Janet Green Garrison

Janet Green Garrison of Lanesville, Gloucester, Massachusetts passed away peacefully July 11 in the company of family and close friends after a short battle with cancer. Janet is survived by her husband Frank Garrison, daughter Erin Green Kelly and her husband Harvey Maki, grandchild Ezra Maki, stepdaughter Eliza Garrison and her husband Torsten Reimann, stepdaughter Julia Garrison and her partner Andre Beaulieu, three brothers and their wives, thirteen nieces and nephews, and innumerable devoted friends from her rich and diverse life.
In her twenties, in Pennsylvania where she was born, Janet was among the earliest westerners to embrace yoga as the way to live a healthy and meaningful life. For the balance of her life – more than fifty years – she practiced and taught yoga. Janet founded Yoga for Health after moving to Cape Ann in 1983, where she had fallen in love with the rocky quarries and breathtaking shoreline and her husband Frank, a long-time member of the Lanesville community.
Dedicated to yoga's philosophy of "mind, body, spirit," Janet traveled to study with yoga masters domestically and abroad. She shared her knowledge, skill, enthusiasm, and genuine inner light with all people -- beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Janet changed many lives and maintained impactful relationships with her students over many years. Along the way, Janet earned a masters degree from the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a substance abuse counselor at Gateway Rehab. It was then that she had what she described as an epiphany, seeing how the practice of yoga could be merged with twelve-step addiction programs to treat alcohol, drug, and other addictive behaviors. Janet devoted herself to this work for many years while continuing to teach and practice yoga with her devoted following.
If wealth is measured by the number and depth of friendships, Janet was one of the richest people on earth. Her family and network of friends from yoga, book club, knitting group, writing workshop, volunteering, and the Cape Ann community were with her every step of the way along her final journey and will hold her dear in their hearts forever.
Funeral services will be Thursday, July 17 at 10:30 am at Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester, followed by a reception at the Temple. Shiva will be held Friday, July 18, 5:00 to 7:30 pm at 62 High Street, Lanesville; a gathering to share memories of Janet will be held at 62 High Street on Saturday, July 19, 5:00 to 7:30 pm. Yoga for Janet will take place in-person and on-line Sunday, July 20, 1:30 pm at Magma, 11 Pleasant Street. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Kaplan Family Hospice House (https://www.caredimensions.org ), Wellspring House of Gloucester (https://www.wellspringhouse.org ), or Stop Stigma Now (https://www.stopstigmanow.org ).