A Healing Place

Dao Yin Yoga
If you’d like to learn and practice yoga, but can’t twist into a pretzel ...and never will!... these classes are for you!

Dao Yin Yoga is a quiet, relaxing, yet powerful practice, combining aspects of hatha yoga and Chinese theories of health and well-being. In Dao Yin practice we work gently, within your body's limits. With patience and perseverance, you can increase your strength and flexibility and your entire be-ing benefits.

As with all forms of yoga, the rewards are many, including increased flexibility and strength, grace and endurance. All systems and organs of the body benefit:

muscular and skeletal systems
circulatory system
respiratory systems
endocrine system
digestive system
immune function
oxygen distribution
lymphatic flow

Beyond these physical benefits, students enjoy a calmer state of mind and find that they become better at managing the stress and pressures of everyday life. Regular practice enhances your life on every level of your being.

Sufferers of chronic pain find that the focus on mind/body integration and gentle exploration of movement helps them to better manage their pain and often be pain free.

Those suffering arthritis find that with regular practice their pain is reduced or eliminated and their range of motion increases substantially.

Classes are designed to fit the students and their goals. One group may focus on strength while another focuses on a specific area of the body. For instance, one class is designed for people who suffer chronic problems of the lower back and hips while another offers a head-to-toe approach. And the Wednesday class at St. Anne’s is customized especially for seniors with limited mobility and ability.

What's different about
Dao Yin Yoga?
If you have practiced other forms of yoga, you'll find that the postures are similar among various yoga traditions, although certain schools favor particular postures. It is the focus or intention that distinguishes each tradition.

Dao Yin Yoga relates to Chinese theories of health and well-being, and so addresses internal energy called chi and its pathways, called meridians. Postures are practiced with the intention of opening, stimulating and strengthening specific meridians so that your energy can flow more freely and smoothly. This improved flow of energy leads to balance and increased efficiency and effectiveness of specific functions and characteristics associated with those meridians.

You'll be surprised and delighted to see how simply one class per week can make a change - and over time, you'll notice that the benefits 'overflow' into the rest of your life. So why not begin today? Find the style and the teacher that work for you. Then you'll look forward to classes each week and in time you may develop a personal practice in addition to your weekly instruction.

Copyright 1999 Cathy Layland

“Teaching and Healing is the work of
my heart and spirit. My intention is
to create a safe and supportive
experience, that “healing place”
which is not so much a physical space
but rather a state of being.”

Cathy Layland
ahealingplace@verizon.net
215-829-8834

Can't sit on the floor?
No problem!
Everything we do
can be adapted
so that
you can practice
in a chair!