Huffington Magazine Issue 31 | Page 36

WARRIORS POSE Once dismissed as mere acrobatics with incense, yoga has been found to help ease the pain, stiffness, anger, night terrors, memory lapses, anxiety and depression that often afflict wounded warriors. “It’s cleansing — I really feel refreshed,” Marine Sgt. Senio Martz said after finishing a recent yoga session. A stocky 27-year-old, Martz was leading his nine-man squad on a foot patrol through the lush poppy fields and rock outcroppings of the Kajaki district of southern Afghanistan 20 months ago when a roadside bomb knocked him unconscious and killed or wounded the Marines under his command. The blast put an end to his plans for a career in the Marine Corps. It also left him hyper-vigilant, a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, and carrying the joint burdens of guilt and shame: As a squad leader, it had been his responsibility to bring his nine Marines home safe. “It’s a feeling of regret — failure — that really affects me now,” he said. “I didn’t see the signs F