March 10, 2025 • 23 mins
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Larry Zilliox (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guests are Charla and DavidTruesdale.
They are with the WarriorSpirit Project out of Texas and
it's an organization that helpswarriors with meditation, yoga,
(00:23):
a number of mindful activitiesthat we'll explore with them
here in a minute.
But I actually ran into themthrough the Virginia Veterans
Network and I was online andafter I'd had a conversation
with the commissioner andencouraged me to go online and
(00:45):
use the resource the network andI ran across Warrior Spirit
Project and I said you know Ihave trouble sleeping, so you
know it can't hurt, let me reachout to them, and I did, and I'm
so thankful that I did becauseI am actually sleeping better
and it's working for me, sothat's why I wanted to have them
(01:09):
on as a guest.
So, guys, welcome to thepodcast.
Charla Truesdale (01:13):
Thank you.
Thank you for inviting us.
Larry Zilliox (01:15):
Thanks, Larry.
If you would, can you give us alittle bit of your background?
I know, David, you're priorservice.
Charla, are you prior service?
Charla Truesdale (01:26):
If you count the family member that hangs out
at home, then yes, but no, I'mnot.
I'm not active.
I have not been active in themilitary, but I did work with
the military through my career.
Larry Zilliox (01:39):
And David were you Army.
David Truesdale (01:41):
No, actually I was a federal law enforcement
agent with NCIS, but I served inIraq in 2004, leading a joint
military and civiliancounterintelligence human
intelligence team, and then,2011, into 2012, I was assigned
(02:05):
to as an augmentee to theSpecial Operations Command in
Afghanistan.
So, although I'm not military,I've served with the military
for 27 years.
Larry Zilliox (02:18):
Well, I think that's probably as close as you
could get, so we'll sort ofcount that.
So are you retired, both of you.
David Truesdale (02:35):
I am.
I am retired, um, and yes, manypeople have said that I have um
military service, but I'm verycareful to to clarify that I am
not a veteran.
Charla Truesdale (02:39):
Yeah, Well, however, he did grow up in a
family of Marines, so I thinkthat counts too.
Larry Zilliox (02:46):
Yeah, I bet it does.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe Warrior Spirit Project and
how it got started.
Charla Truesdale (02:56):
Well, my background is in health
promotion and health education,and I had been teaching yoga for
a while and just had startedteaching about the same time
that 9-11 came about, and overthe years of teaching in
military settings, it juststarted to feel like it might be
helpful for our militarymembers who were returning home
(03:21):
after their deployments andhaving some struggles from that,
and so I started looking intohow yoga might be of help and
through various I guess thingsthat happened that were not
really coincidences but weresupposed to happen, I came to
the realization that this issomething I wanted to do for
(03:42):
real, to teach yoga to thesegroups, 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 thenonprofit because we needed to
do that to make this work theway that we hoped it would.
Larry Zilliox (04:04):
And how long have you guys been around with the
nonprofit?
Charla Truesdale (04:08):
This is our 10th year.
We are celebrating our 10-yearanniversary in July.
Larry Zilliox (04:14):
Okay, so that's not a fly-by-night operation by
any means.
That's awesome.
Charla Truesdale (04:20):
Not at all.
We have a large network nowthat we're very connected with
and we collaborate with a lot ofother organizations to bring
what we do to them, and we'realso 100% volunteer.
So that's been beneficial to usbecause we don't have that
overhead issue hanging over usand paying staff and that sort
(04:42):
of thing, so we're able to keepgoing hanging over us and paying
staff and that sort of thing,so we're able to keep going.
So what type of services do youoffer to veterans and first
responders?
Our primary program istrauma-informed yoga and
meditation, which is what westarted out with wanting to do
and we've grown into a few otherthings from there.
(05:03):
But the meditation that we do iscalled Integrative Restoration
or I-Rest for short little I andthen a capital R-E-S-T, and
that was actually developed in2006 for combat wounded at
Walter Reed and the person whodeveloped it wanted to take it
in with yoga in the name and atthat time yoga was not an
(05:26):
acceptable terminology in thatsystem, in the military system,
which it's widespread now, butat the time they didn't like
that terminology.
