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As a Vietnam veteran and a yogi, Tim Withee believes he has something to offer veterans returning from modern-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Withee teaches a form of yoga called Kundalini, every Monday from 5-6:30 p.m. at Fairmount Hall, 2511 N. 12th St. The class is open to anyone although Withee is reaching out especially to veterans.

Withee graduated from high school in 1967, during the height of the Vietnam War when many of his peers were either joining the service or being drafted.

“I knew my time was coming,” Withee said.

When a friend came home to Seattle on leave from the U.S. Navy, he talked Withee into joining.

“At 19, four years is a long time (to commit),” Withee said.

The other option was to be drafted for two years, and, in Withee's opinion more likely experience active combat and be killed.

“A significant number of my peers didn't come back — guys I played Little League with,” he said.

Withee said he wanted to get away from the “burgeoning heroin scene” in the community he hung with in Seattle. He was drinking and dabbling in drugs and wanted to make a change and thought he might learn a skill in the Navy.

“I knew (drugs and alcohol) wasn't the road to success, or happiness,” he said.

So he joined the Navy.

However, on the ship everybody smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol and the majority smoked pot, Withee said.

“Overseas in Vietnam heroin was readily available. You could smoke it, and a lot of the guys on the ship did it,” Withee said.

He returned to the United States in 1972, a “full-blown alcoholic and drug addict,” Withee said.

For years he masked his substance abuse enough to maintain jobs.

By his late thirties, and after a series of failed relationships, Withee realized he was in deep trouble with his addictions.

“I could see that my life was slipping away. I was looking kind of boozy. I was gaining weight,” Withee said. “It was a terrible way to live.”

He suspected his liver was impaired because it was taking less alcohol to get drunk. Withee entered an alcohol and drug treatment center in 1988 where he spent the next 10 days.

He's been sober ever since.

“I knew it was do or die. I could be living under a bridge, be dead, or stop and see what life has to offer,” said Withee, a youthful 60-year-old.

Discovering yoga

Withee started playing basketball during his lunch hour. He lifted weights.

He enrolled in college. He graduated with a political science degree, and then earned a master's degree in Latin American studies.

He worked in Seattle as a sales representative for Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company.

Withee discovered yoga after a surfing vacation in Costa Rica five years ago. Although he was strong, he wasn't flexible enough to catch the waves.

So he sought out yoga lessons back home in Washington — first through a home video and then at a yoga studio where Kundalini classes were offered. Kundalini yoga incorporates specific breathing techniques, mantras, asanas (postures), meditation and sound current.

Specific sets of exercises benefit related body functions, and can also relieve depression, Withee said.

“I was there to get flexible so I could be a better surfer. It worked,” Withee said.

After Withee began a regular yoga practice, “my life just kept getting better. I decided I wanted to teach it,” he said.

In Washington, Withee attended classes twice a week and practiced at home every day for about an hour.

Witheer was laid off from his Pfizer job in January 2009, and moved to Grand Junction where he knew people and had visited to hike and mountain bike. Here he practices yoga for about two-and-a-half hours daily.

Yoga for vets

After his sales rep job ended Withee had time to pursue teacher training to become a yoga instructor.

For seven months Withee traveled from Grand Junction to Cedar City once or twice monthly for weekend training. He received his teaching certificate in October 2009. In addition to the Fairmount Hall class, Withee teaches yoga Wednesday nights in Moab at the arts and recreation center.

During his teacher training Withee and an instructor visited a Veterans Administration outpatient clinic in St. George, Utah, where they introduced Kundalini yoga to veterans.

“There were a few of these guys who had serious problems — problems that they'd been living with for more than 40 years. It hit me hard,” Withee said. “It was very gratifying to see these guys have good experiences with the classes we taught.”

The Washington Post reported in May 2008 that at Walter Reed Army Medical Center veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder were able to sleep better and cope with PTSD after learning yoga exercises and meditation offered as part of a Specialized Care Program.

Withee said he can relate to other veterans who are having difficulty readjusting to civilian life. He said he wishes someone had shown him Kundalini after he got out of the service.

“Yoga is an ancient technology that works,” he said.

“Kundalini is an energy transport system to help you get what you want in life.”

Classes are $10. Donations will also be accepted.

Withee can be reached at 462-3891.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.