Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Welcome Home is a Willing Warriors and the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run project. The program highlights activities at the Warrior Retreat and issues impacting all Veterans. For questions or feedback, please email us at podcast@willingwarriors.org.
Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Supporting Veterans Through Mindfulness and Compassion
What if the key to healing and thriving after service lies in mindfulness and community? Join us as we welcome Charla and David Truesdale, the dynamic force behind the Warrior Spirit Project, a nonprofit that’s making waves in Texas by transforming the lives of veterans and first responders. Charla's expertise in health education and yoga, combined with David's extensive military and law enforcement background, has fueled this volunteer-driven initiative for a decade. Their primary program, trauma-informed yoga, and meditation, utilizes the iRest meditation technique—originally crafted for combat-wounded veterans—to aid in sleep and pain management and is now being studied for its effects on post-traumatic stress.
Get ready to explore the profound challenges veterans face, from losing a sense of community to grappling with civilian life's stresses, and learn how the Warrior Spirit Project provides a lifeline. Our discussion highlights the organization's unwavering commitment to helping veterans find a new mission and purpose, ensuring they feel whole and supported. With their extensive network and resources, Charla and David reassure veterans they are neither broken nor alone. Curious about how you can contribute to this incredible mission? Tune in for insights on their impactful collaborations and discover ways to support these vital services.
Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services, here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, and this week our guests are Charla and David Truesdale. They are with the Warrior Spirit Project out of Texas and it's an organization that helps warriors with meditation, yoga, a number of mindful activities that we'll explore with them here in a minute. But I actually ran into them through the Virginia Veterans Network and I was online and after I'd had a conversation with the commissioner and encouraged me to go online and use the resource the network and I ran across Warrior Spirit Project and I said you know I have trouble sleeping, so you know it can't hurt, let me reach out to them, and I did, and I'm so thankful that I did because I am actually sleeping better and it's working for me, so that's why I wanted to have them on as a guest. So, guys, welcome to the podcast.
Charla Truesdale:Thank you. Thank you for inviting us.
Larry Zilliox:Thanks, Larry. If you would, can you give us a little bit of your background? I know, David, you're prior service. Charla, are you prior service?
Charla Truesdale:If you count the family member that hangs out at home, then yes, but no, I'm not. I'm not active. I have not been active in the military, but I did work with the military through my career.
Larry Zilliox:And David were you Army.
David Truesdale:No, actually I was a federal law enforcement agent with NCIS, but I served in Iraq in 2004, leading a joint military and civilian counterintelligence human intelligence team, and then, 2011, into 2012, I was assigned to as an augmentee to the Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. So, although I'm not military, I've served with the military for 27 years.
Larry Zilliox:Well, I think that's probably as close as you could get, so we'll sort of count that. So are you retired, both of you.
David Truesdale:I am. I am retired, um, and yes, many people have said that I have um military service, but I'm very careful to to clarify that I am not a veteran.
Charla Truesdale:Yeah, Well, however, he did grow up in a family of Marines, so I think that counts too.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, I bet it does. So tell us a little bit about the Warrior Spirit Project and how it got started.
Charla Truesdale:Well, my background is in health promotion and health education, and I had been teaching yoga for a while and just had started teaching about the same time that 9-11 came about, and over the years of teaching in military settings, it just started to feel like it might be helpful for our military members who were returning home after their deployments and having some struggles from that, and so I started looking into how yoga might be of help and through various I guess things that happened that were not really coincidences but were supposed to happen, I came to the realization that this is something I wanted to do for real, to teach yoga to these groups, and I had no intention of actually starting a nonprofit, but you know, sometimes when you don't intend to do something, necessarily you're supposed to anyway, and so we started the nonprofit because we needed to do that to make this work the way that we hoped it would.
Larry Zilliox:And how long have you guys been around with the nonprofit?
Charla Truesdale:This is our 10th year. We are celebrating our 10-year anniversary in July.
Larry Zilliox:Okay, so that's not a fly-by-night operation by any means. That's awesome.
Charla Truesdale:Not at all. We have a large network now that we're very connected with and we collaborate with a lot of other organizations to bring what we do to them, and we're also 100% volunteer. So that's been beneficial to us because we don't have that overhead issue hanging over us and paying staff and that sort of thing, so we're able to keep going hanging over us and paying staff and that sort of thing, so we're able to keep going.
Charla Truesdale:So what type of services do you offer to veterans and first responders?
Charla Truesdale:Our primary program is trauma-informed yoga and meditation, which is what we started out with wanting to do and we've grown into a few other things from there.
Charla Truesdale:But the meditation that we do is called Integrative Restoration or I-Rest for short little I and then a capital R-E-S-T, and that was actually developed in 2006 for combat wounded at Walter Reed and the person who developed it wanted to take it in with yoga in the name and at that time yoga was not an acceptable terminology in that system, in the military system, which it's widespread now, but at the time they didn't like that terminology.