So he went back and kind ofrevamped a few things with the
type of meditation it is aguided meditation and made it
kind of sanitized it.
(05:47):
There's no woo-woo to it,there's no strange language in
it, it's all verystraightforward and easy for
anyone to listen to and he tookit back in.
He added a couple of thingslike an inner resource which
kind of helps put us at easewhen we're settling in for the
meditation, and it worked sowell that they started doing
(06:09):
research.
A lot of different groupswanted to research it and it's
been found to be very helpfulfor sleep and pain management,
and they're still researchingits efficacy for post-traumatic
stress.
So it has a good history behindit and a good bit of evidence
to back it up.
So that's our primarymeditation.
Larry Zilliox (06:31):
Well, I know firsthand, and I can attest to
it, that I do use the iRest forsleeping 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 atrouble going to sleep
eventually On nights where Ithink I might need it.
(06:53):
It's a 20-minute little programand 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 tosleep.
So that's a good thing, and Icertainly encourage everybody to
look at your webpage which, bythe way, I want to point that
(07:14):
out, it'swarriorspiritprojectorg O-R-G
and there's a lot of resourceson there, one of which regular
listeners will know is we wantto highlight the donate button.
It's in the top right-handcorner and I want everybody to
click on it and, as Charla said,it's volunteer-run, organized,
(07:37):
but these things cost money andthe webpage costs money, and
people to fix the webpage costsmoney.
There's a lot of things thatcost money for a nonprofit,
especially when they just havevolunteers, and so click on that
Donate button and give what youcan.
It's pretty painless.
It took me about less than twominutes to go through it and
(08:00):
make a donation.
So I know our listeners canhelp contribute in some way and
use the resources.
Reach out to them and let themhelp you.
This is it's just beentransformative for me.
One thing I would like you todo and, david, maybe you could
(08:21):
help us out with this, butwhat's the meaning behind
trauma-informed?
David Truesdale (08:27):
Well, there's a lot of different things that we
do in a trauma-informed class,which is specifically geared
towards the warrior and warriorfamily members.
A couple of the things that wedo is we speak plain language.
The last thing that you want todo when you walk into something
different like yoga is havesomebody talking in a you know a
(08:52):
language which you wouldn'tnecessarily understand.
So we speak plain English.
We never put hands on people.
A lot of yoga classes you attendthey may try to adjust your
body into a posture that many ofour bodies will not get into,
because we all have differentbodies.
(09:13):
Some of us have injuries thatprevent us from getting into
particular postures, so we neverput hands on people.
We always try to make thefacility where we're teaching as
safe as possible.
We orient people to the roomunusual noises that may happen.
(09:35):
If you're in a public facility,we'll always watch the door.
Those are just a couple of thethings.
We don't move about the room soparticipants will feel safe
knowing that we're always in thesame spot, and if there's
anything that comes up duringthe class that needs their
attention, we'll bring it totheir attention.
(09:57):
So those are just a couple ofthe things that lead it to being
a trauma-informed practice.
Charla Truesdale (10:04):
Yes, and, if I could add too, all of those are
really important for how wepresent the class.
The focus of it too, both theyoga and the meditation, is that
we are facilitating therelaxation response.
So whenever trauma has beenexperienced, it has a tendency
(10:26):
to stay in the body, even if wedon't realize it's there, until
it has a way to process, and sowe stay in that heightened sense
of awareness or stay on highalert.
And that's the sympatheticnervous system, the fight or
flight response as we commonlyknow it, and so our practices
(10:49):
are focused on getting us out ofthat fight or flight mode and
into a more relaxed state, intothe parasympathetic nervous
system.
So our practices are verygrounding and we focus a lot on
body sensing and feeling safe inthe body and just doing things
(11:09):
that allow the whole nervoussystem to come back into balance
.
