veterans Archives - VETOGA

Giving Tuesday 2024

VEToga — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 07:51:56 +0000

#GivingTuesday is December 3rd!

On GivingTuesday – Dec 3rd this year – the whole world comes together to give back in many different ways: through acts of kindness, gifts of voice, time, talent, or treasure. Nonprofits can leverage the energy of GivingTuesday to tell their stories, engage lifelong advocates, and build an active community to support their missions.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in support of VETOGA’s mission to bring yoga, meditation and healing arts to our military, veterans, their families and communities.

This #GivingTuesday we are raising money for VETOGA and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps to sponsor a veteran to find healing through a VETOGA wellness retreat.

Our goal this year is for $3,333 in order to help sponsor veterans to attend our upcoming VETOGA retreat and allow a chance for our veterans to rest, relax and healing at the beautiful Ojas Retreat Center.

If you want to double your donation, please considering donating via our VETOGA Facebook GivingTuesday Campaign link above and don’t forget to Share the Campaign with your friends and family.

VETOGA is growing!! With your help and support we have been able to equip our military, veterans and family members through the VETOGA teacher training program. We now have 200+ teachers Nation-wide trained by VETOGA and your kind donations.

Donate Now | The VETOGA team thanks you!

VETOGA Wellness Retreat September 2022 | Watch Video

Support All Our Programs!

Donate to VETOGA’s Mission

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VETOGA Monthly Newsletter May 2024

VEToga — Thu, 02 May 2024 00:00:18 +0000

Upcoming Events + Teacher Trainings + Retreats

Mental Health Awareness Month

Join us this May as VETOGA partners with Amazon Global Military Affairs, Mala for Vets and Mates4Mates to help bring awareness to Mental Health. We will be hosting a 14-day Wellness Challenge lead by VETOGA instructors. Click the link below to sign-up and join us for this challenge, running from May 13 – 27.

Our intention behind this year’s challenge is to bring awareness to Mental Health in the United States. Please help us spread this message by sharing this challenge with your friends and families using the following link: Vetoga.org/AmazonVetogaChallenge

What you can expect…
During the 14-day challenge, there will be daily meditation, pranayama (breathing), asana (movement), and yoga Nidra (guided relaxation). You will start the first five days with 5-mins of practice in each category and work your way up to 15-mins by the end of the challenge.

Winning prizes!
For those who complete the 14-Day challenge and upload their personal video describing their transformation and awareness during this challenge, there will be a top prize of FREE tuition to an upcoming VETOGA Teacher Training. Other prizes include: beautiful Mala Beads from MalaforVets, and other VETOGA swag.

By participating in this challenge, you are making a commitment to increase awareness of mental health in communities.

This will be fun and challenging and we are excited to invite you into our community to spread awareness for Mental Health.

Thank you & Namaste,
The VETOGA Family

Veteran Resources

The following resources are available from Veterans Affairs:

Veterans Crisis Line — If you are having thoughts of suicide, call 1-800-273-8255, then PRESS 1 or visit veteranscrisisline.net. For emergency mental health care, you can also go directly to your local VA medical center 24/7 regardless of your discharge status or enrollment in other VA health care.

Vet Centers — Discuss how you feel with other Veterans in these community-based counseling centers. 70% of Vet Center staff are Veterans. Call 1-877-927-8387 or find one near you.

VA Mental Health Services Guide — This guide will help you sign up and access mental health services.

MakeTheConnection.net – Information, resources, and Veteran to Veteran videos for challenging life events and experiences with mental health issues.

RallyPoint — Talk to other Veterans online. Discuss: What are your feelings as the Taliban reclaim Afghanistan after 20 years of US involvement?

Download VA’s self-help apps — Tools to help deal with common reactions like, stress, sadness, and anxiety. You can also track your symptoms over time.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) — Request a Peer Mentor.

