Felicia Robinson - Inside Connected Warriors: Transforming Military Lives with Yoga

Felicia Robinson is a passionate advocate for military families and veterans, serving as a key figure in the nonprofit organization Connected Warriors. With a rich background rooted in military culture—she grew up in an Air Force family and is married to an active duty member—Robinson channels her personal experiences into her professional endeavors. Her work focuses on integrating trauma-conscious yoga and mentorship programs for service members, veterans, first responders, and their families. Robinson's commitment to fostering resilience and wellness is exemplified through her dedication to Connected Warriors, where she helps provide vital support through yoga and holistic practices.

Visit Connected Warriors' website here: https://connectedwarriors.org/

Key Takeaways:

• Connected Warriors offers trauma-conscious yoga classes and mentoring programs for veterans and first responders, contributing significantly to their overall well-being.
• Transitioning from military to civilian life presents unique challenges, making community support and structured wellness programs vital.
• Yoga, meditation, and holistic practices are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic effects, aiding in alleviating PTS symptoms and enhancing overall quality of life.

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Chapters

• 0:03 Felicia Robinson's Journey with Connected Warriors and Homesteading
• 5:04 Growing Up in a Military Family and Its Challenges
• 8:19 Felicia Robinson's Journey Through Yoga and Mentorship
• 20:26 Undiagnosed PTSD in the Military Community
• 22:56 Trauma-Informed Yoga Practices in Clinical Settings
• 30:07 hallenges and Transitions for Veterans in Civilian Life
• 40:17 Empowering Veterans Through Yoga and Community Support
• 47:56 Art and Therapy for Veterans at Connected Warriors

Transcript

0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast, so happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, body work and beyond. Follow us at @nativeyoga and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Hello and welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. Oh, what an episode. I can't wait for you to meet Felicia Robinson. She has been involved with Connected Warriors for about what you say, 11 years or maybe longer. And her website, or, I'm sorry, the website for connected Warriors is connectedwarriors.org you can find them on Facebook and Instagram, the handles the same@connectedwarriors. It was founded by a woman named Judy Weaver, who is so nice and sweet. Hello, Judy. I hope you're listening and but I got a chance to speak with Felicia, who is really involved in helping to grow the connected Warriors Program, which helps military and active service folks in our community. So definitely like, if financially you can support, go to their website and make a donation, I'd be so happy. Thank you so much. I really, I feel like this is an important cause, and I just want to express all my gratitude to everybody, all of our service members, that for what you do for us. Thank you so much. And we I hope that this podcast helps in some way, even if it's a little tiny bit, and I think that about covers it. There is an event happening in Boca for connected warriors on December 10. It's a sound bath. It's a fundraiser. So if you are in the south Florida area, check out on the website connected warriors. Felicia said it'll also be, she'll be putting on the social media. So you'll, you know, you'll find that easy. And there is an Eventbrite already created. So you could, you could donate, even if you are unable to attend, you could donate to the event. And then also, you'll hear Felicia mention about a submission of art from the military community for the brick center in Boca, and you'll find that information on their website too. All right. Well, it's time to meet Felicia. Let's begin. I feel really honored to have this chance to meet and speak with Felicia Robinson. Felicia is involved with helping grow and maintain connected warriors, which is a nonprofit organization that helps people in the military through the realm of yoga, and I'm sure lots of other outreach programs and so first of all, thank you so much, Felicia, for joining me. How are you? How's your day going so far? Yeah, thank you for having me. Oh, it's been good just getting my work done and taking care of the household and all that good stuff I hear ya. Well, it's is your, is your? Are your household duties a big job? Um, yeah. I mean, I we have a we're slowly building like a homestead type thing. So, oh, cool, you know, vegetable garden and chickens and all the animals. So, no, yeah, I say we just, well, like I said, we just moved down here to Manchester about a year and a half ago, so we're trying to build all that up. Amazing Manchester, Tennessee, correct? Yes, cool. Are you on a little bit of acreage, like an acre or more? We do have an anchor, yeah, cool. Doesn't that seem like that's more than enough land if you want to have a garden? Like that's actually a lot of land to maintain, if you're, if you're, yeah, yeah, I'd say we probably only utilize about half of it, because the other half is still, like woodland, but it's, it's enough for, for what we have, for our family. So very cool. And you said, family? Do you have children? We do. So I have two, and then we're. A blended family. So we actually have four total are they all living with you at your house? So the my two are with me, and then we get the other two every other very cool, awesome, amazing. I want to go down the road of yoga and connective warriors, but I'm just so curious. So are you is, is being a homesteader or growing your own food, own food, and being self sufficient, something that you've always been interested in and or doing your whole life? Or is this a new adventure for you? It's something that I've