1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,200
Ever have trouble falling back to sleep, especially when you're at work or those first day or
2
00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:09,760
couple days when you're finally off duty?
3
00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,560
Wake up at three or four o'clock in the morning and just can't fall back asleep even if you're
4
00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:14,760
not at work.
5
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:20,440
Well today we got a quick hitter episode that's full of resources for you and we're going
6
00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,120
to expand on a different type of yoga called Yoga Nidra.
7
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,320
Welcome to the Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast where we coach you to deal with the stressors
8
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,680
of the job as a first responder as well as how to thrive off duty.
9
00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,920
My name is Kevin Housley, a Human Performance Coach and a Firefighter since 2005.
10
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,880
I've been able to coach over a thousand emergency responders on ways to be more resilient, better
11
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,560
prepared for the job and how to be happier and healthier at home.
12
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,880
So let's get to it and talk about Yoga Nidra.
13
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,560
And Yoga Nidra has gotten a lot of press lately.
14
00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,320
We did an episode with Emily Hightower where we talked about Yoga Nidra that's linked in
15
00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:04,000
the show notes and then last episode with Olivia Mead from Yoga for First Responders.
16
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,160
We got into the leads about Yoga as a practice and what Yoga actually stands for and how
17
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:16,160
it allows us to tap into our nervous system through tools like our breath.
18
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,320
It really has nothing to do with stretching initially.
19
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,280
And now today we're going to talk about a different type of yoga which has no stretching
20
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:26,640
at all.
21
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,440
You actually just lay there and listen to a vocal script.
22
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:38,120
It's called Yoga Nidra and even more recently than that Dr. Andrew Huberman has gotten a
23
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,120
lot of exposure for non-sleep deep rest.
24
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,760
And you can check out some of his stuff or I have some links in the show notes on non-sleep
25
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,840
deep rest and what that means and how to do it.
26
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,280
And it's essentially just a version of Yoga Nidra.
27
00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,800
So Yoga Nidra for those of you that aren't familiar with it is somewhat like a form of
28
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:09,560
progressive muscle relaxation and sometimes it's even referred to as local sleep.
29
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,240
And so it has been identified as a sleep replacement practice but the brain wave analysis of that
30
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,080
you're not actually fully asleep.
31
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,240
But it does create rest and relaxation.
32
00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,280
It creates parasympathetic tone meaning rest and digest.
33
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,600
It calms your nervous system down and that's all shown through multiple studies.
34
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:34,600
I have some studies linked in the show notes that you can deep dive if you would like.
35
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,280
And a big thing that it does is it helps slow your respiration rate down.
36
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:45,560
So for those of us in emergency services we are exposed to different sorts of things throughout
37
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:50,840
our careers throughout our shifts throughout the different cycles or jobs that we have
38
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,200
within our emergency services.
39
00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,720
And not all of them are 911 call related by any means.
40
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:04,520
So one of the problems with emergency services and for us as emergency services personnel
41
00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,240
is we are exposed to different things which can create hypervigilance which means we really
42
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,000
can't turn our brain off.
43
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:19,560
We have a very, very small window of tolerance and a reminder for the window of tolerance.
44
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:25,640
So I'll have a window of tolerance podcast episode that we did in the show notes as well.
45
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:30,680
But the window of tolerance is that space between the sympathetic nervous system, fight
46
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:36,160
or flight and the parasympathetic nervous system, rest or digest.
47
00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:41,680
And we want a nice big wide window of tolerance because it means that we're more resilient
48
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,560
and are able to adapt to different stressors.
49
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,320
And so some of us do a great job with stressors on the job.
50
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:59,560
We do a great job processing and succeeding and crushing it when the 911 call comes in.
51
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:05,400
And then we do a really bad job in other areas of our life, things like driving down the
52
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:12,040
road or when we walk into the house maybe our relationships suffer a little bit because
53
00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:17,760
our window of tolerance is very, very small and we don't have a lot of resilience towards
54
00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,040
different sorts of stressors.
55
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:26,880
And so all of us that have had little kids understand what this means and some of you
56
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:32,480
are currently living that reality right now and you might snap it a little kid for doing
57
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:39,520
something that just little kids just do like leaving the cap off the toothpaste or whatever
58
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,440
drawn on the wall, you understand my point.
