away. Although that sounds dreamy it was the hardest part of my life. I left everything.
It wasn’t aligned anymore.
Now, I’m rebuilding life on my terms. I own my time. I lead from my soul.
And it feels really, really good.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Yeah… honestly, the biggest thing I’ve had to unlearn is that I’m not worthy. That I’m not enough.
I think so many people carry that, whether they know it or not.

For me, it came from my dad. He used to say stuff like “you’re stupid” or “you’ll never amount to anything” it was a constant yelling at me that i was bad. And bad people don’t deserve money, happiness, love..
So I spent a lot of my life trying to prove him wrong.
I worked harder than anyone. I built the business. I achieved the things.
But deep down… I still didn’t feel worthy.
And because of that, I’d end up sabotaging it all.
It’s like, even when I “made it,” my body didn’t feel safe holding it—so I’d unconsciously find a way to destroy it.

That’s a big reason I teach somatics now.
Because you can do all the mindset work in the world, but if your body still doesn’t feel safe or worthy—it’s like you can’t actually let the good in.
Somatics helps you unlearn those patterns in your tissue, not just your thoughts.
And that’s where the real shift happens.
Like… when your body feels safe, you stop needing to prove yourself. You just start to receive.
Not because you earned it, but because you exist.

And I’m still working on this. I don’t have it all figured out. But I come back to the practices. I come back to my body. And little by little, I’m learning that I don’t have to hustle for my worth. I just get to be. And that’s enough.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I built the dream life.

I had it all, the yoga studio empire, a beautiful community, a million-dollar home, two incredible kids, and a husband I loved. It was the life I had worked for. The vision I poured everything into.

And then COVID hit.
And everything fell apart.

I didn’t align with the way things were being handled, and just like that, people turned on me. My community. My friends. People I had supported for years.
They said things that cut so deep… it broke me.

I walked away from Zuda Yoga, the love of my life.
Fifteen years of building… gone.

I lost everything.
My purpose. My identity. My vision.
I didn’t know who I was without it.

I literally ran away to Bali. And yeah, from the outside that sounds sexy, but it was my rock bottom.
For two years, I was in a dark place. Deep depression. Suicidal thoughts.
My biggest wound surfaced: I am bad.

I couldn’t get up to play with my kids. I had nothing left in me.
I tried to hustle, to “make it work,” but it was coming from fear and survival.
And hustling from desperation? It just brings more darkness.

I had to stop. I had to feel. I had to heal.
And that’s when I found somatics.

This practice—moving energy, trauma, emotion through the body—it saved me.
It helped me come back to life.
Little by little, I started to feel again. To hope again.
To believe that maybe, just maybe, there was a new vision waiting for me.

And now? Five years later?
I’m living that vision.

I hear the ocean from my bedroom.
I live a wild soul life—traveling the world, teaching the method that saved me.
And the most beautiful part?
I’m closer to my kids than ever before.
I’m present. I’m alive.
And my purpose is back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.annemariekramer.com/
• Instagram: amkzing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annemariekrameryoga
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8HOHp3zClswq3JFvAfNvA

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