Repeated Trauma Exposure. What is the price First Responders pay?

repeated trauma exposure first responders-sad police officer

Repeated Trauma Exposure. What is the price First Responders pay?

Repeated Trauma Exposure can be a big price to pay for First Responders.

35 trauma-exposed firefighters, 32 trauma-exposed CSI police and 23 unexposed matched for health, gender, age and years of education volunteered to participate in a study about the price of repeated traumatic exposure among first responders. The goal was to compare the performance of non-PTSD trauma-exposed firefighters and CSI police, and trauma-unexposed matched controls.

The full study is available to read on Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience website.

The results of a Repeated Trauma Exposure amongst First Responders

The results of the study have shown a possible hidden price of repeated trauma exposure among First Responders, which is not reflected in the standard measures of PTSD. The price of repeated traumatic exposure is not limited to trauma related conditions. Instead, it reflects a more general impairment, which may affect the way first responders interpret and react to various aspects in their environment.

F.R.Y. Director’s experience as a former Police Detective 

By reading the study above I could link the trauma exposure I had during my career as Police Detective with some automatic responses I had at that time. It is amazing how easy you can better analyze the events when everything belong to the past. It is sad how in a given moment you cannot understand what is happening.

I was able to override my default reactions and provide myself more behavioural flexibility by acknowledging those reactions and becoming aware of them. The effort I put in developing that awareness gave to me a greater control by anticipating the reaction and planning ahead to act instead.

My meditation practice and the effort I put in being mindful about what I was feeling in a given moment, were a medicine to me. It is not easy to change unconsciousness behaviour; but if you put effort into increasing your awareness the real change happens.

F.R.Y. The Method for First Responders’ Health

All the above is one of the reason F.R.Y. The Method has a mindful approach to the movement. It is the relationship you have with the movement and not the movement itself that can be a game changer. Meditation and a mindful approach to your life can help you.

Keep practicing constantly and trust The Method. Things simply fall into place.

To help you First Responders and to support Employer, School and Association we released our FRY The APP with hundreds of videos for your mind-body wellness and resilience. Download FRY The APP by using the direct link to the store available on this FRY’s website page

Sasy, F.R.Y. Director

CCA Yoga Nidra Teacher Training: Classically-Based Yoga Nidra (32 hrs YACEP) – with Julia Long

CCA Yoga Nidra Teacher Training: Classically-Based Yoga Nidra (32 hrs YACEP) – with Julia Long

Create the Life You Wish to Live ™

WHEN: From February 3 – 20th, 2022

COST: $795 CAD + HST + Eventbrite fees (Includes: manual, 32 hours of Continuing Education Credits PLUS 2 Certifications – Listing with California College of Ayurveda as a CCA-YN Instructor & Yoga Alliance)

Schedule:

  • Thursday February 3: 6:00PM to 9:15PM
  • Saturday February 5: 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break)
  • Sunday February 6: 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break)
  • Thursday February 10: 6:00PM to 9:15PM
  • Saturday February 12: 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break)
  • Sunday February 13 : 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break)
  • Thursday February 17: 6:00PM to 9:15PM
  • Saturday February 19: 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break)
  • Sunday February 20: 8AM to 1:00PM (with 15 min Break & Graduation Celebration)

WHO: Anyone interested in a deeper understanding of Yoga Nidra for their own practice OR Yoga Teachers interested in Certification. No experience with Yoga Nidra required.

RELAXATION*VISUALIZATION*MANIFESTATION ™

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

32 hrs Classical Yoga Nidra Teacher Training Certification – Yoga Alliance Credits AND Certification from the California College of Ayurveda (CCA)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 

  • Teach Classical Yoga Nidra as taught by CCA in group and private settings, 
  • Use Yoga Nidra for SELF-HEALING, 
  • Develop an understanding of the physiological basis of Yoga Nidra (science behind), and
  • Establish an understanding of the history of Yoga Nidra
  • Meditative group and individual activities
  • Practice Teachings
  • Peace, Serenity, Self-reflection, Growth

WHAT IS YOGA NIDRA?

In Classical Yoga Nidra we guide the physical body to deep relaxation so that we can expand and connect to the energy of the life we wish to live: healthy, stress-free, successful, accomplished etc. In modern science terms we use neuroplasticity to guide us towards the life we chose to live. It is NOT sleep. It is active creation. We practice relaxed, lying down in corpse pose (savasana). You can read more here: https://prolongyoga.com/single-blog-post/

ABOUT THE TEACHER

Julia (Dharma Gian Kaur) is an Advanced Sivananda Yoga Teacher, certified California College of Ayurveda (CCA) Yoga Nidra Teacher Trainer, and a Kundalini Yoga Teacher based in Ottawa, Canada. She has been teaching and providing CCA Yoga Nidra sessions in groups and privately for many years. She is currently the only Classically-based Yoga Nidra Teacher Trainer in Canada (CCA-YN). She is also a certified Canadian Fitness Professional (CanFitPro). She has over 1000 hours of yoga training, including trauma-informed movement. 

