{"id":33833,"date":"2023-11-04T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=33833"},"modified":"2023-11-05T06:41:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T06:41:50","slug":"archery-group-helps-veterans-learn-coping-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=33833","title":{"rendered":"Archery group helps Veterans learn coping skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh air, walking trails, 3D foam animal targets,\u00a0and\u00a0bow and arrows\u00a0were\u00a0the main attractions for\u00a0an early\u00a0morning Abilene Vet Center\u2019s\u00a0<\/a>archery group\u00a0getting ready\u00a0for\u00a0a little\u00a0friendly competition.<\/p>\n

Veterans gathered at the Abilene Bow Hunter\u2019s Association for the Vet Center\u2019s third annual \u201cFoam is our Friend\u201d archery\u00a0match.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Veteran\u00a0archery group meets once a month\u00a0and is one of several groups offered at\u00a0the Vet Center to\u00a0learn\u00a0self-care, coping skills, improve mental,\u00a0emotional\u00a0and physical health, reduce stress and\u00a0enjoy\u00a0activities\u00a0and nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans already come in with marksmanship\u00a0abilities, and so\u00a0archery\u00a0really pairs well with that because\u00a0they end up doing something that is native to their own experiences,\u201d said Nick Tapie, director, Abilene Vet Center. \u201cBut archery is very different than using firearms. It\u2019s very quiet. It\u2019s calming. It\u2019s therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Marine Corps Veteran Manny Rios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Army Veteran\u00a0Patrick\u00a0Whitney joined the archery group through\u00a0Tapie\u2019s\u00a0encouragement and has been hooked ever since. He has played in all three archery competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tranquility is awesome.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a competitive person. Archery isn\u2019t easy. I think that\u2019s what draws me in even more because it\u00a0actually takes\u00a0some skill. Whenever you pull that bow back, there\u2019s a lot of fundamentals that you\u00a0have to\u00a0remember.\u00a0And the scenery is so peaceful\u00a0out here. The tranquility is awesome,\u201d Whitney said.<\/p>\n

Whitney won first place last year and claimed second this year.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve been through some dark times and Nick has been there for me. I wish we could get some more Veterans out each month to see what they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran Jason Denson hadn\u2019t shot a bow in more than 20 years and was told about the event from his counselor at the Vet Center. But for him the day was more than just about archery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I was one of those infantry guys\u00a0that,\u00a0if you cry and moan about things, well, you\u2019re going to get run over. So,\u00a0I would\u00a0suck it up, drive on through\u00a0the\u00a0pain, take some ibuprofen\u00a0and keep\u00a0going. That is how the service was for me,\u201d Denson said.<\/p>\n

For Denson,\u00a0it helps him to get\u00a0out of his comfort\u00a0zone and\u00a0break the silence barrier because there are\u00a0things\u00a0that\u00a0he\u2019ll only\u00a0talk to another Veteran\u00a0about.\u00a0\u201cEven though we have different stories, we can still relate to\u00a0each other and\u00a0that really helps,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Manny Rios enjoys\u00a0the\u00a0challenge of the sport. The recently retired marine said archery has helped him in his life: \u201cThis has been\u00a0huge\u00a0for me. It\u2019s given me a different platform to help settle all the noise in my head, which calms me.\u00a0When I go home, I\u2019m a different person. I\u2019m not so angry,\u201d he said. \u201cGive the Vet Center\u00a0a\u00a0call. Learn something\u00a0new. You don\u2019t even have to do\u00a0anything.\u00a0Just come and enjoy the scenery and\u00a0most importantly, the\u00a0people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh air, walking trails, 3D foam animal targets,\u00a0and\u00a0bow and arrows\u00a0were\u00a0the main attractions for\u00a0an early\u00a0morning Abilene Vet Center\u2019s\u00a0archery group\u00a0getting ready\u00a0for\u00a0a little\u00a0friendly competition. Veterans gathered at the Abilene Bow Hunter\u2019s Association for the Vet Center\u2019s third annual \u201cFoam is our Friend\u201d archery\u00a0match.\u00a0 The\u00a0Veteran\u00a0archery group meets once a month\u00a0and is one of several groups offered at\u00a0the Vet Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[782,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archery","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33836,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33833\/revisions\/33836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}