Well, thank you for asking… I’m Judy. I’m a yoga teacher, based in Cockermouth in Cumbria, just outside the beautiful English Lake District.

I came to yoga perhaps a little later than some – in my fifties – and to yoga teaching even later, so I know a little about how life impacts the body, physically and mentally.

With me, it’s been learning to understand and work with the occupational scoliosis and hitched right hip brought on by so many years sitting on one leg at a drawing board.

My interest in yoga grew from the ongoing need to rehabilitate my grumbling, aching body.

And then I discovered breathing. Yep. I know, I’ve heard all the jokes. We can all breathe, right. But learning to really harness and direct the breath has been a game changer.

Sure, my body still grumbles. And there are days, too, when I need to remind myself how to breathe more easily. But, thanks to yoga, I have a few more tools in the wellbeing toolbox.

It’s not a miracle cure. It’s not an instant remedy. But it does give me the best chance I have of being a healthier, more flexible version of myself I might otherwise have been.

This is what I bring to my classes. And what I hope to bring to this blog too. Inspiration to keep faith in our bodies. To keep moving. Keep resting. Keep breathing. Keep as well as we are able.

Illustration: Breathing into the heart centre © YogaJoodledo.

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My strapline says it all really, what really interests me: Breathe, Yin, Flow, Restore. And every second of my yoga training has helped inform and develop both my own practice and my teaching. I guarantee that, whatever we do in class, it’s the breath that holds it together.

As for my professional qualifications, I’m a member of Yoga Alliance Professionals. My initial 200 hour Teacher Training was with Yogacampus and other teacher trainings have included Restorative Yoga (with Adeleine Cheong), Yin Yoga (Norman Blair) and Breath Body Mind (Drs Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg).

In January 2024, I achieved my 300 hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training certificate with The Shala incorporating advanced training in Yoga Nidra (Melanie Cooper/Jennie Wadsten), Yin Yoga (Melanie Cooper), Pranayama (Melanie Cooper), Mindfulness (David Behrens), Yoga Philosophy (Daniel Simpson and Matthew Clark) and Chair Yoga (Dina Cohen).