kind of grown into, yeah, and some of it is just, you know, health wise, realizing that it's a lot healthier for me and my family to have you know, and to know how our stuff is being grown, and just kind of having that. And it's also like a sense of like accomplishment when you actually yield us, yield your vegetables and stuff. And it's like, okay, cool. I did this. That's so cool. I agree with you what that's amazing that you're doing that I really, I admire that. Yeah, not to take us too far off the track, because I really want to get to the heart of the matter in terms of what your role is with connected warriors. But first, can you define connected warriors and what the ethos Sandor mission is, yeah, so connected warriors has been around since 2010 it was found by Judy Weaver and Ralph lavino, and she had worked with an Army Ranger For who had, MS, no Lou Gehrig's disease. I'm sorry, but he worked with she worked with him for about two years, the latter part of his his life. And you know, she saw the change in him, working with him one on one, and being able to move his fingers when he couldn't and, you know, and seeing that there was less pain. And then she took that, and she was like, You know what? After seeing like, black hop down and the heart Walker, she's like, I can do something with this. We can do something of this, yes, and she really took that deep dive into trauma conscious yoga, and she's worked with several other well known psychologists and all that stuff. She's a wealth of knowledge. But Judy is amazing. I've had a chance to practice with her, because she lives in the south Florida area, and she has practiced here at our studio many years ago. I haven't seen her in so long, so I'm so glad to make this connection with you and hopefully reconnect with her as well. Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, she's like, she's she was excited that I was doing this. So yeah, yeah. And so well from that, it was our origin of providing trauma conscious yoga to all service members, first responders, veterans and their family members. And I would also include in that, you know, caretakers as well. Got it. Got it, yeah, what is your connection to the military, if any at all? So I'm a military family member. I grew up in Air Force family. My dad is retired Air Force, but he also still works civilian going on, you know, retirement number two, so he's still he's still at it. And then my husband is active guard in Tennessee, so he is also a combat veteran from his active duty time in the army. Got it? Can you tell me what it is like growing up in a military family? It definitely has its challenges, you know, with a lot of in and outs. But of course, a lot sometimes that'll depend on what your parents Moses, so there's, there's the mentality growing up with military is definitely a lot different. And I learned that, you know, after I left home for a little bit. And you know, it was out in the civilian world, and I think there's not to get too sporadic here, but, you know, seeing how my kids grow up now versus how I did, because we lived on base, so everything was military. You know, we had guards the gate. It was, it was very structured, very you had expectations that you you had to to meet, and all of that understood. But life is is different in military, you know, it's between the ins and outs of you know, your parent, and then having one parent that. Has to take on both aspects when that other you know, your co parent's not there, and then, you know, having to work with the transitions of once that second parent is home, and then how that person comes home might be different than how they left, yeah, as far as whatever they've experienced, and how they interact with the family after that interesting, yeah? So it's, it's a lot. I'm like, I definitely feel like we're, we're a little bit of a stronger kind of child. That makes sense, right? Because if you have that challenge, yeah, you you've learned how to be resilient, yeah? You know, and then there's always that, you know, your your friends, especially when you grow up on base. You know, it's not as bad now where your families move, like every year to two years, and now it's about every three to five years, depending on what their MOS is and stuff. But you know, you might make really great friends, but then a year from now, you know, that friend is gone, and it's like, start over again. And or, you know, you move and it's like, oh, okay, I have to start over again. And so there is this, like, transitory lifestyle, you know, that we have. So that's probably one of the biggest things in military families. Yeah, I hear that being able to navigate those got it. What? Yeah. What role has yoga and or yoga meditation and the world of yoga played in your life? Yeah? So I actually started as a teenager just learning out books. Yeah, this is probably early, 2000s 2000 Yeah, um, so we, you know, it was something that I just kind of dabbled with, but I knew that it was, there was something to it may not quite understood at that time as a teenager, but I was like, okay, you know, I sit here, I breathe, yeah? You know, it definitely helped with that teenager. You know, anxiety and you know how life is as a teenager, yeah? But it's, it definitely helped, I think, regulate me and help me through some of those transitions. Amazing. Do you do remember what the book was? Do you remember your first first person it wrote? Yeah, tell me. So it was an Ashtanga vinyasa, cool book. And actually, I just gave it to my stepdaughter, like, a year ago, because she's getting interested. And I was like, Okay, well, yeah, this is my first one. But yeah, I was like, what was her name? Ooh, I can't remember. I could start naming it. Was a female teacher. It was a yes, it was female. Start with a T, I think Tara, no, let me think T, ah, oh, boy, doesn't matter whoever you are out there. Thank you, yes. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to put together a book to inspire Felicia to want to get into yoga. That's awesome. Now, what was it like deck of cards that I would use, like a deck of cards that had pictures of poses on it, type of thing? Or, yeah, yeah. How did your immediate family react when you said, Look what I got. They're always supportive. Cool. That is a Yeah, and say they've always been supportive of that. But I mean, like we always did sports and stuff growing up, they like to keep us busy. Yeah, so, so, yeah, you know it was, it was a good thing. So, yeah, they totally supported that. What was your evolution the next step in your yoga journey in relation to your first experiencing practicing with either a group or a teacher who has dedicated their time in life to yoga. Yeah. So I first started at a studio when I was about 21 after I moved back to California to Virginia, and I was lucky enough there was a brand new studio that opened up. It was a hot yoga studio, actually, Barkin method, but she kind of she, I fell in love with it, and she took me under her wing. She was like another mom and her husband. Ironically, her husband's also retired Navy, but she's but she was great. She took me under her wing, she mentored me, and then I went off to my first training with Roth gates. Oh, cool. I've heard so many great things about him. He's fabulous. That's awesome. Somebody told me recently they're going to go. Do a retreat with him in Costa Rica soon, and it just sounded really cool. Sounds about right? Yeah, okay, on say, yeah, he likes Costa Rica, but he's, yeah, no, he's great. And he's, he's the author of meditations from the mat or on the mat, correct? Yes, cool, awesome. And then his wife also does power yoga for kids, very and she does children's books and stuff for it, too. Awesome. I've never met him that. That's cool. I've heard so many great things. So then you became, you got certified as a yoga teacher, or took a teacher training program. Was that at that same studio? Or did you was it? This is this years later, yeah, so myself and then another teacher at this studio, we, we both went and we did a 30 day intensive. And that was it was intense. Who, who, what, where, why, when, where was it so isn't the Berkshires in Massachusetts cool? We did it and, like, it was like, A, B and B, basically, but it was up in the hills. It was so awesome. Nice, man. We worked from 630 in the morning to like, eight o'clock at night every day. That's so cool. I hear you like you feel like you were challenged. It was a it was an intense challenge. What? What sort of benefits do you feel like you gained from that experience, not having the distractions, honestly, like the 30 day retreat setting of being a step away. Did you have children at that point, or were you still, yeah, yeah, yeah, understood, yeah. I'm like, I could do that at that point. Yeah. Isn't it funny when we look back prior to before, you know, before kids, like, BK or Yeah, and you go, Oh my gosh. I just had no idea. Like, had so much free time. I still so much free time, and I was still, like, complaining about it, and now you're just like, Oh, if I just had a moment, well, that's, yeah, that's so cool. And then so at this point, so now you're like, Okay, I am certified, or I've, I've done this training. What was your first teaching experience? Um, so I actually had, because I came back, I had to teach my mentor for a while, for about a, I'd say, about a month before she put me in the classroom, cool, by myself. Yeah, nice. And that was, which was great, because I was like, I've already it was, it was nice, because I always already familiar with a lot of the students, you know, from practicing there and, you know, and getting to know them. So it was, it was a good experience. I was able to kind of jump right in, yeah, I was, I was lucky enough that I had such a good, you know, mentor to have me, you know, be able to go in there and have the confidence, yeah, one of the biggest things when you start is having the confidence so true? Yeah, I was telling somebody today that when I the first teacher training we did was just like a one on one, out of necessity, somebody, we needed help, and she was curious, and we're like, let's do this. And I remember how nervous she was before her first class. I was like, It's okay. You're gonna be alright. She was like, so nervous, so that's cool. You broke that ice. And then, what was your introduction to connected warriors? How did that come into your sphere? Yeah, so when I was with my kids dad, he actually got PCs to Fort Campbell for 160 at Special Operations Aviation measurement. Help me out. PCs means, so it's a permanent change of station. Got it? Yeah. So basically, they move you to a new place. Understood. Alright, that makes sense. I just didn't know. I want to make sure I get the jargon and I'm sorry, I'll let you continue. So I actually worked on the compound with where my my husband was working at, and she was offering a connected warriors class there. And then I had actually started teaching at one of the first studios in Clarksville. And then that's how we kind of got together. And she did a training for connected warriors there to help build, you know, the the class offerings. And then it's just, I'm like in the next history, I've been with them since 2013 Nice. Wow. So you put in a good 1111, years now, and so it is a nonprofit, and I'm gathering you all try to can you explain to me what your mission is in relation to what sort of programs do you offer? So we offer our you. Our general consensus is the trauma conscious yoga classes that's free for all service members, first responders and veterans and their family members. Beyond that, we do offer the elevated Warriors Program, and for that, you know it we accept veterans and service members and first responders into that program, and it's a mentoring program that eventually takes you to a 200 hour very