Larry Zilliox (11:13):
And the yoga and meditation go hand in hand, or
are they two separate things?
Or would somebody be likemeditating and then doing yoga?
How does that work?
Charla Truesdale (11:25):
A lot of times .
Most of the time, we try tocombine the two.
If we're going to be doing ayoga practice, we almost always
include at least a short I-restmeditation at the end, because
the yoga helps the body settlephysically and then the
meditation can be experienced atan even deeper level because
the body is already settled.
(11:46):
But we do have classes that arethe meditation only and they're
, you know, very well received.
And we have classes that lastanywhere from 15 minutes.
We have a simple breath practicethat we do virtually.
That's only 15 minutes and itmight include a mini iRest.
And then we have 30-minutepractices that combine both or
(12:08):
that are iRest only.
And then we have some longerones too.
Those are usually in person.
The ones we do in person aresometimes longer so that we can
get a full physical practice.
And by physical I mean it's notphysical as in vigorous, it's
just a way to move the body in away that lets it settle
physically and it's adaptable toanybody.
(12:31):
We work with adaptive athletes,amputations, traumatic brain
injuries, spinal cord injuries.
Our yoga and meditation can bepracticed by anyone, but we do
like to include that meditationat the end whenever we can,
because it just kind of seals,that sense of feeling at ease.
Larry Zilliox (12:52):
And you guys are based in Texas but are aside
from the resources that areavailable through your webpage
and the videos and that kind ofthing.
Are there other practitionersaround that are the country,
that are part of yourorganization, or what does
somebody do who's in Iowa orKansas?
Charla Truesdale (13:11):
They join us virtually.
Okay, we unfortunately we don'thave any teachers that are
doing in-person practicesanywhere, but in the Texas area
right now we do have a teacherin Minnesota, but she teaches
virtually.
We have warriors that whoparticipate with us from all
over the country, but theyparticipate virtually.
(13:33):
And then we also have a YouTubechannel, and so that that's
something that we developedduring COVID and we still keep
it up because that's somethingthat a person who wants to
practice on their own time cango to and practice anytime.
We have quite a few videos onthere that are mostly short yoga
(13:53):
practices.
Once someone has practiced withus and we are familiar with
them, then we have some hiddenvideos that are iRest and we can
share those with them directlyand they can practice those as
well from the YouTube channel.
Larry Zilliox (14:09):
So if somebody was working shifts or just did
have trouble sleeping and thatwhole cycle was messed up, they
could use these videos on yourYouTube channel to help them out
at all hours of the day ornight.
Charla Truesdale (14:26):
Absolutely, and we do have a few.
As you know, Larry, we have afew recorded iRest practices on
our website that are led by DrMiller, and he's the one who
actually developed thismeditation.
Larry Zilliox (14:38):
Yeah, that's the guy who puts me to sleep.
David Truesdale (14:42):
It's funny on that, larry.
I was going to ask you earlier.
I know the meditation is 22minutes long.
I've never heard the end of it,have you?
Larry Zilliox (14:51):
Oh no, no, I don't.
I have no recollection of whereI go out.
I just what my wife tells me isthat over time, the recording
gets softer and softer andsofter, and I haven't even
experienced that.
David Truesdale (15:10):
The nice thing is it works.
Larry Zilliox (15:17):
Yes, for sure helps everyone not just veterans
but for our audience isprimarily veterans with
relaxation, with concentration,with PTS, anger management
issues.
What do you find is the topreason why veterans reach out to
(15:40):
you for help?
What do you think they're?
What's driving that?
David Truesdale (15:46):
Well, that's a good question.
I think what happens is a lotof time veterans, first
responders and their familymembers.
They struggle with a lot ofthings and they may go to
counseling, they may go to grouptherapy sessions, they may do
peer-to-peer sessions with otherorganizations, and I think
(16:09):
sometimes, if things aren'tworking, they get to the point
where they're willing to trysomething, which sounds very
different, because when you tryto encourage somebody to do yoga
or meditation for trauma, it'sprobably not the top of their
mind.