VA Women Veterans Call Center — Call or text 1-855-829-6636 (M-F 8AM – 10PM & SAT 8AM – 6:30PM ET).

VA Caregiver Support Line — Call 1-855-260-3274 (M-F 8AM – 10PM & SAT 8AM – 5PM ET).

Together We Served — Find your battle buddies through unit pages.

George W. Bush Institute — Need help or want to talk? Check In, or call: 1-630-522-4904, or email: checkin@veteranwellnessalliance.org

Elizabeth Dole Foundation Hidden Heroes — Join the Community.

American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network — Peer Support and Mentoring.

Student Veterans of America — Find a campus chapter to connect with.

VETogi of the Month

Russ Owens

United State Navy

Russ is a recent graduate of the VETOGA 200-hour teacher training. Since certification, he has shared yoga in a variety of settings, including the local studio, at which he regularly practices and at several veteran service organizations. Teaching yoga and meditation in the veteran community has been an incredibly rewarding experience. He has had the privilege of guiding veterans through practices designed to transform struggle into strength, using yoga as a tool for post-traumatic growth. He has witnessed the profound impact of yoga and meditation on veterans managing PTSD, anxiety, and depression. He is honored to support these heroes on their journeys toward healing and self- discovery.

“James Baldwin wrote, ‘The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.’ VETOGA and those who represent it have been that light for me.”

Support All Our Programs!

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The post VETOGA Monthly Newsletter May 2024 appeared first on VETOGA.

Giving Tuesday on November 28th

VEToga — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 23:27:49 +0000

Giving Tuesday

November 28, 2023 — Support VETOGA for the Holidays

On #GivingTuesday – November 28, 2023 – the whole world comes together to give back in many different ways: through acts of kindness, gifts of voice, time, talent, or treasure. Nonprofits can leverage the energy of GivingTuesday to tell their stories, engage lifelong advocates, and build an active community to support their missions.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in support of VETOGA’s mission to bring yoga, meditation and healing arts to our military, veterans, their families and communities.

Our goal this year is for $10,000 and will sponsor veterans to attend VETOGA’s our annual wellness retreat. This retreat will be a chance for our veterans to rest, relax and healing at the beautiful Ojas Retreat Center.

If you want to Double your Donation, please considering donating via our VETOGA Facebook GivingTuesday Campaign link and don’t forget to Share the Campaign with your friends and family.

VETOGA is growing!! With your help and support we have been able to equip our military, veterans and family members through the VETOGA teacher training program. We now have 180+ teachers Nation-wide trained by VETOGA and your kind donations.

CLICK HER FOR DONATION MATCHING

Watch Video: VETOGA Wellness Retreat

Support All Our Programs!

Donate to VETOGA’s Mission

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VETOGA Newsletter March 2023

VEToga — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 20:10:43 +0000

Upcoming Events + Teacher Trainings + Retreats

VETOGA Spring Teacher Training

Scheduled for May 2023

We are only a couple months away from our Spring VETOGA teacher training in May and we need your help! We still need to raise $10,000 in order to make this teacher training happen.

Please consider donating to VETOGA and share our story to help us reach our teacher training goal to sponsor 20 veterans to attend the upcoming training.

Help sponsor a veteran to attend a VETOGA Teacher Training program.

DONATE HERE & SUPPORT TEACHERS

VETOGA teacher training group at Ojas

Sunday, March 26th

Free Yoga Class in Carlsbad, CA

If you live in Southern California, join us at Yoga on State in Carlsbad, CA for a special community yoga class led by VETOGA CEO, Justin Blazejewski and in partnership with LiboRisk.

FREE event to all service members, veterans, law enforcement, emergency responders, and their families. Suggested donation class for civilians who want to join and support VETOGA, active military, and veterans. All are welcome!!!

VETOGA’s mission is to provide yoga, meditation, and healing arts to military, veterans, their families, and communities. We seek to build a supportive community, of both veterans and non-veterans, and to provide an opportunity to experience a wide variety of the Healing Arts.