She is a co-founder of F.R.Y. First Responders’ Yoga Canada. She has 2 sons who are First Responders which spawned the creation of F.R.Y.- She is a co-Author of the book “F.R.Y. First Responder Yoga. The Book” available on Amazon, both paperback and digital format. F.R.Y. The Method includes a Classical Yoga Nidra segment.

Julia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Laws and was a practicing lawyer. She has used her skills as a leader in the federal arena to help keep chemical substances of concern out of the Canadian environment. She is writing and publishing in various journals on topics of wellbeing, mindfulness and mind-state.

Julia is a Registered Yoga Alliance Instructor (RYT-500) and also a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP).

Julia’s personal websites: www.ProLongYoga.com

First Responder, You are Enough!

First Responders, You are Enough

Introducing Enoffy to First Responders.

Enoffy is an happy boy as he keeps saying to himself: I am enough, I am enough, I am enough. 
He always allows those little words to change himself and let go and let his internal shadows fall away like dust.

One of our books for a better life, for a better mind-body wellness 

Do you want to know more about neuroscience? Please read the book “The Key to Happiness” authored by Sasy, F.R.Y. Director.
Here is the direct link to buy it: https://amzn.to/3i8SLUt

First Responders and Mind Wellness.

They said that 90% of people that walk into a doctor’s office have medical issues related to stress and anxiety. So if you really want to address wellbeing, health and wellness, you have to factor in your mind state and shifting from a state of stress and survival into a state of calmness, serenity so that you are not just surviving but you are thriving within your lives.

Read the article of our CEO Julia published on the October/November 2021 Edition of Canadian Paramedicine magazine: https://canadianparamedicine.ca/take-charge-of-your-mind…/

First Responders it is time to calibrate yourself

First Responders it is time to calibrate yourself

It is amazing waking up in the morning and having that kind of energy that pushes us to create, to help, to go out there and do our First Responders’ duty.

In my personal experience I learned that too much of that feeling does not allow you to understand when it is time to step back, to slow down and taking care of yourself.

First Responders need to sit to “tend the garden”

In the Zen tradition they say that there are only 2 things: you sit and you sweep the garden.

No matter how big your garden is, you sit. You quiet your mind, you dive into your heart. You learn how to center yourself and stay in touch with those qualities of love and compassion that are inside us. Those are our birth gift, and you extend it in the garden of the world. And even if you cannot take care of the whole garden, you pick up your personal lot to plant your seeds in it. And there is an endless list of lot in that garden to take care of: maybe serving your community in a better way; maybe taking care of your own family and kids; maybe put the best of yourself in your own business; maybe fighting some kind of injustice you see around yourself.

You need to find what is important to you and tending that lot with those qualities you develop and are in touch with when you sit.

So, we need to calibrate between sit and sweeping the garden to better tending it. And when we sit and we touch our deepest layer within ourself, we use our body to constantly transcend its physical limits and we empower our boundless self. 

In that moment we can alter traditional modalities that may be wrong: the way we eat, the way we think, the way we act and react, the way we work, the way we love.

Endless Streaming of Pure Consciousness

The sitting moment is a thought-provoking moment. The moment when we calibrate our body-mind system to awaken the seeds of transformation inside ourself. It kindles the understanding of our identities and the mistake we do when we identify our self with them. It pushes us to stay in touch with that Boundless Self that is all that we are: an endless streaming of pure consciousness.

Sasy, F.R.Y. Director

Turn your “one day” into the day one for your mind-body wellness: F.R.Y. is First Responders’ wellness toolbox.

F.R.Y. is the First Responders’ wellness toolbox

Julia Long, F.R.Y. CEO & co-founder, has been interviewed as woman-owned small biz. Here is the link to Go Solo Subkit website to read the interview and get inspiration about it: 
Julia Long, F.R.Y. CEO & Co-Founder interviewee

Thanks to Subkit for recognizing our Co-Founder as an entrepreneur with purpose: Giving Back to Those Who Serve.

First Responders Rejoice. How to!

First Responders Rejoice. How to!

This COVID 19 journey is becoming a little frustrating for everyone, especially for Police Officer, Firefighters, Paramedics and Dispatcher because of their line of duty.

No gathering even for intellectual reasons and not only for a coffee; restriction within the workspace and business limitation that are leading to money limitation. Putting your mask on? Always a forgetfulness I need to put attention on in order to follow the rules. Everything is starting becoming complicated to accept.