And so sometimes people arereally struggling when they
(16:32):
reach out to us and you know, Idon't want to say it's in a
desperation mode, but sometimesit 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 youcan see them just go through
(16:56):
what we like to callpost-traumatic growth, because
they grow from their trauma andthe meditation, the community
that we build, because communityis a really important focus for
it.
Larry Zilliox (17:13):
Well, we know, one of the things that plagues
veterans, especially thosewho've recently separated, is
the loss of their tribe and thatsupport system that was always
around them and telling themwhat to do and being there to
catch them when they fall, andthe stress just from the loss of
(17:35):
that can sometimes beoverwhelming.
Then you compound it withmedical issues that may be the
result of their service, andthen just the everyday problems
of trying to raise kids, tryingto work in a job you may not
like, trying to buy a house.
Just so much that a veteran, oranyone for that matter, can do
(18:03):
to bring down the stress leveland sort of try to become
grounded enough to where you canclear think through issues in
your life is going to be hugelybeneficial.
And you know, I just reallycommend you guys for the work
that you do, because you're justhelping people become grounded
(18:25):
or at least reach a manageablelevel of not craziness in their
life.
Things change.
(18:47):
Things change for the betterJust as much as when things are
going bad and you see peoplespiral out of control.
It's just the opposite too.
When they get a grip on thingswith your help, it just, it's it
just.
Things start to get better.
So I would encourage everyoneout there to go to the webpage,
(19:09):
which is warriorspiritprojectorg, Look at the resources, go to
the YouTube page We'll have allthe links to everything in the
show notes and check them out.
Make sure that when you're atthe webpage, you bang on that
donate button.
Give what you can five bucks,10 bucks, thousand bucks, 10,000
(19:29):
bucks, whatever you got.
Really, without your donation,organizations like this will go
away and that will leaveveterans first responders with
fewer options when it comes totrying to get help.
And not only does it help theveteran, but it helps the family
, and the family is eligible toparticipate in this.
(19:53):
And I just think I'm just gladthat I took Commissioner
Zingler's advice and I went onto the Virginia Veterans Network
and I ran across you guys,because you're making a huge
difference, not only in my lifebut, I think, in the lives of
many, many veterans, and Icommend you for that.
David Truesdale (20:13):
Thank you, larry.
We really appreciate that, andyou're correct that loss of
mission or loss of purpose isone of the things that anyone in
the warrior community when youleave that community, that's
something which disappears andthat's important to find.
(20:34):
So it's really important forthem to find a mission and
purpose again, and one of thethings that we have found is
that our participants havebecome huge advocates for us
because once they realize howmuch it's done for them, that
they go on and just like you'redoing is to continue to promote
(20:58):
the benefit of this.
What do you think, char?
Charla Truesdale (21:00):
Well, and I would just want to add to any
warriors that are listening tothis program right now one thing
we like to say to everyonethat's in our community is,
first of all, you're not brokenand secondly, you're not alone,
and we are here to stand besideyou to offer the resources that
we can.
If we cannot do something thatyou really need, we are happy to
(21:23):
help you find what you need byreferring you to others.
We have a huge network, but themost important thing to
recognize is that it's verynormal to go through this
transition, the way that you'regoing through it, because it is
a great loss, but it's not theend, and there is still this
(21:46):
wholeness within you that justneeds to be recognized again,
and that's what we're here tohelp do.
Help you recognize that.
Larry Zilliox (21:55):
Well, I tell you I really appreciate you guys
coming on with us today andtalking about the Warrior Spirit
Project and letting everybodyknow what's out there and how
you guys can help.
So thank you so much forjoining me today.
Charla Truesdale (22:10):
Thank you very much.
We really appreciate it.
David Truesdale (22:13):
Yes, thank you, Larry.
It was an honor to be on yourshow.
Larry Zilliox (22:18):
Well for our listeners.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriorsorg.
