b'F E A T U R EFighting Stress&TraumainPolicing Mindfulness-Based Wellness & Resiliency By Constable Amy Boudreau, P ublicSafetyPersonnelThe amygdala in our brain acts like aYork Regional Police theour to suppress our feelings and gradually (PSP)mustbealert,smoke detector, recognizing and thenlosetheskillsofrecalibrating onguardforphysicaleitheractivatingordeactivatingnervoussystem.Wepretendthat dangers,andvisualizethese responses. In times of intenseall is fine and that we are unfazed. the worst-case scenariostress or trauma the amygdala essen- Unfortunately, this unnatural demean-while en route to call in preparationtiallygetshijacked,whichpreventsourthatweadopttrapsstress for the unpredictable. How our bodiesourbodiesfromturningofftheseinourbodiesandstoresrepressed respondtostressandtraumaisanresponses (Healing Heroes, 2019). Inemotionaltrauma.Whenstressand unconscious primal physical response.the wild, animals naturally shake totrauma become trapped in our body, it Thisinstinctualsurvivalmechanismrelease tension after a life-threaten- can manifest, and we are more likely physiologicallyandchemicallying event. Shaking is our natural waytobecomehypersensitivetostress. changesourbodiestogetusawayto release tension and return the bodyWithout knowing how to recycle our fromdanger,whichisreferredtoto a state of homeostasis, known asemotions and how to bring our body asourfight-flight-freeze(faint,neurogenictremors.Sadly,humanback down into a state of equilibrium, fidget)response.Overtime,thesebeings have been socially conditionedsignificanthealthproblemsand responses can set as defaults withinto supress our faint-fidget response toothersocialdysfunctionswilloccur ourmindsandbodiesasemotionalinstead stoically grin and bear it.over time. dysregulation,causingdifficulty controllingormoderatingfeelingsFrom a young age, we are taughtExposures to almost all types of pot-and behaviour.to toughen up. As a result, we learnentially traumatic events have beenThe Official Publication of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police13'