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Podcast weblog: A career in law enforcement is one of the most rewarding, challenging, and selfless professions out there. The Guns and Yoga podcast explores the intersection between the impact a first responder career can have on those on the job, their families, and the importance of adopting and maintaining a holistic lifestyle. Wendy Hummell is a seasoned law enforcement officer in the Midwest with close to 25 years experience. She is a LEO spouse, mother, and wellness enthusiast. She knows first-hand the difficulties this line of work can bring. For the past decade, Wendy has been exploring various ways to improve her emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical well – being. She continues to learn and has a passion for sharing these tools to improve the quality of life not only for herself and her family, but for all first responders. Wendy is a certified yoga and meditation instructor. She teaches yoga, mindfulness, and resiliency to first responders at her current agency where she works as the Health and Wellness Coordinator. She also teaches throughout the state of Kansas and other national platforms. Wendy retired from the Wichita Police Department in 2019 at the rank of Detective where she spent a majority of her career working persons crimes. The intention of this podcast is to add value, provide support, and share resources by providing a platform for honest conversations with first responders, family members, retirees, and wellness experts. Whether you are a law enforcement officer, work in corrections, dispatch, Fire, EMS, The Prosecutors Office, the Coroners Officer, are a member of the military, family member or anyone who supports front line workers, please subscribe today and hear hear the stories of these brave men and women, the challenges and difficulties they have faced; the wonderful programs, people, and resources available to support first responders.
Episodes
Saturday Nov 18, 2023
Saturday Nov 18, 2023
Welcome to the Guns and Yoga Podcast. My name is Wendy Hummell.
Before we get into today’s episode, I’d like to share a few things with all of you:
- I will be presenting a couple of free webinars on Justice Clearinghouse. For those of you that don't know, Justice Clearinghouse is a peer-to-peer educational platform geared towards CJ professionals.
- On December 8th, I will be presenting “Building a Wellness Program from the Ground Up”. It is free to watch live, and if you are Justice Clearinghouse member you can access the replay anytime. Please see the link below.
- The December webinar will be an overview of what it takes to implement an organizational wellness program from the ground up. If this is something you are interested to learn more about, I will be releasing a longer course on the Justice Clearinghouse platform early next year, so stay tuned.
- Also, I recently presented a webinar on Justice Clearinghouse called “Side Hustles and Second Careers: Reimagining your Professional Passion After Retirement”, and as a part of the Second Mountain Master class series, which focuses on retirement I will be breaking down the sections of this webinar in future microcasts and will incorporate additional content, so stay tuned.
- We recently did a giveaway for a guns and yoga hat. Thank you to all that entered and joined the email list, and congratulations to the winner - Katherine Boyle. .
Now on to today’s episode where I share a conversation with David Kennington, the Manager for the Professional Wellness Section at the Nashville Metro Police Department. David is a licensed professional counselor and manages civilian counselors and the sworn arm of the wellness unit.
Not only is David a trailblazer in the first responder wellness space, but he has come to be a trusted mentor and friend. We met a few years back when I was early into my role as the Health and Wellness Manager at my agency. Through a program called CRITAC, which we discuss in the episode, our agency was paired with David’s along with another subject matter expert, Sherri Martin, National FOP Wellness Coordinator, who was a previous guest on the show.
David and I continue to stay connected and he has been an integral part of our wellness programs success. Because of his guidance, an unexpected benefit of our relationship through the CRITAC program, which included site visits, was our own unit’s expansion. We were able to go from one full time person, me, to now three full time employees in our unit, one of which is an in-house therapist. This not only speaks to the legitimacy of the program, but to our agency’s leadership and buy in, a crucial element for any agency wellness program I also discuss in my upcoming webinar, Building a Wellness Program from the Ground Up.
Some of the highlights from our conversation are:
- The growth of his agency’s wellness program, which began with the behavioral component, or in house therapists to the recent addition of the sworn section, wellness checks, training, peer support, family support, succession planning, and the importance of having a menu of services to offer employees.
- David shares the core values of the Nashville Metro PD’s wellness program: Relationships, resources, and resiliency.
Whether you are interested in how to start a wellness program at your agency, enhance what you already have, or you are just interested to learn more, I think you’ll find a lot of great information and value in this episode.
If you found value, please share and give us a review. As always, if you have questions, feedback, or an idea for a future episode topic, email me at wendy@bluelineyoga.com and register to receive our upcoming free guns and yoga newsletter coming in 2024. You can sign up on the link included below.