Charla Truesdale:So he went back and kind of revamped a few things with the type of meditation it is a guided meditation and made it kind of sanitized it. There's no woo-woo to it, there's no strange language in it, it's all very straightforward and easy for anyone to listen to and he took it back in. He added a couple of things like an inner resource which kind of helps put us at ease when we're settling in for the meditation, and it worked so well that they started doing research. A lot of different groups wanted to research it and it's been found to be very helpful for sleep and pain management, and they're still researching its efficacy for post-traumatic stress. So it has a good history behind it and a good bit of evidence to back it up. So that's our primary meditation.
Larry Zilliox:Well, I know firsthand, and I can attest to it, that I do use the iRest for sleeping and it works very well. I do use it at night. I don't use it every night, because some nights I'm just really tired and I don't have a trouble going to sleep eventually On nights where I think I might need it. It's a 20-minute little program and I just play it, I go out, which I don't know how it works, I don't know what it's doing to me, but it is putting me to sleep.
Larry Zilliox:So that's a good thing, and I certainly encourage everybody to look at your webpage which, by the way, I want to point that out, it's warriorspiritprojectorg O-R-G and there's a lot of resources on there, one of which regular listeners will know is we want to highlight the donate button. It's in the top right-hand corner and I want everybody to click on it and, as Charla said, it's volunteer-run, organized, but these things cost money and the webpage costs money, and people to fix the webpage costs money. There's a lot of things that cost money for a nonprofit, especially when they just have volunteers, and so click on that Donate button and give what you can. It's pretty painless. It took me about less than two minutes to go through it and make a donation. So I know our listeners can help contribute in some way and use the resources. Reach out to them and let them help you. This is it's just been transformative for me. One thing I would like you to do and, david, maybe you could help us out with this, but what's the meaning behind trauma-informed?
David Truesdale:Well, there's a lot of different things that we do in a trauma-informed class, which is specifically geared towards the warrior and warrior family members. A couple of the things that we do is we speak plain language. The last thing that you want to do when you walk into something different like yoga is have somebody talking in a you know a language which you wouldn't necessarily understand. So we speak plain English. We never put hands on people.
David Truesdale:A lot of yoga classes you attend they may try to adjust your body into a posture that many of our bodies will not get into, because we all have different bodies. Some of us have injuries that prevent us from getting into particular postures, so we never put hands on people. We always try to make the facility where we're teaching as safe as possible. We orient people to the room unusual noises that may happen. If you're in a public facility, we'll always watch the door. Those are just a couple of the things. We don't move about the room so participants will feel safe knowing that we're always in the same spot, and if there's anything that comes up during the class that needs their attention, we'll bring it to their attention. So those are just a couple of the things that lead it to being a trauma-informed practice.
Charla Truesdale:Yes, and, if I could add too, all of those are really important for how we present the class. The focus of it too, both the yoga and the meditation, is that we are facilitating the relaxation response. So whenever trauma has been experienced, it has a tendency to stay in the body, even if we don't realize it's there, until it has a way to process, and so we stay in that heightened sense of awareness or stay on high alert. And that's the sympathetic nervous system, the fight or flight response as we commonly know it, and so our practices are focused on getting us out of that fight or flight mode and into a more relaxed state, into the parasympathetic nervous system. So our practices are very grounding and we focus a lot on body sensing and feeling safe in the body and just doing things that allow the whole nervous system to come back into balance.
Larry Zilliox:And the yoga and meditation go hand in hand, or are they two separate things? Or would somebody be like meditating and then doing yoga? How does that work?
Charla Truesdale:A lot of times. Most of the time, we try to combine the two. If we're going to be doing a yoga practice, we almost always include at least a short I-rest meditation at the end, because the yoga helps the body settle physically and then the meditation can be experienced at an even deeper level because the body is already settled. But we do have classes that are the meditation only and they're, you know, very well received. And we have classes that last anywhere from 15 minutes.
Charla Truesdale:We have a simple breath practice that we do virtually. That's only 15 minutes and it might include a mini iRest. And then we have 30-minute practices that combine both or that are iRest only. And then we have some longer ones too. Those are usually in person. The ones we do in person are sometimes longer so that we can get a full physical practice. And by physical I mean it's not physical as in vigorous, it's just a way to move the body in a way that lets it settle physically and it's adaptable to anybody. We work with adaptive athletes, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries. Our yoga and meditation can be practiced by anyone, but we do like to include that meditation at the end whenever we can, because it just kind of seals, that sense of feeling at ease.
Larry Zilliox:And you guys are based in Texas but are aside from the resources that are available through your webpage and the videos and that kind of thing. Are there other practitioners around that are the country, that are part of your organization, or what does somebody do who's in Iowa or Kansas?
Charla Truesdale:They join us virtually. Okay, we unfortunately we don't have any teachers that are doing in-person practices anywhere, but in the Texas area right now we do have a teacher in Minnesota, but she teaches virtually. We have warriors that who participate with us from all over the country, but they participate virtually. And then we also have a YouTube channel, and so that that's something that we developed during COVID and we still keep it up because that's something that a person who wants to practice on their own time can go to and practice anytime. We have quite a few videos on there that are mostly short yoga practices. Once someone has practiced with us and we are familiar with them, then we have some hidden videos that are iRest and we can share those with them directly and they can practice those as well from the YouTube channel.