We'll have another episode nextMonday morning at 0500.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guests are Charla and DavidTruesdale.
They are with the WarriorSpirit Project out of Texas and
it's an organization that helpswarriors with meditation, yoga,
(00:23):
a number of mindful activitiesthat we'll explore with them
here in a minute.
But I actually ran into themthrough the Virginia Veterans
Network and I was online andafter I'd had a conversation
with the commissioner andencouraged me to go online and
(00:45):
use the resource the network andI ran across Warrior Spirit
Project and I said you know Ihave trouble sleeping, so you
know it can't hurt, let me reachout to them, and I did, and I'm
so thankful that I did becauseI am actually sleeping better
and it's working for me, sothat's why I wanted to have them
(01:09):
on as a guest.
So, guys, welcome to thepodcast.
Charla Truesdale (01:13):
Thank you.
Thank you for inviting us.
Larry Zilliox (01:15):
Thanks, Larry.
If you would, can you give us alittle bit of your background?
I know, David, you're priorservice.
Charla, are you prior service?
Charla Truesdale (01:26):
If you count the family member that hangs out
at home, then yes, but no, I'mnot.
I'm not active.
I have not been active in themilitary, but I did work with
the military through my career.
Larry Zilliox (01:39):
And David were you Army.
David Truesdale (01:41):
No, actually I was a federal law enforcement
agent with NCIS, but I served inIraq in 2004, leading a joint
military and civiliancounterintelligence human
intelligence team, and then,2011, into 2012, I was assigned
(02:05):
to as an augmentee to theSpecial Operations Command in
Afghanistan.
So, although I'm not military,I've served with the military
for 27 years.
Larry Zilliox (02:18):
Well, I think that's probably as close as you
could get, so we'll sort ofcount that.
So are you retired, both of you.
David Truesdale (02:35):
I am.
I am retired, um, and yes, manypeople have said that I have um
military service, but I'm verycareful to to clarify that I am
not a veteran.
Charla Truesdale (02:39):
Yeah, Well, however, he did grow up in a
family of Marines, so I thinkthat counts too.
Larry Zilliox (02:46):
Yeah, I bet it does.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe Warrior Spirit Project and
how it got started.
Charla Truesdale (02:56):
Well, my background is in health
promotion and health education,and I had been teaching yoga for
a while and just had startedteaching about the same time
that 9-11 came about, and overthe years of teaching in
military settings, it juststarted to feel like it might be
helpful for our militarymembers who were returning home
(03:21):
after their deployments andhaving some struggles from that,
and so I started looking intohow yoga might be of help and
through various I guess thingsthat happened that were not
really coincidences but weresupposed to happen, I came to
the realization that this issomething I wanted to do for
(03:42):
real, to teach yoga to thesegroups, 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 thenonprofit because we needed to
do that to make this work theway that we hoped it would.
Larry Zilliox (04:04):
And how long have you guys been around with the
nonprofit?
Charla Truesdale (04:08):
This is our 10th year.
We are celebrating our 10-yearanniversary in July.
Larry Zilliox (04:14):
Okay, so that's not a fly-by-night operation by
any means.
That's awesome.
Charla Truesdale (04:20):
Not at all.
We have a large network nowthat we're very connected with
and we collaborate with a lot ofother organizations to bring
what we do to them, and we'realso 100% volunteer.
So that's been beneficial to usbecause we don't have that
overhead issue hanging over usand paying staff and that sort
(04:42):
of thing, so we're able to keepgoing hanging over us and paying
staff and that sort of thing,so we're able to keep going.
So what type of services do youoffer to veterans and first
responders?
Our primary program istrauma-informed yoga and
meditation, which is what westarted out with wanting to do
and we've grown into a few otherthings from there.
(05:03):
But the meditation that we do iscalled Integrative Restoration
or I-Rest for short little I andthen a capital R-E-S-T, and
that was actually developed in2006 for combat wounded at
Walter Reed and the person whodeveloped it wanted to take it
in with yoga in the name and atthat time yoga was not an
(05:26):
acceptable terminology in thatsystem, in the military system,
which it's widespread now, butat the time they didn't like
that terminology.
