TRAINED TO KILL, LEARNING TO BREATHE
WWW.ARMY.MIL
B y D AV I D W O O D
OR A DECADE, troops returning from war with
mental and physical trauma have been dosed
with cocktails of numbing drugs and corralled
into talk-therapy sessions, often with civilian
clinicians who have no experience in combat
and its aftereffects. ¶ But alarmingly high suicide rates among veterans, as well as domestic
violence, substance abuse and unemployment,
suggested to some military doctors, combat
commanders and researchers that conventional
treatments aren’t always enough. ¶ Now, one
proven, effective treatment is gaining wide acceptance within hard-core military circles: yoga.