Hot Yoga murder-suicide under investigation

Police identify suspected gunman and 2 people killed at hot yoga studio in Tallahassee

CNN
Hollie Silverman
November 3, 2018

"As we process the gut-wrenching act of violence that took place this evening in a place of peace in our community, we hold in our hearts everyone who is affected and lift them up in love," officials tweeted from the city's verified account.

(CNN)A gunman on Friday shot six people, two fatally, at a hot yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, police said.

The two people killed were identified as Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21, according to Tallahassee Chief of Police Michael DeLeo.

The suspect, Scott Paul Beierle, 40, of Deltona, Florida, died of a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound, DeLeo said.

One other person was pistol-whipped.

DeLeo said police were unable immediately to draw a connection between the suspect and the victims of the shooting.

Around 5:30 p.m. Friday, police responded to a call about a shooting at Hot Yoga Tallahassee.
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Marine veteran fought back from PTSD with Yoga

Contemplating suicide, this Marine turned to yoga to save his life
CNN
By Mayra Cuevas
June 29, 2018

"If we had firefights or anything went on that was a high-stress day, I was teaching yoga," he says. "We were in the dirt just doing the practice, and the students were coming. Even these big Special Forces dudes were coming and like, 'Hey, what are you doing over there?' 'I'm doing yoga and meditation.' "

(CNN) Marine Justin Blazejewski rolls out his yoga mat over a dock floating along the banks of the Potomac River. It's a sunny weekday morning inside the DC beltway, where he lives and works as a military contractor.

"I stumbled upon yoga to save my life, basically, and I knew that I found something special," he said. "And it's taking me on a totally different path than I originally planned."

After a quick warmup, Blazejewski folds over himself, the top of his head resting on the creaky boards beneath him. The soles of his feet rise into a bright blue, cloudless sky. He lifts both arms, vertical against his torso, until he's in a full unsupported headstand or niralamba sirsasana, as the pose is called in yoga-speak.
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Yoga group helping domestic survivors of violence

Personal note to readers: As a survivor of domestic abuse, 2X, it is good to see something like this.

A non-profit is trying to do something to help the survivors.

"In response, Bilyana created Tough As Milk, a nonprofit named after her mother, Milka, which offers free trauma-informed yoga classes in Cleveland to survivors of domestic abuse."

My Dad was a violent alcoholic until I was 13. I was not his target. My Mom and oldest brother were. I was the target of my ex-husband, when he came home from work one night, and decided I needed to die. 

I faced death a lot of times, but while every experience changed me, I survived with pieces of all of it effecting how I live my life. It all helps me understand the veterans I work with.

They cannot understand anything I went through, just as I cannot understand what they lived through in combat. We can, however, understand what it all did to us, and we help each other heal.

It is one of the reasons I started PTSD Patrol. We could not control what happened to us, but we do control what we do every day after it. 

Yoga, Goats and Disabled Firefighter Battle PTSD

Yoga instructor, entrepreneur shares road to recovery after traumatic injury and PTSD
KTLV News
by Genevieve Grippo
April 14th 2018

"You go from hero to zero," said Aversa. "It's devastating."

CENTRAL POINT — The goat yoga craze hit the Rogue Valley on Saturday, but the four-legged guests weren't the only special thing about the session.

The session's instructor, Drew Aversa, is no ordinary yoga teacher. He comes from a background of inspirational recovery after suffering from a traumatic injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"So many people are going through that today, and I wish they could just find yoga and get rid of ego, get rid of whatever stigma they have attached to this 3,000 year old practice that has continuously healed people," said Aversa.

The SOU grad started his working career as a firefighter in California, but a traumatic injury left him confined to a wheelchair.

"Yoga allows the mind and body to connect. It allows people to come together, it allows that pause in our day-to-day life to just be," he said.
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Meditating PTSD Veterans Use Chance to Change

Meditating through the stress
Tribune Chronicle
Emily Earnhart
September 27, 2017

“We follow up at 3 months, 6 months and a year. I have seen participants look 10 years younger by the end. I have had veterans come in with suicidal ideations that at the end of the course have hope for their futures.” Leslye Moore

WARREN — A dozen local veterans spent Tuesday afternoon breathing and meditating their way through their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and service-related injuries.

Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple Local veterans, from left, Matt Vadas, Herm Breuer and Michael O’Brien, all of Warren, talk together in a group setting Tuesday while participating in a Power Breath Meditation workshop at the Trumbull County Veterans Services Commission in Warren. The workshop was part of the Project Welcome Home Troops and taught veterans the Sudarshan kriya yoga (SKY) breathing and meditation practice.

Through the Sudarshan kriya yoga (SKY) breathing practice, military members and their families are getting the chance to change their minds and bodies and to heal through Power Breath Meditation workshops brought to Ohio by Project Welcome Home Troops. About 20 veterans involved in the free program are meeting this week at the Trumbull County Veterans Services Commission in Warren for workshops focused on stress reduction and coping skills.
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Yoga Calms and Bonds Florida Veterans

Yoga helps Manatee vets copes with mental, physical pains 
Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
May 14, 2015

"Yoga has become much more acceptable to the veteran community," Roberts said.

U.S. Army vets visit before the start of Connected Warrior yoga.JAMES A. JONES JR./Bradenton Herald

MANATEE -- For a few moments each week, the Connected Warrior yoga class pushes back on aches and pains, and memories bringing nothing but anguish.

Some come with post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetic neuropathy, lower back problems, bad knees and more.

Heyward Hawkins, 77, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1956 to 1960 during peacetime. 

"I look forward to coming here for what it does for me mentally and physically," Hawkins said.


"When I am in yoga class, I am reminded that someone cares about me."

Goodwill Manasota began offering free yoga classes for veterans and their families at 8490 Lockwood Ridge Road in 2014.

Harriet Roberts and Linda Lee of Garden of the Heart Yoga, who present the Connected Warrior class, said they feel honored to lead the local veterans.

They know some veteran problems will be with them all of their days. read more here

Shore Bliss Yoga Classes for Military Veterans

The best experts said that treating combat PTSD has to be a triple play. Your mind, your body and your spirit.

In this case, Yoga is among many ways to help teach your body how to react to stress and regain the ability to calm during stressful times. The first Marine I suggested Yoga too didn't react well to the suggestion but he went. He hated the first two classes, then ended up going all the time.

Yoga instructor hopes to help veterans heal from trauma of war
Tampa Bay Online
BY LAUREN RICHEY
Tribune staff
Published: March 7, 2015

Lockom’s military veteran classes are available to anyone, but nonmilitary participants are required to pay the $15 single class fee. The first class is an asana class that deals with physical postures, and the second, titled iRest, focuses more on relaxation and the mental aspect of recovery.

Marsha Lockom, an instructor with the Shore Bliss Yoga studio in Apollo Beach, teaches two intensive yoga classes specifically designed for recovering veterans. Lockom turned to yoga in her battle against the pain of fibromyalgia.
JASON BEHNKEN/STAFF

Out of every 100 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, 11 to 20 have felt the life-altering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Many cope with depression, short-term memory loss, headaches, numbness, anger, and insomnia. Some have turned to substance abuse and suicide.

Once vibrant and healthy, these men and women now live with nearly constant fear and anxiety. In many cases, they’ve tried everything and have lost hope.

Marsha Lockom, an instructor with the Shore Bliss Yoga studio in Apollo Beach, is offering them a second chance. On the second Sunday of every month, Lockom teaches two intensive yoga classes specifically designed for recovering veterans. Both classes are completely free to all military and former military personnel.

Lockom says her main goal is to help them become more aware of their potential for happiness even after life in combat. She specializes in a type of yoga dealing with techniques such as guided meditation, and poses designed for grounding.

“I use teaching methods that help the veterans be present in the moment and in their bodies: feeling what’s happening when they move a certain limb, an arm or a leg,” Lockom said. “For example you wouldn’t see a lot of balancing poses that would put people on edge. You would see them very connected to the ground.”