I try to rejoice in me being alive. I try to rejoice in my breathing and my healthiness. In the Bible it is said “Rejoice in the Lord always”. I simplify and I say “rejoice always” as everything is an opportunity to develop your attitude to be happy. Yes, it is an attitude. It is an ability and as all the abilities it is not accomplished automatically. I decide to be happy no matter what the other say.

Life can be burdensome sometimes and rejoicing doesn’t seem to be a natural response to what we are facing, to what we encounter during this journey called life. I learned that out of some sad and difficult moments that happened to me, I gained something new: I developed a new quality, a better insight, deeper wisdom. So, no reason to be bitter about what you regret in your life: everything that is knocking at your inner door has a teaching available for you. Treat your being human as a guest house where every day you welcome honourably a new arrival: joy, depression, awareness, a sweep, a smile. Each of them has been sent as a guide from beyond.

Sasy, Director of F.R.Y.

Yin Yoga. Approaching the Functional.

FRY yin yoga functional Sasy

“Yin Yoga. Approaching the Functional with Sasy Cacace” course is eligible for 20 hours of Continuing Education with Yoga Alliance. 

With this course you will learn:

  • What is Yin Yoga 
  • Overview of CHI and Meridian channels, according to Chinese Medicine
  • What is the functional approach to Yoga
  • The differences between the performance and the functional-introspective approach that can be applied to all forms of Yoga
  • How to teach functionally
  • The 14 Skeletal segments and the 10 Muscles groups involved in the entire Yoga practice
  • Why the skeletal variations are important
  • The 5 Archetypal Yin Yoga Poses and their variations, that can be adapted to each and every student
  • And more

This course is of interest to all people learning yoga to deepen your practice as well as to instructors who wish to deepen their understanding of movement in yoga.

COST (Canadian Dollars):

Early Bird: $377.50 (25% discount)+ HST before December 3, 2021

General Admission: $450 + HST thereafter

TIME TABLE OF THE COURSE (all times are in EDT):

  1. Saturday January 22, 2022: 8am-12:15pm (15 minutes break)
  2. Sunday January 23, 2022: 8am-12:15pm (15 minutes break)
  3. Wednesday January 26, 2022: 7pm-9pm 
  4. Saturday January 29, 2022: 8am-12:15pm (15 minutes break)
  5. Sunday January 30, 2022: 8am-12:15pm (15 minutes break)
  6. Wednesday February 2, 2022: 7pm-9pm + Graduation 

Certification will be delivered by email to the attendees who participate in the full course.

Tickets available at this link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/164762979507

Info about the teacher:

Sasy is a 500 hours Yoga Alliance Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500) and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP). He has been lived and taught yoga in many studios in Northern Italy, in Fuerteventura (Spain), India (Mysore), Nepal (Pockara) and all of 2018 in Los Angeles (USA).

He also has some experience in Karma Yoga including Anand Prakash Ashram in Risikesh (India) where he led Vipassana Meditation and Karuna Home for Disabled and Orphaned Children in Bylakuppe/Mysore (India) where he taught Yoga in a Yoga Studio inside the Tibetan Camp 1. On March 2020 he completed his three months of Karma Yoga at Sivananda Ashram Bahamas.

Sasy is a former Italian Police Detective and chief who has spent 20 years serving the Italian Government in the field of crime and narcotics. Knowing very well the stress and all the consequences that First Responder service can bring into the personal life of every single officer or member, Sasy was inspired to offer training for First Responders. Drawing on his past in law enforcement and the knowledge he developed since 2005 in the fields of meditation, stress reduction, Yoga and trauma-informed movement, Sasy co-founded together with Julia Long, F.R.Y. First Responders’ Yoga Canada, a tool box mind body wellness that compiles breathwork, functional yoga movement, trauma informed Yoga, meditation and positive affirmation techniques, designed for First Resppnders by First Responders, tailored to their needs. And with the F.R.Y. The App the tools are available anytime, anywhere, when needed, at a push of a button.

In 2005 Sasy started his spiritual quest and decided to dedicate his life to yoga since 2014. 

He is the author of “The Key to Happiness” and “Yin Yoga“, two manuscripts in which he shares a glimpse of his personal spiritual journey, some easy-to-understand neuroscience about meditation and deep breathing, life-altering tools that transformed his daily living. in 2020 he co-authored his 3rd book together with Julia Long, “F.R.Y. First Responders’ Yoga. The Book“. All the manuscripts are available on Amazon, both paperback and digital formats.

Sasy’s personal website: www.sasycacace.com

Podcast with Lyfe Boost

Our Director Sasy has been interviewed by Rian Barrieau the Founder of Lyfe Boost. Below the link to the podcast.

We need more people who have the will to spread the path of awareness and gentleness. We always have choice in our life, ultimately the two things that you are always free to do, despite your circumstances, are to be present and to be willing to love, for our wellness and for the benefits of the others. Thank you Rian, we need visionary people like you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRvgApyRsOo&t=1s