Our Veterans Need Us

Our Veterans Need Us

'We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.' 

~ Mother Theresa

Dear American Way and American Airlines and dear Travelers,

Leaving New York after seeing my brand new, beautiful nephew and making my way back to Tucson, I started flipping through November’s Issue of American Way. Good articles! But one piece in particular caught my attention.

Molly Blake of American Way covered the San Francisco chapter of Team Red, White and Blue, a nonprofit organization that conducts exercise and adventure programs for veterans and offers activities such as running, fly-fishing, kayaking, yoga, snow skiing, climbing, hiking, etc. It quotes Team RWB's director of camps and special programs as saying that the programs are designed to let 'veterans be a part of a team again and find camaraderie immediately.'

I sat back in my seat, with a sort of happy feeling. This is my work. This is what I do. As Yoga Therapist specializing in Tension and Trauma Release, I was already aware of the 22 daily veteran suicides that occur behind the scenes of our society where we mostly pretend everything is fine most of the time. 

I was pleased. I was pleased because I saw that Team RWB provided veterans with an essential piece of the multi-faceted healing approach we wished would be available to them all. Here in the West we take an approach to medicine whose fundamental paradigm is that health is the absence of disease and thus disease is what we treat. We perceive trauma as a disease to be - as all diseases - eradicated through treatment.

This disease-focused perspective is likely to result in measures that ensure access to some form of psycho-therapeutic care and the availability of the prescription medications deemed necessary. As veterans look to confront the traumas of the things seen and experienced, things that are for most of us unfathomable, the feeling of being deeply alienated or estranged from society is essentially brushed over. The being, the person, the soul, is ‘assumed’ attended to once treatment is provided.

And here, we are seeing Team RWB rise up to meet the unmet needs of veterans looking to heal their trauma with a profound, holistic approach of  'Adventure Healing'. Social isolation is one of the largest contributing factors to suicide and veterans are faced with a greater range of socially isolating factors than most of us. The war trauma itself, a frequently uprooted lifestyle and the absence of strong community ties are enough to make a person feel like they don't belong, but our society’s current conflicted relationship with patriotism and national pride doesn't make it easier. The way in which we are trying to squeeze ourselves into that tiny place where we are supportive of and grateful to our veterans but not look like we are pro-war  is making it harder for our veterans to touch down among us.

Team RWB is open to all people, (veteran or non-, children, grandparents, wives, husbands, former contractors, etc), providing veterans the opportunity to socialize with a broad spectrum of demographics.  Its membership-based nature, team colors and shirts create a familiar sense of camaraderie and belonging. Its focus on body movement, whatever a person’s ability level, offers veterans the arare opportunity to socialize in a way that does not revolve directly around the subject matter of their trauma.

Today, contemporary psychotherapy and ancient wisdom are beginning to align in the understanding that on the healing path, talk-therapy is necessary, but on its own insufficient and that the body needs to be attended to.  

The fields are accepting the understanding that the things we experience have an impact on our physiology and that trauma and tension take hold in the body in the form of rigidity. For most of us, this rigidity can soon affect our overall health, stress levels, relationships, ability to cope and general quality of life. As integrative therapies work with the body to identify the stories and their that underlining deeply held tension patterns, the body can learn a new truth and patterns of holding can be moved, unwound and, hopefully, released. ‘It’s in nature’s nature to regenerate’  (Paul Hawken).

With its emphasis on physical activity, Team RWB provides a platform to work with the physical manifestations of past experiences while being in supported and accepting community, getting out and actually having a great time. Yes. I was happy.

After getting back home, I found that Tucson not only had an Team RWB chapter, but that it was a thriving one! Local activities director, Tara Dayton and I quickly got together to coordinate a Tension and Trauma Releasing workshop for the group.  I am thrilled to share with you that several RWB members are reporting decrease in aches and pains, better sleep, and better mood. Some have begun the deeper work to more directly engage with previously buried emotional and physical trauma.

I am really thrilled that I had a chance to work with Team RWB and introduce some of its members to a different perspective of trauma and techniques that brought them real benefits. This connection happened for me because of American Airlines and American Way magazine, and as a range of Tucson chapter RWB members are reporting continuing their self healing work, we wanted to share this success with everyone! I want to thank Molly Blake and American Way magazine for the article and the Tucson Team RWB chapter for allowing me this privilege.

Team RWB is, of course, not the only organization working hard to make a difference in the lives of America’s veterans we are lucky that the nonprofit sector is rising up to support veterans nationwide. As a culture, we have to understand that co-existing with massive war trauma is once again a reality for us and it is up to us to make our collective environment and shared spaces as supportive, rehabilitative and welcoming to all possible.

Remember to extend a smile today