Nydia Tijerina Darby, PT, DPT, CIAYT, is a physical therapist, therapeutic yoga specialist, educator, and researcher. An experienced yoga educator, writer, published author, and international presenter on therapeutic yoga lifestyle practices, Nydia collaborates with the University of Texas Health Science Center as a published yoga and cancer researcher. She developed the Therapeutic Astanga Method© over 40 years and is the owner and creative director of the Open Hand Institute and Nydia’s Yoga Therapy Studio in San Antonio, Texas. 

Nydia offers continuing education to physical therapists, yoga therapists, yoga teachers, and clinicians in various fields, introducing integrative methods of practicing into their lives, clinical, and professional work. She also provides accessible programs to the local community in San Antonio, where she shares her unique approach to therapeutic yoga that represents a melding of 40-plus years of physical therapy, fitness, and yoga studies at her studio. 

Her yoga practice combines Western physical therapy and Eastern hatha yoga. It is directed toward healing the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.