What are the most effective mindfulness techniques for reducing stress in Emergency Management?

Often, at critical times it is difficult to find space and time to do this. Often it is not easy to do this when others around you are wanting your immediate attention, responses and/or direction. Building structure in systems and processes to do this helps, e.g build it into the response team structures. Doing this creates the expectation that mindfulness, for everyone, is important especially in response situations and scenarios. A good way to do this is to do this as a team to allow space and time for taking a few breaths [4 deep slow breaths is usually enough] provides an opportunity for moments of mindfulness. So making it a standard part of briefings, sitrep meetings etc helps everyone maintain some awareness of how they are tracking

Finding a moment out of a busy day and or a complex situation we find ourselves in, to ??empty?? our mind and breathe to a rhythm that soothes our tension and invites our body to relax is the simplest way to regenerate energy for the body to pursue a good level. In my experience a three times a day 10 mn each keeps me going

Taking a few minutes out of each day practicing and engaging in active gratitude and mindfulness seems to have helped me over the years. By allowing yourself a few minutes during the workday to stop and reflect on the work you’ve done, the positive changes you’ve made, and acknowledging that the work you do generally benefits the greater good --- this can help center you, especially in times of uncertainty and long work hours, depending on the size and severity of the incident you’re tasked with.

Having a good balance between work and separating yourself and allowing time for family. Be able to remove yourself by having hobbies and spend time with pets and love ones help. I love fishing and vacationing.

After a full mag dump as I was attacked by an armed felon who was carjacking me. I realized that my body had prepared me for a full on fight. With that my breathing became short and shallow to increase my heart rate and blood flow to muscles. Our wonderful mind and body does not always know when the threat is real. We need to control our system to control the situation. The 4-7-8 breathing technique requires a person to focus on taking long, deep breaths in and out. Rhythmic breathing is a core part of many top combat training programs and meditation itself.

Certainly! The "Body Scan" is a mindfulness technique that involves mentally scanning your body from head to toe to become aware of any physical tension or discomfort. It's often done in a quiet, relaxed setting. Here's how it works: 1. **Find a Quiet Space:** Start by finding a quiet, comfortable space where you won't be disturbed. 2. **Get Comfortable:** Sit or lie down in a relaxed position. You can close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so. 3. **Start at the Top:** Begin the body scan at the top of your head. Slowly focus your attention on each part of your body, moving downward, checking for any tension or discomfort.

First of all, we must understand the underlying tenets of Emergency Management, that it is not something which can only be dealt with superhuman strengths. It is a very coordinated practice where stakeholder engage on multiple levels. Realizing our strengths and limitations is what keeps us pragmatically functional during the tumultuous times. We must persuade ourselves and others as what is humanely thinkable and what is actually deliverable under high demands for man, money and material. As the saying goes, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".

Engaging in regular body scan exercises can enhance your body awareness and induce a feeling of calmness. Through consistent practice, it can also heighten your sensitivity to bodily tension as it emerges during the day, enabling you to acknowledge and alleviate it before it accumulates.

I am a big believer in this method of meditation as a way of improving focus while practicing self care and love, healing and acceptance.

Humanitarian workers are always under stress and sometimes get traumatized. They need to do some exercise to relieve stress, and in some ways they can because it is essential to have the mental strength and confidence to do well. Enjoy time with family and friends, counseling if required, outing during weekends, listening music and breathing exercises, good food habit and sounds sleep. Though it's tough to maintain always however these need to be followed in regular basis.

What I used to think was a crisis, is not a crisis today. In my experience, awareness may be your biggest support system. Best approach to understand levels of mindfulness, is you erase the mind (relax thought), through meditation, you can stop thought since every single thought has an emotion. Going for a physical activity, is a form of meditation, and certainly will shift the focus. Shifting focus or giving attention to something else will certainly put you in a better position. Awareness of what you put into your mind is key. During my past job experiences and listening to Cockpit Voice Recordings prior to an aircraft disaster was very shocking, stress levels flare during these short moments of uncertainty.

In the middle of a crisis response, things can get hectic and you find yourself racing from task to task. This can inhibit clear thinking and impair judgment. Mindful movement is a great way to bring the heart rate down and clear the head. It doesn’t need to take long or be a formal program. I have even found that instead of racing back from the restroom or a meal break, I can intentionally slow my steps and movements, focusing on the fine details of each movement. After even the few moments that it takes to walk back to my station, my head is clear and my focus improves: ready for the next round!

An easy way to get movement and exercise in your hectic day is to set your phone timer for 20 minutes. Every time it goes off, pause what you're doing and do 10 quick pushups, or squats, or any kind of body movement/exercise to get the blood moving, and help clear your mind.