And remember, we are better together.
LINKS:
Building a Wellness Program from the Ground Up
Side Hustles and Second Careers: Reimagining Your Professional Passion after Retirement
Nashville Police Department Professional Wellness Section
Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC)
**Click Here to Subscribe to the Guns & Yoga Newsletter
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
What’s missing from the Public Safety Conversation – My Two Cents:
Welcome to the guns and yoga podcast. My name is Wendy Hummell. Today’s microcast is inspired by my belief that organizational wellness should be at the forefront of the public safety.
Lately I have been paying attention to what many of our local politicians in Wichita KS are saying on the topic of public safety, in particular the conversation surrounding staffing shortages. It is a priority topic this campaign season and I have heard higher pay, recruiting, and retention mentioned quite a bit.
Competing for qualified applicants is a trend we see across the nation, and it’s no different for us in Kansas. While you will never hear me argue that cops, firefighters, detention deputies, paramedics or dispatchers shouldn’t get a raise, this is just one component of a multifaceted problem.
The landscape for public safety has changed over the past several years. Covid and rallying cries for police reform and defunding the police in response to police shootings and high-profile cases such as George Floyd in May 2020 impacted law enforcement across the nation.
On January 6, 2021, protestors stormed the Capitol and many of the officers working that day were injured; some lost their lives. One of the officers who died by suicide was Jeff Smith, a DC Metro Police Officer, the first suicide death to be classified as a LODD and eligible for benefits from the PSOB or Public Safety Officers Benefits Program. Legislation to include suicides was enacted in August 2022. We have data that tells us suicide is the leading cause of death amongst law enforcement. We have only begun to track this data in the past decade, so the numbers are likely higher than we know not just for cops, but other public safety professions as well.
My call to action is for community leaders and politicians to recognize that we must invest in those doing the work. While we need to recruit, we absolutely must focus on not just retaining those workers we have, but going a step further and supporting their mental, emotional, and physical health so they want to stay and thrive in all areas of their life.
A lofty goal I know, but I have seen too many of my friends and co-workers suffer due to stigma, lack of agency support, or lack of knowledge and limited access to resources.
In a report done by Lexipol, “Stressed & Short-Staffed: Challenges Facing First Responders and the Impact on Community Safety” in which they surveyed 9,400 police, fire, and EMS workers the results were not suprising to those of us in the trenches, but we need to make sure this gets in front of our community leaders as well:
Here is some of the data from the report and I’ll include the links below:
- 94% of firefighters have experienced staffing challenges in the past year
- 87% of police officers work in departments that are not fully staffed based on authorized staffing numbers
- 86% of EMS professionals say their departments have experienced staffing challenges in the past three years
- 45% of police officers report that their time-off requests are being denied more often
- 67% of firefighters and 51% of EMS professionals said their stress level is negatively impacting other aspects of their health
- 68% of police officers are more concerned about on-duty safety due to short staffing
- 50% of police officers and 54% of EMS professionals plan to leave their jobs in the next 5 years
In order to get off the hamster wheel of low staffing, mandatory overtime, chronic stress, poor lifestyle habits which leads to diminished efficiency and quality of services, we need to do better. We need full scale organizational wellness programming. Of course we need to recruit and pay a competitive wage, but keeping people healthy and cared for so they want to stay until retirement must be considered as well. Often the first responder culture is referred to as “toxic” and having “low morale”. I’ve used these terms myself and retired from a career I loved sooner than I planned because of it, but we must do better.
LINKS:
Police1.com - Broken, dysfunctional and horrible: Kansas officers describe culture in report
**Follow the link below to register for your chance to win a FREE Guns & Yoga hat on October 31, 2023:
Click Here to Subscribe to the Guns & Yoga Newsletter for a Chance to win a FREE hat!!
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Welcome to the Guns and Yoga Podcast. Today I am sharing a conversation I had a while back with Jennifer Boileau. It’s a bit longer than our usual podcast because in the second half Jen leads us through a practice, so keep in mind that at around the 1 hour and 10 minute mark we transition into the practice.
Jen is a trauma informed yoga and mindfulness instructor who teaches to the first responder population. She is married to a now retired police officer so she knows first-hand the stresses the police profession can have on the first responder, but also on the family. Jen shares how the anxiety she felt as a result of worrying about her husband led her to take her first yoga class, and she also shares the impact his job had on their daughter.