cool. Yeah, so training service members learning to teach yoga in that environment, and they might have come in through the door from the free classes, feel like they got great benefit, and you've and Judy's put the program together. Is it A, is it a combination of all of your guys's efforts? How does the how does that mentorship program look and feel like so it's, it's been like a transitory thing as well over the years, especially since COVID. So we've actually shifted everything over to a virtual, online and then we do the final in person. Got it, yeah? So they have to do all their exam, and they're everything in person, cool. Got it, yeah. And so I get to see them every week. Nice. Do you facilitate that mentorship I do, yes, depending on how many we have, I will also we have other connected warriors, teachers that are veterans that I will link them up with and so that they can, they can work with another veteran, very cool. But I do also mentor ones in particular. They don't have somebody in that particular area or region that they're in, I'll take them one but so they usually get paired with another veteran. Got it, got it through the program. That's a great idea. How, how many people can you mentor at any one given time, like, what's what's your capacity to do, to get this done in a way that you feel like you're making it work. Yeah? So I think the the max is, is 10 that I'll take on. Oh, wow, yeah. But yeah, five, between four and six is, like, the sweet spot. Got it, yeah, yeah. And that's usually where it ends up being, which we've tried to kind of come up with a system to help make sure that the people coming in are actually that are they're ready. You know, if they have too much going on, then they're not going to be able to really maintain or get, potentially get too triggered during the program, then they need to do some work prior to coming in, so we'll work with them separately until then got it. Yeah, can you shed a little bit of light on how prevalent could you use the word triggered. PTSD is in the military community, a lot more than what they say. Yeah, it's definitely a lot more than what the percentage is out there. And a lot of that is due to the stigma of, well, if an active duty member has PTSD if they go to, you know, their mental health facility, you know they're for those that don't want to get out, you know, they don't want that to be a hindrance to them and their career, yeah. So it goes undiagnosed, yeah. So we really don't know the exact, you know, percentage, the exact number of those that have PTS which is why, like we, over the years, we've stopped adding the D to PTSD, because not everybody gets diagnosed with it. I was wondering, I noticed that you did that, and I was curious. Ptss, man, that's maybe how you say it. But that's because if it's a disorder, it's diagnosed, and if it's not, it's still post traumatic stress. And you're saying it's bigger than then the stats are going to tell us absolutely what, what are I know there's, I've had a chance to explore trauma informed yoga. I'm curious what's some of the key takeaways that you've learned as going from being a yoga teacher that's trained in more of like, say, the contemporary style, where you maybe be teaching to like a public class. Can you explain a little bit about what you've learned over the years of working in a trauma informed environment, and how that compares to the public environment or the the contemporary absolutely, you know over the years, especially as I've worked so much with a. Um, our active duty. Um, everybody has, everybody experiences trauma at some point in their life. Um, that I've kind of adopted in my regular classes, some of the same protocols that we do on our trauma conscious classes, because you don't know what somebody's coming in with. Yes, now I still may use like Sanskrit in my regular classes and and teach a little bit more traditionally, but some of my verbiage will be different. And then how I communicate in my classes. Communication is like, you know, one of the biggest things, you know, not just talking to person, but also how we communicate when we're teaching, you know, even if let's just, you know, like, for example, let's say you've had somebody in your regular class with that potentially had sexual trauma, and they may be jumpy, you know, or, you know, they just may feel unease. If you're a teacher that walks around the classroom. I am definitely one of those teachers, not in my trauma conscious classes, but I'm like, regular classes. I walk around, but I'm not into the point where I'm like, I will verbalize. I'm going to go over here so I can see you better, and so that you can see me better to demo this, or, you know, a lot more verbal if I need to make any sort of adjustments and things like that, less touch, unless I really know the student, if I can verbalize the communicate more than anything that's actually doing them. Yes, yeah, yeah, that's so interesting to be so aware of where you're placing yourself in the room, so that you are not just distracting or creating that sort of nervous energy. That's interesting. Have you ever had a situation that really kind of knocked you off your balance in the sense of like, oh my gosh, I had no idea I was gonna be dealing with this. I don't know what to do. What to do. And then you you figured out a solution in the moment. Do you have any, um, I think I had, well, I had one when I was teaching, and this was in a connected wires class. I was working with the intensive outpatient program on Fort Campbell. And so I would have a set of active duty members with severe PTSD and TBI, and I'd have them for every, every six weeks, they change the group. But where I was teaching, and it was in the beginning, like, I think, was like my first or second class with with the one group, but I had a guy the way that I set up the classroom and where I was, I was standing next to him for too long, and so it it