Larry Zilliox:So if somebody was working shifts or just did have trouble sleeping and that whole cycle was messed up, they could use these videos on your YouTube channel to help them out at all hours of the day or night.
Charla Truesdale:Absolutely, and we do have a few. As you know, Larry, we have a few recorded iRest practices on our website that are led by Dr Miller, and he's the one who actually developed this meditation.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, that's the guy who puts me to sleep.
David Truesdale:It's funny on that, larry. I was going to ask you earlier. I know the meditation is 22 minutes long. I've never heard the end of it, have you?
Larry Zilliox:Oh no, no, I don't. I have no recollection of where I go out. I just what my wife tells me is that over time, the recording gets softer and softer and softer, and I haven't even experienced that.
David Truesdale:The nice thing is it works.
Larry Zilliox:Yes, for sure helps everyone not just veterans but for our audience is primarily veterans with relaxation, with concentration, with PTS, anger management issues. What do you find is the top reason why veterans reach out to you for help? What do you think they're? What's driving that?
David Truesdale:Well, that's a good question. I think what happens is a lot of time veterans, first responders and their family members. They struggle with a lot of things and they may go to counseling, they may go to group therapy sessions, they may do peer-to-peer sessions with other organizations, and I think sometimes, if things aren't working, they get to the point where they're willing to try something, which sounds very different, because when you try to encourage somebody to do yoga or meditation for trauma, it's probably not the top of their mind. And so sometimes people are really struggling when they reach out to us and you know, I don't want to say it's in a desperation mode, but sometimes it is, and some of those people we have seen come on with us, practice with us, and they've been with us for years. It's literally amazing and you can see them just go through what we like to call post-traumatic growth, because they grow from their trauma and the meditation, the community that we build, because community is a really important focus for it.
Larry Zilliox:Well, we know, one of the things that plagues veterans, especially those who've recently separated, is the loss of their tribe and that support system that was always around them and telling them what to do and being there to catch them when they fall, and the stress just from the loss of that can sometimes be overwhelming. Then you compound it with medical issues that may be the result of their service, and then just the everyday problems of trying to raise kids, trying to work in a job you may not like, trying to buy a house. Just so much that a veteran, or anyone for that matter, can do to bring down the stress level and sort of try to become grounded enough to where you can clear think through issues in your life is going to be hugely beneficial. And you know, I just really commend you guys for the work that you do, because you're just helping people become grounded or at least reach a manageable level of not craziness in their life. Things change. Things change for the better Just as much as when things are going bad and you see people spiral out of control. It's just the opposite too. When they get a grip on things with your help, it just, it's it just. Things start to get better.
Larry Zilliox:So I would encourage everyone out there to go to the webpage, which is warriorspiritprojectorg, Look at the resources, go to the YouTube page We'll have all the links to everything in the show notes and check them out. Make sure that when you're at the webpage, you bang on that donate button. Give what you can five bucks, 10 bucks, thousand bucks, 10,000 bucks, whatever you got. Really, without your donation, organizations like this will go away and that will leave veterans first responders with fewer options when it comes to trying to get help. And not only does it help the veteran, but it helps the family, and the family is eligible to participate in this. And I just think I'm just glad that I took Commissioner Zingler's advice and I went on to the Virginia Veterans Network and I ran across you guys, because you're making a huge difference, not only in my life but, I think, in the lives of many, many veterans, and I commend you for that.
David Truesdale:Thank you, larry. We really appreciate that, and you're correct that loss of mission or loss of purpose is one of the things that anyone in the warrior community when you leave that community, that's something which disappears and that's important to find. So it's really important for them to find a mission and purpose again, and one of the things that we have found is that our participants have become huge advocates for us because once they realize how much it's done for them, that they go on and just like you're doing is to continue to promote the benefit of this. What do you think, char?
Charla Truesdale:Well, and I would just want to add to any warriors that are listening to this program right now one thing we like to say to everyone that's in our community is, first of all, you're not broken and secondly, you're not alone, and we are here to stand beside you to offer the resources that we can. If we cannot do something that you really need, we are happy to help you find what you need by referring you to others. We have a huge network, but the most important thing to recognize is that it's very normal to go through this transition, the way that you're going through it, because it is a great loss, but it's not the end, and there is still this wholeness within you that just needs to be recognized again, and that's what we're here to help do. Help you recognize that.
Larry Zilliox:Well, I tell you I really appreciate you guys coming on with us today and talking about the Warrior Spirit Project and letting everybody know what's out there and how you guys can help. So thank you so much for joining me today.
Charla Truesdale:Thank you very much. We really appreciate it.
David Truesdale:Yes, thank you, Larry. It was an honor to be on your show.
Larry Zilliox:Well for our listeners. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcast at willingwarriorsorg. We'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. Until then, thanks for listening.
