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MEDITERRANEAN SEA — June 21, known as International Day of Yoga, and shines a light on the importance of connecting to the body and mind. Yoga teaches people how to be in tune with their body and rejuvenate their mind.
Being out at sea can become stressful and overwhelming at times. Sailors aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), recognize the importance of finding a healthy and productive way to relieve that stress.
Lt. Sydney Frankenberg, division officer aboard Gerald R. Ford, started a yoga class, Sunset Yoga, for Sailors on the ship while underway.
“Life on the ship can be really stressful,” said Frankenberg. “I wanted to create a safe space to help people relax and feel good.”
The essence of yoga is balance. Yoga emphasizes the values of mindfulness, moderation, discipline and perseverance. Reaching a balance between mind, body and spirit provides benefits to physical health and quality of life.
“It’s nice to just forget about the rest of the world for a little bit,” said Frankenberg. “Being able to just focus on your breath and stretching your body makes your mind and body feel better.”
Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity, calmness and relieves chronic stress. Physically, yoga strengthens and stabilizes the spine, relieving back pain, stress, anxiety and tension. It also helps with weight reduction, maintaining a balanced metabolism and increasing flexibility.
“It’s the first time I’ve felt this relaxed on the boat,” said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class William Boice, assigned to supply department aboard the ship. “I feel taller and my back is released. It’s a great recovery from the work week.”
After his first yoga session onboard, Boice said it was a great experience and he will be coming back every week.
Deployment can be very taxing and hard on the body and mind. Finding healthy ways to release stress and recalibrate the mind is also a physical reset. Strengthening and maintaining the body and mind is critical in sustaining a mission-ready crew.
Sunset Yoga offers Sailors a healthy release physically and mentally so that they can sustain operational requirements and perform to the best of their ability while deployed.
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in support of interoperability and maritime security. The GRFCSG provides and inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 6,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.
Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including EMALS, AAG and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.
For more information about the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), visit https://www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/cvn78/ and follow along on Facebook: @USSGeraldRFord, Instagram: @cvn78_grford, Twitter: @Warship_78, DVIDS www.dvids.net/CVN78 and LinkedIn at USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2023 00:58 |
| Story ID: | 447499 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 387 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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