triggered him. Now he handled it really, really good. And I in that situation because it's clinical setting. I always had a therapist or counselor with me. Wow, wow. Like just observing, so that it's almost like this sense of that, then the practitioners taking the class are aware that someone is taking notes on what you do. So it almost feels more like because there's another pair of eyes on the situation. It just keeps it safe. Yeah, that's cool, yeah, especially when you're in that clinical setting and you're working with somebody with severe, yeah, PTSD, you know, you triggers, especially when they're in that severe state, you know, it could be any and I don't know their whole that's a teacher coming in. I don't know what all they've been through, because I'm not the counselor, and that's part HIPAA, so I can't, so I won't know those things, but, you know, something simple as just me standing there was too much for him, and so he ended up communicating that with the counselor, and then she communicated with me. I was like, okay, cool. I'll just rearrange the room and so everybody can see me in the middle. And so we actually did like, a U shape nice class, yeah, yeah, yeah, to worry about that. That's cool. You know, I had, I remember, I went to a massage I'm a massage therapist. I went to a massage training, and the teacher had a voice recording machine, and he said, Okay, I'm gonna basically have a recorder on and I record what I teach so that I can go back and listen to it afterward, just to see if, like I'm feel like I'm communicating things appropriately. And then, and I just thought, Oh, it's so interesting. And then afterward, it made me think that's a really smart thing to do, because then if something did go awry, or there was somebody who said, you said this. Or, you know, you could go back and say, No, actually, I didn't say that. And here, and I thought, Ah, that's a that's probably a really smart move. So even that's doubling up having obviously a therapist in the room, eyes, ears, watching, recording that's. Seems like that would be such a healthy thing that would be, that would be an interesting way to work, for sure, it is, and it's nice though to you know, just because you know, in that particular setting that I was in, knowing that they were in a severe diagnosis of it, that counselor could, if they got triggered, they could help me. Yeah, there were even times like, Oh, that makes sense. Where I teach class I would do like a, like a 1520 minute modified yoga nidra with them. And there were times that some of them would fall asleep, which is awesome. I'm like, that's like, the most rewarding thing, yeah? Because, I mean, they just biggest guys don't sleep. They don't. So the that 1520 minutes, I'm like, Yes, like, that is, that's cool, yeah, yeah, the counselor would handle waking them up because you don't, again, comes down to you don't know how they're going to wake up. Oh my gosh, that's so interesting. Do do you have like, a, is it very like a innate sense that you're able to pick up from the therapist that, uh oh, I might have overstepped a boundary, and they give you a little signal, and then are you guys kind of vibing off each other during it, while you're teaching, or is it just more organic than that? It's more organic than that? Usually, like usually, the counselor would would take class with them, so they're moving with them. Cool. What a great idea. I'm so I'm impressed. That's really cool. I love hearing about these alt you know, like how you can use yoga in these sort of settings, and how much benefit it could be. Can you share any examples of, maybe testimonials and or words that people have shared with you about how what you're doing and what connected Warriors is doing for them? Oh, for sure. We hear a lot, you know, about one, their sleeping habits, their sleeping patterns are getting are better. They're not as agitated or as irritated as they normally would be. You know, they're handling stress better. So the overall, and when they're able to do that, you know, especially when we talk about, like, home life, and that transition from, you know, an active duty state to to coming back home, you know, it, it definitely helps in that transition there. And so, yeah, home life is better. Their life is better. Everybody's quality of life is better, yeah, yeah, definitely. And then we also get a lot that, you know, they're like, I am, I'm not in as much pain. That's another big, big one, yeah, oh my gosh, right, yeah. I mean, because, I mean, even those of us that have never really suffered either made major fall, major impact, or any of that stuff. We're in a lot of pain, like just going through normal day to day life. So I can't imagine having some sort of injury that's caused due to warfare. Or, yeah, yeah, I know, especially with Army, Marines, man, their their bodies get beat up. You know, all the major joints, especially knees, hips, shoulders, a lot of spinal issues, yeah, you know, we see a lot of that, where is, or what is the current role of the VA system in relation to the care people are receiving these days. In your opinion, it's progressing, yeah, in a positive, in a positive way, yes, got it, yeah, cool, um, yeah. And say, they've, they've probably, in the last two, three years, they've really started to embrace the whole health, the whole health care. And so there they are, including the yoga into it, the tai chi, the meditation, all of that. So we're getting more actual outreach in with the VAs cool, yeah, and it's kind of cool though, because, like, not only are they like, hey, my our veterans need this. But they're also like, Oh, our employees need this too, which is good, because we actually have a lot of veterans that work for the VAs, yeah, yeah. So it, I'm like, we've, this past month actually, we just started doing some employee classes for the VA in New York. So it's, it's definitely, you know, they're seeing