WEBVTT 00:01.042 --> 00:02.226 - [Interviewer] Can you tell me your name, 00:02.226 --> 00:04.290 your title and your role in this program? 00:04.290 --> 00:06.790 - Yes, my name is Tony Garcia. 00:07.123 --> 00:10.146 I am the program manager for Comprehensive 00:10.146 --> 00:13.979 Soldier and Family Fitness for US Army Europe, 00:14.400 --> 00:16.539 but really the Army of Europe, 00:16.539 --> 00:18.956 all army units within Europe. 00:20.420 --> 00:21.907 - [Interviewer] And what is your role 00:21.907 --> 00:23.824 with this yoga program? 00:25.042 --> 00:26.470 - With the yoga program. 00:26.470 --> 00:27.612 This is a cooperative between 00:27.612 --> 00:30.612 Lieutenant Colonel Story and myself. 00:32.569 --> 00:35.658 So I represent USAREUR because we're the headquarters 00:35.658 --> 00:38.658 who could make these courses happen. 00:39.160 --> 00:41.910 But it goes beyond US Army Europe 00:42.132 --> 00:43.792 to Regional Health Command Europe, 00:43.792 --> 00:47.298 because our funding stream came through Med Com 00:47.298 --> 00:49.237 and Regional Health Command Europe. 00:49.237 --> 00:50.897 And our other cooperative partner 00:50.897 --> 00:53.092 is Installation Management Command. 00:53.092 --> 00:56.925 So it's just people within those organizations 00:57.109 --> 01:00.192 trying to make something good happen. 01:07.952 --> 01:12.119 - [Interviewer] How did you get involved with the course? 01:13.154 --> 01:15.904 - Long story, I'm a yoga teacher. 01:16.625 --> 01:19.261 Have been teaching for over a decade. 01:19.261 --> 01:21.896 And as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, 01:21.896 --> 01:23.429 as I was about to retire, 01:23.429 --> 01:26.262 I found yoga because of an injury. 01:26.435 --> 01:30.475 And as I started to teach, one of the first things 01:30.475 --> 01:33.892 that you realize is, this is good for me, 01:34.898 --> 01:37.813 I'd like to make it good for others. 01:37.813 --> 01:41.980 So, as I work in Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness, 01:43.292 --> 01:45.696 we've developed a program we call CAM, 01:45.696 --> 01:48.563 Complementary Alternative Medicine. 01:48.563 --> 01:51.826 And the two courses that are in CAM are Integrative 01:51.826 --> 01:55.993 Restoration or IREST, and then what we call Yoga Warrior, 01:56.539 --> 01:59.872 which is a five day yoga course to train 02:01.276 --> 02:05.109 soldiers, civilians, to become beginning level 02:05.514 --> 02:08.219 yoga teachers and take it back to their community 02:08.219 --> 02:09.386 or their unit. 02:10.611 --> 02:12.515 - [Interviewer] What is the reach of this course? 02:12.515 --> 02:15.098 How many people does it affect? 02:16.787 --> 02:20.954 - We have the potential to fill 125 yoga teachers, 02:23.289 --> 02:24.636 because we're gonna do five courses 02:24.636 --> 02:26.528 of 25 throughout Europe. 02:26.528 --> 02:29.036 And with IREST, we have a population of 25, 02:29.036 --> 02:32.536 so 150 members of the USAREUR or UCOM, AOR 02:35.430 --> 02:38.205 community are going to benefit from this. 02:38.205 --> 02:41.788 So from that 150, it can exponentially grow 02:42.315 --> 02:46.251 to we have no idea what we're gonna be bound by. 02:46.251 --> 02:50.001 A single yoga teacher can take it to a number 02:51.255 --> 02:54.599 of students who hopefully will then take it 02:54.599 --> 02:57.861 to a number of students, to a number of students, 02:57.861 --> 02:59.138 and then it will just go on. 02:59.138 --> 03:01.721 And that's really what we want. 03:02.087 --> 03:06.170 - [Interviewer] How do the skills that they learn 03:06.174 --> 03:10.341 in these courses help them in their everyday life? 03:11.247 --> 03:13.674 - So I call it operationalize. 03:13.674 --> 03:15.383 And my program talks about how do you 03:15.383 --> 03:17.902 operationalize resilience training. 03:17.902 --> 03:21.235 This is just one more skill or technique 03:22.291 --> 03:25.785 or we say, tool in the kit bag or whatever. 03:25.785 --> 03:26.795 This is just one more thing. 03:26.795 --> 03:30.197 So here's how they're going to use it in their daily life. 03:30.197 --> 03:31.428 Two ends of the spectrum. 