SPIRIT, MIND & BODY
BEFORE ALL THINGS WE MUST FIRST HEAL THE PERSON FROM WITHIN
We believe therapy is a key element in the transformation process. Not one survivor deserves to go through their journey alone and we are here to walk through it with them arm in arm. Here at S.O.W., we provide several healing options for the spirit, mind, and body.
SPIRIT
MIND
BODY
THE SPIRIT
Healing our members’ spirit and or helping them develop their Spirituality is the first step towards transformation and, in our opinion, one of the most important. We feel that if we heal the Spirit first, then the mind will be ready and focused, and then the body is ready for physical evolution and healing. This then creates a universal foundation for the morals and values that a person believes in regardless of their religion.
Healing and changing a person’s perspective on life, their view of themselves, and their feelings about what they've done in life, is a tremendous step in the psychological recovery of our members. Traumatic events during your military career or public service career can lead to questioning your morals and values.
Trying to make sense of the things you had to do and how they happened is difficult. Restoring or finding your spirituality can help you heal by connecting you to something bigger than yourself. For some, it may be a relationship with your family, friends that may have gone through those experiences, an activity away from all the triggers, or even just nature.
Others may find a relationship with a higher power is what they need. Going to church, life groups, and religious practices may be what feels best to them and fills that void in their lives. However, they need to express it, spirituality can create values and beliefs to give life meaning again for them and S.O.W. is here to help facilitate that.
Spirituality can help you cope with stress in all stages of life. Through meditating on the word of God and prayer, you can feel more at peace with yourself first and foremost, others, and find more purpose in life. It can increase happiness, reduce anxiety and depression, and strengthen the connection with your family. It also creates a more positive outlook on life, heals feelings of guilt and wrongdoing, and truly can change your perspective and direction.
We want to provide a safe haven where our members can share thoughts and questions with others who have similar beliefs and goals. They can read about spiritual teachings which helps them to think more positively. We will be able to provide equal support for members with different spiritual practices, and most importantly give members chances to share their spirituality, and how it helped them in life with others that are going through the same or similar life events. One of the most powerful tools we have to help others...is our own testimony!
THE MIND
We know first-hand the trials and tribulations each of our members goes through because we've gone through it as well. Whether it is the challenge of overcoming PTS(d), depression, anger, guilt, unworthiness, addiction, or adjustment disorder, we are here to help you take the steps to transformation. We also believe that the family is an important factor and huge role in the road to transformation and that is why everything we do is family inclusive. To add to that, all of our members become part of "our" family, our "band of brothers", and have support in each direction they turn.
Nobody walks alone in our ministry!!
Creating spiritual resiliency first, then allows us to heal the mind because our member now knows that they have been forgiven for their trespasses and are redeemed. With this start of the transformation process, they are ready to accept, forgive, and move forward. When you have a belief in a higher power and understand the blessings of life, it makes changing your perspective easier and the breakthrough more successful.
Through group therapy, individual sessions, journal writing, and bible studies to bring the spirit and mind together, our members truly begin to be reborn from the inside out and can face the world with a different perspective and outlook on life.
Did you know that PTS(d), depression, and adjustment disorder not only affects our military service members, but it also affects our brave police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service members? The amazing men and women who put their lives on the line every day to fight the war in our cities and on our streets? They suffer the same as those who fly to foreign lands to fight for our freedom!
This is why we say here at S.O.W., "Everywhere we tread is a battlefield, both foreign and domestic."
More than 65% of our first responders are veterans also! So not only did they serve their country, but they chose to continue to serve their communities now. Did you also know that there are barely any programs available for these American heroes if they get injured on the job, become disabled, and are medically retired? There are programs that help support the families of fallen heroes, but nothing to help these men & women rehabilitate or acclimate into the next part of their life.
S.O.W. is the one of the only programs in the country that includes our domestic heroes and offers them access to all of our alternative rehabilitative programs. We want to help rebuild their lives just as our military heroes require. We feel it is an injustice to the duty and sacrifice these men and women give and they must have opportunities for breakthrough and transformation as well.
We must stand as a nation and stop turning a blind eye to this. We must provide them with the same respect, commitment, and dedication that they give and have given to us.
BODY
The mind is very connected to the body and it takes the electrical signals from the mind to tell the body exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
It's the neurological highway that controls everything about us. It is why we believe in healing the spirit and the mind, while implementing a physical program in partnership with those to get the body on the road to recovery as well. When a veteran returns home to the civilian world from the field of battle or the rigors of service & training, he has to “reprogram or retrain” his mind back into a new way of life that just doesn't operate in the same extremes. Sometimes the veteran chooses to battle new challenges in life and tasks through physical activities or other forms of physical rehabilitation.
The benefits of a proper nutrition and exercise program go well beyond the person’s physical appearance. It's about there "mental muscles" and the ability to create goals, achieve them, and make bigger ones, that can rebuild a sense of confidence and a "can-do" attitude back into our survivor’s daily lives. With the need to rehabilitate areas of the mind and body (maybe due to loss of extremities), the gym and our physical activity programs can give them a place to conquer their individual battles with other members by their side. It will provide them with a place of comfort where they can communicate with other members about their daily lives, struggles, triumphs, and even failures. It gives them a place to use as an "outlet" instead of where it usually gets directed, towards their loved ones. I know personally for me that there is nothing like spending two hours on the mats with my brothers physically testing ourselves and clearing our heads from the troubles of our day to day lives.
It is hard for the general public, who has never served their country or community, to understand the daily struggle our members have endured. Having a place to workout and train with "like minded & like experienced" members brings back a feeling of comradery and familiarity and breeds positive energy into the life of anyone in the facility.
Part of being a member of the armed forces, police and fire departments, and other agencies there is the necessity to be physically fit. Physical fitness was a necessity to carry out responsibilities in the line of duty. When transitioning back to everyday life, the necessity to maintain physical fitness can become null and void. This can intensify feelings of depression, lower self-esteem, and start to create medical issues that never would take place in an active persons life.
Tax ID.: 81-4334625
Location:
Queen Creek, Arizona, United States
Phone: (480) 442-6273
Email: info@wearesow.org
