#teamredwhiteblue

[bishopk0s]

Only 3 types of runners. #running #teamredwhiteblue #pacers

[nikkitamyoga]

Red White and Blue Yoga Camp Begins

Today is the first day of Team Red White and Blue’s yoga camp. Yesterday over 25 veterans came to the Bronx and got settled in quite a cozy hotel. My friend/yoga student Katrina that I met a few years back is quite the organizer, at the moment signing a last minute person up. She hasn’t missed a a beat. Aaron, my brother is here. I haven’t seen in nearly two years. I live in Chicago and he lives in our home state of Colorado. He is a disabled veteran with PTSD. I have to profile him but I dont want anyone to think I’m judging him. I love him, he’s a completely selfless husband and father. He’s probably doing this camp for me. To me he still looks and seems like a kid and his sense of humor is pretty sharp and almost crude. He served in the US ARMY for 12 years. I know bits and pieces of the trauma encurred while being in Bosnia, Croatia and Iraq. In his final two years of being in Iraq he saw his wife for two weeks total and they managed to have my nephew. Anyway, in Iraq on his daughter’s birthday his HUMV hit an IED and flipped allowing him the day off to tour Babylon. I know he’s on meds and he smokes it seems quite a bit. It’s fair to say and funny that my brother thought he was coming here to assist me. Yesterday he tells me he didn’t realize he was signed up for the camp. What?! So after foregoing my original plans to meet up with my bro at Penn Station and to go to 630 Bikram class I instead decided to stay with the group and meet the veterans showing up for this camp. I wanted to get this started. I finally had the privilege of meeting Barry, the Bikram Yoga teacher ex ARMY/WEST Pointe guy that dreamt this camp and made it come true. He seemed a bit in his dream last night as he was greeting veterans. He told me tid bits about his visits to Bikram to get his blessing for this camp. Apparently that took some time. Eric, this guy is super sweet veteran amputee who was in a RECON unit who has a lot of things physical and psychological going on. He has a cool half leg prosthetic. He stays active, triatlete, stays up on his visits to the pshyc doctor. He really seems to be looking forward to this three day yoga camp. I feel a bit for him as his career in the service it seems he saw too much violence. Then there’s Cyrtis. He’s a bit nerdy and cute. He’s a Firefly fan, a futuristic space cowboy show that got cancelled after first season. (ugggh what? Who?) Cyrtis was a medic in Iraq and just picked up wounded people and dropped them off. He says he felt like he never got to really help people which he thought was his job. I heard him get pretty pssst off last night. “Don’t get me started! I never believed in Bush’s wars but the people who did didn’t have the balls to send their own kids to war!” Anyway, he is still dealing with the fact that he didn’t get diagnosed with PTSD and didn’t return to the VA to try again. Both my brother and Eric told him he needs to go back to the VA to get his diagnoses. Cyrtis said he wants to understand more how he can get the strength to walk in the VA hospital because everytime he did he says he loses it. Cyrtis knows about Bikram Yoga, his girl friend is quite the buffed kale eating Bikram instructor and we have 65 friends in common on facebook, which is more than Cyrtis has in common with her. He says he doesn’t practice because the studios in Minniapolos are running at 110F, too hot apparently. So today this yoga camp starts. I have to call my bro and get rolling. Tomorrow evening Rajashree will teach, that’s Bikram’s wife. Mike the founder of Team Red White and Blue who helped Barry make this happen will also make his grand entrance. So it begins. There is a blind retired Lt. Col here, Katherine. I didn’t really get to talk to her. But her story goes on her fourth or fifth but last tour of Iraq her vehicle hit an IED and she lost her sight. Her sight dog will be in the yoga room hopefully by the window. I have never seen a dog in the yoga room before or a blind person. It’s awesome to say that the USO has given a grant to pay for this yoga camp. Plane tickets and hotels were completely paid for.