In my experience, I have found a peace be still moment is needed during high levels of stress, work or anxiety. Sometimes it is needed to just take a pause and be still in the moment. Clear your thoughts, refocus, and prioritize matters. For some that may be just breaking and taking a walk and taking a breather. For me I find music to be therapeutic, so during my break I will listen to soothing music to clear my mind. Most importantly listen to your mind and body and when the pause is needed take it. You must take care of self 1st in order to assist, help and show up for others.

If it is not done as a voluntary service, Emergency Management is similar to classical management in a sense that everyone needs to perform as efficiently as possible. Just like ordinary business operations, we are assigned with tasks and/or targets, and we have to submit our reports to the higher authorities. And it is often observed that individual/departmental/organizational objectives are prioritized, though unintentionally, over the greater collective objective of serving the more unfortunate ones(the victims). The more we think of our work as a real calling in life to serve humanity, rather than simply a list of job tasks to be fulfilled, the more mindful we become about our true obligations as emergency management professionals.

As one who was back there when we were 'writing the book' I started out as a Military policeman, uniform, radio, tickets, cuffs, stick & .45. No vest, or any of the neat stuff. Trained and Worked AT/FP, for POTUS, VPOTUS, Head of State security. Got training at the FBI academy at the old Hogan's alley. Trained in Europe with the GSG9. Why the intro, I WAS there when WE wrote the book. MIND SET, them or us, your head needs to be on a swivel. Gut instinct is probably right. Nothing taught in the BS/PhD will prepare you for the shear terror. Some turned to alcohol or drugs to escape. Family and home were mine. I kept them secreted and away from the fray, gave me normalcy between events. Keep an 'I will survive' mind set. Now retired to farm.

Preparation, preparation, preparation ... the essential survival one skill learnt from military service. Even though we cannot prepare to immediately deal with, or manage every single crisis situation (or just life's curve balls). What we can do as individuals to PREPARE ourselves to be able to handle a crisis situation by remaining calm and logical (as best as possible) is to have daily habits of just 5 to 10 minutes of mindfulness stillness of the body and mind (almost mediative) and deep breathing exercises, also what works for me is my daily mantra repeated and practiced - of gratitude, happiness and calmness. These practiced daily habits over time, my conscious and unconscious minds now 'autopilot' me through managing any crisis.

Stress in Emergency Management (EM) is real and it needs to be recognized by leaders as a problem. Most EM agencies operate with limited staffing making it necessary for teams to pull long shifts in Emergency Operations Centers and at field positions. The days of the saying “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is over. Having EM team members stand up, step away, and ensure a rest-sleep-work cycle can lead to stress reduction and more alert and able people. Where needed the use of mutual aid staffing, others agency employees, and contract talent can lessen the emotional and physical burden on the team.

The mindfulness tip I find to help in those situations is “taking a pause” or “ Being still” for a moment; drawing upon Faith ( Faith in God). Faith in God is an anchor that helps me calm the internal storm before attempting to calm what ever external emergency I am being faced with, I try to draw upon Him for internal strength. This I have found to work both professionally and personally. I have had professional scenario where situations erupt and it literally takes you a moment to remember all the great Emergency Response plan that have been drafted up & rehearsed. As an ERT leader people will look to you for direction, calmness and empathy in those moments.

Self-Compassion: Be kind to yourself. Recognize that you're doing challenging work, and it's okay to feel stressed at times. Treat yourself with the same compassion you'd offer to a friend in a similar situation.

Have faith. Find faith in something greater than yourself. Have faith in yourself and your abilities. Train for and think critically about your response and preparation process. Finding faith in a concept or system greater than yourself, training, and preparation can all work together to increase confidence and decrease fear and anxiety. The result is a mitigated physical and mental impact of stress experienced in tense situations. Acknowledging and recognizing early reaction to stress is essential to managing it. Managing your stress is similar to managing a crisis. Your body, mind, and stress generally follow a cycle. There will be a response time and a time to recover. Allow yourself recovery time and lastly develop and use resources.

One of the most important thing you can do in an emergency situation is to take care of yourself first. Have that sip of water. Take that few deep breaths. Re-centre yourself. Do your OODA loop. You are of no use to the situation if you don't protect yourself first, hence why, in the airplanes, they tell you to put your own mask on first before attempting to rescue anyone else, yes even your own kid. And train for it, not just mentally, but physically too. Your body is your main tool, keep it sharpened. We all suffer from the Fight or Flight/Freeze adrenal response, one of the purposes of training is to condition you to shorten the Flight/Freeze response time and allow you to start acting much faster.