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Many non-profits have helped Brian Vines, a military veteran with PTSD and fulltime caregiver for his veteran wife with TBI and PTSD, over the last decade.

People often say that Brian and Natalie's story of injury, caregiving, and retirement from the military is a tragedy. But for them, it's more of a love story.

During their time apart on deployments, Brian and Natalie Vines stayed connected via skype, social media, and hand-written letters, which helped their love endure and burgeon.

There may not be definitive quantitative data to support the efficacy of yoga for military members, especially those with PTSD, but there is a lot of research and experiential evidence that shows that yoga can make a significant difference in the healing process. Yoga helps to calm the central nervous system, so after even practicing a short time, people with PTSD may start to sleep better, feel less trauma-related physical pain, and experience a greater sense of quietude.

For veterans in the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Marty Yura teaches yoga with a focus on heightening the awareness of what a person is feeling in their body. With a focus on somatics — a way of re-educating the way our brain senses and moves the muscles — instead of traditional poses, he helps his students loosen their connective tissue, open neural pathways for greater energy flow to the body, and enhance their awareness of what they are feeling inside their bodies. "In some ways, this is a process of unlearning habituated movements that don't contribute to their health," he says.

For your body and your mind, start yoga and see what works for you. A yoga practice — no matter what style — may become like brushing your teeth ... a daily necessity that also brings you vigor and peace.

Somatics is a movement therapy that refers to the internal sensations of the body, how you're moving your body, what you feel inside your body. When teaching yoga to veterans through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Marty Yura focuses on interoceptive awareness — the ability to identify, access, understand, and respond appropriately to the patterns of internal signals, which can provide a distinct advantage to engage in life challenges and on-going adjustments. He explains: "When you are focusing on somatics, you are not working against gravity which offers you more space, more room, and more awareness to home in on what you are feeling."

I keep hearing that I need cognitive behavioral therapy—talk therapy— to treat my symptoms of PTSD like hyper-arousal, depression, avoiding life, and being irritable all the time with my friends and family. Frankly, I don’t want to talk to someone for weeks and months. My wife keeps pressuring me, but the thought of therapy makes me feel weaker than I already am. Why do I feel this way? I’m not sure what to do. Dr. Klassen answers your questions about mental health treatment.

Do yoga and meditation really help people with PTSD? I’ve tried each a few times and I cannot focus or keep my thoughts clear. How can these possibly help? And how do I know if I am doing these practices right? Dr. Klassen answers your questions about mental health treatment.

Is there still a military/civilian gap, and why does it seem to get bigger? What can we do about it? Dr. Klassen, an expert on mental health issues and treatment, talks about the fact that unlike generations ago when far more people—from all walks of life—served in the military, it being a sort of rite of passage with a shared mission, fewer people in the general population serve today. This divide can lead to a sense of isolation and not feeling understood or respected in the military communities. That said, there are currently more and more organizations focusing on bridging the military/civilian gap.

My husband is a vet with PTSD and will not stop playing video games … he stays up all hours of the night. Should I be worried? Dr. Klassen answers your questions about mental health treatment.

Whether they genuinely mean it or not, I don’t know how to respond when people say, “Thank you for your service,” Sometimes I want to cry, other times I want to shout in their face—you have no idea what I have gone through! My girlfriend thinks I’m crazy. Why do I feel this way? Dr. Klassen answers your questions about mental health treatment.