We’ll be celebrating Memorial Day next week, and I can’t think of a better way to honor our veterans and active duty armed forces than by making sure they get the mental and physical health benefits they deserve.

That’s why my friend Congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation (Hay House) and co-chair of the bipartisan Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus and the Military Mental Health Caucus, recently hosted a special Mental Health Month Meditation session led by former NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Mitchell. Former Redskins and University of Texas standout Derrick Dockery also joined us, along with a number of local veterans. Tim gathered them together to bring attention to how meditation can be used to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The event was organized to bring Congress’s attention to H.R. 3516, The Veterans and Armed Forces’ Health Promotion Act of 2013—bipartisan legislation that will:

• Establish complementary and alternative medicine pilot programs for mental health and pain management treatment for veterans.
• Expand the scope of holistic care education and research for those suffering from wounds like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
• Create a grant pilot program to upgrade Veteran Service Organization facilities, expanding the reach of wellness services directly into economically strained communities.

In short, it will improve the quality and variety of care that America’s heroes receive and enable the Veterans Administration and Department of Defense to provide integrative health programs and veteran family wellness centers.

Please take a moment to sign Congressman Ryan’s petition and do your part to help our vets rewire their lives!

Rose Caiola
Inspired. Rewired.