Beginning with, or even, before graduating bootcamp, there are numerous ceremonies and rites of passage in our military experience that serve to welcome and affirm our identities as warriors. We recite creeds, pledging our allegiance to battle and to the other warriors by our side.  We celebrate our accomplishments and pass down the traditions and lore of warriors who came before us.  When the time comes for us to leave our warrior community behind, however, we find that there is typically little to nothing more than a DD214 waiting to welcome us, as returning warriors, home.

Then, as space and time pull us away from our military experience and communities, into faraway places, among people far removed, we may start to feel a loss of connection to our warrior spirit. Our warrior identity may cause us to feel out of place, misunderstood, or unwelcome, so we may hide it away. We may question the worth of our sacrifices and wonder if they mattered at all. Our service may become an afterthought in the minds of the people closest to us and someday, intentionally or not, may become an afterthought in our own minds, as well.  We may feel as if our spirit now walks alone, along the path of the forgotten warrior.

However, even if it is forgotten, the spirit can never be truly lost or taken from the warrior.  There is a lifecycle for the warrior spirit. As our life changes, our battlefields change, and our warrior spirit evolves. This concept is artfully demonstrated by the warrior sequence in yoga. Warrior I is like the birth of the warrior stepping into power. Warrior II demonstrates the focus of the warrior moving forward into battle. Warrior III, “Dancing Warrior,” indicates that the warrior’s journey does not end in battle, but, instead, enters an era of reflection and celebration. As the sequence progresses, the poses take different forms, but our legs remain strong and powerful. As we enter the dancing warrior era in our personal journey, the experience may not always feel joyful and filled with celebration. The relationship with our identity may be complicated as we attempt to make sense of our experience and peace with our memories. Regardless, we remain warriors. And should we doubt or question ourselves, we can always turn inward to reflect, knowing we will find a source of strength and power in our warrior spirit.