You don't often think of Yoga and the U.S. military in the same sentence, but this weekend's annual San Antonio Yoga Conference will focus on 'Yoga for Warriors,' News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Dan Nevins, who was lost both of his legs below the knee in Iraq and is now an inspirational speaker, will be one of the presenters on how Yoga can help heal the physical and psychological wounds of war.
"I was very reluctant to try yoga, because it didn't seem like something for a military guy to do, but when I found it, I actually found something I had been looking for for a decade on my yoga mat," he said.
San Antonio's annual 'iDoYoga' free conference has grown into one of the major yoga events in the country. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the Master Class which will be taught by Nevins, as well as other yoga events.
Nevins says he hopes to inspire other wounded war veterans to try yoga, without the opposition that he first experienced.
"I had been asked to try yoga several times, and I was always a huge 'no,' he said. "I was actually offended when I was asked to try yoga, I was like, 'what do I look like to you'?"
Nevins says there are a lot of drugs and treatments out there for soldiers who were wounded physically or emotionally by the nation's recent wars, and all he will ask is that they be open to yoga.
"It's a chnce to just be grounded and connected, and just being alive as a human being," he said. "Start looking for the answers inside."
PHOTO COURTESY: DAN NEVINS. USED BY PERMISSION