59
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,960
So the window of tolerance, we have a nice big window of tolerance and we have a good
60
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,840
wavelength between that sympathetic nervous system and that parasympathetic nervous system
61
00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,880
were more resilient to stress.
62
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:59,800
And this is essentially what heart rate variability is measuring is how resistant can it forecast
63
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,840
you being resilient and resistant to different types of stressors.
64
00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:09,320
So those of you that are wearing wearable technology, whoop, apple or a ring, all those
65
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,840
sorts of things that measure HRV heart rate variability.
66
00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:18,280
That is a pretty good snapshot to your window of tolerance and you can watch how that is
67
00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:25,400
impacted throughout your career throughout different shifts, different call types.
68
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,720
And most importantly, how you're reacting and adapting and your parasympathetic nervous
69
00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:38,480
system versus sympathetic nervous system is reacting to sleep debt.
70
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,240
So yoga nidra is a good way for us to attack sleep debt.
71
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:49,600
It doesn't replace sleep by any means, but it can help us refocus, calm down and fall
72
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:55,600
asleep, fall back asleep or take that quick power nap that safety nap.
73
00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,800
And so in the show notes, I'm going to have a script that's linked to and the big thing
74
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,760
for yoga nidra for me, it's really just progressive muscle relaxation where you lay there and
75
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:11,720
you literally just listen and follow the script of the voice that's talking to you.
76
00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:17,440
The really big key that I found with yoga nidra specifically is finding a voice that
77
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,040
doesn't make you go completely insane or piss you off.
78
00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:27,280
And so if you have a yoga nidra script that you're listening to and the voice just irritates
79
00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:31,600
the crap out of you, it's probably not going to relax you.
80
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,640
So the one that I have linked, which is a Spotify link in the show notes is a voice
81
00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,960
that doesn't drive me completely insane.
82
00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:47,440
If it does drive you insane, you can simply Google yoga nidra script, yoga nidra audio,
83
00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:48,720
you can jump on YouTube.
84
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,240
The problem with YouTube is sometimes there's commercials that interrupt you in the middle
85
00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,360
of your yoga nidra practice.
86
00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:02,680
You can also find them on Pandora Spotify, tons and tons of really, really easy to access
87
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,920
resources out there.
88
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,960
Cool thing about yoga nidra is it's pretty heavily studied through peer reviewed scientific
89
00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,440
research.
90
00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,500
And there's a good study here called the effectiveness of a short yoga nidra meditation
91
00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:21,920
on stress, sleep and well-being in a large and diverse sample by I'm going to butcher
92
00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:28,520
their name, Mozik Von Ortzen and Heisen's renner.
93
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:35,760
That study will be linked in the show notes from 2020 where they did a yoga nidra study
94
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:40,840
which just using an 11 minute yoga nidra meditation practice.
95
00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,400
And the meditation group which had a sample size of 341 participants.
96
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:50,120
So it wasn't just a super, super small study size by any means.
97
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:55,760
Those 341 people that went through the meditation group, the yoga nidra group showed lower stress,
98
00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,840
higher well-being and improved sleep quality after the intervention.
99
00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,280
The meditation group had a stronger impact on the reduction of negative affect than on
100
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:11,520
the increase of positive affect and also a stronger effect on effective components of
101
00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:18,000
well-being, meaning how we're people viewing their well-being and the parts and pieces
102
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,160
that go into that.
103
00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,680
All effects remain stable at follow up six weeks later.
104
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,400
So that's a really, really cool thing there.
105
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,540
They did a 30 day practice for 11 minutes at a time.
106
00:08:30,540 --> 00:08:34,720
So I know all of us are super busy and we don't have time for another thing on top of all
107
00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,440
the other things that we need to do, but I bet you you got 11 minutes.
108
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,720
And I know for a fact that you got 11 minutes if you're at work and if you're on the fire
109
00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,760
service or maybe you're working 24 hours on an ambulance and you're able to sleep, you
110
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,600
have sleeping quarters more often than not.
111
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,800
If you're having a trouble falling back asleep, yes, sometimes you run lots of calls back
112
00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,480
to back, but it seems like they're spaced out a little bit more than 11 minutes apart,
113
00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,800
even for super busy companies that aren't running and never coming back to the house.
