He Lost His Legs in Iraq—Now He’s a an International Yoga Instructor

An explosion in Iraq led to the amputation of both of his legs. Then Army veteran Dan Nevins faced 36 surgeries, a divorce and an emotional battle with the invisible wounds of war. The years after the 2004 attack left him anxious, restless and plagued with nightmares. Nevins knew he needed help…. “I was spiraling downhill fast.” In 2014, upon reaching a new low and trying to find his way out, Nevins called a friend, Anna Dennis. He told her that he was overwhelmed with anger and despair. She replied, “Dan, you need some Yoga in your life….” At his first lesson, he found himself frustrated, wobbling and unstable on his prosthetics. “It was painful, and I was angry because she kept telling me to press my feet into the ground,” he said. Finally he told her: “Quit saying that word! I don’t have any feet!” And then in a fit of resentment, Nevins took off his prosthetic legs and flung them aside, a radical move because he was ashamed of his stumps—only his doctors and family had seen them. His friend instructed him: Root down and rise up. This time, he imagined roots growing downward from his stumps. “I raised my arms, and it felt as though life was shooting out of my hands,” he said. “Tears were streaming down my face.”  MORE