“Daily survival”: The women of the reservists find strength in therapeutic yoga

Ruth Nodelman describes yoga as life-changing. Bethel Yishai Applebaum defines the group of female practitioners as a support group. Victoria Lea Saraga emphasizes the powers of exercise, and Moria Ilan explains that exercise cleanses the soul.

At the entrance of the Iyengar Yoga Center in the Talfiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, we meet the four women whose war came to the door of their home, called their husbands to come out and shook their lives.

Outside of Efrat Michelzon’s studio, given with a donation to the Natal project (an association for trauma victims on a national background) to practice trauma-aware Iyengar yoga, Nodelman says with a smile, “This is my weekly candy,” and says that she is a mother of four and married to Nitai, a Golani fighter, who was recruited For reserve on October 7.

“I erased myself during this period. My desires, my loves, my talent in music. I’m a musician, and I stopped the concerts and workshops, I stopped singing, because I couldn’t do both. Yoga became the only moment when I gave myself a clean place, like a girl.”

“I’m so happy to be here,” adds Yishai Applebaum, a mother of three and married to Ron, who was also drafted on October 7. “My heart hurts, it’s been really hurting for a long time. But when I come here, also from meeting women in a similar situation, Also thanks to the teacher Lilac with her kind face and compassion, I am excited. There is compassion in this specific yoga, so I leave here with a wider heart, which is not an easy thing to do today.”

Stable, solid, functional

According to Yael Idan, coordinator of yoga and trauma at the NTL association, which developed the special model, in the practice of trauma-aware Iyengar yoga, the understanding that body and mind are interconnected through a holistic observation of the practitioner who is at the center is strengthened. integral to the treatment system,” she explains, “but since October 7 we realized that the trauma is actually registered in the body, and therefore the activity The physical allows people to open up more, to understand themselves more, to get closer to themselves.”

During the 15 years since the project started, the groups and their needs have changed. “Until October 7, I had post-trauma groups from the Yom Kippur wars and ‘Tzuk Eitan,'” Idan says, “but from October 7, we expanded the work in a very significant way to all trauma circles, starting with the direct trauma of the Nova survivors, residents The kibbutzim and reservists, to the secondary trauma, to the circles of family members, spouses and more.”

What is the basis of the model?
Idan: “At the base is Iyengar yoga, which is rehabilitative therapeutic yoga. From my extensive experience over the years with the populations from the various circles of trauma, I have developed a working model based on the Iyengar Yoga method and relevant theories. It is about assimilating the language of resilience, a physiological understanding of the nervous system and influencing it in a beneficial way through yoga, touch and practical techniques for sensory regulation. We call this model Iyengar Yoga, a trauma-informed practice.”

How many such groups are there today across the country?
“25 trauma aware yoga groups have already been opened. It is clear to us that the state cannot provide an answer for everyone, that is why we go into places where we are needed and there are no torturers.”

“The body is a very significant tool and the combination of the body and the mind spoke to me,” admits Yishai Appelbaum. “I was under pressure. Kasharon, my husband, was in the reserves throughout the last year in Lebanon and Gaza, so I signed up. It should be said that it was not only my husband, who was still in the reserves, but also The children and I are carrying a burden and are in a very long period of uncertainty and anxiety. That is why it is important for me to tell about yoga, so that people in similar situations can turn to and help themselves, look for the tools that suit them. Not sure that this yoga suits everyone, but it brought something new to me.”

Nodelman: “Before that I hated yoga, it bored me terribly. Even when I saw the advertisement and realized that it was intended for post-trauma, it sounded inappropriate to me. I thought it must be appropriate for the nova survivors and others who have experienced difficult stories. I don’t know why I filled out the registration form, but I’m so glad I did. Because when the body is open, when the oxygen comes, when I stand still, then I am different in the world, I am different to myself. I am ready to love myself more, I am firm, I function. For me, it also connects me to God, to a higher being, beyond everyday survival.”

Nodelman says that when her husband was drafted, she herself had to learn to be “a bit of a hero. Learn to ask for help, be less ashamed. Take what is offered, because that’s the only way you can last. There was a breaking point where I told him ‘enough is enough, don’t go, I can’t’. True, there are all the lofty ideals, but I realized it was either that, or my health.”

How did you get it?
“From the moment my husband realized that it was really acute for me, he said to me, ‘Well, tell me when I can.’ Then, when I felt that the choice was in my hands, I could after a time of recovery tell him ‘Now I agree to be a part of this, I choose this, and go’. If I connect it to yoga, then now I’m rediscovering my body and I’m enjoying it. I see the world not only as a place of chaos, and this helps put the pieces back into the puzzle.”

