supporting those who serve & sacrifice our...

Supporting Those Who Serve & Sacrifice Our mission is to increase awareness about the power of yoga and meditation and educate a network of professionals qualified to share evidenced-based practices through programs that support the health and healing of service members, veterans, and their families.

Our History In 2006, our co-founders were part of the first Department of Defense (DoD) funded research on yoga and meditation as an adjunct therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. With the success of this and other pilot programs came an increasing need for appropriately trained yoga and meditation teachers. Thus, we developed advanced yoga teacher training to support the demand for specialized teachers equipped with the tools to support students with trauma-related health conditions.

Our Vision Our vision is to integrate yoga and meditation into military, veteran, and civilian settings to support the health, resiliency, post-traumatic growth, and connection of service members, veterans, and their families.

www.warriorsatease.org

http://www.warriorsatease.org

What is Unique about Warriors at Ease Yoga? Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness have become increasingly popular around the world. However, not all yoga is appropriate for those with combat or trauma-related health conditions.

Our Warriors at Ease (WAE) teachers are trained in mind-body practices that are:

Our Global Network of Warriors at Ease Teachers Since becoming a 501(c)(3) organization in 2012, we’ve trained over 750 teachers who serve warriors and their families in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Canada, Korea, Germany, and throughout the Middle East. Warriors at Ease Certified Teachers have the knowledge, skills and ability to integrate evidenced-based, mind-body practices into a variety of therapeutic settings as well as to support the readiness and resiliency of our active military.


Evidence-Based

Our curriculum is based on research and the combined experience of our seasoned faculty. We continually provide our teacher network with the latest research.

Trauma Sensitive

Our approach and the practices we teach are all trauma-sensitive - safe, effective, and appropriate for those with visible or invisible injuries incurred from trauma.

Culturally Appropriate

We provide training on the unique aspects of the military profession and culture. WAE teachers are trained on how to teach in a way that is relevant and accessible to warriors.


Our Impact Our global network of teachers has impacted an estimated 100,000 service members, veterans, and family members by sharing yoga and meditation in a variety of settings including:

• Veteran Administration (VA) Hospitals, Clinics and Vet Centers

• Hospitals, clinics, and fitness centers on active military installations

• Unit physical training (PT) programs for active and reserve components

• In partnership with civilian healthcare providers who serve warriors and their families

• Retreats specifically for service members, veterans, family members, and caretakers

• In collaboration with other non-profit organizations such as Team Red, White and Blue, The Wounded Warrior Project, and The Mission Continues

• DoD schools and other schools where military children attend

• United States Military Academy and veteran-friendly colleges and universities

• Yoga studios and community centers


“Yoga and meditation give me a sense of peace that I cannot find in other parts of my life. Just learning to sit and breathe has become medicine doctors cannot prescribe….

Being a part of this women veterans retreat has restored my faith in humanity.”

~ Staff Sergeant Cyndi Lee, USMC Retired


Our Accomplishments The achievements of our esteemed faculty and highly trained teachers are exponential and have helped us to advanced our long-term goal of offering Warriors at Ease yoga and meditation classes across the full spectrum of health care on military installations and in VA facilities. Additionally, our organization has accomplished the following in 2016 and 2017:

• Served on The George W. Bush Institute’s Health and Wellbeing Task Force and participated in Stand-To, A National Veterans Convening in Washington, D.C. in June 2017, where we helped outline key priorities and created an action plan to drive improved outcomes for veterans and their families

• Launched Train, Teach & Transform in January 2017. This program provides free yoga classes across four key regions as well as teacher training scholarships to injured service members, veterans, and military spouses funded through a $100K grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation

• Developed and successfully launched a pioneering online training in 2016 called “Teaching Yoga to Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma,” funded through at $24K grant from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation

• Offered yoga and meditation retreats in four key regions for service members, veterans, spouses, and caretakers in partnership with other veteran service organizations and Military Family Readiness Groups, funded by the Walter Reed Foundation, private companies, and individual donors

• Expanded an innovative mind-body program for veteran college students in partnership with Manhattan College and Sivananda Yoga Ashram

• Participated in a national symposium of subject matter experts that resulted in a publication released by the Yoga Service Council called “Best Practices for Yoga with Veterans,” a book distributed nationally to support the integration of yoga and meditation into VA facilities



