A Journey to Well-Being

The journey for Ed was not an easy one. He endured hardships in his life to get to where he is now. With the countless struggles he experienced, he reached out to the VA and was given two choices: Beacon House or Veterans Village Recovery Center (VVRC) located on the CVC site. His intuition told him to try VVRC for inpatient treatment, which eventually led him to joining groups and AA meetings in the Social Hall.

A resident of U.S.VETS’ “Veterans in Progress” program since September 2017, Ed came to the realization that his fellow housemates’ experiences were quite similar to his. This inspired him to share kind words with them or give compassion. During this time, he came across “John’s flyer,” as he called it. John Oppenheim, better known as “The Yoga Guy,” leads yoga classes available to all on campus.

Ed thought he would give yoga a try and it surprisingly grew on him. Yoga was different. After several classes, he eventually got into meditation and prayer. The combination of treatment, yoga, involvement with AA and fellowships, Ed soon started to see his life turn around. He no longer feels the need to become upset with an undesired outcome, but to simply accept it instead. Yoga became such an enjoyment for him that he began reading on the philosophies rather than just learning the positions.

One day, Ed would like to teach a yoga class. He is definitely heading in the right direction. He left us with a quote:

Yoga is a caring practice. Meditation and mindfulness can help you through your day. There is no greater service than giving to someone that really needs it.