• If one service member can use yoga practice to quell inner despair ...
  
• If one veteran can reverse the harmful effects of trauma …
• If one yoga teacher learns how to bring hope to a member of his/her community …

We’ve done good work.

Our founder and guru, Swami Vishnudevananda, was known as the Flying Swami for taking his small plane over war zones to bring messages of hope and peace through yoga (he dropped pamphlets and flowers). He taught ex-cons yoga. He invited military leaders into conversation with religious leaders and scientists to talk about the healing potential of yoga for people in physical pain and for addressing confused mind states and emotional imbalances.

Now more than ever people need yoga, especially military service members and war veterans (there are currently 22 million vets in the US). Here at the ashram, we are committed to having a powerful impact in helping to bring yoga to those in our communities who need it most.

Among our efforts with veterans and yoga:

• This spring and fall, we welcomed small group of veterans studying at Manhattan College in New York City and plan to continue to host this successful program. Read about it.

• For the first time, in April 2016, we will host a Symposium on Healing Trauma. with leaders in the field, including Richard Miller and Sat Bir Singh Khalsa.

• Also for the first time, in January 2016, we are offering a special yoga retreat for veterans and service members, focused on practical, scientifically proven practices to incorporate into daily routines.

• This year, we have expanded our iRest Yoga Nidra programs, a scientifically established approach currently used at more than 60 bases and veterans’ administration facilities — See iRest® Yoga Nidra Retreat and iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 1 Teacher Training.

• We are again offering the training Warriors at Ease: Teaching Yoga in Military Settings.; Warriors at Ease has already trained more than 600 yoga teachers to bring yoga to military populations.

Whether you are looking for a safe place to address your own healing, seeking training to help others, or simply want to know more about the basic skills of working with trauma, we invite you to participate in the important upcoming programs.

If you know someone who can benefit from any of these programs, please share this page.