Veteran & Teacher Profile: Laverne Glover
Written By: Capucine Hoybach
Meet Laverne Glover, a US Airforce veteran and a proud recent graduate of Veteran Yoga Project’s Inaugural 200-hour Mindful Resilience Teacher Training program.
“I sort of fell into yoga a couple of years ago. I had been a fitness instructor since 1986,” Laverne describes, “but very soon after, I began taking classes at studios in my area.” This eventually led to a chance meeting with VYP’s Deb Jeannette and her introduction to the MRYTT program.
When Laverne’s mother passed away in March of 2020, Laverne turned to yoga as means to process her grief. It was then that yoga became much more than a physical practice. “It was very spiritual,” Laverne recounts.
“The MRYTT was just getting underway when my mother passed away, and I had all of these books for the training. I turned to one, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and just happen to open to page 99, Pada Two. It was then that everything fell into place. I had found a way, through pratyahara, the fifth element among the eight stages of yoga meaning ‘removal of the senses,’ to deal with my grief during a very sad and isolating time.”
Like most of us during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the various quarantine mandates in effect, Laverne did not have the opportunity to process her grief with her family, friends, or community, so she turned to the support of the online training: the VYP instructors, students, lectures, practices, teachings, and readings. The result: a learning experience as well as a place for healing.
“Because of this training and how I was able to apply it to what I was going through in my own life, I now look at yoga completely differently. I cherish yoga. I never anticipated how it would help me as much as it did on a personal level.”
Laverne has already begun leading classes with a local veteran support group, as part of the MRYTT Seva ‘selfless service’ project. The profound sense of support, guidance, and inclusivity she has experienced with the VYP involvement, will no doubt, continue to inspire her to do great things for others and we can’t wait to learn all about it.
To learn more about the MRYTT program, please visit: MRYTT Webpage
