While I recognize that the military is a unique institution with its own codes of conduct and ethos, this policy, tacit though it may be, of stigmatizing mental illness has got to end.
The environment of the yoga class is particularly ripe for trauma triggering because of its inherently intimate nature, arising out of the integration of mind and body and the teacher's position as a leader and spiritual or physical authority, and the fact that trauma can be held in the body.
The brain has ways of coping with and reversing the effects of psychological and physical maltreatment, but a number of factors influence how well and how quickly people bounce back. One of those factors is the individual's support system.
Practicing yoga has changed me, made me calmer, less anxious, more equanimous. It's given me a physiological way to deal with trauma that was otherwise unavailable to me, and as a teacher, I now have some tools that I can share with others who've experienced trauma.
The complexity and mystery of the number seven has inspired me to explore its connections to human nature in a series of upcoming blog posts, each geared toward the unique experiences of post-war Veterans.
Tattoos and a checkered past do not automatically make you a bad example for your children, just as a blemish free life and ink free skin does not automatically make you a good one.
Trauma is ubiquitous in our world. Sometimes, however, its magnitude is so profound or persistent that, while recovery is possible, a person's life is forever changed.
My own symptoms of post traumatic stress had faded within six months or so of coming home, and I was relieved. Then came my delayed reaction to a 10-year passage of time from the day I drove over the berm into Iraq as a soldier, sparked by that photo, and it all washed away.
I never thought quitting was in my DNA. I never thought about giving up. I was strong. I played football at West Point. I was an officer in the U.S. Army. I had a wonderful marriage and two beautiful children. But war can change you. War can turn you inside out.
There may be no more powerful force to influence public awareness and perception than the entertainment industry. Most of us probably don't even realize how much our attitudes and assumptions are informed by what we see on television and in movies.
How many millions of children who were hurt or neglected themselves grow up hopeless, hate-filled, and continue the cycle of hurting others? All children deserve to be allowed and encouraged to dream by the adults around them in their homes, schools, and communities.
I am doing this so that the public can witness the trauma that follows war. Witness. Because this trauma is as much yours as it is ours. Witness and own it. Witnessing breaks the isolation trauma creates. Witnessing furthers the healing of individuals and of our society.
Many questions still remain and more research needs to be done, but it's misleading at best and intellectually lazy at worst to suggest there is no good scientific evidence about the nature of dream content. What, then, does science actually know about dreams?
As more veterans develop PTSD, we must resist the urge to treat this disorder with a cookie cutter solution. Through coaching can provide treatment that is tailored to a veteran's unique war-related trauma and can help our Warriors thrive.
The scientists who will be working on the National BRAIN Initiative Project will be conducting pure scientific research to unlock the mysteries of the brain.
Many Serbs are not truly interested in the political fate of Kosovo, instead seeing themselves as hostages of Kosovo's drama for decades. It is arguable that these new pressures provoke old wounds and revive dormant traumas.
