Soldiers in Iraq take yoga classes

This is a far cry from my previous posts and not really in keeping with my central theme, but I thought I’d write about this because I found the story interesting and wanted to share it with you.

In an article entitled “National Guardsman from Palmyra finds himself teaching yoga in Iraq,” LDNews, Lebanon, PA (June 10, 2009), 6-foot tall and 250-pound David Kocian doesn’t really look like your typical yoga teacher, but he quickly became one when interest grew among his soldiers to take yoga classes as a means to find peace and relieve stress amid the front lines.

“Once you cross that threshold into my room, it’s yoga world,” Kocian said. “Forget about your pain; forget about your problems; forget about your supervisor; forget what you just did and what you will be doing in the future.”  Kocian had 15 people in his class the first night, and 25 on the second night.  Kocian’s yoga class in a combat zone quickly became popular. People keep coming back for more and he gets lots of compliments.  He’s glad to be providing a worthwhile service to his service buddies. Yoga is one way to stay sane in an insane situation.

First Lt. Dave Sabulsky from Jamestown, NY went to one of Kocian’s classes and thought it would be initmidating at first. But, he didn’t find it to be very hard to learn and he “credits Kocian’s teaching for this.  He was relaxed. He knows what he’s doing and enjoys what he’s doing,” says Sabulsky.