Episode Notes

“It matters what we do,” says Dr. Daniel Libby of the Veterans Yoga Project. He is on a mission to support recovery and resilience among our veterans, families, and communities. And has the data to prove it. Daniel Libby is the founder and executive director of the Veterans Yoga Project and believes its mission takes precedence over its entity. Find out why he says this.

Veterans Yoga Project reaches over 2000 veterans monthly through yoga and mindfulness practices. Daniel knows and has the data that compassion fatigue can be transformed into compassionate resilience, which is particularly relevant as we evolve with the covid-19 pandemic.  

How do you answer the question: “What is more important: Your entity or its mission?” Does it make a difference whether the entity is a for-profit business or a non-profit organization?

Daniel’s original vision, mission, and philosophy of organically growing his venture have stayed the same, but everything else has changed. Common in entrepreneurship, where you start isn’t necessarily where you meet the needs of those you serve. The real work begins with deep diving into understanding how your mission and offerings can adapt to client needs and the changing marketplace. The landscape in providing Yoga to veterans changed even before 2020. You can contrast Daniel’s journey to see how it mimics or differs from your entrepreneurial journey when you tune in to our podcast conversation.

Despite my overzealous attempt to add value, it was refreshing to hear Daniel’s surprise as he acquired new leadership skills and expressed how his mission grew after conducting a survey with 170 VA treatment centers. Daniel published the study in 2012 in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy which expanded awareness. The study showed that yoga teachers in V.A. treatment centers had no training in military culture and P.T.S.D. A lack of space and government funding were barriers to helping veterans heal and lead successful lives.

In 2018, when I first aired this conversation, the government started implementing yoga offerings for veterans as a whole health initiative. A huge success! Daniel was pleased. Expanding awareness by publishing his study prompted more government funding to support veterans in addressing all stages of their recovery. With the results in hand, Daniel changed his business model and added military culture and P.T.S.D. sensitivity into his yoga teacher training and works with government agencies to provide space and funding so veterans, their families, and our communities can access a full range of mind-body practices that facilitate recovery and resilience. He is counting his wins.

Our conversation brings us full circle to last week’s conversation about leadership and burnout and the benefits of mindfulness and yoga practices. Ensuring the business model and mission of the Veterans Yoga Project are congruent with veteran offerings is an ongoing process. Since 2020, they have added resiliency training for first responders, caregivers, and more.

Life is hard and full of challenges. The more we plant our feet on the ground, the more impact we can make and the less likely we are to discount our influence in the world. A statement Daniel emphasizes at the end of our conversation.

Daniel also says, “If you haven’t served in the military, Veterans Yoga Project is an opportunity for you to give to those who have served.” Consider how you can get involved. Daniel has embraced the phrase, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Check out the 9^th Annual Veterans Gratitude Week & a Warrior Salute, November 4 -13, 2022. DOWNLOAD

Insights into mindfulness and Yoga

In Wherever You Go There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness “as an ancient Buddhist practice that has profound relevance for our present-day lives. This relevance has nothing to do with Buddhism per se or with becoming a Buddhist, but it has everything to do with waking up and living in harmony with oneself and the world. It has to do with examining whom we are, questioning our view of the world and our place in it, and cultivating some appreciation for the fullness of each moment we live.” (1994, p.3)

B.K.S. Iyengar, the author of Light on Yoga (1976) which is considered the Bible of Modern Yoga, writes, “Yoga is a timeless pragmatic science evolved over thousands of years dealing with the physical, moral, mental and spiritual well-being of humans as a whole.” The qualities demanded from an aspirant are discipline, faith, tenacity, and perseverance to practice regularly without interruptions.

The practice of Yoga predates written history; the specific time is unknown. Archeologists have found stone carvings with yoga pose figures in the Indus Valley dating back 5,000 years or more. A common misconception is that Yoga is rooted in Hinduism. Hinduism’s religious structures evolved much later and incorporated various practices of Yoga. Other religions worldwide have also included techniques and ideas related to Yoga. The first book to systematize this practice was the classic treatise, the Yoga Sutras (or Aphorisms) of Patanjali, dating from 200 BC.

I have integrated Yoga into my entrepreneurial leadership and mentoring labs because yoga and mindfulness practices fit with mentoring, one of the oldest forms of human development. Rapid experimentation and financial risk-taking are part of the entrepreneurial landscape. As entrepreneurial leaders, we must recover quickly, remain agile, and make ongoing course corrections as the market shifts. We need proven practices to calm our minds, tame external distractions and drama and withstand financial pressures. Breathing through the emotions by breathing in and out captures our body’s internal rhythms settling and managing our nervous system. We can then release stagnant energy that no longer serves us and breathe the fresh air in to revitalize our internal system, replenish us, and energize our ability to think more clearly.

Yoga strategies for self-regulation are part of self-mastery (the power to control one’s actions, impulses, or emotions). Consciously processing stress as we experience it is a condition we create that brings us into the present moment when we are ‘off our mats.’

To sign up for a weekly yoga class on Tuesday evenings with me, CLICK HERE.

You can recover from trauma, distractions, habits, thoughtlessness, confusion, pointlessness, helplessness, overwork, stress, and suffering and move into clarity, focus, joy, and resiliency.