Mindfulness

Unfortunately, mindfulness is often discouraged in first responder training. We are taught to ignore that our feet are wet, our back hurts, and that we’re scared. The patient or call is more important than ourselves. This results in a situation where our bodily sensations become disconnected from our emotions, and our ability to recognize the connection between the two is diminished.
 
So why practice mindfulness? Because it is critical to our health and wellbeing to have that connection established. In more recent decades, neuroscience has been able to map the brain. We now have an understanding of the areas that respond during different events and reactive states. In the case of mindfulness, how the brain responds and acts with its practice. The findings are profound and irrefutable; you can literally rewire your brain with consistent mindfulness. In the case of psychological trauma, people were found to be able to reduce the reactive sympathetic response and engage the parasympathetic response instead. Therefore reducing, and even, reversing the long-term effects of psychological trauma. 

You may question how this is helpful if you don’t suffer from occupational stress injuries or psychological trauma. We all live with varying degrees of stress in our day-to-day lives. Millions of bits of data bombard us, and we thousands of choices on any given day. Studies have shown the average North American experiences distraction ~47% of our waking hours. This is enough for anyone to feel unsettled, anxious, or stressed out.

The amygdala is one of the ancient parts of our brain. It is responsible for our feelings and can be highly reactive to the sympathetic stress response. Unfortunately, the amygdala can’t differentiate between a wild animal threatening your life or a recurrent thought from a traumatic experience. It reacts to either in the same fashion, if not the same degree. You don’t need a diagnosis in order to use a tool that can help in moments of stress. 

The preceding, and the following, are based on my personal knowledge and experience. This post intends to clarify and demystify mindfulness. Its intent is not to be a comprehensive guide. 

There are many techniques use can use while practicing mindfulness. In fact, you can put mindfulness into practice with any action. It can be seen in practice by athletes as they visualize a course before a race. Or in the performance of a Japanese tea ceremony. These show people being present, purposeful, and without being judgemental.

With that said, here is a breathing exercise or technique that you can use to reduce the effects of stress. Practicing these in advance is important, so you are familiar with them when you experience a stressful or anxious event: