Can Yoga Improve Soldiers’ Mental Health?

Nov
2009

The shooting at the army base at Fort Hood that resulted in 13 lives lost and 30 people wounded was a tragedy that saddened the nation. But in the last year, the leaders at the base have been experimenting with new ways–including yoga–to help soldiers deal with the stress and pressure that comes with their jobs. In the aftermath of the shooting, they hope the “resiliency campus,” which in a huge facility that offers programs like yoga, aromatherapy, and video games with traditional counseling, will help troops recover from the tragedy, reported the Wall Street Journal.

“The campus … is designed to impart a new army philosophy focused on nurturing soldiers’ body, mind and spirit,” Brigadier General William Grimsley told the Wall Street Journal. “It marks a radical shift from the philosophy under which the army operated for years.”

As a yoga student, I feel like any shift toward nurturing “body, mind and spirit” is a good one. What do you think?