2 days Ago
A natural calmness set in as yoga instructor Mary Sinnett lit incense and dimmed the lights in the dance hall at the VFW Post 577 near downtown Tulsa. A disco ball was turned on as veterans rolled out yoga mats. Then they sat in silence, waiting to start breathing exercises and subtle movements.
The intensity of the practice — the difficulty of poses — was up to each veteran. The free, one-hour session offered by the nonprofit Humble Warrior Collective is tailored to veterans. The VFW provides an environment steeped in more than a century of history, providing a safe haven for veterans.
Sinnett has one of those voices that feels like a warm blanket, reassuring and without judgment. She uses a vocabulary a little different from that in a typical yoga class. People are also reading.
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How does OHP use guns in chases? Claremore's Jake Tankersley teams with former competitor on 'The Voice' for Cain's show Tulsa County opens hiring for DOGE-themed job with $80,000 salary Seven measles cases confirmed in northeastern Oklahoma Spring break didn't stop OU quarterback John Mateer from getting better, bonding with teammates Tramel's ScissorTales: Dunn not sure what befell OSU football, but some say QB, D-coordinator woes Couple hopes their tiny home company in Skiatook can solve a big problem for the Tulsa area Ex-NFL player in Broken Arrow convicted of dog fighting now faces federal charges Easing into the session, she starts with a focus on breathing and follows with words emphasizing self-awareness and community. "This is more invitational," Sinnett said. "We move in a way that is about self-discovery and self-regulation of the nervous system.
" Yoga isn't always an easy sell to veterans. That's where Jeremy Founds comes in. He served in the Marine infantry from 2000 to 2006, experiencing combat in the Iraq War.
Now he's an informal ambassador for yoga in the local veteran community. He's a student and a teacher. Jokingly, Founds says Marines are more likely to try yoga because of their motto to "improvise, adapt and overcome.
" That is a good way to describe yoga. "A lot of people who try it end up liking it," Founds said. His discovery of yoga came after a years-long struggle with post traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Doctors kept prescribing medications, but the side effects were harsh. "I was not getting much sleep, was out-of-shape and my PTSD was getting out of control. I was trying to find alternatives to medication," he said.
"That's when I found yoga." The practice worked for Founds in ways other treatments had failed. "Trauma takes on an out-of-body response.
It has a numbness to it," Founds said. "In yoga, you note what your mind is going through, what your body is going through and can make adjustments for that." Humble Warrior Collective developed organically after founder Sarah Thomas in 2010 started a yoga practice for about a dozen teen girls attending an alternative school in Tulsa.
Soon, that expanded into other schools, detention centers and women's reentry programs. Now it has 18 partner programs with 14 instructors teaching 100 classes a month, reaching between 600 and 800 people. That includes addiction recovery centers, mental health facilities, domestic violence shelters and senior centers.
Those coming to classes may be dealing with trauma, poverty, neglect, isolation, hunger, violence or addiction. The approach was developed out of trauma-informed research and measured by the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa. This is no cookie-cutter program.
Each class looks different, depending on the location. The nonprofit strives to have an instructor with some connection to the population being served. Executive Director Kendra Guthrie calls it "bespoke yoga," referring to that customization.
That means instructors may wear jeans for a class if their students are in places without access to gym clothes. They aren't going to use certain poses with a group who may be recovering from sexual assault. At the VFW, a person isn't going to hear "corpse pose" or hippie language.
It's more straight-forward, more low-key, more communal. "Veterans are different. They just are," Guthrie said.
"They walk different; they talk different; and they socialize different. And the pre-9/11 veterans are different from the post-9/11 veterans." Guthrie's involvement with Humble Warrior Collective came after having an intense response to her own yoga practice.
She was able to understand a childhood trauma and have techniques to handle its physical effects. That experience connects her to others who may be struggling. Her father, a Vietnam War veteran, sometimes joins her practice.
"We can talk about grief and loss because we hold all that in our bodies," she said. "For veterans, they have loss while in service. But for some, especially in the older generations, they are losing their cohorts in a different way.
"We normalize things that are happening and pay attention to how a person is responding." Oklahoma sits at an epicenter of trauma, ranking high in adverse childhood experiences, domestic violence, addiction and mental health disorders. "Everybody breathes; everyone has movement; and everyone can stretch their body," Guthrie said.
"This is about movement as medicine." Oklahoma is also near the top 10 in veteran residents. At the VFW, it's not unusual to see a few veterans taking in a beer before class.
A service dog or two might be in tow. Founds wasn't a visitor to the VFW until the yoga classes began. He calls it a "nice, roomy place" for a session and has advice for fellow veterans.
"If you're looking for something to lessen stress and to get better sleep and you're willing to try something a little outside of the norm, go to a yoga class," he said. Video: Optimize Your Yoga Workout With These Strength and Conditioning Tips.
