Teveka Melanson has 30+ years of experience in the healing arts as a holistic health practitioner and licensed massage therapist. She has thousands of hours of schooling and tens of thousands of hours of therapeutic, hands-on treatment experience. She has worked and studied all over the United States in almost every field of massage therapy and with all walks of life. Her mission is to integrate the healing benefits of massage and holistic therapies into Veteran Six, helping guide our veterans on their own wellness journey in a safe and supportive environment.

Teveka has worked closely with veterans for the last 10 years within her own practice, corporations, and non-profits. In 2020, she was appointed the Director of Development for a non-profit in Southern California that offered veterans with service-related injuries the opportunity to directly benefit from water therapy through scuba diving. Impressed by the incredible results it had with veterans, she decided to start her own non-profit in 2023, called Mighty Women Veterans. Her vision was to create a safe community for women veterans where they can be supported, nurtured, and empowered mentally, physically, and spiritually. In 2025, she was ready to expand and co-founded Veteran Six; providing adventure, wellness, camaraderie, and purpose to both men and women veterans by creating an environment where all veterans are seen, heard, supported, and encouraged to heal, grow, and thrive. It is her absolute honor to serve the great men and women of the U.S. Military and help them bridge the gap between military and civilian life.

Todd Thompson is a proud U.S. Air Force and California Air National Guard veteran, with a passion for empowering fellow veterans through the healing power of water, scuba diving, and adaptive sports. His mission is simple yet profound: to help veterans rediscover healing, community, and purpose.

As a Master Scuba Instructor with over 1,100 dives and more than 650 students trained, Todd brings unmatched expertise and a mission-driven approach to the programs he leads. He has spent nearly a decade designing and delivering programs that blend adaptive aquatic sports with holistic wellness practices, such as mindfulness and occupational therapy techniques, to promote both physical and emotional recovery. These efforts have impacted over 1,000 veterans with service-connected injuries, helping them build resilience and reconnect with life.

Before co-founding Veteran Six, Todd spent 25 years as the owner of a successful catering business, where he honed leadership, organizational, and operational skills that now fuel his work in the veteran community. When he’s not diving, Todd enjoys hiking, fly fishing, kayaking, snow skiing, and creating meaningful outdoor adventures. Above all, he is a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who finds joy in sharing his love for nature, wellness, and lifelong learning with his family.

As a Yoga Alliance Certified, 500-hour yoga instructor and SA (Svastha Acharya, aka Ayurvedic Health Coach), I support individuals in transforming challenging habits and patterns through time-tested holistic tools. My approach combines mindful movement to digest somatic relational trauma, release subconscious constriction that causes inflammation, traditional Ayurvedic wisdom, and modern scientific methodology to address behavioral change, discomfort, brain fog, and energy regulation, ultimately, allowing for the capacity to live fully and with defiant joy!

My journey began in New York, studying the 26/2 method as well as Meridian Yoga Therapy with founder Rose Erin Vaughan. Soon, I became NADA-certified in ear acupuncture and served veterans, high-risk populations, and the homeless in the Bronx. Here in California, I have studied with, and now work alongside, one of the first American-born practitioners to receive accredited BAMS Ayurvedic Doctor (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) training in India, Jessica Vellela.

My therapeutic toolkit includes personalized dietary protocols, lifestyle recommendations, gentle cleansing methods, acupressure and ear acupuncture, somatic relational trauma healing practices, and mind-body-spirit connection to find safety in ourselves and strengthen nervous system regulation.

Having lived in this community for just three years, I'm honored to branch out and join Veteran Six. I am here to serve and grow alongside you all. I look forward to meeting each of you and supporting your wellness journey through the transformative elements of holistic embodiment practices.

Being a cancer survivor means more than just living beyond a diagnosis; it means embracing life with deeper purpose, gratitude, and connection. My journey through cancer taught me that, while medicine heals the body, community heals the soul.

When I was first diagnosed, I was terrified. The world suddenly felt smaller, quieter, and uncertain. I didn’t know what the road ahead would look like or how strong I would have to become. But little by little, I discovered that I was never walking alone. Friends showed up with meals and laughter, neighbors offered rides to treatment, and strangers in online support groups became my late-night companions when sleep wouldn’t come.

Those moments of kindness changed everything. They reminded me that healing isn’t something we do in isolation; it’s something we do together. Every message, every hug, every act of care helped me find hope again.

As I healed, I began to see that survival came with a new calling. The same compassion and community that carried me through became the foundation of my new purpose: giving back. I started volunteering, mentoring others who were newly diagnosed, and sharing my story to remind people that hope is never lost. Helping others navigate their own journeys has become my soul’s purpose, a way to honor the love that once lifted me.

Cancer changed my life, but it also revealed a deeper truth: connection is one of the most powerful forms of medicine we have. The love and support that surrounded me carried me through fear and into a place of healing, meaning, and renewal.

Today, I live each day with gratitude, not just for survival, but for the chance to give back, to lift others the way I was lifted. Because, in the end, community didn’t just help me fight cancer; it helped me discover who I’m meant to be.