the importance of it. Nice, yeah, that's cool. My, I have a family member who works as a veteran and works in the cyber security side of the Veterans Administration, so he's really excited about. About being a part of it, and, yeah, trying to keep the whole thing moving forward. And so that's really, that's really good. Yeah, no, it is. It is, you know, they are. They are definitely trying to change things and try, you know, change, change things for, you know, the better, so they can support the veterans more. I yeah, I think they're coming to a place where they're they're finally, kind of like honing in Yes, yes. This is probably a really tough question, Felicia, and I want to tread lightly around it, because I just really want to respect everybody's space here, and so is, I know it's probably an impossible question, because everybody has their own interpretation of what's going on in the world and everything, right? Do you have an understanding of the overall morale of the military currently? Is there? Like I had someone recently who's connected to different military veterans that kind of said that he his take was that the morale was a little low due to changes in the way the military is operating. Do you have any insight in there or, or is that to two persons by person orientated? Um, I can give my my perspective. Um, having, you know, I come from a multi generational military family, and seeing not just like the behavior differences, maturity differences, and then also working with some of our younger active duty members, the ones that are like out of high school, early 20s. It has changed a lot over the years. The one the structure and expectations of those that come into the military, it's a different world than when my dad and my grandfather was in even when with my spouse, it's it's a lot different. Do do you feel like because I'm just guessing here, the standard has been changed, and the standard perhaps was a little more strict, and therefore your grandfather, father might look at it and go, What are they doing? Because they're not holding them to the same level of strictness that they held us. And therefore there's, like, a little bit of resentment. There might be, okay, I'm just curious. There might be, and I think there may be some disappointment, a little bit, okay, thank you. Just standards, in my opinion, thank you definitely higher, you know, in the earlier generation, yeah, yeah, compared to now, okay. You know, even with those that go, that are going in now, they have, like, a pre boot camp to help get them in shape for actual boot camp so, and then the mentality of kids now, and how they grow up is a whole lot different, wow, the older generation, yeah. So how they handle the stress of military life and of military training is way different, interesting, yeah. So they have makes perfect sense. That seems that it would be that way. So thank you so much for elucidating that one. I'm curious. Yeah, it's definitely a lot different. Cool. Got it? Yeah, all right, I get it. Can you tell me a little bit about some strategy for civilian life versus active active duty life balance that you're witnessing is necessary and or important. Obviously, yoga is a big part, because if you go away, you come back, it's stressful to try to adapt to a world of people that have no idea what people are going through, right? I just don't think we I have no idea, right? I can't imagine it. I can't So, what are you what are you witnessing there? So I think, you know, with the the what's the word I'm looking for the not the difference between, like, civilian military, but that transition between the two. One, you know, for an active duty member coming out, they're used to structure they're using they're used to having somebody to that they have to report to. You know, even. And even on a Sunday they, you know, depending on what, you know, trainings and stuff that they're running, they may have to do an account, accountable call, and so, you know, they're used to always having to answer to somebody, and it kind of with military culture. They create, like, a family dynamic. You know, you're you have your brothers and your sisters and your your higher ups, you know, that's like your parents. And so you have this structure. And then when you come out to civilian world, you don't have none of that. There is none of that there. And then, you know, they come out. They're hurting. They potentially have PTS, TB, eyes, and they have no support system, not all, not all of them, but some, you know, there's a good, good portion of them that you know they don't, especially the longer that they've been in, you know, you have this whole group that's like, Okay, now what? Yeah, you come back and like, your friends have moved on, Your family maybe might have moved on, or, oh my gosh, that's so interesting. Yeah, that sounds challenging. It is. And that's where we see a lot of them, you know, end up in drugs or end up being homeless because they just can't, they can't transition. Or, you know, lot of times, and the military kind of gets a bad rap for just handing over pills. And then, you know, they come out and they don't have their health insurance anymore. They don't have that. So then they're, you know, they're like, oh, I don't have all my meds. And it's just, Oh, man. It can be very messy. It can be very it's kind of heartbreaking, isn't it? Yeah, to think that people are fighting and working to make sure that we get to just have this, like, cruisy lifestyle, yeah, I know it's so hard. Well, thank goodness there's people like you that are, like, trying to make a difference and help and like, in the way that you can with something that's so positive, like yoga and breathing and meditation. I mean, that's so that's really amazing. Obviously, you have this heart connection to it. You've been in it your whole life, and I think that's amazing. Felicia, thank you. Yeah, it's definitely something