[Note: We received the following unsolicited review of our latest publication, Mindful Responder: The First Responder’s Field Guide to Improved Resilience, Fulfillment, Presence, & Fitness–On & Off the Job. Much appreciated!]
I just finished reading Crawford Coates’ book Mindful Responder. Amazing work! It’s the first book that I’ve read that directly communicates eminently useful practices for the first responder.
If one were to mention “mindfulness” or “meditation” to the majority of our first responders most of them would discard the importance of these concepts to their professional or personal welfare. Their concocted vision would be akin to some “dude” sitting cross-legged, in Yoga pants, rather than a warrior answering the critical call and running toward the danger of gunfire or towards a house engulfed in flame or that desperate call from a mother with a very sick baby.
However, Coates is creating an opportunity to excite and inspire the first responder to inculcate into his or her life practices of mindfulness and meditation. These practices have been scientifically proven to have the potential to aid the practitioner to be more aware, more observant, less stressed, healthier, more resilient, and adept at improving personal relationships.
Coates emphasis on mindfulness practices addresses the neglected area of first responder training, e.g., the essence of mental, physical, and emotional welfare of the responder as a person.
He has taken the mystery out of these ancient martial arts and religious applications. He gives a clear prescription of how they can be learned and become part of a healthy, life time practice. Serious practitioners can achieve a state of inner peace, even when facing extremely disturbing situations.
The implications of all of this are clear: We need leaders, police officers, firefighters, doctors, etc., who can stay calm in the presence of a disturbance and engage in dialogue and or react quickly to insure stability and safety–and subsequently de-stress and relate to their loved ones.
It is worth noting that methods of mindfulness and meditation are extremely useful, and inexpensive!
My son is a chief of police. This is a book I hope he makes available to all his officers and their loved ones!
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