If you have a regular yoga practice, you know how healing it can be. For many military veterans and active duty service members, yoga has helped to ease the trauma, emotional or physical pain, and stress and anxiety that comes with serving our country.
In honor of Veterans Day, Yoga Journal partnered with photographer Robert Sturman to share photos and stories of 12 incredible service members who have made yoga a part of their lives. Some turned to this practice after leaving the military, while others integrated it into their active duty schedules. All have a unique story of how yoga has impacted them—and how they utilize the practice to show up for themselves, their colleagues, and families.
See also: Trauma-Informed Yoga for Healing
“I’m a 44-year Navy veteran—22 years active duty, 22 years as a Navy Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) instructor. I met yoga my last four years of teaching and brought yoga to the NJROTC classroom. Once I was committed to the practice of yoga, I found I was finding a greater sense of calm and control of my body and breath and [was] less stressed. The cadets were performing better in academics and compactions.
Judy Weaver, founder of Connected Warriors [an organization that offers trauma-informed yoga to service members] asked me to become a yoga instructor and taught me to become a certified trauma-conscious yoga teacher. I have been teaching for over four years to veterans. A veteran teaching veterans. Practicing yoga and teaching yoga has made me mentally and physically fit and has brought balance into my life.”
—Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Bingham, U.S. Navy
Organization: Connected Warriors
“I’ve found that yoga has been one of the most useful tools I can use to manage PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from Desert Storm. The body and mind are not separate, my yoga practice addresses the traumas in both. When I’m on my mat, everything stops, and I safely retreat into my practice to work on healing.”
—Cavalry Scout Scott Almhjell, U.S. Army
“Yoga for me is more than just some health and wellness routine. It’s a time of reflection, of healing, of taking in all this stuff we call life. Yoga came to me when I needed it the most. This was when I began the often difficult transition from being a warrior to a retired veteran. Yoga, along with my newly chosen career path as a farmer, provided the purpose, motivation, and direction I needed once I left the military to help guide me to where I am today and because of this, I’ll be forever grateful. ‘Namaste’.”
—Chief Warrant Officer Four Charley Jordan, U.S. Army
Organization: Connected Warriors
“I believe in giving back. I also believe in the healing powers of yoga—to be able to give back to my fellow veterans through teaching trauma-conscious and Connected Warrior Empowered yoga (overcoming military sexual trauma) is the privilege of a lifetime.”
—Specialist Margaret A. Schumacher, U.S. Army/Florida Army National Guard
Organization: Connected Warriors
“Take care of your body or you’ll have no place to live. For years I resisted yoga and meditation, the stillness scared me. Once I learned to be still, my armor fell off and the light underneath began to shine. I’ve worn many hats as a veteran—massage therapist, firefighter, yoga teacher and speaker—[but] underneath each hat has been the healer. After taking care of people for years, I realized the only way to really serve others was to be sure I healed and cared for myself too.”
—Technical Sergeant and Aerospace Medical Technician Amber Miskovich, U.S. Air Force
“In these uncertain times, practices of physical sustainment and meditation are almost vital. As a retired veteran, it’s easy to let the stress and anxiety of not having a routine throw you off balance. Building a foundation of yoga continues to heal me by maintaining my mental health, muscular strength, and flexibility. As challenging as the journey of yoga may be, it rewards you with strength, flexibility, and de-stresses your mind.
—Staff Sergeant Edgar Bush, U.S. Army Special Ops
Organization: Connected Warriors
“Yoga has proven to be a beacon of stability in my life. At a time when I didn’t know I needed it, the practice of moving and breathing in a space where I could be myself proved to be therapeutic and healing. I identify as a lot of things: a Marine, a dancer, mother, wife, friend… when I’m on my mat, I am just me.”
—Sergeant Brianna Renner, U.S. Marine Corps
Organization: Veterans Yoga Project
“My Navy career as an F-18 pilot was a wild ride of adrenaline, thrill, and survival. And although the struggle, the intensity, the hyper-critical eye, the fighter, and the lone wolf attitude allowed me to endure the stressful life I was living, it was only through my asana and mindfulness practices that I began to reconnect and heal to [become] the woman I am now. Even for those of us that have lived on the edge and flown untethered, I’ve found hope that we too can find peace and rediscover self-love and self-acceptance as grounded humans, barefoot on the earth.”
—Lieutenant Commander Liz Corwin, U.S. Navy
“Yoga is the perfect balance of challenging and relaxing, and after just a few months of regular practice, I started to see benefits in my daily life. My increased flexibility and better balance improved my running, hiking, and overall recovery time. The biggest change was a mental one; I never realized how much negativity I was still carrying from my days on the sub[marine] until it started to fade. Submariners don’t experience combat the way other service members do, but the stress is there in other ways. Regular yoga helped me to become more introspective, and through that, I was able to become a calmer, more positive person.”
—Machinist’s Mate First Class Preston Tharp, U.S. Navy
Organization: Warriors at Ease
“It is much easier to practice in a peaceful retreat. I was more comfortable when I found myself in an oasis in which to escape and recharge. I have greatly appreciated the benefits that those opportunities have provided.
But, for me and my life, my ability to focus in the midst of chaos would be directly correlated to my level of happiness, and in some cases, my very survival.
Meditation helps me connect with my emotional self and my environment. Yoga helps me to connect with my physical self, my body, and my breath.
Through my yoga practice, I become keenly aware of how my body feels, the sensations, the pains, how life energy is flowing through my body. I gain knowledge and understanding of how the environment and my actions within my environment impact my body and my breath.
Pain, challenge, and hardship have become a reality of my life. They have become part of the persistent background noise of my existence. I am forever grateful for my meditation and yoga practice. They have helped me to go into the calm depths of my being, discover my Self and embrace what is important. Through them I have found a way to reduce prolonged suffering in my life and process the experiences that I have been blessed to have.
There is wisdom in the suffering, lessons in the struggle; and thanks to my meditation and yoga practice, I can learn from the scars, heal the scars, and become stronger because of them as I bring the gift back to help others.”
—Lieutenant Colonel James “Jamie” Alden, U.S. Army Special Forces
Organization: Warriors at Ease
“I am just one of the many people in the military who has been impacted by the power of yoga. As a warrior, daughter, sister, and friend, my time is sometimes not my own. My work can be incredibly stressful, particularly when I take into account that what I do potentially affects the lives of many other people. Yoga has allowed me to create space for myself and find balance in my life. It has helped me feel calm, manage stress, and find peace in the midst of inner conflict, as well as during tense times with America’s adversaries. Throughout my Army career, I have competed as a marathon runner and a triathlete, and yoga has helped me with running and cycling injuries over the years. I can personally attest to the power of yoga as an effective mind–body practice that has enabled me to stay mentally, emotionally, and physically strong, particularly when the going gets tough.”
—Lieutenant Colonel Pamela Dziedzic, U.S. Army
Organization: Warriors at Ease
“Yoga and meditation give me a sense of peace that I cannot find in other parts of my life. Just learning to sit and breathe has become the medicine doctors cannot prescribe.”
—Staff Sergeant Cyndi Lee, U.S. Marine Corps
Organization: Warriors at Ease
See also: The Good Fight: How Yoga is Being Used Within the Military