Officer Jon Carson lights up when he speaks about teaching mindfulness techniques to officers with the York Regional Police.
"My goal for policing is to say, here's a tool for you. You have all these other things on your belt. You have a gun, handcuffs, pepper spray, and I'm not advocating taking any of that away. All I'm telling you is, if you were actually to take a step back and take a breath prior to any interaction you're dealing with, it may save a life. It may save your life. It may save that individual's life. It may save someone else's life down the road."
Carson knows a few things about life and death. As someone who has navigated the challenges of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and lectures regularly on the topic, he's experienced first-hand the hazards of routine police work, as well as the impact both professionally and personally.
Last year, Carson's wife, Kim (also a police officer) gave him a copy of Mindful Magazine for his birthday. On its cover sat a cross-legged Lieutenant Richard Goerling, Oregon's self-described "cultural change warrior" who made U.S. headlines for bringing mindfulness into law enforcement. Carson got the subtle hint, but it took an accident and a concussion to get his full attention: his neurologist recommended one hour of meditation per day to heal the wound.
[For more of this story, written by Mel Sellick, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...hp_ref=whats-working]
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