Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Smith.
Hi Judy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In today’s world the significance of community cannot be overstated. My journey in Jacksonville began with my yoga community. Finding my tribe of likeminded yogis led me to profound healing. By celebrating and fostering these connections I was able to connect to the messy parts of my life with a good dose of grace. A new chapter of steadiness began as I reestablished myself and began my second chapter in my personal and professional life. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating High School, I traveled to Israel to work on a kibbutz in the Jordan Valley. My days were spent in the cow barns milking and attending the baby calves. I was a naïve 17-year-old who grew up very quickly over the 6 months that I lived in community with kids from all over the world and later back packing through Europe. I attended The Ohio State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. I moved to Chicago and worked at Mercy Hospital as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. Newly married I was ready to return home to be closer to family and enrolled in my advanced education at Case Western University. I received my master’s in social science administration. My work began at The Cleveland Clinic as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Due to the death of my father by suicide when I was 10 years old, the trajectory of my life was already unfolding in the direction of healing trauma for myself and others. My career ebbed and flowed as I had my 3 children. They have all the best parts of their father and I and they are each giving back to the world and their communities as leaders of profound healing nurturing environment and sharing their experience and wisdom in their work. I am a very proud mama and now nana to my 2 precious grandchildren. My yoga journey began 26 years ago in Maui, Hawaii. Apart from my children and my life partner Dick, it was the greatest gift that changed my life forever. The practice taught me how to connect with my inner resources and a place inside of me that never changes. A nucleus of calm untouched by chaos. So relevant to the world we are currently living in. I perused my 200-hour Kripalu based yoga teacher training in June 2012. I continued my 500-hour Ashtanga teacher training in 2014. My studies continue remotely as I dive deeper into myofascial release with Tiffany Cruikshank.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I was brought up in a world view of survival of the fittest. No pain no gain. That led me to a broken pain body ultimately resulting in sever arthritis starting in my late 30’s and early 40’s. Yoga became my road less traveled. That road led me to my new narrative survival of the nurtured. I have endured ACL rupture followed by a patella tendon ACL replacement and years later a total knee replacement. I recall announcing to my yoga students in November 2021 that I would be out for several months recovering after knee replacement surgery. They were shocked as they never heard me complain of pain and my gait never displayed any misalignment. I explained that my yoga practice is how I managed my pain and literally went 11 years past the time of recommended knee replacement. So yes there have been struggles along the way. Struggles of immense grief losing my mom to a glioblastoma brain tumor she was 62 and I was 34. Then losing my best friend to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at 50 and just recently losing my brother to Pancreatic Cancer. Early grief, trauma and fear of death led me to train as a End of Life Doula.
My training was profound and forever changed my life . It is a precious gift to provide comfort care and to encourage ritual and ceremony and give sacred choices to people and their families at the end of life.
We’ve been impressed with Judy Smith Wellness LCSW MIND BODY COACH RYT500 END OF LIFE DOULA, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Navigating a beautiful death. Mind Body Coaching. Trauma informed yoga private sessions. Hypnotherapy. Meditation and Breathwork. All of these modalities fall under the umbrella of Judy Smith Wellness. Yin and yang retreat experience is my newest collaboration with the beautiful and talented Susan Kniseley-Foy @soozasana. We have been traveling the world for the last 10 years leading transformative yoga retreats to an incredibly devoted group of yogis. We just returned from our most recent retreat at Verdad in Nicaragua in May 2025. Upcoming retreats will be at Nectar on Bowen Island in Vancouver, British Columbia in July 2025 and Lefkada, Greece in September 2025. While our retreats in 2025 are sold out, we still have a few spots left at Sansara in Cambutal, Panama in April 2026 (more information here: https://www.yinandyangretreatexperience.com/blog).
In addition, I teach weekly yoga classes at Consider It in Atlantic Beach as well as a Chair Yoga class at In Balance in Neptune Beach. It is truly an honor and a privilege to collaborate with people in their most vulnerable times of life and to be a small part of their healing journey. My Mind Body Coaching teaches my clients to use somatic tools that create a muscle memory in their brains to help them self regulate when they are struggling with fight flight freeze. My somatic yoga teaches my clients to learn and understand when a felt sense of anxiety or trauma present in their body, The body is giving distinct cues and clues directly to their physiology i.e. racing heart beat digestive discomfort tightness in chest jaw or neck. When tools are practiced an ultimately become innate, self regulation without effort falls into place with a sense of ease and peace.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
The first time I ever saw the ocean! I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, but when I arrived on Cape Cod as a 7 year old I was mesmerized with the ocean. From that moment forward I knew I was meant to live at the beach, and here I am living my best life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://judysmithwellness.com
- Instagram: @yinjunkie
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/judy.smith.355
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/judy-smith-3255131b
- Other: https://yinandyangretreatexperience.com
Image Credits
Raul @ rvphotoco.square.site and Tonya Beaver Photography @ tonyabeaverphotography.com
