Page 119 - Total War on PTSD

something wonderful, here finally was an instructor who “got it.” I had never before gone to a Yoga class and sweated as much as I did that day, I was sore, the kind of sore you get when you push yourself to your limit, and the pain that was threatening to put me on profile was going away. One Connected Warrior class a week brought my Chiropractor visits from five times a week to three, then once a month.
After a while I began to notice that the Yoga was also good for quieting the mind, for an hour I could let go and just breathe, not process, not worry, not stress. I could deal with the days issues without getting angry, my resilience improved, and stress management became easier. I began sleeping better, and relationships improved because I was a happier person.
Today I am no longer in that unit, but I now fly helicopters and that can be physically demanding on a whole other level. On a recent deployment we were lucky enough to have access to a Connected Warriors class, and I can tell you I really depended on that class. The wellness of the mind is just as important as wellness of the body and in a hostile environment those things can get off kilter very quickly.
In closing, go and do Yoga, just do it. What do you have to lose? Who cares what everyone else is doing, or what they think? It’s your body, and you have to live in it. Why wouldn’t you want to be the best, happiest you that you could possibly be?” –
Melody Jackman — Aviation Chief Warrant Officer Two
Classical Definition
“Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit (ancient Indian language) root yuj meaning to
bind, join, attach and yoke, direct and concentrate one’s attention on, to use and apply, also means union or communion. Yoga is a timeless pragmatic science evolved over
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