Yoga heals veterans’ bodies, minds at Coralville wellness center

CORALVILLE - It's well-documented that after extended exposure to danger, many U.S. military servicemen and women return home from combat with post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, depression and anxiety.

As a result, they find it difficult to make the transition back to civilian life.

'I was one of those people who could have used some professional help ... who was undiagnosed and made a lot of bad decisions when I got out of the army,” said John Jadryev, a yoga instructor at Body Moves and a Vietnam veteran who served in the 9th infantry division.

After years of 'self-medicating,” Jadryev too found solace in the practice of yoga.

'Over time … I started becoming more calm, more peaceful, more internally quiet,” he said.

On Saturday Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center in Coralville will host a Mindful Yoga Benefit to raise funds for the Veterans Yoga Project - a non-profit public charity that supports the use of yoga therapy to aid veterans who may be struggling with post-traumatic stress.

'When you come off a deployment, it's hard to shut that mode off,” said Angie Madlock, a yoga instructor at Body Moves and a Navy veteran who served for 10 years. Though she was never directly in the line of fire, she said she was always on alert.

Through breathing techniques and meditative methods, yoga allows veterans to relax their mind and body in a healthy, productive way.

'Traumatic events get imprinted, literally, into the cells and tissues of the body,” said Sarah Neary, a certified Mindful Resilience yoga trainer at Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center in Coralville.

'When you're working the body in a very mindful, relaxed, focused way ... it's a very gentle way of making that friendly connection back with the body and the nervous system,” she said. '(You) learn how to self regulate and soothe when you're feeling alarmed.”

Though Neary isn't a veteran, yoga helped her cope with the grief of losing her husband.

'I can't say it took away all the pain or suffering of the loss, but it helped me walk through my grief in a very helpful and dignified way,” she said.

That said, yoga may not eliminate all symptoms of stress and anxiety, but it can help veterans regulate their response to trauma and grief.

'They don't make a pill that works as well,” said Neary, who uses yoga to 'foster an environment of safety and stability” for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress. The practice, she says, helps reconnect the 'shaky connection” between the mind and body that veterans may be experiencing.

The 90-minute, donation-based benefit will begin at Body Moves' Coralville studio at 1 p.m. and is open to the public. Because space is limited, registration is encouraged. Donations will go toward programs such as yoga teacher training programs and healing retreats that support veterans, their families and their communities.

'We owe it to (our veterans) as a community to help them integrate back into civilian life as seamlessly and positively as we can,” said Neary, who will be leading the yoga class with Madlock and Jadryev.

Jadryev encourages veterans to give yoga a try for its overall therapeutic effect. After all, it worked for him.

'There's a lot of quiet time in yoga,” he said. 'And whenever there's quiet time, you have to deal with what comes up in the quiet. You learn to let that dissipate. Let it dissolve.”

IF YOU GO

' What: Mindful Yoga Benefit

' When: 1 p.m. Saturday

' Where: Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center, 1801 Second St., Coralville

' Cost: Donations accepted