About Judy Hubbell

​Judy Hubbell is a graduate of Julliard and certified as a teacher in various holistic health related disciplines. She uses her training as a teacher of Hatha Yoga I/II, Accessible Yoga, T'ai Chi Chih as well as her interest in the musical and improvisational aspects of  combining disciplines, to suggest new insights for working with the older adult body. ​

With her 40 years of teaching in colleges (Sonoma State U, College of Notre Dame, City College of San Francisco), Judy enjoys sharing ideas of working with her students in a way that crosses several disciplines. She includes  possibilities for embracing change in education, and enjoys finding joy and the essence of movement through Breath, Voice, Accessible Yoga and T'ai Chi Chih.  Presently, Judy loves working with older adults on movement and alignment issues, weight shifting and quietude. 

How the work I do in Accessible Yoga
reaches out to Seniors in an Urban Environment 

Accessible Yoga gave me the freedom I needed to start doing multi- modality work
after 30 years of study in classical yoga, the qigong- based world of T’ai Chi Chih,
and teaching singing. In all these disciplines, the connection of Mind Body is
paramount.

I like starting everything from its roots. How does the foot come down and
become rooted to the floor? What are the lines of energy in the body work we do
with Accessible Yoga? How do we maintain alignment? How does the breath and
voice fit into the world of Mind- Body for Health? As a professional singer until
the late 80’s I had also become very interested in contemporary classical music,
where improvisation and technique come together in raw and fun ways that
intrigued me. Freedom, equality, and a sense of justice are also strong for me. I am
devoted to the idea of working with diversity and bringing people together to get a
project to work that invites freedom to grow. I love to take public transportation at
the end of the day, or to walk everywhere in my hiking boots, even to meetings!
As we know, every circle may start small but eventually grows larger. In my job of
running a program in a big city, I am committed to working with diversity and
advocating for seniors. My classes serves those aged 55 to 102 of all cultural,
ethnic, and diverse backgrounds. I believe it is the complexity of living styles that
make life so amazing, that we cannot run away from this complexity.
Although Accessible Yoga is developing a world- wide community, a bigger circle
than mine; my work is to figure out how to do something like that on a smaller
scale. I enjoy intellectually developing the connection between various modalities,
but the purpose of my work is not only developing classes that meets the needs
of seniors, but one that has at its essence the joy of life long- learning. Students of
all ages can laugh, sing, and use their voices to empower movement and feel the
energy of the breath.

Energy can be brought up or down as we work in the classroom. Like music has as
its essence an energy that rises and falls, beginnings and endings, and middle parts
where little is happening; so does work in the classroom. Everything is unfolding
in the “Development” section in a symphony. There are sparks of energy ready to
take flight in the final “Allegro”. Keeping awake and aware, with unexpected
moments of surprise is part of what I love to do. I also use the knowledge I gained
crossing a lake in the dark to climb a mountain. I like to have my students feel the
energy come in from the farthest star in the universe through their fingertips, as the
imagination brings energy through the body. To help others more fully express
their innermost joy in learning, we do not need to fear new things or different ways
of thinking.'
​
Life is so like a symphony. There are exciting parts, and there are slower parts.
There is the “Allegro” and the “Lento”, and then the “Finale”. I would like to see a
kinder world, and I keep trying to envision it every day in the “Development” of
my own long life. I draw a larger circle that invites others to see the possibilities;
even as I move slowly in the dark at times, wondering where it is all going, or as I
draw in a deeper 3 part breath coming home on the bus.