Photo Credit: Robert SturmanCONNECTED WARRIORS From Sea to Shining Sea event onboard the USS Midway. Yoga on an aircraft carrier is quite the experience! — Photo Credit: Robert Sturman
CONNECTED WARRIORS From Sea to Shining Sea event onboard the USS Midway. Yoga on an aircraft carrier is quite the experience!

A little background on why providing yoga to those in uniform speaks to me on a personal level: I honor my husband, Frank, for his selfless service to his country, proudly serving for over 20 years. He's my inspiration for joining with organizations that provide free yoga for the military. Standing by his side as he honorably serves in the US Navy has been challenging at times. As a family, we've sacrificed many holidays and birthdays. We've spent a lot of time apart and have been separated by many miles. Back home, I was holding down the fort, studying, working and raising our 2 boys. My saving grace was yoga. My yoga practice has been deeply healing and therapeutic and kept me moving forward with my mission; to keep going. Yoga has taught me to tap into my strength, to continue to move past the challenges and obstacles, to manage stress and to deal with my sadness and pain through it all. Firsthand, I know that yoga heals. I am a witness to how powerful it can be. Yoga can save lives. It has saved mine and it has kept my family going through the hardest times.

I have spent many additional hours training to serve this special group of people. I've helped to raise awareness and funds for non-profit organizations providing yoga at no cost to the military such as Warriors at Ease and Connected Warriors. This has allowed me the great privilege to work with military service members, providing yoga classes at SD Naval Hospital, Naval Base SD as well as in my local community.

I continue to serve with Connected Warriors, a non-profit organization with the mission to empower Service members, Veterans and their Families worldwide through Trauma-Conscious Yoga. My role as a Connected Warrior Ambassador is to help establish these classes in areas where they can be of most service to our military communities. Connected Warriors offers Trauma-Conscious yoga training to Certified Yoga teachers and healthcare professionals. Connected Warriors’ training is Yoga Alliance Certified for 10 Continuing Education Units (CEU). As a CW teacher trainer, I will be able to provide trainings in San Diego to educate teachers about Trauma-Conscious yoga.