114
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,320
So you probably have 11 minutes.
115
00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:12,840
So if you really struggle falling back asleep, give yoga nidra a shot, especially if you
116
00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,720
get back at three or four in the morning.
117
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,720
And based on your shift time, maybe you can sleep until six, maybe you can sleep until
118
00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:21,720
seven.
119
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,360
And a lot of us have a really, really hard time, especially the later we get in our careers
120
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,960
of falling back asleep in that three to four o'clock.
121
00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,280
And then if you're on 48s, if that happens to you on your first night and you're awake
122
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:39,520
from 0300, and then that next day gets going, you got lots of stuff planned, you got training,
123
00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,280
blah, blah, blah, blah.
124
00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:46,520
And now you're smoked by one, two, three o'clock in the afternoon and you're just trying to
125
00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,280
survive until shift change.
126
00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:56,200
We're not going to get into the 4896 or different shift schedules on this podcast specifically.
127
00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:57,960
But yoga nidra is a great thing.
128
00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,120
Maybe if you're going to take a safety nap, you have a hard time, you know, taking naps.
129
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,600
Maybe you're a person that doesn't like to take naps or you're a person that tells yourself
130
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:06,920
you can't nap.
131
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:12,040
Well, just take 11 minutes or take a 10 minute on that Spotify link that I have in the show
132
00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:16,160
notes and just take some time for yourself and calm down.
133
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:17,160
Don't fall asleep.
134
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:18,160
That's great.
135
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,480
Hopefully you make it all the way through the practice.
136
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,200
And Emily Hightower talked about that in her episode with us on the Firefighter Craspmanship
137
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,520
podcast of, you know, yoga nidra, really, you don't really want to fall asleep in her
138
00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:31,160
opinion.
139
00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,400
But for us in emergency services, if you're having a hard time sleeping or you need to
140
00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:39,800
go to sleep and you do fall asleep during yoga nidra, man, that's a win.
141
00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:41,200
That's a win for sure.
142
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,280
And you know, you can take a nap right there.
143
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,080
That's really, really good.
144
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:51,280
In a study titled a closer look at yoga nidra early randomized sleep lab investigations
145
00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:57,160
where they specifically looked at the impact of yoga nidra on people that have insomnia,
146
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:02,720
clinical diagnosed insomnia from sharp and a whole bunch of other authors also linked
147
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,760
in the show notes.
148
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:11,320
What they found was that 84, 83, 84% of the part study participants actually reported
149
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,520
that they felt like they fell asleep during the yoga nidra practice.
150
00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,280
This was a 30 minute yoga nidra practice.
151
00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:25,600
And from the actual study that it showed that they slept for 10 to 50% of that yoga nidra
152
00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:26,600
practice.
153
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:32,120
So meaning they took, you know, potentially up to a 15 minute nap for people that had
154
00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,880
clinical diagnosed insomnia.
155
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,080
So there's a lot of really, really good benefits to yoga nidra.
156
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,680
One of the ways that I like to use yoga nidra, that's not just specifically for myself.
157
00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:52,000
I like to do yoga nidra, especially on day two for us that work a 48, 96 hour work schedule.
158
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,800
But I like to use it with the younger crew members, the younger generation and especially
159
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,640
with the probes on our crew.
160
00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,760
And so you can run your crew however you want.
161
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:09,440
But for me, I want high performing probationary firefighters and I want high performing firefighters
162
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,920
for the entirety of their careers.
163
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:18,720
And it's up to us to teach them great habits in relation to wellness, fitness, nutrition,
164
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:24,160
mental wellness, and the humongous one of sleep.
165
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,520
And sleep is a very, very big component of overall wellness.
166
00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:35,160
It has a tremendous impact on mental health, PTSD.
167
00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:40,280
It also has a tremendous impact on cancer.
168
00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:45,680
So yoga nidra for us on our crew is a great way for us to teach the probes that it's okay
169
00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:51,600
to take 10 to 30 minutes for yourself on a shift, especially when you need it, especially
170
00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,680
if we got throttled the night before or something was going on at home and you didn't get a
171
00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,080
lot of sleep because you have a new baby or whatever is going on.
