Mindfulness: How Can it Help the Fire Service?
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By Keith Hanks
These are, to say the least, chaotic times.
Political unrest, violence, pandemics, broken healthcare systems, soaring costs of living, social and cultural pressures along with an uncertain future.
And that is before we even get to what is involved in fulfilling our duties in the fire service.
The job is an animal in itself. Death, danger, exposure, expectations, lower pay, longer hours or tours, poor leadership, low staffing, inadequate equipment, out-of-date facilities, unsafe work practices, bad diets, and an old school “traditional” mindset, to name a few.
The stress and traumas from both the job and life are reflected not only in the suicide rates across North America, but in the low retention and early retirement of employees. All of this leads to an almost non-existent applicant pool. And a majority of those who stay to do the job end up with symptoms or a diagnosis of burnout, compassion fatigue, moral injury, or PTSD.
So, what is something that can help provide relief to a percentage of this situation?
Mindfulness: A Potential Solution
Mindfulness can be a valuable tool for firefighters to help manage stress and improve their overall well-being.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines mindfulness as awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings. Further definition includes the practice of being aware of one’s thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judgment or reactivity.
Around since ancient times, mindfulness has its most modern roots in Eastern cultures, specifically, Tibetan Buddhism. Only since the 1970s has Western medicine studied the benefits, both physically and psychologically, of mindfulness.
More Than Just Meditation
When most people think of the word mindfulness, they tend to go directly to meditation. While meditation is a type of formal mindful observation, it typically involves remaining in one position, not moving, reflecting on internal states alone. However, the practice of mindfulness is so much more than sitting with your eyes closed and legs crossed while burning incense.
Throughout our daily lives, both on and off the job, we engage in a plethora of activities. A majority of the population simply does what they need to do in the course of their day, without paying any more attention than needed. However, within every one of these lies an opportunity.
Reconnecting with the Now
Practicing mindfulness provides a chance to reconnect with the NOW!
Oftentimes, especially in the fire service, the stress of our jobs and personal lives get our minds into muddy waters. A thousand thoughts a minute race around in our heads, often causing symptoms associated with PTSD. Hypervigilance, hyperarousal, anxiety, anger, and fear can take the driver’s seat when this happens. This is typically because we are thinking about the PAST and worrying about the FUTURE.
Mindfulness is a simple skill that takes time to learn through consistent practice. The whole point is to be more AWARE of what is happening in that very moment. An example would be washing dishes in the sink, whether at the station or at home. Giving conscious attention to what the dish feels like in your hands. The soap as you scrub the dish with the sponge in the other hand. As you begin to really pay attention to the task you are doing, while also focusing, at times, on your breath, you cannot help but be in the NOW!
It seems silly. Most in the fire service scoff at the idea of anything therapeutic outside talk therapy, retreats, or taking medication. What is often overlooked is how much we can do ourselves, by ourselves, for ourselves, and for free to get through each moment in our lives.
A Real-Life Example
Let us put all this together in a very real situation.
You are working a tour at the fire station that has so far been moderately busy. Earlier you responded to a child with a traumatic injury. While on-scene there was a lot of screaming, crying, and otherwise chaotic activity.
Since getting back, your mind has been bouncing around between that situation and the stress you are experiencing at home with relationship issues, finances, and health concerns. You feel yourself getting increasingly anxious.
Knowing you have mindfulness in your “mental wellness toolbox,” you walk into the kitchen and grab a tangerine/orange from the bowl on the counter. As you hold it in your hand, you focus on how it feels. The weight, texture, and how firm it is begins to send signals from your hand up to your brain.
While remaining there, you begin to peel back the rind, focusing on what it feels like with each pull. You listen to the sound of it separating from the fruit itself. You look, as a light mist forms between each piece of rind and the orange. Your nose begins to notice the smell of citrus as your mouth begins to salivate.
Pulling a segment of orange from the rest, you feel what the fruit feels like between your fingers as you lift it into your mouth.
Once in your mouth, the flavor begins to saturate every molecule of space as you begin to roll the piece between your tongue, teeth, and cheeks. Chewing slowly, you pay attention to every flavor, smell, texture, and sensation you experience. Taking time to chew the piece at least 30 times, you finally swallow. You track the flow of the mush as it travels down your throat and into your stomach. This all happens over the course of 60 seconds.
Congratulations. You just practiced mindfulness!
No scheduling an appointment.
No waiting in line at the pharmacy.
No copay.
No special equipment.
Instant Gratification
The best part of this is YOU did all of it! You chose to grab the orange and practice being mindful. You committed to that entire act and stayed on for the entire journey.
In the fire service, we often need that instant gratification from whatever activity we engage in. Most of us also have control issues to varying degrees. Practicing mindfulness allows you to find that instant gratification in just about any daily activity while providing a sense of control in the form of choosing to be mindful!
Of course, like anything else, it takes consistent commitment and practice to utilize mindfulness. However, once you realize the benefit of what it can do for you and all you engage in throughout your day, you’ll be grateful for starting the process.
Whatever the activity, be it walking, jogging, exercising, eating, drinking, cleaning the house, washing dishes, showering, cleaning equipment, yard work, gardening, holding hands, physical contact or even sex, mindfulness is your gateway to the NOW!
In a time and profession filled with an excess of stressors and trauma, the fire service is well overdue to bring in skills and practices its members can use to keep themselves grounded. With healthcare, especially mental health care being so understaffed and even broken in some ways, it’s imperative for firefighters to have a “mental wellness toolbox” filled with available skills to utilize whenever, wherever they need them.
Mindfulness is ONE of those valuable tools.
Recommended Reading
- The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, Christopher K. Germer, PhD
- Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Dr. Joe Dispenza
- The Compassionate Kitchen, Thubten Chodron
- Any book by Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron
Keith Hanks is a retired firefighter from Massachusetts with 21 years of service. Diagnosed in 2015 with complex-PTSD, he is a national speaker and podcast personality, published author, writer, and certified peer support facilitator, as well as a trauma-informed mindfulness coach.
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