From Movement to Mindfulness: Wellness options expand in Butler County
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Cindy Waltemire participates in the Sahaja Yoga class at the Cranberry Township YMCA on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Cindy Waltemire participates in the Sahaja Yoga class at the Cranberry Township YMCA on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Participants fill a Sahaja Yoga class at the Cranberry Township YMCA on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Michelle Bellich participates in the Sahaja Yoga class at the Cranberry Township YMCA on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Michelle Bellich participates in the Sahaja Yoga class at the Cranberry Township YMCA on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Wellness offerings across Butler County are expanding to meet people where they are, whether that's in a chair yoga class at the Cranberry YMCA or lying still during a sound bath session in downtown Butler.
Traditional exercise remains a cornerstone of healthy living, but new approaches are emerging that focus as much on calming the nervous system as on building physical fitness. From programs designed for seniors with limited mobility to sound-based sessions that promote deep relaxation, local wellness facilities are creating accessible options that address both physical and mental well-being while fostering social connection.
Rita Krepin and Sally Berkebile are two of about 35 senior men and women who gather on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for chair yoga at the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA in Cranberry.
Chair yoga is a form of yoga that uses a chair for support, offering accessible, modified poses designed to improve balance, strength and flexibility. The class allows older adults — and others with limited mobility — to experience the benefits of yoga without needing to get down on or up from the floor.
Krepin, 76, has been taking chair yoga, along with aqua arthritis basics, for the past seven years. Berkebile, 67, who began taking YMCA classes three years ago, focuses on chair yoga, Cardio Light and SAIL (Stay Active and Independent for Life).
The classes are tailored to participants' abilities and help build strength, physical fitness, flexibility and balance. But they offer something more as well: regular social interaction, a reason to leave the house, and a sense of identity and routine after retirement.
For many older adults — especially those who live alone — the class is as important socially as it is physically.
"The class improves my thinking, and I enjoy the social aspect of the programs," said Krepin.
"Nobody judges you, and I feel better when I'm done with a class," Berkebile added.
"The class is like taking a journey," said instructor Diana Kratz, 72, who has taught chair yoga at the YMCA for the past 13 years. "In addition to improving flexibility, strength and relaxation, the class relieves tension and connects body, mind and breath."
While chair yoga meets the needs of older adults, it represents just one part of the wide range of programming offered at the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA. The Cranberry facility offers hundreds of wellness, fitness and recreational programs for teens 14 and up and adults, reflecting the YMCA's mission to support healthy living across the lifespan.
The YMCA offers more than 170 weekly classes in its gyms and pools. According to Kathy Hensler, YMCA director of healthy living, approximately 1,500 people are participating in the programs this winter. Yoga classes are the most popular, followed by advanced weight training and core strength, Body Pump barbell and aquatics offerings.
Hensler encourages community members to explore the programs at the Y's website, bcfymca.org, and emphasizes that exercise should be a lifelong experience. "Every day is a new experience — take a deep breath and start again," she said.
New sound-based sessions are complementing traditional yoga offerings, expanding the range of wellness options available in the Butler area.
Amber McFadden, owner of Ambur Waves Yoga Sound Movement studio in Butler, recently closed her studio on South McKean Street and joined the Collective Wellness Studio on Penn Street. She is the latest collaborator at the studio, owned by Kellie Seiler, which offers yoga, sound and movement practices.
With 12 professionals on staff, the studio's schedule balances the quiet immersion of sound with more active physical disciplines. Traditional yoga remains a cornerstone, complemented by a wide selection of yoga and movement offerings with a modern, community-focused approach.
McFadden's specialty at Collective Wellness is a therapy she also offered at Ambur Waves known as a sound bath, or sound immersion. The practice uses sound and vibration to promote relaxation and stress reduction and has drawn growing interest in wellness settings.
Sound bath sessions focus on using sound to encourage the brain to shift from a normal alert state into a more relaxed or dreamlike state, McFadden said — a process she describes as a kind of vibrational "reset."
"Think about when you're in a bad mood and you turn on your favorite song and how it just lifts your mood," she said.
People across many cultures have used sound for spiritual and well-being purposes for thousands of years. What is more recent is the way Western yoga studios and wellness centers have incorporated sound baths into modern classes and retreats.
During McFadden's monthly 90-minute guided sound bath classes, participants lie down in a dimly lit room as she uses instruments such as singing bowls and gongs, along with music and chanting, to deepen meditation and promote relaxation. Practitioners say the approach uses sound and vibration to help the nervous system settle into calmer patterns.
McFadden likens the experience to "adult nap time."
What excites her most, she said, is the accessibility of the practice.
"Anyone, any age, can benefit from sound baths," McFadden said. "It only requires you to be still and be."
The next monthly sound bath class will be held Feb. 1 at 7:15 p.m. at the Collective Wellness Studio. More information about classes and partnerships is available on the studio's website.
