There are a lot of jobs out there that score high on the stress level scale. The men and women who uphold the law and risk their lives day in and day out to make our world just a bit safer represent one such profession.
Let’s face it, police officers could use meditation. A lot of it. Unfortunately, because of how society views them and also how they view themselves, cops rarely receive the needed support to help balance the stressors of their jobs.
Amber Taufen pens this recent Westword post on Lisa Wimberger, a meditation instructor who hopes to bring the practice to this stressed-out population. The article, which also highlights a police officer who was brought to her knees by the stress she suffered from within her department, brings attention to the fact that cops need an outlet to regroup and save their sanity.
If Wimberger had her way, cops like Hastie wouldn’t need to get help over the phone; their departments would already offer stress-management training as part of a preventive program. Through Trance Personnel Consulting, Wimberger has offered several such workshops at metro area police departments, teaching rooms full of cops how to ground themselves, create a safe space inside, clear their personal boundaries of external influences and fill their bodies with positive intention and light. “People who gravitate toward these techniques are really good at gravitating toward other coping techniques that they need,” she says. “I wanted to bring this to organizations that need it desperately but wouldn’t know where to find it.”
Read more from Taufen and Wimberger on the need for meditation programs within every police department here.
