Veterans connect through yoga on Eagle NamasDay

Feb. 27, 2019 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

Becca ZanVettor leads a class of veterans through yoga poses. Left to right, Sheila Magalhaes, Jeff Harrington, and Tom Orifice.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

EAST LONGMEADOW – "Inhale and bring your arms up,” Becca Zanvettor of Heartsong Yoga instructed, “and exhale and fold." A small group followed Zanvettor through the yoga pose.

"If it's comfortable for you, close your eyes. If it's not comfortable, soften your gaze," Zanvettor said. It’s important that the participants are comfortable every step of the way in this class. That’s is because this is a class of veterans practicing mindfulness yoga therapy.

The veterans are participating in an event called Eagle NamasDay, a play on the Sanskrit greeting, Namaste. It was scheduled to coincide with the weekend of World Yoga Day, Feb. 22. Eagle NamasDay is organized by the veteran’s group Team RWB (red, white, and blue), which has a goal of helping veterans reintegrate into their communities through physical and social activities.

Tom Orifice is a member, or “Eagle,” of Team RWB, and an active duty Chief Master Sgt. in the Air Force based at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield. He said the physical activities include hikes and rucks, which consists of walking and hiking with weights. They also have weekly runs called "Fleet Feet" every Wednesday. Orifice said some veterans feel that they have gotten too out of shape to participate in Team RWB, but that’s not the case.

"We'll go for a two-mile walk, whatever people need," said Orifice.

Team RWB’s social activities vary from bowling nights to getting together for a meal, to one-on-one engagements with veterans who need to talk.

“It helps to engage with others who have been through PTSD,” said Orifice. Team RWB avoids social situations that include alcohol because some vets struggle with substance abuse.

This is the first year that Heartsong Yoga has held an Eagle NamasDay event. Sheila Magalhaes, who began Heartsong Yoga in 1993, learned about the coordinated events through Lynne Ashby. Ashby is the Team RWB Springfield chapter’s “Eagle Leader” and has brought veterans to Heartsong Yoga for mindful yoga therapy classes in the past.

“Yoga has been shown to have many therapeutic benefits, particularly for veterans,” Ashby said, “while also providing a healthy and effective mechanism to engage veterans in their community.”

Mindfulness yoga therapy, developed by Suzanne Manafort, is different from other forms of yoga because it focuses on being “trauma-sensitive.” Classes are designed, “so everyone can see the door. It becomes a safe place. Teachers don’t touch participants. When you practice over time it creates repetition and predictability,” said Magalhaes.

Most importantly, Magalhaes said mindfulness yoga is about quieting the mind and listening to the nervous system.

Despite mindfulness yoga being tailored to trauma and PTSD survivors, it still consists of breathing, postures, gratitude, meditation, and rest.

“It's easy to follow. The postures are accessible to everyone.” There are even mindfulness yoga classes for kids, ages 7 to 11, called “brain break.”

Heartsong yoga also participates in a nationwide program called Yoga 4 Vets. “If anyone calls up and says ‘I’m a vet’ I give them four free classes,” Magalhaes said.

“There is so much need for support,” Magalhaes said, adding, “The hardest thing is to let people know we're doing this work.”

“PTSD affects people from across walks of life, so mindfulness yoga translates to many people,” said Orifice, who has been in the Air Force for 36 years.

Orifice met fellow Eagle, Jeff Harrington, in 2016 and noticed his shirt with the Team RWB logo. After learning more about team RWB, Orifice decided to create the Springfield chapter.

Harrington has been an Eagle since 2015 and is in the Air Force National Guard with a rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4. Harrington spoke about the importance of structure in yoga. “I think that's what draws us to it,” he said.

“You don't have to be a vet to join Team RWB,” Harrington said. “The point is to help veterans integrate back into the community.”     “I didn't like being in a crowd without a weapon,” Harrington recalled about his time immediately after returning from his deployment. Orifice had similar experiences and talked about how frustrating it was to come home from the Iraqi Freedom and hear a woman complaining in the grocery store.

“I had just come back from seeing people die and she[s complaining about a long line. That's not important,” Orifice said.

What is important to the Eagles is the Team RWB mission of enriching veteran’s lives and sense of community, one activity at a time.

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