Welcome to the Veteran's PATH podcast. Veterans PATH is a nonprofit introducing veterans to the life changing and life saving practices of meditation and mindfulness. I'm your host, Jon Macaskill - a Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher. Check out https://www.veteranspath.org or at any of the social media links below to find out more!Today, my guest is Air Force veteran and critical care nurse, Jessica Astorga. Jessica was in the Air Force for 13 years, medically retired. She served in Afghanistan as a critical care nurse and has much experience in the mental health arena as both a nurse and as a patient. In her profession of nursing, mental health care is a part of caring for her patients and their families or significant others. She says that over the past two years, she has been on a mission to conquer the demons that she’s faced over years and years. Through this journey she has gained knowledge and skills of meditating and mindfulness and she’s actually use some of these practice with her patients who were in distress. Somehow she learned about Veteran’s PATH and when she saw a women’s only retreat, she applied immediately. She says she’s so glad she went as she learned the science behind why mindfulness and meditation are important and that after learning how these practices can be beneficial to both her mental AND physical health, shes was convinced to make both part of her life. Email Jessica here: [email protected]Follow Veteran’s PATH here:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPvJnrurdnXxdlaE7v3uoMAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranspath/Facebook: https://facebook.com/veteranspathLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veteran's-pathTwitter: https://twitter.com/veteranspath