Free Yoga For Veterans
Did you know that yoga has the potential to improve chronic low back pain, PTSD symptoms, and insomnia? It has been researched and is increasingly used by the VA to support veterans living with these experiences. Not to mention the general sense of well-being that can also come from practicing yoga.
Veterans likely have access to free classes and can benefit from yoga even if they dont suffer from back pain or PTSD.
Benefits Of Yoga And The Yogamilitary Program
Yoga is a powerful tool for anyone wanting to improve their health physically, mentally and spiritually. A regular yoga routine is shown to reduce stress and anxiety, improve health and wellness and increase strength and flexibility.
Additionally, with our program you will become a registered yoga teacher at the 200-hour level . This certification is nationally and internationally recognized, allowing you to take this skill anywhere in the world.
Siva Yoga School and our instructors are accredited through Yoga Alliance.
Before Attending Your First Class
If you would like to contact us prior to your first class, please do so by clicking here. Your message will go to Deb Greenspan, COO of Meghans Foundation.
No pre-registration is required to attend our classes. We do suggest that you arrive a few minutes early so that the instructor can answer any questions that you may have and you have time to settle in.
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We Are Certified Ocean Friendly Through Ocean Allies
Warrior ONE is the first yoga studio to receive this certification! To keep us aligned with our purposeful priorities, please do not bring single-use plastic bottles to the studio. We have FREE filtered water and glass cups for you. We have free hand towels, and mats to rent for $2 if you need one. We have electrolytes for sale for $2, and large mat towels to rent for $1.
University Studies For Student Veterans
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Coursera
Coursera Inc. is an American massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects. In 2021 it was estimated that about 150 universities offered more than 4,000 courses through Coursera.
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Yogamilitaryvya 200 Hour Military Spouses Training
Siva Yoga is approved by the DOD and the MyCaa Program allowing military spouses to receive a tuition credit up to $4000 towards our Yoga Allance approved Yoga Teacher Training Program. That means your training and certification is FREE! Eligibility is for E-1 to E-5, W1- to W-2, and O-1 to O-2. You must have completed high school.
BECOME A CERTIFIED YOGA INSTRUCTOR! MAKE A LIVING CHANGING LIVES!Pre-Qualify Now: Call 316-650-9187 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2. YogaMilitary YA Training – VA and Vet Centers Professionals $1499
Yoga4Military is the vision of Siva Yoga School, which is based in Wichita, Kansas. We offer active military, military spouses, veterans, and civilians working with the military an opportunity to embark on a transformational Self Care Education and Yoga Teacher Training Program. We are registeretd with SAM, and are working with the VA Medical Centers and Vet Centers throughout the USA. DUNS: 012774176 CAGE: 8B1S8
Learn how yoga will heal your body and mind. Become a yoga instructor to offer the healing and transformation of yoga to your local post and military family and communities.
Siva Yoga School provides a variety of options to allow you the flexibility needed to complete the Homestudy – Intensive Program – a mix of online plus hands on at your post/base… Courses run yearlong. Start when you re ready!
Become a national and international yoga teacher!
Become A Yoga Teacher
Yoga teacher training programs involve 200 + hours of training and can be found by searching for a registered yoga school through Yoga Alliance. Many yoga teacher training programs are eligible for myCAA.
After completing 200 hours of yoga teacher training, training through the Veterans Yoga Project and Warriors at ease can be completed. This training prepares yoga teachers to teach veterans in multiple settings. Scholarships are available for both active duty and veterans for both Veterans Yoga Project and Warriors at East trainings.
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Va Understands Benefits Of Yoga
The health benefits of yoga tend to be most effective when used alongside other treatments. Yoga and meditation can be thought of as another tool in the wellness toolbox.
VA Medical Centers understand this concept and many utilize yoga in their healthcare services. For example, the Cincinnati VA Medical Center offers Telephone Based Mindfulness Meditation and weekly Yoga Nidra classes both in person and virtually. Similarly, the CA WRIISC VA Medical Center in California offers multiple on site, virtual, and recorded yoga and meditation classes to support veterans.
Additionally, VA Medical Centers work to increase knowledge and understanding of the benefits of yoga by conducting clinical research studies.
In 2017, a California VA found that practicing yoga twice per week reduced both pain intensity and the use of opioids among veterans with chronic low back pain. This study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
A 2018 study of post 9/11 war veterans with PTSD symptoms in Hawaii found that weekly yoga reduced the PTSD symptoms of hyperarousal, re-experiencing, and numbness/avoidance. Insomnia, depression and anxiety also decreased. This study was published in Military Medicine.
These examples provide only a tiny glimpse of the vast number of VA Medical Centers with therapeutic yoga programs and clinical studies that show the potential of yoga for improving health.
Free Yoga For Military Veterans With Connected Warriors
At Bamboo Garden Yoga studio we proudly support the Connected Warriors Inc, which works to offer free yoga classes to military veterans. Its a program we strongly believe in, and heres why we support yoga for veterans.
