FORT SILL, Okla. (Nov. 23, 2016) -- The seemingly calm and collected sergeant can be found most days at a church, peacefully meditating during a yoga class or grappling with men often twice her size.
While two of those activities may seem typical of a brigade chaplain's assistant noncommissioned officer in charge, Staff Sgt. Amber Stanley, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 75th Field Artillery Brigade, isn't a typical Army NCO.
Outside of her job she instructs yoga and combatives, together which help the blue-eyed sergeant relieve work-related stress.
Stanley found yoga at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 2013. One day, a legal officer in her unit invited her to take a class, after which she felt at peace and more relaxed. She started practicing yoga more at home and continued going to classes.
"I liked yoga; not just for the flexibility, but also for the stress relief," said Stanley. "If I'm having a bad day, meditating helps me."
As her passion for the stress-relieving art increased, it became clear to her that she wanted to teach yoga.
"I couldn't keep it to myself because of what a blessing it was for me. I had to share it -- it gives me serenity," Stanley laughed.
She now teaches yoga classes two to three times a month at the Fires Fitness Center here. She teaches postwide yoga to pregnant Soldiers and their family members. She incorporates essential oils with yoga and puts oil on the temples of her students during meditation.
With the calm manner in which Stanley approaches any situation, one would never be able to tell, perhaps it may even come as a surprise, that the same sergeant is a certified Combatives Master Instructor. She teaches brigade Soldiers combatives techniques alongside other instructors.
Also, she is an Oklahoma State champion for grappling and earned two gold medals in March.
Although she grew up around fighting her whole life (her father fought competitively, and represented the United States in judo during the 1980s) she didn't get into combatives until 2007.
The push to take classes came after almost being sexually assaulted by a man she went on a date with. The one thing that saved her was kneeing the man in the groin. Because of that situation, and realizing she would flinch when she found herself in an intimidating situation, she began mixed martial arts training the next week.
"I told myself that I would never let a man intimidate me again," Stanley said.
At the end of 2007, she had a permanent change of station move to Hawaii where she found Muay Thai, her favorite form of fighting. She trained at Icon Fitness under UFC's Chris "The Crippler" Leben. Stanley said she enjoys the culture that comes along with the Muay Thai fighting style.
"A lot of people think fighters are just a bunch of punks, but there's really an art to fighting," Stanley said.
She added she likes to flow roll, a form of fighting where the emphasis isn't on hurting your opponent.
"It's like an art; yin and yang. I'm thinking of my next move and my opponent is thinking of his," Stanley said.
She has never been in a bar fight or street fight, but admits she has walked away from many. Stanley said if she didn't fight in a structured or controlled environment, as she does during combatives classes, she probably wouldn't be able to walk away from fights.
"If you love the art of it all, you'll be able to walk away from fights," Stanley said.
One of her Soldiers, chaplain assistant Pfc. Antonio Toliver, said Stanley does extra-curricular activities to help her resiliency and to empower others.
"She does it to better herself and to motivate others to not only meet the standard of what's expected of a Soldier, but to go above and beyond."
Stanley teaches yoga and combatives while handling her role as the brigade chaplain assistant NCO and raising her 13-year-old son.
Looking to the future, she plans to start working on a new certification that will enable her to teach yoga specifically to those affected by PTSD. Stanley is also working on a book with a friend that highlights PTSD in the military from male and female perspectives. The book will cover topics such as sexual harassment, spirituality during deployment, and relationships.
Stanley continues to teach yoga at the Fires Fitness Center when asked to, and is building a yoga studio in Medicine Park to further her calming influence.
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