The KCVC Monthly Muster Gets Mindful of Heart and Body. PDF Flyer
All are invited to a special gathering to get a taste of three essential, evidence-based practices to reclaim body, mind, and soul for our military community.
June 20th, 2019 from 2:30pm to 5:00pm.
We will be gathering at the Seattle University Student Center Room 210.
This is a low-barrier workshop and all abilities and barriers encouraged. Providers, Partners, and Neighbors welcome!
Bring a mat or cushion if you have one but they are not essential.
RSVP by sending an email to info@thekcvc.org
About the facilitators
Joe Conniff-Certified Peer Counselor, MMT, Recovery Coach, RYT 200
Joe first began practicing insight meditation and yoga asana while incarcerated related to his substance abuse in 2015. For the last 4+ years he has studied Viniyoga and Buddhism in the Theravada tradition, while applying the practices of meditation, mindfulness and yoga to maintain his recovery from addiction, heal his personal trauma and work with grief and loss.
His teaching style incorporates compassion and understanding for the nature of change in our lives in a difficult world, finding the willingness to embrace and overcome adversity, while working with the physical and emotional sensations present with these ever-changing experiences.
Joe has studied and practiced with Noah Levine, and completed the Mindfulness Teacher Training with Sean Fargo. He received his Viniyoga 200 Hour Level teaching certificate from John Wilson of Eastlake Yoga and the Recovery Café. His teaching and understanding has also been influenced by the work of Gabor Mate, Josh Korda, and Kevin Griffin.
Joe is a post 9/11 US Navy Veteran, recovery advocate/speaker, and a father. He currently works for a treatment agency in collaboration with Drug Diversion Court, providing peer counseling and resources to substance dependent and justice involved populations.
Jaime Yslas - Veterans Yoga Project
Jaime Yslas is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of a yoga teacher training with a Registered Yoga School (RYS). He teaches Mindful Resilience with the Veterans Yoga Project (VYP) at locations in the Puget Sound. Practice includes wheelchair yoga and yoga for survivors of trauma, Veterans, their families, and their caregivers.
Jaime also teaches with Team Red White and Blue and with the Wounded Warrior Project.
Jaime is a Veteran, serving for 32 years with the United States Navy from 1974 until 2006.
Ryan Mielcarek - VeteranRites
Ryan Mielcarek is a Seabee veteran with three tours to Iraq. He is Co-Chair of the King County Veterans Consortium Executive Director for VeteranRites, a nonprofit that empowers Veterans and survivors suffering from trauma, uncertainty, and isolation to reclaim their whole selves and set new intentions for their lives through a Rite of Return in the wilderness. He is an advocate and practitioner of holistic healing as a force multiplier for conventional therapy. Ryan earned a Masters of Public Administration from Seattle University focused on increasing federal investment for Native American and Alaskan Native military veterans.
The Way of Council is a vital practice of the Rite of Return program and one that can easily be implemented at the dinner table, at the office, or the VSO. It is time-tested communal practice of reconciliation, bearing witness without judgement, and speaking from the heart without fear.