that, you know, it's close to my heart, yeah, and, you know, I see how I grew up, and you know my, my dad was, and then how, you know my, my kid's dad was, my husband is, you know? And it's like, no, like, we can, we can fix some of this. You know, I'm on board with Judy. I'm like, we can fix this. Yeah, we can't have people that are willing to do it. Let's, let's come up with solutions, right? Like, okay, there's a problem. We can fix this. I love it, right? I which is why, like, we have actually worked on like, a transitioning program. We don't have it in play yet, but we've been working on a, like, a six month transition program that those getting out of the military cool. So hopefully it'll alleviate some of those issues that they're having, and then they still have that community, which is one of the biggest things with our classes, you know, that becomes their new community. And we've seen that. We see that so many times in our classes where, you know, if a guy doesn't show up to class, the next time he does, the other guy's like, Where were you? Yeah, accountability, yeah, yeah, that's huge. It is because that's what they're used to. And then now that, once they hit civilian rule, they don't have it. So then we get to rebuild that in our Connected warriors classes. And then it doesn't become any more of like army versus navy. Everybody has disconnected, nice. And then that becomes their new, new family. I get it, I get it. I see it now. I see the vision, right? So do you guys do fundraising? We do fundraising. We do have, we kind of pull from all sorts of, you know, ways that we can, whether it's, you know, online fundraisers. We do different events. We do have some donors that we're able to reach out to and things like that. So nice what we can so anybody listening could go to connectedwarriors.org and there's a Donate here button. Absolutely, that's cool. And I know there's a connected Warrior Program. Connected Warriors Program, very close to where our studio is, in Juneau beach, at a church like walking distance from here, I've heard great things about it. I've had students. I had one of their, one of the students of the program, come in here and practice, and his mom, who she goes with him to support him. And I've heard really great things from. And from, from that mom, son combo, a lot of a lot of really positive vibes about what you guys are doing. So I've had direct on the ground hearing like, oh my gosh, this is a really great thing. I mean, Judy's incredible, and I've heard so many good things about what you guys are doing. So it's a really a pleasure to have a chance to actually speak with you and and hear directly, like, what you guys are up to, if I'm so like, how many connected warriors programs are there around the country right now? If somebody's listening and say, Utah, is there? Is it something that there's a program in every state, or is it mostly Florida and Tennessee? How is it spread out right now. So we have, we are across the United States. We have about 25 classes right now, kind of spread out cool. It really just kind of depends on who we have out there. And, you know, getting people trained, if we have, if we have enough interest in a particular area, we'll try to reach out to some of the local teachers or local studios and be like, Hey, we're having, you know, we've had these people, you know, request classes out here. Is this something you would like to bring into your studio? We'll train, you got it? Yeah, we'll train your teachers. You know? We just, we, you know, we want to be able to rebuild that we are about half of where we were prior to COVID, okay, half the amount of teachers that are, oh, man, I know that was just so hard on everything, especially all the nonprofits and, yeah, okay, if I'm, I am a yoga teacher. But if another person who's listening right now is living somewhere and they want to join the cause. What is your recommendation for us? Yeah, so reach out to me. Okay, email is probably the easiest way Felicia connected warriors.org, cool. That's F, E, L, i, c, I, a, cool. I'll put the link in the description so they can just click the button and boom, your email thing will pop up, and they can write you and say, Hey, Felicia, yeah, I'm interested. Yes. And then I'll take you, I'll take them from there. How you know how they want to contribute. We have some people there that's like, hey, we want to volunteer. Yeah, and not necessarily volunteer as teachers, but just help out in the area for events, or for, you know, anything like that. And so some of them kind of go into becoming what we call ambassadors that help to promote, to promote the program in their area, and to help start adding classes into the area, and kind of do the footwork, because we can only do so much from headquarters. Yeah. So it's a lot easier when we have people on foot in the area that needs some classes. So that makes sense. Have you seen the photography of Robert Sterman? Yes, is that isn't that amazing? He's so cool. I had a chance to interview him recently, and he's wonderful. Oh, what a nice guy. Yeah, and amazing images. I love the imagery that he's doing with military and police and showing them practicing yoga, some of them in uniform, and breaking down that barrier between maybe even the idea, like as a military member, like yoga, that sounds like that would be something wimpy, you know, and breaking that barrier down, have you? Have you seen a little change in that sort of appreciation for it, even, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We definitely have. I mean, we still get some stigma in there. But once we get those guys in there, then they're like, oh, okay, I get it now, yeah, sometimes we kind of have to sell it like, Hey, this is going to help your weight lifting. This is going to help your mobility. For this, maybe with for your PT test, yes. But once they get in and then they start realizing, Oh, I'm I'm