As I mentioned, at around the 1 hour and 10 minute mark we transition into a practice that Jen will lead which is called iRest Meditation. It is based on an ancient practice called yoga nidra, one my favorites to both teach and practice.
iRest which stands for Integrative restoration meditation is a 10 step protocol developed by Dr. Richard Miller, a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher. He started the protocol with veterans returning from war in hopes to find success with a non-pharmaceutical intervention for PTSD, chronic pain, and overwhelm. The protocol teaches you that you have everything you need within you and all 10 steps can be practiced in their entirety or can be practiced in shorter sections.
The steps are:
- Connect to your heartfelt desire
- Set an intention
- Your Inner Resource
- Feel your body
- Become aware of your breath
- Welcome your emotions
- Witness your thoughts
- Experience joy
- Find lasting peace
- Reflect on your practice
I recommend finding a quiet place to either sit or lie down and enjoy this practice with Jen.
Enjoy the show.
LINKS:
**Follow the link below to register for your chance to win a FREE Guns & Yoga hat on October 31, 2023:
Click Here to Subscribe to the Guns & Yoga Newsletter for a Chance to win a FREE hat!!
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tactical Tip Tuesday
The Intersection of Wellness, Peer Support, and Leadership
Today is Tactical Tip Tuesday where I share a tip, tool, or dose of inspiration for your week. This week I want to talk about the interconnectedness of wellness, peer support and leadership. Here are a few quotes from the show that will help sum up what this solo-cast is about:
"Life can only be learned backwards, but must be lived forwards." (Søren Kierkegaard)
"You can't pour from an empty cup."
"How great leaders inspire action." (Simon Sinek)
"What's your purpose?"
"People will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feel." (Maya Angelou)
I hope you enjoy the show, and check us out on Instagram at: @guns_and_yoga_podcast
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Today’s episode is a special one for a few reasons. I speak with a dear friend of mine, Kim Colegrove. Kim and I met back in 2017 and I am a better person today for knowing her. Kim is also the first podcast guest to come back on the show a second time, so if you missed the first episode with Kim back in 2021, I encourage you to check it out.
In our conversation, we catch up on what she’s been up to since our first episode a few years ago. We discuss her online training platform, Pause First Academy, the re-release of her book Mindfulness for Warriors which will now be called "The Mindfulness for Warriors Handbook", and the new book she is working on set to release in February 2024.
Kim goes into detail about some of the courses offered on the Pause First Academy and discusses the reason she hand-picked her trainers; all either current or retired first responders with a particular skillset in personal growth, resilience, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, emotional intelligence, holistic health, leadership and more. Some of the often overlooked “softer skills”.
Kim has graciously provided a coupon code just for you our podcast listeners; one month free premiere membership so you can try as many courses as you’d like. The coupon code is listed below.
Kim also shares a story about a conversation she had at a training last year with someone who told her that her book saved his life. This conversation was the impetus for the reason for the re-release of her first book and the second book she is currently writing, Wellness - Warrior Style.
Kim and I discuss the topic of suicide, which can be difficult for some to hear; but the story of her husband’s suicide nearly 9 years ago is the reason she does what she does. Her why can be distilled down to one thing - she doesn’t want any other family to experience what she and her family are still experiencing today.
Of course, no conversation with Kim would be complete without some talk of meditation and mindfulness; the tool she is passionate about sharing with the first responder population.
Her book is a great start for those who want to learn more, plus she offers a free 21 meditation jump start program on the Pause First Academy website.
Kim addresses how meditation and mindfulness have become more prevalent in recent years, their roots in ancient warrior practice, and the amount of evidence that backs up it’s efficacy.
Kim’s ability to integrate her lifetime of accumulated practice, learning, and teaching in an easy to learn approach is what makes her unique. At a time where there is access to so much information, Kim not only explains that meditation is the daily habit or exercise that cultivates mindfulness, a way or state of being that helps you step out of survival mode and into the present moment, but how you can apply this personally and professionally.
KIM'S LINKS:
Pause First Academy: Don't forget to use the discount code gunsandyoga for a free one-month premiere membership.
The Mindfulness for Warriors Handbook: Stress Reduction, Trauma Recovery, and Resilience Building for First Responders" is available for pre-sale now!! Here ---> Amazon
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tactical Tip Tuesday:
Share Your Unique Gift with the World!
