Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Hey everyone. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today my guest is David Romero. David is an Air Force veteran and yoga instructor who specializes in working with veterans and mental health through meditation. He conducts sound baths for over 400 people and focuses on self mastery of emotions and the healing benefits of slow physical movements.

And today we’ll explore how practices like yoga and meditation can complement traditional workouts and different [00:01:00] therapies for full healing and mental well being. So before we get into. All of that. Uh, David, uh, welcome to the show. I’m really glad to have you here.

David Romero: Yeah, thank you so much for having me on your show. I really appreciate it. Thank

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Yeah. Um, so before we, um, kind of dive into all of this, can you tell us a little bit about your, your journey? Um, kind of what got you into the military, kind of, uh, how yoga came to be in your life and, and all that kind of stuff. And like, take us through a little bit of that journey.

David Romero: Yeah, sure. Um, well, first off, uh, thank you also for your service and thank you to all the veterans out there and, uh, um, a big special thank you to Bay Club for linking us up together. So thank you. But, uh, as far as my journey, I came from a military family. Um, my biological father was a, um, Navy diver. My mom was a drug and alcohol psychologist.

My stepfather was a Data [00:02:00] analyst, uh, my brother was a Navy SEAL and, uh, all Navy and then I’m the Air Force guy. Uh, I grew up, you know, in that lifestyle and traveled around quite a bit with my family and lived all across the United States. And we finally settled back in and, uh, San Diego, Oceanside, California, and my mom being a drug and alcohol psychologist, uh, was very big into mindfulness and we had a whole library of books, uh, you know, on our bookshelves that discuss these topics.

Um, I ended up going to the Air Force Academy, um, and. I did four years there and got out, spent about a year trying to get onto the Olympic team. I stayed back a year after I graduated and I was a fairly competitive track and field athlete, cross country runner, so I was trying to get on the all air force team.

Unfortunately, I just kept having reoccurring [00:03:00] injuries to my knees and hips, IT bands. So Um, had to shelf that and got into, um, acquisitions program management, built rockets and satellites, uh, for the Air Force. Now, I guess it’s considered to be the Space Force, but, uh, um, did that and, you know, there was a, you know, There was a colonel that came into our office one day and he said to the whole group, he wasn’t specifically talking to me, but he said, you know, if you’re not waking up thinking about launching rockets and satellites into space, you should really consider a shift in career because that’s the kind of people that we want.

And with all due respect, like I’ve said, yeah, I don’t think about that. I’m a biochemistry guy, an engineering guy. I love all that. And I actually got out of the military in 200...