The Big Red Barn Retreat (BRBR) has been named the recipient of a $25,000 Dorothy D. Smith Charitable Foundation grant. The Foundation’s contribution will fund free weekly yoga and tai chi classes for veterans, active duty service members, first responders and their families.
Post-traumatic and/or combat-related stress is a critical problem facing the military today. The personal, social and economic burdens of pain and suffering, treatment costs, and productivity losses are staggering. In a new study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, medical researchers validate that yoga, as a holistic approach, can promote better mental balance and reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Since 2015 the ongoing support of the Dorothy D. Smith Charitable Foundation has advanced BRBR’s goal of using yoga to help reduce stress, depression, anxiety, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress. Both Restorative Yoga and Tai Chi instill feelings of well-being, build confidence and self-awareness, and promote mind-body healing. To date, BRBR has helped more than 9000 of SC’s heroes transform their post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth.
All services provided at the Big Red Barn Retreat are funded through grants and private donations. For more information or to donate, go to www.thebigredbarnretreat.org/donate.