So he went back and kind ofrevamped a few things with the
type of meditation it is aguided meditation and made it
kind of sanitized it.
(05:47):
There's no woo-woo to it,there's no strange language in
it, it's all verystraightforward and easy for
anyone to listen to and he tookit back in.
He added a couple of thingslike an inner resource which
kind of helps put us at easewhen we're settling in for the
meditation, and it worked sowell that they started doing
(06:09):
research.
A lot of different groupswanted to research it and it's
been found to be very helpfulfor sleep and pain management,
and they're still researchingits efficacy for post-traumatic
stress.
So it has a good history behindit and a good bit of evidence
to back it up.
So that's our primarymeditation.
Larry Zilliox (06:31):
Well, I know firsthand, and I can attest to
it, that I do use the iRest forsleeping 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 atrouble going to sleep
eventually On nights where Ithink I might need it.
(06:53):
It's a 20-minute little programand 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 tosleep.
So that's a good thing, and Icertainly encourage everybody to
look at your webpage which, bythe way, I want to point that
(07:14):
out, it'swarriorspiritprojectorg O-R-G
and there's a lot of resourceson there, one of which regular
listeners will know is we wantto highlight the donate button.
It's in the top right-handcorner and I want everybody to
click on it and, as Charla said,it's volunteer-run, organized,
(07:37):
but these things cost money andthe webpage costs money, and
people to fix the webpage costsmoney.
There's a lot of things thatcost money for a nonprofit,
especially when they just havevolunteers, and so click on that
Donate button and give what youcan.
It's pretty painless.
It took me about less than twominutes to go through it and
(08:00):
make a donation.
So I know our listeners canhelp contribute in some way and
use the resources.
Reach out to them and let themhelp you.
This is it's just beentransformative for me.
One thing I would like you todo and, david, maybe you could
(08:21):
help us out with this, butwhat's the meaning behind
trauma-informed?
David Truesdale (08:27):
Well, there's a lot of different things that we
do in a trauma-informed class,which is specifically geared
towards the warrior and warriorfamily members.
A couple of the things that wedo is we speak plain language.
The last thing that you want todo when you walk into something
different like yoga is havesomebody talking in a you know a
(08:52):
language which you wouldn'tnecessarily understand.
So we speak plain English.
We never put hands on people.
A lot of yoga classes you attendthey may try to adjust your
body into a posture that many ofour bodies will not get into,
because we all have differentbodies.
(09:13):
Some of us have injuries thatprevent us from getting into
particular postures, so we neverput hands on people.
We always try to make thefacility where we're teaching as
safe as possible.
We orient people to the roomunusual noises that may happen.
(09:35):
If you're in a public facility,we'll always watch the door.
Those are just a couple of thethings.
We don't move about the room soparticipants will feel safe
knowing that we're always in thesame spot, and if there's
anything that comes up duringthe class that needs their
attention, we'll bring it totheir attention.
(09:57):
So those are just a couple ofthe things that lead it to being
a trauma-informed practice.
Charla Truesdale (10:04):
Yes, and, if I could add too, all of those are
really important for how wepresent the class.
The focus of it too, both theyoga and the meditation, is that
we are facilitating therelaxation response.
So whenever trauma has beenexperienced, it has a tendency
(10:26):
to stay in the body, even if wedon't realize it's there, until
it has a way to process, and sowe stay in that heightened sense
of awareness or stay on highalert.
And that's the sympatheticnervous system, the fight or
flight response as we commonlyknow it, and so our practices
(10:49):
are focused on getting us out ofthat fight or flight mode and
into a more relaxed state, intothe parasympathetic nervous
system.
So our practices are verygrounding and we focus a lot on
body sensing and feeling safe inthe body and just doing things
(11:09):
that allow the whole nervoussystem to come back into balance
.
