Veteran’s PATH

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more!

Today, my guest is retired Navy SEAL Master Chief Steve Drum. Steve served 27 years in the Navy, during which, he developed and led high-performance teams in combat at every level and in the most challenging and extreme environments.

He was a principle architect of the US Navy’s Warrior Toughness Program and now works as a speaker and consultant, where he has helped organizations such as; CDW, Horizon Therapeutics, Zurich Insurance, and 9 Energy create simple and effective strategies for developing peak-performing leaders and teams.

We’re going to learn a lot more about Steve, his time in the SEAL Teams, his work on the Navy’s Warrior Toughness Program, and what he’s doing now... that’s all here in today’s episode of the Veteran’s PATH podcast.

Find Steve here:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/stephen-drum-643695135

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephen.drum?igshid=1t3dijkjw4xur

Website: https://stephendrum.com

Email: [email protected]

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Follow Veteran’s PATH here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-path

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more!

I’m so very honored to have as my guest... Dr. Richard Miller. Richard is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher and yogic scholar. He has devoted 47 years to integrating Western psychology and neuroscience with the Eastern nondual wisdom teachings of yoga, Taoism, Buddhism, and the Judeo-Christian traditions. Developer of the research-based Integrative Restoration iRest Meditation program, Richard is founding president of the Integrative Restoration Institute, cofounder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, past founding president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology, and author of iRest Meditation, The iRest Program for Healing PTSD, and Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga. Richard leads retreats and trainings internationally, emphasizing enlightened living in daily life.

In this episode, Richard and I discuss:

* What nondual means

* The physiological effects of trauma and how iRest addresses those

* Some fantastic analogies to help understand the mind

* Body sensing

Find out more about iRest here: https://www.irest.org

Richard’s books are available here:

The iRest Program for Healing PTSD: A Proven-Effective Approach to Using Yoga Nidra Meditation and Deep Relaxation Techniques to Overcome Trauma https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626250243/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_I51SEbARXYHFP

Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591797586/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_i61SEbP1EWJYW

Follow Veteran’s PATH here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-path

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more!

Today, my guest is Air Force veteran and critical care nurse, Jessica Astorga. Jessica was in the Air Force for 13 years, medically retired.

She served in Afghanistan as a critical care nurse and has much experience in the mental health arena as both a nurse and as a patient. In her profession of nursing, mental health care is a part of caring for her patients and their families or significant others.

She says that over the past two years, she has been on a mission to conquer the demons that she’s faced over years and years. Through this journey she has gained knowledge and skills of meditating and mindfulness and she’s actually use some of these practice with her patients who were in distress.

Somehow she learned about Veteran’s PATH and when she saw a women’s only retreat, she applied immediately. She says she’s so glad she went as she learned the science behind why mindfulness and meditation are important and that after learning how these practices can be beneficial to both her mental AND physical health, shes was convinced to make both part of her life.

Email Jessica here: [email protected]

Follow Veteran’s PATH here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-path

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more! 

I’m super excited about this episode! Today, my guests are the founders of Veteran’s PATH, Lee Klinger Lesser and Chris Fortin. 

Lee has been practicing sensory awareness since 1976 and Chris began practicing Buddhism in 1976. 

They came together to serve veterans in small groups initially and over time by word of mouth, these groups grew into the nonprofit Honoring the Path of the Warrior, now known as Veteran’s PATH. 

We had so much fun on this episode. These ladies have powerful stories and beautiful spirits. I guarantee you’ll enjoy this one! 

Find out more about Lee and her company here: http://www.returntooursenses.com 

Find out more about Chris and her company here: https://www.dharmaheartzen.com 

Follow Veteran’s PATH here: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMA 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/ 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspath 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-path 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more!

Today my guest is retired Navy Master Chief Tim White. Tim is a loving husband, a proud father of two wonderful daughters, and a “Sailor in recovery” who “retired early” after 24 years in the Navy. He loves to read and study most all subjects and is working to become an expert on the veteran to project manager transition. Tim uses stoicism, mindfulness, and comedy to learn, grow, and help others achieve their goals in life. To stay fit he paces marathons and picks up heavy things every now and then.

We’re going to learn a lot more about Tim, his time in the Navy and transitioning to becoming a project management professional (we actually don’t get into this much as we spoke so much about mindfulness!!), and his use of stoicism and mindfulness - that’s all here in today’s episode of the Veteran’s PATH podcast.

Tim can be found here: http://linkedin.com/in/tim-white-pmp

Follow Veteran’s PATH here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-path

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher and now serving as the Deputy Executive Directory and Podcast Host/Producer for Veteran's PATH. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org to find out more!   

My guest today is retired NFL player, Jon McGraw. Before getting into the NFL, Jon attended Kansas State University majoring in business finance and walked onto the football team. He was twice selected as a First Team Academic All American.   He was a second-round draft pick to the New York Jets where he played three seasons. He then played two seasons for the Detroit Lions before joining the Kansas City Chiefs for his final five seasons. Jon retired from the NFL in 2012 and received the Ed Block Courage Award. This award is presented annually to one player from each NFL team who, in the eyes of his own teammates is a source of inspiration and courage. Jon also completed NFL sponsored business management and entrepreneurship programs at Harvard Business School and Wharton Business School.   

