the board

---

As a Division I rower at The University of Virginia, Marina Traub felt she was performing below her potential because she lacked the mental discipline which seemed to come easily to some teammates.  

“I just remember thinking that it seemed harder for me than it did for a lot of people. We didn’t have language around depression in the 90s. Words like “seen”, “dysregulated”, and even “nervous system” were not in the vernacular yet. Back then you had to whisper “therapy”, people on medication were treated as wimps at best, and any self-destructive thoughts you kept to yourself.” 

Enter, Yoga. 

“Everything gets measured on that level. All the time. Calories, watts, minutes, weights, and more. I needed a place where I wasn’t being measured, because I needed a place where I could practice not being good enough yet but also not feel so judged that I gave up.” 

A yoga practice, she found, was a self-owned, self-paced way to quiet the inner noise. 

Forever a student, Marina entered the collegiate coaching ranks, and she began prioritizing bodily safety and learning how to integrate psychological safety in the pursuit of championship titles. 

"I needed something different so I built it for others."

Her whole-person approach worked. Her teams won NCAAs, Big Tens, Eastern Sprints, and the Head of the Charles. 

At an NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, Olympic Silver Medalist Kate Johnson gave a keynote speech that resonated profoundly. Kate bravely addressed Post-Olympic depression, identity loss, and the shame surrounding it to hundreds of the best rowers and coaches in the country. Marina has never forgotten that speech.

"I think one of the kindest and bravest things we can do is be honest with each other about the hard parts, because if everyone is feeling it but no one talks about it we all think we're alone, and we suffer."

During the pandemic, Marina taught yoga online to the USRowing National Team. It was there, in the shadow of what should have been the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she became refascinated by the overlap between mental health, high performance, and what happens when it suddenly all goes away. This is where The Radical Re-Entry Project (RRP) was born. 

“If your whole identity sits on the starting line with you, that's when you choke. It's too much risk for your nervous system to handle. But this is where yoga comes in: if you can connect with a part of you that’s not subject to wins, coaches, or competitors, you become unconditional. And the irony is, when we feel unconditional we actually take more risks and go deeper into the well." - Marina Traub

Caryn Davies and Catherine Sheehan, both yogis and Boston-based rowers who comprise The Board of RRP, recognized that Marina’s knowledge, empathy, and passion could be life-changing for the next generation of athletes. 

The Board was right. 

In August 2024, after months of Marina working with USRowing to prepare athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympics, The Radical Re-Entry Project fundraised enough in two months to bring six athletes on a yoga retreat post Games: 

“Everybody felt like we were on to something big- there was just so much energy and enthusiasm for this cause, we barely had to explain it, everyone got it immediately. These are our heroes; we all want them to feel our support as they decide what's right for them."

The generosity of the participating donors and the feedback from the athletes demanded that The Board keep going. The Radical Re-Entry Project incorporated as a 501(c)3  and now serves athletes, current, retired, or curious, who are ready to sit with the big question, WHO AM I NOW?