Annual Event
R&R on LBI
Each spring, Courage & Sacrifice partners with veteran-owned H-Hour LLC to sponsor a weekend retreat for combat veterans on Long Beach Island, NJ. The retreats are designed to help veterans in their post-service transformation by connecting in a safe environment and building upon existing skills, as well as setting goals for the future. Participants take part in individual and group activities such as sky diving, horseback riding, yoga on the beach, and meditation.
Please see below for pictures from our 2022 outing.
Horseback riding.
The first day of the retreat was supposed to be a skydiving expedition, but there were too many clouds in the sky. Instead, the veterans began with a relaxing horseback rise through the woods of South Jersey.
Afterward, they met with the Courage & Sacrifice team for dinner at a local restaurant. Courage & Sacrifice President Pat Robbie kicked off the dinner by thanking the Veterans for their service and explaining a bit about our organization. The Veterans then broke bread with a number of C&S members, including Secretary Rich Meigh. The dinner was filled with many laughs and stories — and a few new opportunities for our organization to help additional Veterans with employment and job training.
Relaxation.
In addition to adrenaline-pumping activities and early morning workouts, the retreat offered Veterans to relax and recalibrate. Aside from the curative powers of ocean waves, they were guided through some calming yoga and meditation. Here, they are practicing relaxing yoga and meditation skills around the pool.
Recent research has demonstrated the efficacy of using yoga, meditation and mindfulness to reduce stress, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, daytime dysfunction, hyperarousal, depression and negative cognitions in Veterans (Fiore et al., 2014).
Additionally, these activities promote improved sleep quality, spiritual well-being, acceptance, social functioning, and overall quality of life.
Skydiving.
For most of the Veterans participating in the retreat, the ultimate activity was a skydiving adventure off the coast of NJ. While jumping out of a moving airplane doesn’t exactly sound like R&R, the adrenaline rush associated with extreme sports is considered rejuvenating for people suffering from PTSD — particularly for combat Veterans.
For this reason, skydiving has become an increasingly popular treatment for Veterans from PTSD. The key is learning to associate an adrenaline rush with a positive experience, rather than the tumult of combat. For an interesting read on the efficacy of physiological treatments for psychological distress, check out the 2014 book Body Knows the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.