Most veterans with PTSD deal with a symptom called hyper-vigilance, a term Lockom describes as a constant awareness of potential danger at any time. She says simply taking care with their positioning in a room is incredibly important; for example, she makes sure their backs aren’t to the door during class by placing herself between them and the exit.

Shore Bliss Yoga classes for military veterans
When: Upcoming classes are Sunday and April 12
♦ Veterans Yoga Class: 12:30 to 1:25 p.m.
♦ Veterans iRest Class: 1:30 to 2:15 p.m.
Where: 118 Flamingo Drive, Apollo Beach
For information: (813) 748-4036 or (813) 758-3930; info@shoreblissyoga.com
http://tbo.com/health/yoga-instructor-hopes-to-help-veterans-heal-from-trauma-of-war-20150307/

PTSD Veterans Use Yoga To Learn To Calm Down Again

Veteran helps other vets through yoga therapy
KRDO News
Emily Allen
Multimedia Journalist
Target 13 Investigator
POSTED: Nov 19, 2014

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
Students gathered Wednesday for a yoga class aimed at helping veterans and others cope with mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder.

The class is offered at Hot On Yoga and taught by a veteran, Jason Smiley. When Smiley got his teaching certificate for yoga, he wasn't thrilled about the idea of teaching people who were solely focused on the physical aspect of the practice. He looked into therapeutic yoga and found a national program called Yoga For Veterans.

"Everyone can use yoga, that's for sure, but there are so many veterans and their families that are in need of this kind of help at this point in time," said Smiley.

Smiley collaborated with Hot On Yoga studio owner Mike Gumucio to create a class called "Mindful Resilience" focused on mental healing.

Smiley joined the Army right after high school and feels that being a veteran helps him connect with other veterans during yoga.

"I feel like it's very easy for vets to connect with other vets and that's part of the reason I want to be teaching these classes," said Smiley.

Teaching the program has also benefited Smiley.

"I have some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder so I feel like this class really helped me and I believe that it has the capacity to help other people in the same way," said Smiley.
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Yoga offers healing to wounded war fighters

Find what works for taking care of your mind, your body and your spirit. Keep looking until it all works together to help you heal.

Wounded veterans turn to yoga for strength and solace
At Naval Medical Center San Diego, amputees and trauma victims practice an ancient Hindu tradition. The military is increasingly using alternative therapies.
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2013

SAN DIEGO — Army 1st Sgt. Chris Montera, who lost both legs above the knee and suffered third-degree burns over 60% of his body in a mortar attack in Afghanistan, is doing a headstand, guided by yoga instructor Sunny Keays.

"It takes a lot of pressure off my back and spine," said Montera, 33, who was on his fourth combat tour when he was hurt. "It helps with the pain."

Marine Sgt. James Bernard, 25, who returned from combat in Helmand province in Afghanistan with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, is going through a series of stretching, relaxing and breathing exercises nearby, under the gentle guidance of yoga instructor Barbara Lyon.

Bernard's wife, Keely, 25, said yoga is helping her husband regain the composure and self-confidence that he had before he went to war. She accompanies him to yoga classes at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

"He seems more aware now of who he is," she said.

To help military personnel overcome the physical and emotional wounds from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hospitals run by the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs are increasingly turning to the ancient Hindu practice of yoga and other alternative therapies, including tai chi, transcendental meditation and Reiki.
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Tony Perkins wants Marines to "just pray"

Conservative Pundit Ridicules US Marines For Yoga PTSD Prevention
Business Insider
Geoffrey Ingersoll
Jan. 9, 2013

A few weeks ago we wrote about the U.S. Marines including Yoga in a prevention and therapy approach to post traumatic stress.