Jon has been actively involved as President of the Jon McGraw Foundation which supports various charitable causes. He is now a principle partner at Vision Pursue (VisionPursue.com), a performance mindset training and technology company who’s Mission is to Dramatically improve the way people experience life by improving their mindset with mental training, mindfulness, meditation, and our app. Over the 10 week Performance Mindset course, corporate teams learn critical mental skills being taught in professional sports to enhance focus, resiliency, life experience, and performance.   

In this episode we discuss:  

* his finding new joy in the game  

* mindfulness within the sports industry and corporate America  

* performance psychology and ideal mental and emotional state for peak performance   

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Shameless SEO trick: I realize my music isn’t the best, I’m no Joe Rogan and not as popular as Baby Shark, Fortnite, or Minecraft, but sometimes I’ll reference an old SNL skit or something you may have seen on CNN, MSNBC, or FoxNews, so Try Not To Laugh, as this Ninja goes on Tik Tok ... didn’t make sense?  It wasn’t supposed to!  Just trying to get more views to get the word out about the work we do ;)  enjoy!

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher and now serving as the Deputy Executive Directory and Podcast Host/Producer for Veteran's PATH. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org to find out more!

My guest today is Navy veteran Tara Jackson. Tara recently retired after a little over 20 years of active duty service in the Navy as a Supply Officer. After a few tough tours, in particular a year long GWOT Support Assignment in Baghdad and Um Qasr, Iraq, she began to realize that she needed to find some help. She turned to Transcendental Meditation (TM), which over time provided the calm she was looking for. Tara has a BA in History from the University of Memphis, MS in International Relations from Troy University and am currently a MS Yoga Therapy candidate at Maryland University of Integrative Health. She is a 500 hour certified yoga teacher and teaches classes here in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia.

In this episode we discuss:

* Simple ways to start meditating

* Sticking with it - it takes time and effort!

* Her struggles with what she was exposed to

Contact Tara here for any details or questions you may have: [email protected]

Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast.  Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness.  I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher and now serving as the Deputy Executive Directory and Podcast Host/Producer for Veteran's PATH.  

My guests today are brother/sister team Tom Voss and Rebecca Nguyen.   

Tom is an Army Veteran who recovered from PTSD and moral injury through meditation. He and his sister Rebecca coauthored Where War Ends - Recovering from PTSD and Moral Injury Through Meditation; and Tom was the focus of the Emmy nominated film Almost Sunrise which documented his and his friend Anthony’s 2700 mile walk across the country to bring awareness to veteran mental health.   

Check out Tom's site: https://www.themeditatingvet.com

Check out Rebecca's blog:  thehappypassport.com   

*** BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!***   Tom and Rebecca have generously donated books for me to give away until I run out to people who send me the correct answer to this question (email me at [email protected]). Here’s the question: The film crew followed Tom and Anthony as they were on their trek - but didn’t follow them the whole time. How many days did Tom say the film crew would come out for at a time?

J.C. is a retired Army Ranger Lieutenant Colonel now working as a leadership consultant who advises at the strategic, operational, team and individual levels. He has a strong background in leadership development, executive personnel assessment and selection, strategy, coaching, counseling and developing innovative solutions to complex problems. J.C. is currently the National Director of Merging Veterans and Players, (MVP) - whose mission statement is to match combat veterans and former professional athletes together - after the uniform comes off - to give them a new team to tackle the transition together. MVP shows them they are not alone. (Learn more here: https://www.vetsandplayers.org) In addition to his Masters from the Naval War College, LTC Glick holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island and is a Liberty Fellow, part of the Aspen Institute. JC is also a TEDx speaker and the author of the books A Light in the Darkness: Leadership Development for the Unknown, and Meditations of an Army Ranger: A Warrior Philosophy for Everyone. 

Both books are available on Amazon here: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0998848506/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0998848506 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0998848514/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0998848514

 In today’s episode, JC and I discuss: 

* His studies of Russian culture 

* Ranger School 

* Dealing with PTS 

* Training and being prepared for real world missions even during peacetime 

* The value of great Non-Commissioned Officers to developing good Officers 

* Struggling with preparing for transition 

* Transitioning WITHIN the military from an operational role to an administrative role 

* Building resiliency 

* Merging Vets and Players (MVP) 

Connect with JC on LinkedIn or on his company website: 

http://linkedin.com/in/jc-glick-ltc-r-u-s-army-ma-01b1a513 

https://www.mvpdevelopmentgroup.com

Heather is a Navy Veteran, an Army spouse & Army mom; a Cancer survivor, a Health & Wellness enthusiast, Yoga Teacher, a High School teacher & tutor, an Artist, a Student pursuing Masters of Science in Yoga Therapy, and Musician - she plays the bagpipes! 

In this episode, Heather and I discuss: 

* her physical injuries in the Navy 

* her athletic career at Annapolis 

* her adapting to “Plan B” 

* visualization training 

* being a military spouse and mom 

* the importance of the military spouse network 

* her kicking cancer’s butt 

* the importance of yoga and a positive attitude through her treatment 

* Yoga 

* Laughing and laughing yoga! 

* the affects of the Coronavirus on her, her family, and her work. 

You can reach Heather at [email protected]