Dahn Yoga exercises are low-impact, comfortable, quiescent ways to ease out of life's daily tension. In that regard, yoga has little or no place in the military, right? Wrong, say a number of wounded veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, who recently told NPR that yoga has helped them heal.
The Warrior Transition Union in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has developed what it calls "enhanced physical training," a regimen for injured soldiers that involves yoga, stretching and meditation.
One veteran, wounded Specialist Michael Stefan, told the news source that for him, yoga instruction strikes a balance between physical activity and mental repose. This equilibrium has helped him begin to overcome the damages of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"Seeing soldiers get killed, and working on them and the memories and flashbacks that go along with that, this is the outcome," he said to the news channel. "But now I'm at my point in life where I'm transitioning out of the Army…so now I need to better take care of myself."
Studies have shown that mild yoga and meditation can help those with PTSD ease their psychological symptoms and reduce the physical feelings of panic.
Even for civilians who have never left their hometowns, the meditative pursuits of Dahn Yoga can soothe away anxieties of all kinds.