Larry Zilliox (11:13):
And the yoga and meditation go hand in hand, or
are they two separate things?
Or would somebody be likemeditating and then doing yoga?
How does that work?
Charla Truesdale (11:25):
A lot of times .
Most of the time, we try tocombine the two.
If we're going to be doing ayoga practice, we almost always
include at least a short I-restmeditation at the end, because
the yoga helps the body settlephysically and then the
meditation can be experienced atan even deeper level because
the body is already settled.
(11:46):
But we do have classes that arethe meditation only and they're
, you know, very well received.
And we have classes that lastanywhere from 15 minutes.
We have a simple breath practicethat we do virtually.
That's only 15 minutes and itmight include a mini iRest.
And then we have 30-minutepractices that combine both or
(12:08):
that are iRest only.
And then we have some longerones too.
Those are usually in person.
The ones we do in person aresometimes longer so that we can
get a full physical practice.
And by physical I mean it's notphysical as in vigorous, it's
just a way to move the body in away that lets it settle
physically and it's adaptable toanybody.
(12:31):
We work with adaptive athletes,amputations, traumatic brain
injuries, spinal cord injuries.
Our yoga and meditation can bepracticed by anyone, but we do
like to include that meditationat the end whenever we can,
because it just kind of seals,that sense of feeling at ease.
Larry Zilliox (12:52):
And you guys are based in Texas but are aside
from the resources that areavailable through your webpage
and the videos and that kind ofthing.
Are there other practitionersaround that are the country,
that are part of yourorganization, or what does
somebody do who's in Iowa orKansas?
Charla Truesdale (13:11):
They join us virtually.
Okay, we unfortunately we don'thave any teachers that are
doing in-person practicesanywhere, but in the Texas area
right now we do have a teacherin Minnesota, but she teaches
virtually.
We have warriors that whoparticipate with us from all
over the country, but theyparticipate virtually.
(13:33):
And then we also have a YouTubechannel, and so that that's
something that we developedduring COVID and we still keep
it up because that's somethingthat a person who wants to
practice on their own time cango to and practice anytime.
We have quite a few videos onthere that are mostly short yoga
(13:53):
practices.
Once someone has practiced withus and we are familiar with
them, then we have some hiddenvideos that are iRest and we can
share those with them directlyand they can practice those as
well from the YouTube channel.
Larry Zilliox (14:09):
So if somebody was working shifts or just did
have trouble sleeping and thatwhole cycle was messed up, they
could use these videos on yourYouTube channel to help them out
at all hours of the day ornight.
Charla Truesdale (14:26):
Absolutely, and we do have a few.
As you know, Larry, we have afew recorded iRest practices on
our website that are led by DrMiller, and he's the one who
actually developed thismeditation.
Larry Zilliox (14:38):
Yeah, that's the guy who puts me to sleep.
David Truesdale (14:42):
It's funny on that, larry.
I was going to ask you earlier.
I know the meditation is 22minutes long.
I've never heard the end of it,have you?
Larry Zilliox (14:51):
Oh no, no, I don't.
I have no recollection of whereI go out.
I just what my wife tells me isthat over time, the recording
gets softer and softer andsofter, and I haven't even
experienced that.
David Truesdale (15:10):
The nice thing is it works.
Larry Zilliox (15:17):
Yes, for sure helps everyone not just veterans
but for our audience isprimarily veterans with
relaxation, with concentration,with PTS, anger management
issues.
What do you find is the topreason why veterans reach out to
(15:40):
you for help?
What do you think they're?
What's driving that?
David Truesdale (15:46):
Well, that's a good question.
I think what happens is a lotof time veterans, first
responders and their familymembers.
They struggle with a lot ofthings and they may go to
counseling, they may go to grouptherapy sessions, they may do
peer-to-peer sessions with otherorganizations, and I think
(16:09):
sometimes, if things aren'tworking, they get to the point
where they're willing to trysomething, which sounds very
different, because when you tryto encourage somebody to do yoga
or meditation for trauma, it'sprobably not the top of their
mind.