Well, conservative talk show host Tony Perkins, president of the Christian right think tank Family Research, decided that kind of mumbo jumbo has no place in 'Merica's fine military — and that instead soldiers should just pray.
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Got PTSD? Try Yoga

Too many years ago to admit, I remember a Marine I told to take up Yoga. He thought I was out of my mind. "What's next? Knitting?" and he hung up the phone. A week later he called me and told me that he decided to try it and after the first class, he was willing to do it again. Since he didn't call me after that to chew me out, I can only assume it worked for him. The goal is to reteach the body to clam down. That's all. There is no magic spell in any of this and no one size fits all. The whole veteran has to be treated and that includes their minds, body and spirit.

If you cannot do Yoga because of physical problems, then try taking a walk with headphones plugged into calming music so that when you start to think about unpleasant things, you can refocus on the music. The goal is to calm down on the walk so heavy metal or rap won't help when you're doing it.

Some find healing in art, writing and martial arts. Meditation and Yoga have also been around for enough centuries that the benefits have been proven to be real.

What do Madonna, Matthew McConaughey, and Jennifer Aniston have in common with our veterans?
Huffington Post
Lisa Cypers Kamen, MA
Executive Director, Harvesting Happiness
January 9, 2013

Yoga. With this celebrity fitness secret now going mainstream, even our veterans are hitting the yoga mat. Why? To treat their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's the latest proof that, sometimes, a harmonious brain-body connection is the best medicine.

With more than one-third of our veterans suffering from PTSD, it's clear that the go-to therapies -- pills and prescriptions -- aren't solving the problem. But interestingly enough, research shows that trauma-sensitive yoga, which uses breathing, stretching and meditation, can help calm the portion of the brain that gets hyper-aroused during a stress episode -- no medication required.

If you've ever practiced yoga or meditation, this probably doesn't surprise you. Yoga has been known to have a cathartic effect, unlocking a person's repressed emotions. And in the case of PTSD, it can help a person shift his or her focus inward, away from the stress and trauma, by triggering the parasympathetic nervous system. Yoga isn't a substitute for warranted medical care, but it is an integrated, evidence-based strategy that will help people cope, heal, grow and thrive. read more here

New DVD Features Yoga By Veterans, For Veterans

New DVD Features Yoga By Veterans, For Veterans
by: yogaactivist
August 24, 2012

Daniel Hickman has taught yoga to amputees at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for five years. Through yoga and meditation, he works to help combat veterans cope with phantom limb pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. Yoga is now often used to complement traditional medical treatment for trauma survivors.

Through his dedication to working with this population, Hickman has created an 80-minute DVD for veterans to share the stress-relieving benefits of yoga–improved sleep, mindfulness, improved circulation, body awareness, and pain relief. The VetsYoga DVD features two beginner yoga sessions demonstrated by veterans who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and found healing through yoga.

“I found that yoga and meditation helped me respond better to traditional therapies,” said Sgt. Hugo Patrocinio, one of the veterans in the video. “Hopefully other veterans can use this DVD to help themselves heal.”
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Disabled Gulf War Vet walks again because someone believed in him

A Yoga instructor finally thought this disabled veteran was worth believing in and he was proven right! Get out your tissue box. You'll need it.

Disabled Veteran Loses 140 Pounds
Regains Ability to Walk Against Near-Impossible Odds
May 17th, 2012 11:50 AM by Free Britney

If you've ever felt sorry for yourself or thought about giving up on a life goal you felt was impossible, then you need to watch this amazing video.

Told he would never walk unassisted again, a 47-year-old Iraq War veteran (the first Iraq War) had let himself go and ballooned to 297 pounds.
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Meditation being studied for treatment of PTSD in veterans

Don't laugh. It does help. Reading this brought back memories of a tough Marine's reaction when I told him he needed to take up Yoga. He glared at me then asked "What's next? Knitting?" Once I explained to him that he had to teach his body to go into high gear to face combat, he had to train his body to calm down now, he gave it a try. It helped and he had his buddies go for it too.

Part of PTSD is the reaction of the body during flashbacks and nightmares. It goes into full alert and gets tense. Veterans have to get their bodies to learn how to calm down just as much as they have to work on their mind and spirit. PTSD takes over the whole veteran and not just their memories.