Today is Tactical Tip Tuesday where I share a tip, tool, or dose of inspiration for your week. This week I want to talk about sharing your unique gift with the world.
Later this week, my podcast with Kim Colegrove will be released. She is the first guest to return to the show for a second time. Not only is Kim a good friend, but she is a talented author and meditation teacher. She is re-releasing her book Mindfulness for Warriors with some really cool updates, and the book will now be called the Mindfulness for Warriors Handbook.
The inspiration for today’s episode came last week as I prepared to teach a monthly restorative yoga class. Finding meaning in our lives has been a quest many of us have been on throughout our lives. I first became interested in the concept of purpose during my yoga training. Although not an exact translation, the yogis call this dharma. Simply put, this means each of us are put on this earth for a reason or for some particular work; we are unique and the desire for the work has been put into every one of our hearts; it is our duty to listen and discover it.
Now, the path to figuring all of this out isn’t easy, its messy and is much too complicated to address in this short episode.
Purpose is how we find meaning, and something I often talk about when addressing retirement. But it pertains to all of us regardless of what your stage of life you are in.
You don’t have to have it all figured out and sometimes the way in which our purpose is executed changes.
I know some pretty amazing people; and I see something special and unique in each one of them. Today, I encourage you to discover what your unique gift is then find a way to share it; it doesn’t have to be in a grand way; you can be a difference maker with a small gesture, a few words, or volunteering. You can make an impact by listening to your heart, not your head. In the book, “the top five regrets of the dying” the author identified five common themes when she asked the patients, she worked with in hospice care what they would do different or if they had any regrets. The top regret was “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me” …in other words a purpose driven life true to what THEY wanted; their hearts desire.
For me, sharing my love of yoga and integrating what I have learned into my classes is my unique gift I chose to share.
I have friends who are talented authors, musicians, martial artists, woodworkers, and those who are teachers and chose to share what they have learned throughout their career with others. What you share is yours to decide..It can be a creative hobby or interest or a special skillset you acquired during your career like leadership, crime scene investigation, or peer support. It isn’t tied to our professional roles, but it can be.
As you will hear in the upcoming podcast with Kim Colegrove, she has chosen to share her unique gift of teaching mindfulness and meditation to first responders.
What will you share?
If you’d like to explore this further, and feel a bit stuck, here are 3 self-inquiry or journaling prompts to get your started and can also access them in the show notes.
- How did you spend your time as a child? What did you enjoy most?
- What lights you up as an adult? What activities make you lose track of time?
- What do others say to you about your talents, skills, and gifts? What do people come to you for advice about? Are there themes and similarities?
Good luck with this process and l’d love to hear what you came up with or what you may already be sharing with the world.
If you found value in this episode, please share with someone else, subscribe to our mailing list, or write a review. And remember, we are better together.
"Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put into every heart" - Rumi
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
In this micro-cast we discuss the unwritten credo of "strength in suppression", which is often prevalent in first responder professions, and how it is not sustainable long term. We also address the need for "depth work" throughout our careers, but especially as we transition to retirement which can look like; therapy, peer support, family support, spirituality, and self-care. This retiree masterclass is a call to action for you, your family, and for all first responders collectively.
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Today I speak with Courtney from Heroes Financial Coaching. As a police and veteran wife, she is familiar with the stress of these professions and helps first responder and veteran families reduce stress due to finances.
Courtney and her husband had years of credit card debt, car payments, and student loans, but were able to overcome their debt and purchase their dream home.
Her goal is to help first responder families become the hero in their financial journey. She does this through one on one coaching, goal setting, and developing a plan that can lead to financial freedom, which means less stress and anxiety.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heroesfinancialcoaching/
Website: https://www.heroesfinancialcoaching.com/
Sunday Aug 13, 2023
Sunday Aug 13, 2023
We’re back!
After taking some time off this year we are back with new episodes and great guests. In this very brief episode, I share my gratitude and appreciation for the listeners and the reason for the break.
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Welcome to the Guns & Yoga Podcast. Today's guest: Shaye Molendyke - Shaye Molendyke is a retired Lt. Colonel with the US Airforce. She is a trained mental health counselor, yoga teacher, and yoga therapist. Shaye has experience in teaching yoga on US military bases across the nation and has seen first hand how the tools of yoga support healing. Shaye coordinates and teaches in the Warriors Program at Yogafit where she teaches workshops such as YogaFit for Warriors which emphasizes how yoga can support those with PTSD.
