Military & VeteransBeing a military veteran himself, Marty Yura has a special affinity to the military members he teaches through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. Creating a safe, welcoming, and interesting environment in the studio, Mr. Yura brings all of his life experiences to how he teaches yoga and how he creates an important connection with his students.
Marty Yura is a yoga teacher and co-owner of Vista Yoga. A veteran with a Masters in Psychology, he served as a psychologist in the military for five years. He now teaches yoga to civilians as well as to veterans with PTSD and other physical and mental health conditions through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.
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The connection, I think that’s integral. And part of why I like doing this, and what drew me to this is because I can relate to this population. I have enough of a history of being shot out, in the military. And it’s a sense. It’s not something that is a line item for me, but it’s just kind of — I have this affinity. And that contributes, I think, to my being able to connect with people. But of course, you have a very diverse crowd here. You have the men and women. They’re not all combat-related trauma. But that ability to connect, you know, you may learn that to some extent in an academic program, but that’s far more street smarts and life and just being around the block. And teaching yoga is an opportunity to use all of that in delivery, if you will. You’re connecting, whether people are smiling or not - those are not the things you look for. I think you just connect, just connect. You create and you got to do it fairly quickly, because there’s not much time in an hour’s class. But you create an environment that seems to be safe and interesting enough for someone to participate, at least for the first session.
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About the author: Marty Yura, MA
Marty Yura is a yoga teacher and co-owner of Vista Yoga. A veteran with a Masters in Psychology, he served as a psychologist in the military for five years. He now teaches yoga to civilians as well as to veterans with PTSD and other physical and mental health conditions through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.
