As L.L. Cool J Would Say…

…Don’t call it a comeback! [He also says some less-than-ladylike things in that song, too, but that's really the only applicable line.]

It feels like five minutes – not five months – since I last sat down to post. Like any art worth practicing on a regular basis, writing becomes more difficult the less frequently one engages in it. So, today I’ll use lots of pretty pictures to tell my story. [Yay, pretty pictures!]

In early 2011, I was offered the opportunity to serve as one of the 26 national Volunteer Race Directors for the Travis Manion Foundation‘s 9/11 Heroes Run. Having never even been to a 5k let alone participated in one – the girl who walked the 1-mile test during high school gym class? You’re looking at her – the idea of being in charge of a race scared the s*%t out of me. Then I saw the commercial.

So, I signed up! [Cue chaos.]

Initially, I figured we’d call it a success if a few of my closest friends showed up on race day…

…

Maybe a handful…

Six or seven…

…

However…

….

On September 11, 2011, seven HUNDRED of my closest friends showed up to race. [In the words of McLovin', ChickaChickaWahWah?] Oh yes, you heard me: Almost seven hundred people participated – and that doesn’t count volunteers (who I am forever indebted to) or vendors.

Short version? It was a total success.

Before the gun went off, cadets from the local high school color guard put on an impressive performance…

A retired NYPD officer who responded to the attacks on 9/11 and a retired Navy officer spoke about their experiences…

One of my best friends sang the National Anthem…

Runners from the Wounded Warrior Project carried American flags on the entire 3.2-mile route…

Firefighters ran in full gear…

Some carried messages for the ones they love…

All ran by this veterans’ memorial…

…to honor the fallen.

Thanks to the support we received that day, we were able to contribute a percentage of the proceeds from the Orlando race to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that provides college scholarships to children of fallen special operations groups. Learn more about SOWF by clicking here, about the Travis Manion Foundation’s good works by clicking here, or by watching this short video with Gary Sinise.

Without getting too wax poetic on you, the aims of organizations like those mentioned above rock me to the core. And yes, it’s more than just having a thing for men in uniform. [And men with tattoos... who drive fast cars... but that's a topic for another day!].

Although talk about military and war certainly seems to stand in stark opposition to our practice of ahimsa, it doesn’t stand in opposition of our practice of seva – service. Believe it or not, there are plenty of ways to get involved in seva to service members through yoga without being pro-war or a G.I. Jane. Quite the contrary. Yoga for Vets offers free classes for veterans across the nation, the Exalted Warrior Foundation in Tampa, Florida, designs yoga classes specifically geared towards wounded warriors in military and veteran hospital facilities; and Yoga Warriors develops programs to help alleviate combat stress, to name a few. Additionally, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk of The Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Boston, Mass., has done exhaustive research on the positive effects of yoga on those suffering with PTSD and offers seminars and training programs on trauma-sensitive yoga instruction at his facility and at Kripalu. If you’re interested in service to our service members in the slightest, I urge you to reach out.

So there you go, friends: an update covering July through September and my PSA.

I can’t wait to tell you what’s been happening since September, too. Part Two coming soon!