LINKS:
International Women's Day - Femme Flow (YogaFit)
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Welcome to the Guns and Yoga Podcast, my name is Wendy Hummell and today I talk to Vance Row. Vance and I first met last year at the National FOP Wellness Conference in Nashville, TN. He is a fellow Yogi, so as you can imagine, we became fast friends. Vance is a former police officer and he now works as a police and fire dispatcher. He found the tools of yoga to be very beneficial in his own healing process, which he talks about. So much so, that it inspired him to become a yoga instructor and create his business - Yoga Rescue. Vance shares the tools of yoga with fellow first responders and teaches multiple classes every week, he is in the state of Maryland, so if you're looking for classes taught by somebody who's culturally competent look them up check them out, he's a great instructor, and a really great guy. You will notice and see during the podcast that his enthusiasm for sharing the tools of yoga and mindfulness are infectious. He he walks us through some very difficult times that he's experienced throughout his career, he talks about his struggle with alcohol, as well as issues with leaders that he was working for at his former agency, and about a very difficult conversation when his wife called him out about his drinking. It was is really that conversation that turned him around and inspired him to stop drinking. I think many of us can probably relate to a lot of what Vance talks about in our show today. So, sit back and have a listen, I think you're going to find this episode really valuable.
LINKS:
https://humblewarrior.org/blog/f/cultivating-resilience
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Welcome to the Guns and Yoga Podcast. My name is Wendy Hummell. Today I share a conversation I had with Kyle Stubbs. Kyle is a police officer in British Columbia, Canada, has experience as a paramedic, a husband and father. Kyle and I discuss the work he’s doing outside his full time job as a first responder coach. Kyle shares how his own experience in a mens group coaching program inspired him to create the Nine8 program, a 10 week group coaching program which came from the ten code for backup, and is based on the premise of connection, mindset, wellness practices, and addresses the masculine archetype, something we don’t often hear much about in our profession.
We discuss the importance of male friendships, masculine and feminine traits, and how a balance of these traits can benefit everyone regardless of your gender. I know that framing characteristics such as discipline, focus and confidence as masculine and being vulnerable, compassionate, and supportive traits as more feminine, can be a new concept for many, but I think it’s an important topic to address because as Kyle and I discuss, the assignment of certain traits as mutually exclusive for a particular gender isn’t serving anyone well.
Kyle walks us through the soft talk challenge which is paying attention to the words we use both internally and externally really does matter and has a profound impact on our mindset, behaviors, and actions.
Kyle and I also discuss the difference between coaching and therapy, and I think it’s an important topic to cover because coaching as an industry is becoming more mainstream and is becoming more prevalent in the first responder world.
If you are interested in learning more about Kyle’s coaching services, check out his website which I have included in the show notes and see if this is something that may benefit you.
One more thing, I have been receiving a lot of messages, texts, and emails about this podcast and I wanted to thank you all for that. I encourage you to keep reaching out, tell me what you think, make suggestions, ask questions. I want to engage with you. Please continue to listen and I would greatly appreciate you giving us a review, subscribing, and sharing. This podcast is truly a labor of love and I want to expand our reach.
Thank you all for listening and enjoy the show.
LINKS:
SNL The Man Park link:>>> Man Park - SNL
Kyle's Website:>>> www.kylestubbs.ca/
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
As we continue this week with our Retiree Masterclass Series and explore the pillar of leadership, I wanted to share something I recently learned about that ties into what I wanted to discuss today. As I shared last time, the first concept of the conscious leadership paradigm is Radical Responsibility; this entails taking charge of our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational well -being. As we begin to better manage our nervous system and increase self-awareness, we are better equipped to take radical responsibility for the circumstances of our lives and become more open, curious, and growth minded. One avenue is to surround yourself with others interested in this same path.
I recently learned of a social dynamic among female elephant herds called "elephant circles" and shared it with an incredible group of women I know. Much like a women's circle, which is an ancient practice where women gather to provide a safe place to connect, share, and empower, the elephant circle is formed either when a female elephant is giving birth or if one is injured - either way the other female elephants gather in a circle protecting their sister from outside attackers when she is vulnerable. As fierce protectors, when a sister is down, they gather around her, shoulder to shoulder, they stomp, kick up dust, masking her vulnerability much like what women do for each other when they are speaking up, sharing new ideas, new spaces, and new life; when they need their people to surround them so they can create, heal, or recover - we circle up have each other's backs. After the new life comes, when healing begins, or the darkness lifts and our sister is ready to rise back up - we celebrate.
