On the day Judy and I had scheduled a meeting to talk for this feature, we happened to practice together at Sant Saroop’s Thursday morning class. At the end of class, Judy shared that, after 14 years of Kundalini yoga, she’d had a breakthrough. She’d found the capacity to take deeper breaths than ever before, accessing a place below her navel from which to move the air. Later, when I talked with Judy privately, I wanted to know more about her breakthrough. We marveled how practice really works. Sometimes it takes 14 years, but being dedicated to a practice will inevitably bring breakthroughs.
Dedication is an apt word in describing Judy’s life. As a teenager, she discovered her love of the outdoors when her older brothers took her along on hiking and camping trips in the mountains surrounding Tucson. She immediately recognized the deep spiritual power of the wilderness.
The mountains changed Judy’s life and she, in turn, has changed the lives of countless children by sharing her love of outdoor adventure. For over 24 years, Judy has been dedicated to the Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO)—a program that promotes wellness, connection, and leadership by getting youth with limited access to the outdoors out in nature.
Through her volunteer work with ICO, Judy has led over 150 outdoor adventures for elementary, middle, and high school aged students. She motivates the kids to lean into the challenges of full day, self-sufficient hikes through remote wilderness. Judy says the kids are enlivened by the opportunity to run and explore and breathe fresh mountain air, but most of all they benefit from the silence. On every trip, she insists the participants move away from one another and experience ten minutes of silence. Over the years, Judy has noticed the immeasurable rewards that come to her kids during these silent times, when they are present and notice the sounds, smells, and sights around them and the feelings that come from these experiences.
Originally from Massachusetts, Judy moved with her family to Tucson when she was nine years old. She felt at home in the Southwest right away and loved the desert at first sight. For her, the “less obvious” beauty of the desert is unmatched.
Judy earned a Bachelor’s in Sociology and a Master’s in School Counseling at Northern Arizona University and brought what she learned back to Tucson where she started a career as a school counselor. She worked at Sunnyside School District in South Tucson for over twenty years where she not only served students throughout the week in the school setting, but also dedicated many weekends to the youth she recruited for ICO outings. Now in retirement, Judy continues her volunteer work with ICO.
Throughout her adult life, Judy has cultivated health and wellness. Back in 2000, she was twice told by bodyworkers that she would benefit from kundalini yoga. She followed their advice and tried a class. She remembers loving the experience and feeling a draw to attend every week, but circumstances in her life at that time prevented her from going back.
She wonders how things might have been different if she’d followed her heart and started practicing kundalini then. During that time, she was wishing for a transformation, and she now knows how transformational kundalini yoga can be. Ten years later Judy’s life did transform as she made some big changes and found her way back to kundalini yoga. In 2010, she started attending Tejpal’s Monday night class. Kundalini at Yoga 4 All became a foundation for Judy’s life where she felt centered and tuned into her intuition. It’s here that she feels spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally complete; it’s where she knows health, happiness, sanity, and community.
For Judy, attending kundalini yoga classes took the place of church. She loves how talking about spirituality is a comfortable part of the practice, and how yogis are encouraged to trust themselves and to be the light and love the world needs. She appreciates how Yoga 4 All is community-based, that there aren’t leaders or a hierarchical structure. She notices that the community is a healthy and happy one and feels enormous gratitude for the support offered among the members. In addition to weekly classes, Judy relishes attending many of the sangha’s potlucks and camping retreats.
When I asked Judy if she has a favorite mantra or meditation, she said she likes to “switch it up” and “collect” different ones. She told me “mantras change the vibrations in your mind” and she often brings a pen and paper to yoga class to capture mantras that resonate with her at the time. It’s beautiful and admirable how this dedication to her everchanging and growing spiritual practice will inevitably benefit the communities Judy so actively takes part in. I can’t wait to hear about your next breakthrough, Judy!
