Maryland yoga instructors tailor their teachings for military and veterans

In 2009, Lt. Jen Vaughn was at war — with herself. Or so it seemed to the then-32-year-old Naval officer.

“I was going through some pretty tough stuff — a divorce and a series of deaths in the family, including a suicide,” says Vaughn, of Laurel, Md. “The state of the world, and all that was going on, made things worse. I didn’t deal with the stress well; I needed an escape.”

She tried yoga. That first class, she burst out crying. The sailor who had patrolled the Mediterranean during the Kosovo Campaign, and chased pirates off the African Coast, lay on her mat, bawling. In a good way.