Senior Spotlight: Yoga Keeps an Active Marie Justice Centered

“Yoga centers me and makes me comfortable in my own skin.”

Marie Justice comes to the Bellingham Senior Center at least four times every week. And on two of the four days, she practices yoga along with a dozen or more other members of the Center.

“I get flexibility and a feeling of peacefulness, being in the moment,” reports Justice. “And my balance has improved immensely.”

She has been doing yoga for about four years and says that “yoga centers me and makes me comfortable in my own skin.”

For 31 years, Justice worked at the Metro West Medical Center, including 11 years as the lead

secretary for the Critical Care Unit. She retired in 2011 and lives in Bellingham with her husband,

James.

“The secret to a happy marriage is compromise. At this age, how much is really

important? You have to pick your battles.” Marie smiles, and adds, “my husband is a sweetheart.”

On the two days a week she is not in a yoga class at the Center, she helps the knitting and quilting groups on Mondays and then takes a Zumba class on Fridays. She takes Wednesdays off

(usually).

Justice is part of the Tax Work Off Program offered by the Town of Bellingham which allows participants to work 100 hours during a year and then knock $1,000 off their annual property tax bill.

So she has chosen to work in the kitchens at the Senior Center and at the Bellingham Memorial

Middle School.

Our conversation touched briefly on social media which she describes as “invasive… we were at

lunch the other day and noticed a group of teens gathered at a nearby table. They all were texting…not talking, not looking at each other,” observes Justice.

“I’m wondering how they will ever be able to write a letter to a grandparent, or write a great paper

in graduate school.”

One of Marie’s loved hobbies is reading books. She also enjoys crocheting and working with

fleece blankets.

She and James have two children. One is a nurse living with her husband in a log home in

Maine. The other is single and living in Bellingham. She and her husband will be part of a group

visiting Scotland for two weeks this month.