About Me
Judy Cameron
I have always been interested in movement and being, curious to shine a different light upon each and every question about the world and my existence……whether it was playing around with my cousin as a child as we pulled ourselves into lotus pose. Or living my imaginary life through the eyes of my imaginary friends.
The first yoga class I attended was in 1974. It was held in a little primary school in Bristol and what I loved about the class was the total mix of students. It made me realise that Yoga was something we could all access. The teacher was not the usual young slim woman one might expect to be leading a yoga class. And yet she seemed to move so freely. As I think back, she met the Earth with an awareness of her inherent lightness and she demonstrated a genuine kindness to all in her class. I was curious to find out more.
Once I went to live in London I followed my best friend to the Sivananda Centre which was then in Notting Hill. I was drawn to the ritual, the form of the practice and the way it made me feel. We both practised yoga throughout our pregnancies — and in fact, although I was, by this time, living in Bhutan in the Himalayas where I was working as a VSO nurse, she sent me books and things to read to guide me in the right direction. Yoga enabled both of us to experience the most positive of pregnancies and birth experiences — far beyond anything I could have imagined.
Sadly my best friend died of a brain tumour in 1994 while I was, in fact, staying with her. Following her death I felt a deep pull to travel to India to train with the Sivananda Yoga organisation — the source of yoga which for both of us had been so important in the beginning.
I took my 3 year old daughter with me and together we travelled India for 9 weeks. It was shortly after my return to Scotland that I discovered the yoga of Vanda Scaravelli when I met John Stirk and Sandra Sabatini. They seemed to offer a deeper more intuitive way or working which I found irresistible. Prior to this I had been a follower of instruction and direction, attentive to follow the method and the formula. Now I had an opportunity to discover the magic from inside myself. Although this was very liberating, it was quite scary too. Was I comfortable to discover what lay beneath? And when I did, how would I meet it? If it was to be through striving and doing, then I would surely miss it.
And so I continued on my journey. I trained as an Active Birth Teacher, a British Wheel Diploma teacher and then Midwife. Since I retired from the NHS in 2014, I have been able to dedicate my living to Yoga - making my living and living my living.
The exploration continues. Movement is life. It is joy. It offers a chance for me to be free - really free. Sitting and being - experiencing true presence is even harder. And every day I begin afresh ….. If I didn’t, it would be pointless. I would learn nothing.
I currently teach a variety of classes from Kingussie to Aberfeldy. I live with my husband in a beautiful old farmhouse in the Scottish Highlands - at the foot of a mountain called Schiehallion. It has a sacred meaning from pre-history and its name translates as "Faerie Hill of the Caledonians".
As Lead Tutor for the Yoga Scotland 500 hour Teacher Training Diploma in Edinburgh, I have a deep interest in passing on my knowledge to others. In 2005 I established the YogaBirth Teacher Training course which I co-directed until 2020. My interest in yoga and motherhood continue as a British Wheel of Yoga Module Provider for both the BWY Pregnancy Module and Postnatal Module.
My current teachers are Diane Long, Sandra Sabatini and Gary Carter.