Originally posted at Cambridge Buzz blog.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to videotape a yoga class given by Natasha Judson. Experiencing the class made me realize that CambridgeBuzz needed to include, in addition to visual, performing, and literary artists in the “Artist Profile” thread, the practitioners of healing arts as well. Cambridge is fortunate to have many special people committed to helping us stay healthy and heal from the bumps, bruises and calamities that befall our human conditions.
Here is the first profile of a member of that healing community, practicing in the Cambridge area.
Natasha Judson, M.Ed., RYT, Affiliated Anusara Yoga instructor, has taught yoga in the Berkshires since 1999. As a teen, Natasha biked to yoga classes over the hills of Pittsburgh, PA. After becoming a high school teacher, she took up yoga again to help with stress. Yoga grew from a therapeutic endeavor to relieve back pain, into a practice cultivating fullness, stability, and appreciation. She has been supported to grow by many teachers, including the Iyengar yoga and Buddhist meditation communities.
When asked how she came to teach here is Cambridge, she replied, “Unexpectedly! Gail Bearup had been taking my classes in Williamstown and was moving back to Cambridge. There had been several yoga teachers in Cambridge, but they had retired or moved away and she joked that I ought to come and teach a class. When I did show up fro my first class at the Red Barn studio, organized through Hubbard Hall, I found an amazing group of dedicated yogis who had been practicing together for several years. This spring we got to inaugurate the new Movement Studio, part of the Freight Yard Restoration Project, with our early morning “om”s.”
She currently focuses on her training as a student and teacher of Anusara Yoga, studying several times a year with John Friend. “Not least among my teachers, is my horse, who serves as a mirror and helps restore me to presence.”
When asked what she liked most about teaching in Cambridge, she replied, “My favorite part about these classes are the yogis, many of whom already had deep experience of yoga before I was privileged to begin working with them. They are open to taking in the form of yoga I’m offering, they offer heartfelt reactions and insightful commentary, and they have a lively sense of humor. It’s a great joy to come here and share yoga with such a welcoming and committed group of people.”