Michael Novotny, MH
During my last tour of duty at Fort Carson, Colorado, I experienced the loss of a fellow soldier to suicide. I wish I could say that they were the only soldiers I knew who chose to take their own lives. But suicide has hurt me and my colleagues many times.
The suicide of a soldier at Fort Carson shook me to my core. That’s when I knew I needed to step forward and connect soldiers and veterans with self-empowering healing practices.
My path to healing began around 2012, a little more than halfway through my military career. I spent 20 years on active duty, eight of them in Special Forces. Working at such a high tempo for such a long period of time took a toll on me mentally, physically, and mentally.
In 2012, I realized I was suffering but couldn’t put a name to it. I didn’t know why I was feeling anxious and nervous, why everything felt like my life was in danger when it wasn’t. Even though I was filing reports and preparing for very low threats, I still felt like my life was in danger.
I felt like I was spiraling and there was nothing pulling me back.
Luckily, I had a warrant officer who asked us all to go to yoga one day. He might as well have told us to wear slippers to work. I was a soldier. I didn’t do “yoga”.
But I took a yoga class and it changed my life.
As you know, soldiers are well known for working out hard in the gym and not stretching. Our jobs demand a lot from our bodies, including carrying hundreds of pounds of backpacks for miles. Then suddenly you get an injury to your back, your muscles become stiff and your body shifts out of alignment. Many of us suffer from chronic pain. I knew that many people felt like their only options were prescription drugs, surgery, and other invasive treatments that cost a lot of money, put additional stress on the body, and slowed recovery. It takes a lot of time.
When I walked into that yoga class with my warrant officer and my fellow soldiers, everyone probably walked into that room with some form of stress, anxiety, depression, or PTSD. Mental health issues were rampant in our unit at the time, and everything was boiling under the skin.
When we finished that yoga class, we learned that there is another way to deal with the intense physical and mental pain that many of us have. We departed with the knowledge that we can use our breath as a tool to connect with our bodies and flip a switch within ourselves so we can move from a “fight or flight” state to a “breathe and let go” state. . “State.
Yoga made me fall in love with it from my first class. I can’t believe I’ve been practicing yoga for over 10 years. And now, through my work with Endeavors, I see that they are helping other veterans in the same way.
As I furthered my yoga practice and became a certified instructor in 2019, I learned that while some healing may require surgery, some types of healing simply require developing a deeper relationship with your body. I learned that there are cases. Yoga, a physical practice, introduced me to breathing techniques, another great tool for releasing patterns of stress and tension.
Over the past few years, breathing techniques have become a focus of my research. As a breathing practitioner and coach, I know there is a wealth of research that shows that being able to connect with your breath in certain ways can directly impact the function of vital organs such as your brain, lungs, and heart. I knew. For so many veterans and veteran families who are drowning in chronic pain due to disability, mental illness, financial stress or housing stressors, being able to increase mental coherence and release tension in the body is invaluable. , is often the first step to breaking the cycle of anxiety. , depression, suicidal thoughts.
Today, I am fortunate to work with El Paso’s veteran and border patrol communities at Endeavors, a humanitarian organization that has been serving El Paso’s defense community since 2017. As a health and wellness practitioner at Endeavors, I lead free yoga classes and breathing meditations. Group, individual mind-body and light therapy sessions in the wellness room.
These tools can be the first step toward a better life for veterans. For years, I have watched my fellow soldiers suffer and feel as if they have no other choice. Now, I am honored to be able to show my fellow veterans that there is help.that there is Low cost, easy access help. You did not fail, you are not alone, and you can regain the health you deserve.
It starts with breathing.