And so sometimes people arereally struggling when they
(16:32):
reach out to us and you know, Idon't want to say it's in a
desperation mode, but sometimesit 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 youcan see them just go through
(16:56):
what we like to callpost-traumatic growth, because
they grow from their trauma andthe meditation, the community
that we build, because communityis a really important focus for
it.
Larry Zilliox (17:13):
Well, we know, one of the things that plagues
veterans, especially thosewho've recently separated, is
the loss of their tribe and thatsupport system that was always
around them and telling themwhat to do and being there to
catch them when they fall, andthe stress just from the loss of
(17:35):
that can sometimes beoverwhelming.
Then you compound it withmedical issues that may be the
result of their service, andthen just the everyday problems
of trying to raise kids, tryingto work in a job you may not
like, trying to buy a house.
Just so much that a veteran, oranyone for that matter, can do
(18:03):
to bring down the stress leveland sort of try to become
grounded enough to where you canclear think through issues in
your life is going to be hugelybeneficial.
And you know, I just reallycommend you guys for the work
that you do, because you're justhelping people become grounded
(18:25):
or at least reach a manageablelevel of not craziness in their
life.
Things change.
(18:47):
Things change for the betterJust as much as when things are
going bad and you see peoplespiral out of control.
It's just the opposite too.
When they get a grip on thingswith your help, it just, it's it
just.
Things start to get better.
So I would encourage everyoneout there to go to the webpage,
(19:09):
which is warriorspiritprojectorg, Look at the resources, go to
the YouTube page We'll have allthe links to everything in the
show notes and check them out.
Make sure that when you're atthe webpage, you bang on that
donate button.
Give what you can five bucks,10 bucks, thousand bucks, 10,000
(19:29):
bucks, whatever you got.
Really, without your donation,organizations like this will go
away and that will leaveveterans first responders with
fewer options when it comes totrying to get help.
And not only does it help theveteran, but it helps the family
, and the family is eligible toparticipate in this.
(19:53):
And I just think I'm just gladthat I took Commissioner
Zingler's advice and I went onto the Virginia Veterans Network
and I ran across you guys,because you're making a huge
difference, not only in my lifebut, I think, in the lives of
many, many veterans, and Icommend you for that.
David Truesdale (20:13):
Thank you, larry.
We really appreciate that, andyou're correct that loss of
mission or loss of purpose isone of the things that anyone in
the warrior community when youleave that community, that's
something which disappears andthat's important to find.
(20:34):
So it's really important forthem to find a mission and
purpose again, and one of thethings that we have found is
that our participants havebecome huge advocates for us
because once they realize howmuch it's done for them, that
they go on and just like you'redoing is to continue to promote
(20:58):
the benefit of this.
What do you think, char?
Charla Truesdale (21:00):
Well, and I would just want to add to any
warriors that are listening tothis program right now one thing
we like to say to everyonethat's in our community is,
first of all, you're not brokenand secondly, you're not alone,
and we are here to stand besideyou to offer the resources that
we can.
If we cannot do something thatyou really need, we are happy to
(21:23):
help you find what you need byreferring you to others.
We have a huge network, but themost important thing to
recognize is that it's verynormal to go through this
transition, the way that you'regoing through it, because it is
a great loss, but it's not theend, and there is still this
(21:46):
wholeness within you that justneeds to be recognized again,
and that's what we're here tohelp do.
Help you recognize that.
Larry Zilliox (21:55):
Well, I tell you I really appreciate you guys
coming on with us today andtalking about the Warrior Spirit
Project and letting everybodyknow what's out there and how
you guys can help.
So thank you so much forjoining me today.
Charla Truesdale (22:10):
Thank you very much.
We really appreciate it.
David Truesdale (22:13):
Yes, thank you, Larry.
It was an honor to be on yourshow.
Larry Zilliox (22:18):
Well for our listeners.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriorsorg.
We'll have another episode nextMonday morning at 0500.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
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