“Thanks to this, the children see me as more collected, I manage to explain myself to my husband better. It is definitely life-changing. For me, an angel came and told me, ‘Fill out the registration form. You deserve to receive yourself back’. I am so happy and grateful About this. At the age of 40, I discovered another layer of the world, which will continue with me, until 120.”

A year has passed since Moriah Ilan’s husband, Lt. Col. Assaf Ilan, commander of the 363rd Armored Battalion in the Harel Brigade, was wounded in Khan Yunis. “, she describes. “The bullet caused the humerus to crash and a nerve problem.”

Has life changed since that moment?
“Yes. First of all, we spent two months of hospitalization. After two days in Soroka, we moved to Hadassah Ein Kerem, where he underwent another operation, and then we continued to rehabilitation at Hadassah Mount Scopus, which lasted seven weeks. Returning home was a little more complicated.”

why?
“Because even though it was a time of running around, in which you had to hold on to what was possible, the hospital has a medical envelope for him and also a bit of an envelope for the family. It was a time when many people came to visit the heroic soldiers. The atmosphere in the rehabilitation was good, uplifting, an atmosphere that strives for health , even in the difficult moments, but then the rehabilitation is over and we go home.”

And what’s going on at home?
“There is no longer the envelope of the hospital, and there are all kinds of pains that suddenly have to be dealt with. Pains that were there before, but then they were immediately answered. And everyone is sure that here we are back to the beautiful and good life from before, but it is not always like that. We also expect you to go back to work, Because your husband is already at home. But it’s a complex adjustment period. It’s clear that the family and friends around are still caring and helping, but that’s not the envelope we had in the hospital.”

Throughout this year have you stopped to ask yourself how are you?
“It’s not enough for me to ask how I’m doing. A month after his injury, a friend, whose husband was also in rehabilitation, told me that there was a group of wounded women who were organizing a meeting. I hesitated whether to go, but she convinced me and we went. We were about 30 wives of wounded soldiers, They all came from the hospitals and shared their stories. There, for the first time, I had nowhere to express them to this group ‘Companies of Iron’.

It started with a few women who met in the restoration of the Levinstein House, and continued in the format of a friend bringing a friend. Today, the group already numbers approximately 350 women, spouses of fighters, policemen, members of standby units, victims of hostilities.”

changed habits

“We are a family of Chabadnikim,” says Victoria Leah Sarga, mother of five sons. “My husband was drafted at the beginning of the war after three years in which he did not serve, and since then he has been in the reserves continuously. He is a major in the paratroopers, in the 71st battalion, and we are very proud of him and support him, and do everything to ensure that he continues his service.”

And how does his service affect you?
“I no longer go to work, but only work a little from home. I’m mostly with the kids. I came to the conclusion that it was either the work or the children, and I decided to concentrate on the children. We need someone to balance the house.”

What brings you to this yoga?
“Yoga changed a lot of my habits. She gave me tools to connect with myself. And that’s something we as women don’t have time for. We are busy with so many things, running, we put everyone in the front and we stay behind. If I hadn’t come to this yoga, I don’t know how I would have coped.”

“I also took my mother with me, and this is my quality time with her. We both need to take care of our souls, and this is the place. There is no judgment here, there is no ‘can’ or ‘can’t’. Lilac the instructor tells us to do what we can at our own pace, And that gives me strength.”

“It’s amazing,” Ilan describes the experience. “You strain the body, bring it to the limit, but on the other hand it really clears the mind, I always leave calm for a few hours. We’ve had a challenging year.”

“The instructor Lilac gave a good image of our running thoughts, which do not give rest,” says Yishai Applebaum. “She said that they are like a monkey that jumps from tree to tree, but the very physical activity causes these thoughts to be released, and the release gives rest and calmness. This is really a support group. There is someone here who said she didn’t have the strength to get up, and she still managed to drag herself out of bed to come, and for that alone we applaud her. I can share the tears about the difficulties. The female camaraderie and the similar place we are in are healing in themselves.”

Nodelman: “I feel safe here, and that doesn’t happen to me everywhere. I recently had a birthday, and I didn’t celebrate it with my family, with my friends, with anyone – only with the team.”

Saraga: “It’s a privilege to be around the women here. They fight every day, on so many levels. For me, seeing Ruth, Moriah, Bethel and anyone who rehabilitates herself is not obvious