03:31.428 --> 03:33.564 I have a high performer over here, 03:33.564 --> 03:35.108 and I have somebody who's just struggling 03:35.108 --> 03:36.858 to survive over here. 03:37.093 --> 03:39.404 If I'm struggling, I can take what I've learned 03:39.404 --> 03:41.911 in integrative restoration or IREST, 03:41.911 --> 03:44.106 and apply it to my daily life. 03:44.106 --> 03:47.939 If I can't feel an emotion or part of my body, 03:49.876 --> 03:51.315 there are techniques within IREST 03:51.315 --> 03:53.254 that will train me to do that. 03:53.254 --> 03:55.553 And if I embody or incorporate them, 03:55.553 --> 03:57.970 I can help with self therapy. 03:58.258 --> 04:00.197 So that's one end of the spectrum. 04:00.197 --> 04:02.090 Let's take the high performer. 04:02.090 --> 04:03.340 I'm an athlete. 04:03.634 --> 04:05.921 I'm a professional fast mover, 04:05.921 --> 04:08.254 whatever I define myself as. 04:08.405 --> 04:11.633 These techniques can make that performer 04:11.633 --> 04:13.274 or that person, that soldier, 04:13.274 --> 04:15.857 family member, whoever, better. 04:15.979 --> 04:18.008 And the way they do that, is the way 04:18.008 --> 04:20.412 I've kind of incorporated it. 04:20.412 --> 04:23.079 We have difficulty slowing down. 04:23.581 --> 04:27.482 So for probably four years now, I've used methods 04:27.482 --> 04:31.065 that have come from IREST, every single day 04:31.557 --> 04:34.390 to spend five minutes, 10 minutes, 04:34.657 --> 04:37.240 15 minutes to slow myself down. 04:38.361 --> 04:40.764 Because if I don't, I make mistakes. 04:40.764 --> 04:42.796 If I start to do things quickly 04:42.796 --> 04:46.499 and become frustrated, I'm gonna make a mistake. 04:46.499 --> 04:48.659 So if I can learn to just slow down 04:48.659 --> 04:52.242 and become deliberate, and I'm at this end, 04:53.674 --> 04:56.345 I just do better, I perform better. 04:56.345 --> 04:58.609 Whatever my job is, is better. 04:58.609 --> 05:01.639 Whatever I'm doing in my family life is better. 05:01.639 --> 05:05.725 And whatever I'm doing, just my recreation is better. 05:05.725 --> 05:07.975 Your life just gets better. 05:09.197 --> 05:10.729 - [Interviewer] What do you say to a commander that might be 05:10.729 --> 05:14.396 reluctant to incorporate something like yoga 05:15.222 --> 05:16.941 into their teaching program. 05:16.941 --> 05:21.108 - Right, so that's hard, because I find a lot of resistance. 05:22.502 --> 05:24.708 But that resistance is going away. 05:24.708 --> 05:27.343 I've had command sargeant majors at two star level 05:27.343 --> 05:31.176 commands tell me, as he sees his unit in yoga, 05:32.521 --> 05:34.182 I want more of that. 05:34.182 --> 05:37.955 The Army has progressed to not talking about this, 05:37.955 --> 05:41.455 because it's something I don't understand, 05:45.294 --> 05:47.928 to, you know, I'm kind of interested now, 05:47.928 --> 05:49.600 can you talk to me about now. 05:49.600 --> 05:51.850 I'm kind of interested now. 05:54.162 --> 05:55.602 I've had soldiers come back from yoga 05:55.602 --> 05:59.185 in other courses that USAREUR has promoted, 05:59.340 --> 06:01.314 and now I want a teacher. 06:01.314 --> 06:04.814 So if the unit or the leader is reluctant, 06:05.482 --> 06:06.353 here's what I tell 'em. 06:06.353 --> 06:08.520 Hey, come on into a class. 06:09.290 --> 06:11.659 We have classes in almost every fitness center 06:11.659 --> 06:13.621 throughout US Army Europe. 06:13.621 --> 06:16.121 And so do other installations, 06:16.186 --> 06:17.928 whether they be Air Force or Navy. 06:17.928 --> 06:19.095 Go to a class. 06:19.135 --> 06:20.366 Two things are gonna happen. 06:20.366 --> 06:21.364 Either you're gonna like it, 06:21.364 --> 06:22.967 or you're gonna dismiss it. 06:22.967 --> 06:25.173 First time I went to yoga, I dismissed it. 06:25.173 --> 06:29.340 Too easy, not doing this, going back to functional fitness. 06:29.758 --> 06:32.046 And then, the second time I went, 06:32.046 --> 06:34.463 as a result of being injured, 06:35.852 --> 06:37.282 this has worked out for me, 06:37.282 --> 06:40.699 I enjoyed it, it increased and here I am. 06:41.125 --> 06:43.389 So they just have to try it. 06:43.389 --> 06:44.584 They have to be open to it, 06:44.584 --> 06:48.751 otherwise you're gonna shut you out and you're entire unit. 06:49.565 --> 06:52.692 - [Interviewer] Anything else you want to add, sir? 06:52.692 --> 06:55.571 - No, thank you for doing this with us. 06:55.571 --> 06:58.210 It's hopefully a program that's gonna grow.