Meditation being studied for treatment of PTSD in veterans
Posted: Saturday, May 5, 2012
Bloomberg News Service

WASHINGTON — Seeking new ways to treat post-traumatic stress, the Department of Veterans Affairs is studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs’ $5.9 billion system for mental-health care is under sharp criticism, particularly after the release of an inspector general’s report last month that found that the department has greatly overstated how quickly it treats veterans seeking mental-health care.

VA has a “huge investment” in mental-health care but is seeking alternatives to conventional psychiatric treatment, said Scott Gould, deputy secretary of veterans affairs.

“The reality is, not all individuals we see are treatable by the techniques we use,” Gould said at a summit Thursday in Washington on the use of TM to treat post-traumatic stress suffered by veterans and active-duty service members.

By some estimates, 10 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan show effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, numbers that are overwhelming the department.
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Orlando veterans use yoga to calm PTSD

Vets learn to breathe
By Brittni Johnson
April 5, 2012

Yoga can help war veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder through breathing and other relaxation techniques in yoga. A group in Massachusetts is bringing that training to East Orlando.

For many military personnel, adjusting to life after combat is a struggle. For Sean McGrath, a Marine, retiring and returning to normal life was made worse by a divorce at the same time. Life was difficult for him, and readjusting to everyday life with his family back home wasn’t going smoothly. They were worried.

“They didn’t know how to help me,” McGrath said.

But that next Christmas his sisters had an idea – yoga. McGrath, a Massachusetts resident, got a gift certificate to attend a Yoga Warriors class. He wasn’t so sure at first, but with one session he was hooked. McGrath felt comfortable in a class surrounded by people just like him. It was made for veterans.

Teacher Lucy Cimini, director for the Yoga Warriors, developed the program specifically for veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the daily and specific stresses military members are exposed to. Through yoga, soldiers are able to cope with situations that trigger memories that cause fear or aggression by using the tools taught in the program, like deep breathing to calm down.

After getting an interest in how yoga helps military members, Cimini partnered with representatives from the U.S. Air Force, Tufts University and Worcester University to conduct a study on its effects.

The study, published in the January/February 2012 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy found that hatha yoga is effective in treating PTSD and the stresses experienced by military personnel, even better than other more common treatments, like talk therapy.

“A lot of veterans say, ‘This not only helped me but it saved my life,’” Cimini said.

Now Cimini is bringing her skills as the founder of the first and largest yoga for veterans program in the U.S. to Yoga East in Avalon Park. Cimini will be teaching yoga teachers how to conduct their own yoga for veterans program. She’ll teach Yoga East owners Michelle and Greg Owens while she’s there this April. And then, most likely in May, Yoga East will offer its own free yoga for veterans class once per week.

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From combat boots to Yoga mats

Telling them to take care of their mind, soul and body is one thing. Telling them Yoga helps, especially with Marines, it another story. I told one Marine years ago he should take Yoga. He snapped back, "What's next? Knitting?" I don't know if he ever tried it but I hope he did. After all, learning how to calm down your body as well as your mind helps heal you faster than anything else.

From Danger Zone to Om Zone: How Yoga is Making its Way Into Our Military
Posted: 12/19/11

Aditi Nerurkar, M.D., M.P.H.Physician and Integrative Medicine

Yoga. Famously practiced by Madonna, Gwyneth, and Sting. Less-famously practiced by 16 million others. And now... even by our military. Though we envision the typical yoga-going American as a Lululemon-clad, earthy female, a fresh crop of American yogis are being cultivated from this fatigue-clad, stereotypically-rigid repository.

The Department of Defense is currently investigating yoga as a therapeutic intervention in its men and women, and much of its interest has been spurred by the large numbers of returning combat veterans with PTSD.