sleeping better. I am not as irritated than they're they they're hooked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so cool. Kind of letting it, the actual culture of it, change the culture, versus trying to force sell it. And that makes sense. I think we do that as yoga teachers all the time with everybody, like anyone coming in, you're like, What are you interested in? I'm a cyclist. Yoga is awesome for cycling, because it truly is. I can't think, I don't think yoga can really hurt as a cross training tool for any you know, whether it's athletic or if it's like an intellectual endeavor, or even it's like from a business realm, if you're I think it can improve people's drive to find inspiration and keep their businesses going and all that sort of stuff. It seems like it fits well with everything do. Do you agree? Yes, I don't have to sell you too hard on that idea. It is for everybody. Yoga. Thanks for that. Yes. Thank you, Felicia. You know, well, this has been such a treat. I'm so grateful for the opportunity. You have a great vibe, and I really appreciate your service to the community and helping all of us, you know, make a better world. And is there? Is there anything, Felicia, that I missed out on or a thought or closing words that you'd like to share. I will say, Oh, just for as far as events we have. Oh, that's great. I wanted to ask you about that. Thank you. Please tell me you said there's a sound bath happening. I think you said in in Boca, yes, at the headquarters at brick, which is the Boca Raton innovative center, I believe so it is. But we'll have a sun sound bath on December 8, and I believe it's at one o'clock. Is that something? If they go to connected warriors.com they'll see like an events list, and it'll, it'll point people toward that. It will be coming up soon, and then I'll also be posting it on Facebook, but it is on Eventbrite, yep. And then it's, it's donation based. The suggested donation is 35 but, you know, donate it, whatever you can to it, and then I'll be, I'll be adding the link for Eventbrite and stuff up there. Are you going to travel down to Boca to be a part of it? I would love to, but I Yeah, yeah. And a garden and chickens. You can't really leave chickens. You know, you think, you think you can walk away from your chickens, you can't. You have to be there. And then you told me about also, before we got pushed record that there's what you're accepting art from veterans. Is that correct? Yeah, and brick are doing a collaborative event for next year for 2025 to 2026 in their hall of art. And it's going to be all veterans artwork that will be set up for display. I believe you can submit up to three art submissions, three, three artworks, and then there's a whole application and stuff like that. So cool. Yeah, so we're excited about that. We are looking to get the submissions in by December 10 so they can get everything planned and put together by the New Year is that something that art is seen as a therapeutic expression, and therefore it's being utilized in the community. And therefore there's a lot of people that are painting and creating absolutely, yeah, like, it's amazing the different kind of therapies they have now cool. And then the VA systems are absolutely starting to embrace them even more. So art therapy, music therapy, equine therapy is also a really big one. Oh, cool. Yeah. So it's those, those three specifically, definitely are getting a lot more attention and everything. So oh my gosh. Well, that's cool. Yeah, right, right. And then outside of the event element, is there anything that, if I imagine that somebody listening, is milled well, maybe it has nothing to do necessarily with just military. Maybe somebody's having a really tough time, yeah, any words of like optimism and or encouragement that you can leave us with, yeah, you know, I think especially over over, you know, my lifetime, I've definitely learned, you know, everything is temporary, even when we are in our heads and we think, oh my gosh, this is just ongoing. It's temporary. It's not always going to be like it is right now. Yeah, yeah, great point. You take the breath, you breathe through it, and it'll get better. You know, your your mental attitude definitely plays a big role in whether or not we get stuck in those those heavy patterns, or we're able to break out of it. But everything's a learning experience. Everything is yes and take it with grace, which is not always the easiest, because we're like our own worst critics, but true, it's something that you you have to learn, you know, yeah, and you know, have have that same compassion for yourself as you know you do with other people. Yeah. Good point. Felicia, well. Oh, well said. And once again, I thank you, and I'm so happy to have this chance. I hope I get a chance to meet you in person, maybe down the road, and I really want it made me think, like I want to go over. I wonder if I'd be welcome to actually go take class with them at the connected warrior class, even as just like a participant, just to experience what they're like, is that? Is that a reasonable request? Is that okay? Yeah, all right, yeah, I would say Tom, is your regional for the Juno Beach, west palm area? Yeah, um, he's our command, sorry, a retired Command Sergeant Major. I've heard, I've heard great things about him. I know I heard he's awesome. All right. Well, I'm gonna, I want to go introduce myself to Tom, yeah, thank you, Felicia. I'm really, I'm really, you know, I appreciate this, and I hope that somebody out there get some benefits, and can can help. Can help out a little bit too. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Like we're always we're always here. Reach out. Cool. Thank you so much. Thank you. Native yoga. Todd. Cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen, if you like this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. 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