For years, former National Football League Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Mitchell won thousands of fans over with his breathtaking tackles. In May, he won CEOs, senators and healthcare leaders over again when he brought his palms together, smiled and said, “Namaste.”
Mitchell was speaking at the first annual d.health Summit in New York, where he officially announced his partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center to create a care plan that will treat military veterans and former NFL players through both Eastern holistic practices and traditional Western medicine. The program will launch in September, when 50 patients will join Mitchell in Buffalo, New York for a yoga and wellness retreat.
Mitchell’s plan is inspired by a devastating moment in his career. At age 31, he made a routine tackle that temporarily paralyzed him from the neck down. Mitchell talked to U.S. News about how the injury changed his life forever — and launched his journey inward. His responses have been edited.
What was going through your head in the moments after you made that fateful tackle?
When the tackle happened, it was an out-of-body experience. My mind was telling me to do something, but my body wasn’t responding. The first thought you think — from the gladiator mentality — is, “This is embarrassing.” I was in front of all these people, and here I am, on my back, being vulnerable. I wasn’t thinking, “How can I get help?”
When I knew I wouldn’t play football again, I thought, “How do I discover a new identity, now that everything I knew in life is gone?”
How did you first get introduced to meditation?
It wasn’t mentioned to me as meditation, it was “conscious breathing.” One of the doctors suggested it. I was taught that there’s a playbook, and you execute it. When I found meditation, this was my playbook.
I was confined to a bed, which created a lot of alone, quiet time. When I learned to breath, and breathe from a healing perspective, a lot of healing sensations came to me. It was like my body was defrosting. There was a burning sensation. It would go from my fingertips to the knuckles of the fingers, to the palms and so on.
Through that process, it taught me patience. I kept wondering, “When will I get the mobility back?” I started to understand breathing with a nurturing breath to facilitate that healing. I had no idea about that before. I didn’t know it was possible.
When did you start practicing yoga?
My yoga practice happened a year or so after the accident. After I gained mobility, every step I took, I felt pain. I was refusing to take the medication. I had to do something — and I found yoga.
My first teacher was an African-American man. I never experienced a masculine presence that was compassionate and patient with me. I was so used to coaches. My first class, I was blown away. I knew I needed to practice yoga.
How does yoga fit in with your care plan?
The plan includes a yoga retreat. We’ll take 50 patients at a time and 250 this year. These patients are veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or brain dementia. We’re going to use a retreat space called Beaver Creek in Buffalo, New York, owned by the U.S. Army and customized for veterans.
The retreat will focus on nutrition, health and wellness. There will be meditation, yoga classes and group discussions. We really want to create space for men and women to open up and verbally come forward and heal. Because when you do that, you allow space for the body to follow suit.
The care plan will last three years, but I believe it isn’t just three years. I really I see it as a lifetime plan. Through creating community, participants will gain skills that will last forever. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is helping to fund us to initiate this program, and they will be there on site. We also want to make it virtual so people who aren’t in the program can still experience it.
What is your vision for veterans and holistic treatment?
I’d like to see us create a holistic arm of the VA where the veterans can come and we’ll accept their insurance. They could be with us for a day or a weekend, and they could heal their bodies. They could come with their families and they could get educated. They could learn about cooking and nutrition. They could learn about yoga and meditation. It opens up other practices. We can collaborate with the VA and others to heal these guys.
How are you helping current and retired NFL football players?
The hope is to extend the care plan to former football players as well. We’re working on that with discussions with the NFL Players Association. We are trying to establish a relationship, letting them know we are working with them — not against them.
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How a Former Pro Football Player Found Yoga originally appeared on usnews.com