On the Horizon In addition to improving, sustaining, and expanding our current programs, we are considering or in the process of developing new initiatives to further support warriors and their families. These projects include:

• Updating our teacher training curriculum and launching it on a world-class, online teaching portal in fall of 2017 in partnership with Yoga International

• Expanding Train, Teach & Transform to four new regions in 2018

• Broadening the scope of our offerings at the United States Military Academy

• Expanding our mind-body programs to more colleges, universities, and service academies

• Partnering with major research organizations to study the effects of using yoga and meditation as adjunct therapy for service members and veterans with sleep issues, chronic pain, PTSD, and other health concerns

• Developing Warriors at Ease Kids, an emerging mind-body program specifically for children of service members and veterans

• Working with leaders in DoD to integrate Warriors at Ease teachers into pain management clinics, unit PT programs, and other areas where our teachers can be effective

• Working with Department of Veterans Affairs to fill newly dedicated positions for “Yoga Instructors” in the VA system with Warriors at Ease teachers

• Establishing Warriors at Ease affiliates in rural areas where veterans may be underserved



Help Warriors at Ease Make a Deeper Impact

Individual donors, charitable foundations, and corporations, have an opportunity to directly impact the health and wellbeing of active service members, veterans and their families by:

• Sponsoring an individual or group for Warriors at Ease yoga classes

• Providing scholarship to Warriors at Ease teachers in training

• Helping to fund research on yoga in military and veteran communities

• Sponsoring an individual or group for a Warriors at Ease Retreat

• In-kind donations such as yoga mats, yoga props, professional services, lodging for traveling faculty, airline miles, accommodations for a Warriors at Ease retreat, etc.

Volunteers, health care providers, yoga studio and retreat center owners, Family Readiness Groups (FRG), unit commanders, and other leaders can us make a deeper impact by:

• Hosting a Warriors at Ease yoga class, teacher training, or retreat at your facility

• Connecting patients or clients with local Warriors at Ease teachers

• Supporting or hosting Warriors at Ease special events and presentations

• Inviting a Warriors at Ease teacher to share yoga at unit FRG events, Physical Training, pre/post deployment workshops, etc.

• Sharing about Warriors at Ease and our efforts to support the health, resiliency, post-traumatic growth, and connection of warriors and their families



I have been serving in the Army for the past 18 years. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico until the age of 12 when my family moved to Worcester, MA. At 18, I enlisted in the Army and graduated from Basic Training. After seven years, I was accepted into the “Green to Gold” Program where I earned both my commission and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

I have supported several humanitarian missions and deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan. I am married and the proud father of

three girls and three boys (ranging from ages to 10 to 26 years). I met my wife, Joan, while stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) in Washington. Joan also served in the Army but was medically retired due to injuries sustained in Iraq.

Before joining the service, I had no understanding of the type of commitment, dedication and sacrifice it takes to be a soldier and military family. My grandfather served during the Korean War but didn’t share any of his experiences during that period of his life. He chose to bury those memories, and I respected his wishes. War is a terrible ordeal and the scars sustained, whether visible or invisible, last a lifetime.

I joined the Army before the events of 9/11 unfolded. My second deployment to Afghanistan was a transformational experience that changed me at my core, and I had a difficult time upon my redeployment. The images in my mind were a constant presence. I struggled with anger issues and was unable to maintain my emotional balance at times.

The mind and body connection is real. Stress and my lack of mental focus resulted in decreased physical performance. I pushed my body so hard due to my early indoctrination from drill sergeants who introduced me to the mentality of “stop whining and drive on.” After the humanitarian missions and deployments, I had several chronic conditions which I ignored for some time. My knees and back finally started deteriorating to the point that I couldn’t run or bear any weight for almost two and a half years. My wife invited me to attend some yoga sessions that were helping her to heal and grow. I initially declined, but eventually decided to attend. After only a couple of classes, I started noticing that I was more flexible, relaxed, and focused.

For the first time in years, I was able to successfully complete my physical fitness examination, including the run with no issues because of yoga. In fact, I achieved the highest score ever in my 18 years of military service. Yoga has been a tremendous source of strength to me. It has enabled me to obtain inner peace, and control the traumatic memories which caused me anxiety for many years. I was once a skeptic, but now I’m proof of its effectiveness and restorative properties.