We are meant to be there for one another. Sometimes we are the one's in the middle, sometimes we are the ones kicking up the dust with fierce love.
The genius of the group is much greater than the sum of it’s brilliant parts. This is simply peer support in action.
Many first responder agencies have embedded peer support programs. Peer support is based on the premise that you can be vulnerable with others in a safe environment with those you have something in common with.
This same principle applies to retirees. A recent article by Brian Kinnaird that appears in Psychology today titled “Peer to Peer Support for Police Veterans” addresses the transition to retirement and offers suggestions for those seeking support to do so. As I mentioned last time, we spend a lot of time training and preparing for this career, but little to no attention is given to our exit; it is our responsibility to do this for ourselves. Connection with others is a component of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that he puts after safety and physiological needs which we covered last time with the importance of nervous system regulation and stress management; but some experts argue this is the most important component.
LINKS -
www.PsychologyToday.com: Peer-to-Peer Support for Police Veterans
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Today you will hear a conversation I had with Karen Solomon, a pioneer on the first responder wellness front. Karen is the founder of BLUE HELP, a non profit organization that started tracking LE suicides in 2016. The organization also aims to reduce mental health stigma through education, advocate for benefits for those suffering from post-traumatic stress, acknowledge the service and sacrifice of LE officers we lost to suicide, support families after suicide and bring awareness to suicide and mental health issues.
Karen tells us how BLUE HELP was created because of a gap in the support for police families who had lost a loved one to suicide; so she began sending care packages to families and began tracking the number of LE suicides.
Karen tells the story of how she connected with other police officers by way of an online police wives group, since she herself is married to a police officer. This connection and Karen’s personal experience with suicide led to her writing two books, Hearts Beneath the Badge and The Price They Pay, and expanding BLUE HELP to FIRST HELP which began tracking fire, paramedic, and telecommunicator suicides last year. She is a national speaker, advocate for federal legislation that impacts suicide survivor families, and a contributing columnist to several first responder publications.
I recently had the opportunity to take training offered by FIRST HELP. A colleague with the Fire Dept. arranged for this free training to come to my area in Wichita KS. Responder Readiness is an 8 hour course that First Help Offers to agencies upon request free of charge. Check the website for further information and other training they offer. The trainer, Mike Marotta, is a United States Air Force veteran and veteran LEO. He spent the day discussing stress, trauma, and the tools we can implement to optimize our performance. I really enjoyed speaking from Mike and always value connecting with those committed to first responder mental health and wellness.
First Help is a top-notch organization committed serving first responders and their families. I hope you enjoy this episode and understand that one person truly can make a difference. Karen will tell you she doesn’t do it alone, but she is an integral part of the organization. The impact and ripple effect of her work will never truly be known.
LINKS:
First H.E.L.P. - Honoring the Service of First Responders Who Died by Suicide (1sthelp.org)
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
The Second Mountain - A Masterclass Series
Welcome to the Guns and Yoga Podcast, my name is Wendy Hummell. In today's Microcast I’m kicking off the first in a series on retirement, and even if you have a ways to go before retiring, I encourage you to listen because I think you’ll find this helpful.
The inspiration came from numerous interactions over the past year or so with those that struggle in retirement for various reasons; at first I thought it was just me, but as I started to openly discuss my own struggles I learned my friends, peers, and coaching clients had their own challenges too. This got me curious. As I read more, explored topics on life transitions, identity, finding purpose and meaning, and spoke with more retirees, I decided to share what I have learned through a series of masterclasses on the subject through the podcast that will explore the pillars of a retiree focused coaching program I’m working on. So stay tuned for live Q & A workshops with vetted participants, subject matter experts, and other retirees to dive deeper into some of these topics.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Tapping Meditation: https://www.thetappingsolution.com/tapping-101/
Move Yoga Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quIozUsHuGA
Breathe Yoga Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjvW4QyZTUQ
Stretch Yoga Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OZS3i9LB0
Strong Yoga Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtDnp_kdw6c
Warrior Yoga Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAco_Im7gU
Frontline Therapy Network: https://www.thebattlewithin.org/frontline-therapy-network
COPLINE®: AN OFFICER'S LIFELINE: https://www.copline.org