"Historically, PTSD has been overwhelmingly treated as a mental health condition with psychological treatments, and the body has been ignored. But PTSD is a mind-body disorder with both mental and physical components. So yoga, in its blending of physical postures with conscious breathing, adds a strong dimension for the existing treatment of PTSD," says Sat Bir Khalsa, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who is conducting yoga trials on military personnel. "Our results are preliminary, but they do show a statistically significant improvement in the severity of PTSD with yoga," he says.
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Former homicide prosecutor now yoga guru for combat vets

Former homicide prosecutor now yoga guru for combat vets

By Mike Clary, Sun Sentinel
1:02 p.m. EDT, July 30, 2011

FORT LAUDERDALE—
During his 22 years as a Broward County prosecutor, David Frankel tried cases so saturated in mayhem and madness they sounded like horror fiction. The case of the severed head. Death by acid bath. The mutilation of the gurgling prostitute.

But the cases were real.

Outside the courtroom, Frankel struggled to balance the stress of trial work and the suffering of the crime victims he represented by studying Hindu philosophy and practicing theyoga he learned years ago from his grandmother.

Eventually, however, that balance was lost. "I felt I had reached the peak of what I was doing in law, but I didn't sleep well," Frankel said. " It was swallowing me whole. I had to make a change."
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Former homicide prosecutor now yoga guru for combat vets

Yoga Therapy for Depression, Anxiety, PTSD

It isn't hard to understand but most of the Marines I work with think I'm nuts. Aside from the obvious reasons, they are usually convinced of this as soon as I tell them to go take Yoga. All these young, strong, tough Marines think of is bending their bodies up like a pretzel and they are done with the idea. Then I tell them their bodies know how to calm down, how to stop feeling as if they are going to explode when they have a panic attack or anxiety takes over. It's all built into the body but we all forget how to do it. Yoga instructors teach a lot more than how to twist your body up into un-natural shapes and on this, their help is priceless. They can help you regain the ways your body and mind work. Whenever the body-mind and spirit are all addressed, healing is much greater and faster than addressing one part of "you" at a time.

Yoga Therapy for Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder and …
By randy
Yoga Therapy for Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder and … Posted by randy 28 Jun, 2010. Some studies have shown that controlled breathing, which is an integral part of most types of yoga

Yoga Helps Veterans Heal Physical, Emotional Wounds

Hendrickson is 55 years old, but can stretch and pose like someone half his age. He says he practiced yoga on and off starting in college, but it became a regular part of his routine when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2003. He was in charge of a medical team that treated soldiers and civilians injured by bombs and land mines.

Yoga Helps Veterans Heal Physical, Emotional Wounds
By Erin Toner
March 22, 2010 WUWM Milwaukee, WI
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on military families. There’s a high rate of divorce, depression and substance abuse among people who’ve served. Some suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Doctors often treat PTSD with medication and psychotherapy, but WUWM’s Erin Toner met a group of veterans who also practice yoga as part of their healing process.

In the daytime, the VA Medical Center in Milwaukee is a hectic place. You can drive around for 15 minutes just to find a parking spot. It’s a different scene at night, when the appointments are finished and much of the staff has gone home. But even in the calm, the care continues.

“Good evening, welcome to session seven of the Battle Body Relaxation Yoga Sessions.” That’s Andy Hendrickson, a registered nurse at the VA. He also leads yoga classes here a few nights a week.

go here for more

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=5926

Healing the hidden wounds of soldiers

Healing the hidden wounds of soldiers

Craig and Marc Kielburger

In yoga, the warrior pose represents the spiritual strength of the person performing the move.

As Lucy Cimini slowly leads her students into the posture at the Central Mass Yoga Institute, it takes on new meaning.

The men standing firm-footed with their arms outstretched are not your typical yoga students. They are warriors – actual ones, not just spiritual.

Cimini’s Yoga Warriors program, which was started for veterans of Vietnam and has grown to include those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, uses the tenets of the meditative discipline to teach coping strategies for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Men come out the service and they are just so stressed out,” she says. “It’s very hard to get veterans to come forward and join a group like that. When they’re in it though, they know it actually helps them.”

Help can be one of the hardest things to ask for, especially for veterans. PTSD has often held stigma in the armed forces. Historically, it was referred to as battle fatigue or shell shock before being officially recognized as an illness in 1980.
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Healing the hidden wounds of soldiers