If you have seen Judy Groff coming and going to the Hot 26 classes at HYA, always smiling and steadfastly accompanied by her (also always smiling) husband Don, you might have no idea she has been managing Multiple Sclerosis for the past 25 years. It’s a disease that debilitates so many, but Judy stubbornly keeps its worst effects at bay with diligent attention to a healthy lifestyle, including her yoga practice.
“I give all the credit to hot yoga,” Judy said. “This last time I went to see my doctor, he took me off of all my medicines. That’s a huge win for me. The medicines are so strong. They do good work and you need them, but they also have side effects that I’m sure were holding me back. I feel really good not being on the medicine now.”
Judy, going strong at 75, usually practices four times a week, in addition to weight training at a gym to keep building muscle to counteract the weakening MS causes. She joined HYA for the first time in 2014, at the suggestion of her daughter Liz, who was visiting at the time, and has been a regular since 2017.
“Liz is always looking for things for me to do that might help me and she said, ‘Why don’t you try hot yoga with me? At first I said, I can’t do hot. But she said, ‘Mom, I think you’d be surprised.’ Donny always stands ready to do anything that will help me, especially what Liz thinks we should do.
“And I was amazed. First of all, the heat was not the big deal. I was surprised I could stay in the room. I couldn’t do the postures. I was so stiff. Back then, the MS was making me really stiff and I had a lot of other issues, headaches, constipation, stomach issues, you name it. But after class as we were going home, I said, I feel so good. It really was quite transformative for me.”
In addition to inspiring everyone around her, Judy reaches out to help people who share her disease. She writes a blog and posts videos on her YouTube channel: Judy Manages MS. She hopes to share the diet and lifestyle knowledge she has gained that has helped her thrive.
Read more about Judy’s journey:
HYA: When were you diagnosed with MS?
Judy: It was 25 years ago, in 2000. At that time, I knew exercise was a good thing. I’m sure all the exercise I did delayed my diagnosis. Looking back, I can see symptoms flaring up especially in my 40’s, but even as early as my 30’s, mostly weakness. We’d try to play tennis and I couldn’t hold the racket up anymore. After a bit, we gave up tennis. I was running. I was always a runner, but I was diagnosed and I quit running. We were walking a lot.
When I was younger, I only knew one other person who had MS. And she had incontinence issues. I knew it was one of the things I didn’t want to have and I ended up with it. I asked my doctor and he said the diagnostics are improving and probably with a lot of people like me, exercise masks the symptoms. And diet is a huge component for minimizing the symptoms. It’s all about inflammation.
HYA: What do you hope to share with your YouTube videos?
Judy: I hope it helps people. I don’t have a big following but it doesn’t matter. If it helps one person, that’s good. It’s interesting how many people have family or friends they know who have it. I hear so often, and it just breaks my heart, they know somebody who has just given up. Because it’s easy to. the disease affects the entire body and the mind and depression is such a big issue, as well as gaining weight. I fight that all the time too.
HYA: What’s the best part about HYA?
Judy: I love the community. It’s just a great, positive, supportive community. I never leave here being pissed with anybody or feeling worse than when I came in. It’s very uplifting and positive. Plus it just makes me feel good. I know I’m doing something good for me. If I feel good, hopefully I can be good for other people.
The reason I think I can do the hot yoga is the heat helps me. I can only do the Hot 26. I’ve tried some other classes but there’s too much movement. I feel much better. I move much better. I give all the credit to hot yoga. My walking is not wonderful, especially when I walk long distances, it’s herky-jerky but it’s a lot more fluid now than it ever was before. I can just move better altogether.
HYA: What was your background before you retired?
Judy: I’m a native of Western North Carolina. I grew up on a dairy farm in Mills River. I was in education. I started with North Carolina Cooperative Extension. I was in the department of adult education. I did a lot of traveling around the state and the country. Don was in education too, public education, a middle school and high school administrator.
HYA: What does it mean to have Don always by your side?
Judy: He’s just such an amazing person. He doesn’t like to be called a careperson. He’s just my partner. That’s it. He picks up so much because fatigue is an issue. He picks up a lot of extra stuff at home for me. We’ve been married 54 years. I picked a good one.