Captain Enrique Incle, United States Army Warriors at Ease Student



I served in the Army as a medic for over 23 years. My journey started with an accelerated Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Sam Houston. Soon after training, my unit was sent to Desert Shield/Storm. With less than 12 months of military service under my belt, I had my first tour in a combat environment. From that point on, I would deploy six more times. I’ve served in about every position a medic can serve during my career - from working in postpartum and pediatric wards of army medical centers to spending dark nights jumping out of airplanes with the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC to serving as a medic in the 75th Ranger Regiment. On my seventh and final deployment, I served as a flight medic with

25th Combat Aviation Brigade (Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii). Operating mostly in Southern Afghanistan, we flew in all kinds of conditions, and I was literally “learning on the fly.” It was mentally and physical exhausting. Upon redeploying to Hawaii, I was then assigned to Special Operation Command Pacific where I remained until my retirement.

When asked about my time in the military I always say, it never matters what you do or where you go. If you are surrounded by good friends and comrades, it always ends up as good stories later. Tough times don’t last. Tough men do.

Nevertheless, after my third deployment, I was having some serious problems that I never addressed. At the time, I thought I was stronger mentally and physically, but being surrounded by barrel-chested freedom fighters, it was hard to admit I needed help. The times I did get help, it was not enough. Each deployment got harder and harder upon my return. Eventually, after my seventh deployment, I was referred to Tripler Army Medical Center for a PTSD program. The program forced me to open up and talk about things I kept close to my heart and also afforded me the opportunity to practice meditation, yoga and Tai Chi. I had the mindset that yoga was a "girly" exercise and not for me. We didn’t even have an actual teacher, just a video they played as part of the program. I decided to try it anyway. Slowly, as the weeks went on, I opened up to yoga more and more. The more I practiced, the more I started feeling relaxed. Yoga started changing my mindset and helped me to be more open. Nightmares and sleepless night were much less. After the program ended, I did not know enough to continue to practice on my own. I enrolled in a college level yoga course, and that helped, but it eventually ended too.

I discovered Warriors at Ease at a Team Red White & Blue event where they were offering yoga at the annual “Run As One.” I learned they have weekly veterans’ yoga classes in my local area and across the country. Because of the connection to Warriors at Ease, I am practicing yoga again. I am thankful to be able to practice in a comfortable setting with other veterans so I may continue on my new path. I’m also grateful to have been surrounded by great warriors and a family that supported me throughout my career. Though it was not without sacrifice, I feel honored to have served.

Staff Sergeant Brandon Scott, U.S. Army Retired

Warriors at Ease Student



Testimonies from Warriors at Ease (WAE)

Our impact is evident in the teachers we train and the students we teach.

“I used yoga and meditation while deployed to a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan in 2013. I meditated and practiced yoga daily to combat my anxiety and insomnia. My experience inspired me to become a yoga teacher.”

~ Physician Assistant & WAE Teacher

“I have a daily yoga and meditation practice that has served me both at home and in a combat environment. Mind-body practices have helped me to fully embrace the warrior I have become through my combat experiences and decades of service to our nation.

~ Retired Army Special Forces & WAE Student


Find these stories and other powerful testimonies at www.warriorsatease.org




Susan Alden is the Executive Director of Warrior at Ease. She is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and served as a logistics officer in the 82nd Airborne and 3rd Infantry Divisions. Susan started practicing yoga before she entered the military and continued practicing throughout her career. She first began teaching yoga in the military in 1997 as a Second Lieutenant, sharing the practice with her own soldiers as part of the unit fitness program. Whether through her yoga studio once located near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, teaching on or around various military installations, or hosting retreats across the globe, Susan has been fully committed to bringing the power of yoga and meditation to the military community since 2003 as a

certified yoga and meditation teacher. Susan has been married to an Army Special Forces soldier (Green Beret) for the past 19 years and has been especially involved in serving the Special Operations Forces community and Gold Star Families. Susan resides in Hawaii with her husband who recently retired from the military and their two boys.


For information on partnership opportunities, please contact Susan Alden at [email protected] or (808) 469-5279.

Warriors at Ease is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting service members, veterans, and their families. Federal Tax ID #45-4010067

Learn more about our programs and our team at www.warriorsatease.org


supporting those who serve & sacrifice our...

Documents