Nydia's Yoga Therapy Studio

Nydia is Doctor of Physical Therapy, Therapeutic Yoga Specialist and an experienced yoga educator.  She developed the Therapeutic Astanga Method™ (TAM™) over the course of 39 years and is the Owner & Director of Nydia’s Yoga Therapy Studio and Director of Everything at the Open Hand Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Nydia is adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University in SA, Texas.  She developed and implemented the curriculum for two 3 hour credit courses offered within the Exercise Sports Science Department:  “Living Yoga” and “Yoga for Healthcare & Fitness Professionals.” Nydia is a published author of yoga research in the Journal of Physiotherapy, Theory & Practice 2015. She developed and implemented the Yoga protocol in an extensive Yoga & Breast Cancer research collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center.  Nydia is a guest lecturer for the local physical therapy schools in San Antonio, introducing PT students to how a physical therapist integrates yoga & physical therapy, provides community-based access to therapeutic yoga & operates a yoga studio.  Nydia also offers continuing education for Rehabilitation Specialists in order to introduce her method of therapeutic yoga for clinical use and acts as a liaison between the yoga and medical communities in San Antonio and surrounding communities in Texas.  Nydia has combined work in orthopedic, spine and pelvic health physical therapy with extensive movement, fitness and yoga experience to create a unique service that melds traditional western physical therapy with traditional eastern Hatha yoga lifestyle practices. These practices are intended to empower all levels of practitioners, to make yoga movement & lifestyle practices accessible and to encourage breath centered movement activity that has the potential to positively influence optimum states of health & wellbeing for the long-term. She is an ambassador for yoga therapy in the medical community and brings a variety of yoga practices into the integrative medical approach to wellness and healing.

Ernest has been practicing and teaching yoga for a combination of eleven years. While team sports were never his forte, he has been a movement enthusiast for as long as he can remember and has always been thoroughly intrigued by the human body and its incredible abilities. While exploring various movement forms, Ernest discovered Yoga asana practice and it was love at first … Sun salutation. He continued to practice yoga for about two years before a friend asked him if he would be interested in becoming a teacher. He had no idea then that this was a step in the direction that would put him on the path to becoming the teacher and Yogi he is today.  

Ernest discovered NYT almost 8 years ago and it was then that he realized just how much more there was to learn about the yoga lifestyle and practice. It was at NYT that he met his mentor, teacher & friend Nydia Darby and became an important part of the NYT yoga family that embraced his beautiful heart and spirit.  He brought with him many unique skills and abilities and began teaching yoga classes at Nydia’s Yoga Therapy in 2011 as part of the NYT Therapeutic Yoga Research Team.   Ever since then, Nydia has continued to mentor, guide and encourage him along his yoga lifestyle and teaching journey.

Ernest has become enamored with the Eight-Limbed “Astanga” yoga lifestyle path and the NYT method that draws out the therapeutic potential of traditional Hatha yoga practices.  He has continued his studies with Nydia and her mentor/teacher and friend, Beryl Bender Birch--founder and director of the Hard & the Soft Yoga Institute. He has attended as many of Beryl’s workshops as possible to deepen his understanding of yoga asana, yoga lifestyle, meditation, and the yoga sutras, as well as developing his own personal growth and awareness.   Ernest has also explored the teachings of a variety of yoga instructors while attending the Texas Yoga Conference in Houston, Texas as well as the Symposium on Yoga Therapy And Research(SYTAR) in Austin, Texas and other local facilities in the surrounding area.

Ernest is registered with Yoga Alliance as RYT-200 and a graduate of The Open Hand Institute’s 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training program www.OpenHandInstitute.com. As a dedicated lifelong learner, Ernest understands that his journey has just begun.  He knows that he has so much more to learn and to explore and that there is way more fun to be had on this adventure.

Ernest has been practicing and teaching yoga for a combination of eleven years. He is an RYT-200 graduate of The Open Hand Institute Yoga Teacher Training Program and has been teaching at Nydia’s Yoga Therapy studio for 8 years.