Very interesting meeting with a Police Officer, a doctor and a University Student about Post Traumatic Stress and things that need to change within the First Responder and Medical Communities. We talked about how we as seasoned professionals in our respective work places need to keep moving forward and paving a new path so the generation of frontline workers are more equipped and have the education about trauma in the work place….how to identify signs of trauma in themselves or in a colleague. Text books are great but when reality in the workplace sets in, there is no time for re-dos or pressing the restart button.

And what happens after a diagnose of PTSD?  There is life after PTS….it is called RESILIENCY!! It is the will to keep moving forward, not saying that there won’t be hurdles or set backs along the way, but it is the survivor instinct that we all have to keep moving forward!!!

And what is Resiliency?? “It has been characterized as the ability to bounce back from adversities..”bend not break”…under extreme stress, handle setbacks and perservere in spite of ongoing stresses and even when things go awry.

“Resilience is more the rule rather than the exception…more common than rare.” Resilience is a NOT a sign of exceptional strength but a fundamental feature of normal coping skill…it is ORDINARY MAGIC and we all have it!!”

There is a very special place not far from  here called The Trauma Centre….it is a beautiful vintage farmhouse that has become a soothing/healing place for First Responders that are affected by Post Traumatic Stress. They have a lovely meditation garden that the First Responders have built to support this facility. I started classes there back in September and always felt a special connection to it.  I first became introduced to the centre by a Police Officer that I met in the spring at a conference. He is a very interesting man, he is not a huge talker but for whatever reason he sat beside me… since then we have become connected with a huge project and he is the one that connected me to a wonderful place that I can’t believe exists in our own backyard!!  Tonight’s class was very special because one of the Police Officers/Yoga teacher that attended training taught a portion of the class. I became the student and she the teacher and I was truly amazed, but not surprised what a terrific job she did. As I was following her instructions…I felt a wonderful release from my day in the OR. Then as we switched back from student to teacher I was thinking… here we are all emergency services in this room and yoga has bonded us together…

Yesterday I had a chat we a surgeon that I have become very connected to. 5 years ago I thought he was a real piece of work, but over time we gelled and now we talk about yoga and he enlightens one some rare topic that I wouldn’t even think of!!  Even though he does not attend my classes because geographically it is very challenging..he does attends 3 yoga classes a week. Before he thought yoga was “BS” and now he is doing postures by the scrub sink and chanting OM!!  There has been many times we have disagreed and we have both become frustrated we each other but his support and friendship has always remained 110%!!  Most of all he has been a wonderful teacher in the OR and friend!!  We are probably the most unlikely two people to ever connect….but we did!!

Namaste

Heidi….you are a wonderful yoga teacher!!!!

Back in the spring on a whim I decided to give a copy of the Esprit de Corps magazine that was fresh off the press with the first article that my friend Paul appeared in (his pic is on my home page,yup he is the OPP Officer doing yoga in Uniform) so I went up to my CEO’s Office at Southlake with the mag in my hand, asked his assistance if I could share this story with him? I have to say I was a nervous because my CEO is just not a regular CEO…. he is a Nasa Astronaut!! My palms started to get a little sweaty as a sat in the chair just outside his office….then I thought what the hell am I going to say to this guy and what if I get in trouble  going to the CEO without permission from the  chain of command…then I thought well what is the worst that can happen …I am handed a pink slip and then I have plenty of time to teach more yoga classes (LOL).  Dave’s office door opened and then he asked me to come in and have a seat. He asked “what can I do for you Nicole?”, nothing I replied I just wanted to give you this magazine with a article in it about the special program that I do when I am not working in the OR”.  And then I thought…my gosh he is going to think I am a complete idiot…why would he care about a  trauma sensitive yoga program for First Responders that I started here in Canada.  He looked at the magazine and commented on Paul’s photo and how powerful it is and how brave Paul was for doing that pic in uniform. He mentioned that yoga was part of Nasa training to decompress after missions and it made complete sense to him. Fast Forward many months and several conversations later with my CEO Dave Williams and now I have the support of entire hospital.  As I was recently driving home from a meeting with Dave I was thinking…holy crap this guy has been to the moon and now he is helping me help thousands of First Responders….it may sound corny but really anything is possible especially with the right chemistry of people come together….change will happen!!

A police officer asked me last week…How do you plan to climb this mountain that stands before you? I replied…” one foot in front of the other!!”

A good friend of mine also told me that hurdles are good along the way…they make you battle ready!! PS:There is no one else I would rather have than Billy prepare me for battle!!!

Many thanks to Dave Williams (CEO of Southlake) and his support. (Keep reaching for the moon..even if you miss you will land among the stars)!!