Connected Warrior
The Connected Warriors Inc is aimed at providing evidence-based Trauma-Conscious yoga therapy programs. It is about using yoga to ease the trauma of war. Service members, veterans, and family members of military personnel are eligible to join in based on the class. These classes provide a safe haven of community to work towards balancing the mind, body, and soul.
Yoga for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Many soldiers return from their tours carrying more weight than they brought with them. They can suffer from nightmares, anger, guilt, paranoia, and a whole range of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms. Connected Warriors works to offer specialized trauma-conscious yoga therapy classes taught by certified and trained yoga teachers and health care professionals.
Yoga is known for calming the mind, body, and spirit. Through these specialized classes, military personnel can work through the trauma they have experienced. They learn to relax, how to gain self-insight and coping mechanisms. These classes also provide unity and community among those in it. PTSD can be isolating but a yoga class is all about inclusivity.
How It Works
Classes
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Yoga Instructor Tailors Classes To Veterans Facing Ptsd
- Blake Douglas Tulsa World
Ashley Ramsey, a trauma-informed yoga therapy instructor, poses at VFW Post 577 in Tulsa before her Yoga for Vets class last Wednesday.
- John Clanton, Tulsa World
A box of supplies for visitors to her class sits at the front of the room as Ashley Ramsey, a trauma-informed yoga therapy instructor, prepares to teach a class at VFW Post 577 last week.
- John Clanton, Tulsa World
Ashley Ramsey considers her trauma-informed yoga sessions for veterans to be a memorial to her friend Megan Widner Johnson, who served as an Army combat medic during Operation Iraqi Freedom and who developed PTSD.
- John Clanton, Tulsa World
Ashley Ramsey, a trauma-informed yoga therapy instructor, poses at VFW Post 577 in Tulsa before her Yoga for Vets class last Wednesday.
- John Clanton, Tulsa World
For several years, Ashley Ramsey witnessed firsthand the toll PTSD continues to take on service members returning from overseas.
Ramseys close friend Megan Widner Johnson, an Army veteran, served as a combat medic during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Johnson, who was awarded two Bronze Stars, developed post-traumatic stress disorder after each of the several convoys she was a part of came under fire.
After Johnson died in 2019, Ramsey began to use her certification as a trauma-informed yoga instructor to honor Johnsons life and ensure that Tulsa veterans have more resources to help cope with PTSD triggers. Every week, Ramsey hosts a free yoga class for veterans with PTSD.
Yoga Can Help Relieve Your Ptsd Symptoms By:
Requiring You to Be Fully Present. Focusing on the present not only improves your yoga practice but may also reduce flashbacks. As you switch from one pose to another, you’ll focus on your breathing and the sensations you feel as you move your body.
Reducing Stress and Anxiety. It’s not unusual to feel constantly on edge if you have PTSD. Breathing slowly and deeply as you perform poses will help you relax. Meditation, an important component of yoga, enhances the calming effect. If you begin to feel stressed, a little deep breathing or meditation may be enough to reduce your heart rate and prevent negative self-talk from taking over your brain. Over time, you may feel calmer even when you’re not practicing yoga.
Allowing You to Feel In Control of Your Body. If your post-traumatic stress was triggered by an incident that involved assault or a physical injury, you may feel as if you have no control over your body. Learning and perfecting new poses is only possible by purposefully moving your body. As you become more adept at yoga poses, you may begin to feel more in control.
Several studies conducted on the effectiveness of yoga for PTSD have produced promising results. One study detailed by the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute involved 64 women with PTSD who hadn’t been helped by other treatments. After completing 2 1/2 months of yoga classes, 52 percent of the women no longer met the criteria for the disorder.
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Breathing Helps Veteransand You Can Too
The word yoga, just like mental health, can have a stigma. People imagine attractive, flexible, young women in unattainable poses, but there is much more to yoga than mainstream social media portrays.
For example, more and more veterans are being diagnosed with PTS and depression. The numbers of veteran suicides are staggering. But, it is not just the veterans suffering: their family members are left to mourn the person the veteran was prior to deployment.
It doesnt have to be this way. We can arm veterans and their families with tools for sustainable living with medications, therapy and some sort of mindful movementmatched with breathleading to a path of managing mental health and recovery.
How Breathing Saved Me
I am a Marine Corps veteran living with PTSD. I experience sensations of anxiety and panic almost daily. After my enlistment ended, I began to isolate myself, thus leading to agoraphobia . I felt lonely and missed the camaraderie of my Marine brothers and sisters. I started a multiyear journey of talk therapy and medications. I grew tired of talking about my problems, and I desperately sought relief of the physical symptoms my mind and body were experiencing. In a final attempt, I found myself in a private yoga lesson in Okinawa, Japan.
Why Breathing Matters
How Breathing Helps Veterans
How You Can Help Veterans
Yoga Is Vast And Varies
Yoga typically involves three primary components: breath control, meditation, and purposeful movement. Self-awareness is another important aspect.
For many, the idea of practicing yoga carries a wide range of connotations feminine contortionists or just stretching or an overly easy exercise. The Veterans Yoga Project dispels some of these connotations: Yoga is for Sissies!
In reality, there are many styles of yoga. Practicing the different styles of yoga can range from a near sleep state to a vigorous full-body exercise. Some varieties include:
- Yoga Nidra
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Army Veterans Offer Free Yoga And Jiu
Patrick Donohue of veteran outreach group Project 9 Line organized a wellness class because he said Jiu-Jitsu helped him a lot in his life.
It takes you to that moment, he said. I think the most beneficial thing you can do to overcome trauma is to be here at the moment. Jiu-jitsu lets you do it.
Mr. Donoue has seen first-hand how yoga and Jiu-Jitsu can help other veterans and said they would like to have access to their classes.
Participating studios range from Glen Cove to Patchog.
Donohue said he would like to add more places next year. For a complete list of current studios, please visit: ..
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How You Can Benefit From Yoga
Yoga involves much more than standing on your head or twisting your body into complicated poses. The creators of this ancient practice believed that achieving harmony between your mind and body was the key to good physical and mental health. They developed a series of poses designed to stretch and tone the body and coupled them with calming deep breathing exercises and meditation. Today, yoga is regarded as an effective way to lower stress, decrease depression, improve strength, reduce high blood pressure, ease aching joints and prevent insomnia.
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A Few Things To Keep In Mind
There are many different types of yoga and yoga classes. If you don’t like a particular class or style of yoga, try another. Your instructor can help you find the class that’s best for you.
Yoga instructors may lightly touch your body to help you learn the proper form. If being touched triggers you, be sure to let the instructor know that you do not want to be touched. Some poses can also be triggering for people who have PTSD. If you don’t feel comfortable performing a certain pose, feel free to perform one that helps you feel calm and centered instead. As you progress in your yoga practice and your PTSD symptoms decrease, you may find that the pose no longer bothers you.
Does it seem as if nothing you do relieves your PTSD symptoms? Yoga may offer the solution you’ve been seeking. Call us today to learn more about yoga and the classes we offer.
Yoga Therapy For Veterans With Pts And/or Trauma
Veterans Yoga Project is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well being of military veterans. Working in partnership with veterans, active-duty military personnel, student veterans organizations, and other non-profit organizations, Veterans Yoga Project supports recovery and promotes resilience among veterans, their families, and their communities.Veterans Yoga Project is a IRS-recognized 501 charitable organization.
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Yoga For Veterans Online Class
A free online yoga class for Vets
Taught by Lisa every Tuesday from 11 am – 12 Eastern time.
âTuesdays with Lisa is now my favorite day of the week.â
â B.M.
A beginner-friendly class, focusing on breath-work while also increasing strength, flexibility, and the mind-body connection. No yoga experience needed. A place to find community, connection, and maybe a little bit of peace.
We start by chatting and catching up, 30-40 minute movement practice with lots of options and modifications, we finish with 10 minutes of guided rest.
to watch a video about our class, including interviews with some of the students.
Please apply for the Yoga for Veterans Class below!
Free Yoga Classes For Veterans
Yoga for Vets is a website that lists studios, gyms, teachers, and veterans hospitals that offer at least four free classes to conflict or war veterans and to those currently serving. The free classes are meant to allow veterans to enjoy the benefits of yoga.
There is at least one participating yoga center in the Wichita area.
Thanks again to ABQontheCheap for another great Veterans Day deal.
Posted by CarolynFiled Under: Miscellaneous ·Services ·Sports & RecreationTagged With: Veterans Day
About Carolyn
Carolyn started Wichita on the Cheap in 2009 as a way to let friends and others know about fun, affordable events and deals in Wichita. She’s a wife and mom, Bible fellowship coordinator, WordPress teacher, and Director of Member Support for the national Living on the Cheap network of websites.
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Volunteer & Staff Positions
We envision a future where all those affected by trauma have access to a full range of mind-body practices to facilitate recovery and resilience. We are committed to providing these tools and training in Safe, Predictable, and Controlled environments .
Veterans Yoga Project is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of military veterans. Veterans Yoga Project is an IAYT member school, and a certified Yoga Alliance school .
Working in partnership with veterans, active-duty military personnel, student veterans organizations, and other non-profit organizations, VYP-trained instructors teach over 100 free yoga classes each week for veterans and their families. By providing support to all veterans, whether they are currently struggling with severe symptoms, or they are focused on increasing resilience and giving back to others, Veterans Yoga Project is doing its part to serve those who serve.
What We Aim To Solve
Veterans Yoga Project was established as a 501 educational and advocacy organization in 2011 with a mission to support recovery and resilience among our veterans, families, and communities. It was founded by clinical psychologist and yoga instructor Dr. Daniel J. Libby with a vision of a future where every veteran reintegrates into civilian life fully empowered to become successful, well-rounded individuals in healthy relationships with themselves, their families, and their communities.
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