War Post Traumatic Stress, Anxiety & Depression - Community Program Development - National Injured Warrior Alliance(NIWA)
by Gerald Vest
Meditation awareness is like completely open space. But not space as we commonly understand it, because awareness is not a place, nor does it have any particular form or shape. This space is neither outside the body nor inside the mind. It is not mental or physical, and yet, at the same time, it is a deep, integrated sense of stillness, openness, and balance--which is the experience of meditation itself. Tarthang Tulku, Tibetan Meditation - Practical teachings and step-by-step exercises on how to live in harmony, peace, and happiness.
For the past 20 years I have been working with soldiers and their families with health promotion, stress related injuries, and as coordinator of meditation & health education We have found mindfulness an integral part of our treatment and health promotion for this serious injury that affects the whole being. I had the good fortune these past 3 years serving as senior clinical/holistic social worker for the premier PTSD, Wm Beaumont Army Medical Center, Ft Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center. ([link])
I recently took leave from the Ft Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center to develop and consult with community organizations to provide services for this catastrophic injury that has affected almost every warrior deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, their family and our society. We have learned that the warriors who participated in our experimental and experiential program, providing integrative and holistic methods, all improved significantly. Over 60% of our soldiers have returned to the force fit for duty. [link]
There are numerous articles, suicides, and current events that should alert our society, professionals, their organizations (accreditation bodies, professional schools) to become aware of this emergency and critical need to respond to this catastrophe that a decade of war has produced in our military service members and wider community. [link]
We are bringing our health services forward becauseIntegrative Health, Mindfulness Education and Practices are essential for calming, quieting and transforming these injuries into health and wellness, especially when combined with other integrative practices that are provided intensively and extensively with warriors and their families. We have identified the health programs that we successfully used in our R & R Program, however, there are other integrative approaches that our Alliance offer as well. The main approach we suggest is that since all of the body, mind, spirit and social systems are affected by these war injuries, all approaches that interact, heal and restore them must be included in the recovery process. And, we believe that the empathy, physical interaction, compassion and love that we express with our warriors and their families, is the sustaining influence for healing, restoration & resilience. [link] and [link]
We posted a Call for Advocates to support and assist our Injured Warriors and their Families returning to our community...join us.
If you wish to form a community outreach program in your area for Warriors and their families do let us know so that we can join together a Support and Healing Network of Community Programs and Services. [link]