LiboRisk is a military colloquialism derived from the phrase “Liberty Risk” Used prevalently in the Marine Corps, troops who were coined as “LiboRisks” had to be watched more carefully and were punished more often for mishaps during liberty and leave. Because “LiboRisk” is used irreverently and is associated to a troops “free-time”, we believe this would be the best name for our community.

We will start with an all-levels yoga class available to everyone. We will stretch, breathe and cultivate our connection with body-heart-mind-spirit. The class concludes with Yoga Nidra, a deep relaxation that aims to release that which no longer serves us.

After the yoga class is complete, we will head over to Barrel Republic to get some food and drinks for some Community & Comradery.

Donations will go to VETOGA Incorporated, a healing arts program that services our veterans and their care providers. VETOGA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax-exempt.

Yoga on State, 2697 State Street, Carlsbad, CA 92008
More info: info@yogaonstate.com

VETogi of the Month

DONATE TO VETOGA’S MISSION

Claudia Cavazza

VETOGA Instructor

Claudia Cavazza is a certified Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 200 + E-RYT 500), Advanced Yoga Nidra Facilitator, Prison Yoga Project Certified, Certified Trauma Professional, and Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional. Claudia’s passion is to deliver yoga, meditation, breathing techniques and Yoga Nidra to populations such as veterans, first-responders, college students, and at-risk youth affected by high stress and PTSD through a carefully designed trauma-informed and polyvagal-informed embodied practice.

Committed to share the benefits of a trauma-informed yoga practice, as Director of Education and Training for New Millenium Employee Assistance Services, Claudia has been developing resilience focused trainings and practices for first responders in the DC metro area. In addition, for the past 7 seven years Claudia has been serving the veteran-owned organization Vetoga to provide yoga and meditation to veterans, first responders and their families.

In 2018, Claudia founded the corporate wellness company WRKwell, LLC to deliver stress management programs to local corporations as well as public entities. WRKwell combines the benefits of embodied practices with leadership and corporate responsibility training to provide tools for both organizations and corporate employees to thrive in a safe work environment.

Question: What originally motivated you to do this work and what continues to motivate you?

“Both my grandfathers served during World War II in the Italian Army. While one of my “nonni” adapted very well upon returning to civilian life, the other came home from the Russian front deeply scarred and became severely addicted to alcohol to cope with his experience of war, unleashing violence and abuse on my grandmother, my mother and her baby brother. At the time, no one talked about the effects of trauma and PTSD. Veterans and their families were left to deal with their unbearable burden alone.

Many years later, after connecting with veterans in my local community, I realized that their stories weren’t so different from the stories of my grandfather and grandmother, and their suffering was the same kind of suffering that had impacted my family across generations. I felt a sense of personal responsibility to break the cycle of suffering in my own family, but also to pay it forward to other veterans and their families. As a civilian, I was very fortunate to be accepted into the Vetoga Teacher Training and immediately felt included in a wonderful community of veterans. That’s when I truly felt in my body the power of yoga not only to bring a sense of wholeness within myself, but also to unite human beings from all sorts of backgrounds and lived experiences. I remember as it was yesterday, a young man – a giant Marine who looked so strong that he could move mountains – getting up and crying unstoppably at the end of one of our yoga nidra practices, as years of deeply hidden traumatic experiences were coming to the surface and were released by his body. I just walked over, and we hugged. No words, no explanations, but we’ve become best friends ever since. THAT, to me, is the power of yoga. The practice of yoga can peel back the layers of what we think makes us different from each other and unite us in wholeness as connected human beings.”

VETOGA Wellness Retreats

Location: Ojas Retreat Center

See our programs in action! Watch the video

SPONSOR A VETERAN

VETOGA’S partner: Ojas Retreat Center

Support All Our Programs!

Donate to VETOGA’s Mission

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The post VETOGA Newsletter March 2023 appeared first on VETOGA.