172
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,600
Yoga nidra is a great way for us to say, hey, you don't need to go take a nap.
173
00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:06,760
I understand, you know, you don't want to go take a nap.
174
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,440
You don't want to be thought of and we're not going to get into the cultural implications
175
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:15,600
of sleep on this podcast specifically, on this episode specifically.
176
00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,240
But yoga nidra is a great way to say, fine, don't fall asleep.
177
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,400
That's great.
178
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,120
Just go take a minute and follow this script.
179
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,120
It's an audio script.
180
00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,560
It's a progressive muscle relaxation technique.
181
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,280
It's going to help you calm down.
182
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:34,080
It's going to help you feel rejuvenated, revived, refreshed and ready to catch a good call later
183
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,000
tonight and be able to perform.
184
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,200
So yoga nidra, huge fan of this.
185
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:45,000
I'm very, very glad that I was introduced to this way back from actually, Emily Hightower
186
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,880
from shift.
187
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:47,880
So thank you.
188
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:53,360
Lots of shout outs to Emily on this episode here and go back and take a listen to the
189
00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:58,320
two part episode series that we have with Emily Hightower because she just drops knowledge
190
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,120
bombs one right after another.
191
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,720
Lots of resources in the show notes for you on this one, including a good easy follow
192
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:10,840
script that I've had lots of success with personally and I've had lots of people with
193
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,480
lots of great success stories just by me sharing that to them.
194
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:16,840
That's on Spotify.
195
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,960
I don't know how it works if you don't have a membership to Spotify, but I've never heard
196
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:21,960
anybody say that they can't listen to it.
197
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:27,240
So if that voice drives you crazy, find a different one, send it to me so I can put
198
00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,880
it into the cache and send it to people where they don't like the voice of the one yoga
199
00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,480
nidra protocol that I send to them.
200
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,760
So take care of yourselves.
201
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,280
Really, really focus as we get into the heat of summer here, making sure that your notches
202
00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,640
on the bullet train all the time.
203
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,760
Take a few minutes every single day for yourself.
204
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,920
It doesn't have to be yoga nidra.
205
00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,760
You can take two, three good quality breaths in through your nose, out through your nose,
206
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:58,680
and just be present and take it down a notch and ramp it back up when you need to, but
207
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,200
make sure that as we are in the heat of the summer that we're taking good care of ourselves.
208
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,400
We're getting a lots of good quality sleep.
209
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:07,160
We're getting out there training really, really hard.
210
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:14,280
We're hydrating and we're ready to be great customer servants for those people that depend
211
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,240
on us no matter what branch of emergency services you're in.
212
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,680
So thanks for listening to the Firefighter Crasmanship podcast, a super quick hitter
213
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,680
episode, just full of resources and show notes for you.
214
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,000
Please reach out if you have any questions, if you have any topics or any guests that
215
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:35,080
you'd like to see on the Firefighter Crasmanship podcast, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook,
216
00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,800
or you can find me on LinkedIn, which is Kevin Housley on LinkedIn.
217
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,120
You can find lots of different training resources.
218
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:47,320
You can check out our Pre-Zilliance for the Emergency Seen Online class.
219
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,240
All that can be found at firefightercrasmanship.com.
220
00:15:51,240 --> 00:16:13,400
Stay smart.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,200
Ever have trouble falling back to sleep, especially when you're at work or those first day or
2
00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:09,760
couple days when you're finally off duty?
3
00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,560
Wake up at three or four o'clock in the morning and just can't fall back asleep even if you're
4
00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:14,760
not at work.
5
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:20,440
Well today we got a quick hitter episode that's full of resources for you and we're going
6
00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,120
to expand on a different type of yoga called Yoga Nidra.
7
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,320
Welcome to the Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast where we coach you to deal with the stressors
8
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,680
of the job as a first responder as well as how to thrive off duty.
9
00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,920
My name is Kevin Housley, a Human Performance Coach and a Firefighter since 2005.
10
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,880
I've been able to coach over a thousand emergency responders on ways to be more resilient, better
11
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,560
prepared for the job and how to be happier and healthier at home.
12
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,880
So let's get to it and talk about Yoga Nidra.
13
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,560
And Yoga Nidra has gotten a lot of press lately.
14
00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,320
We did an episode with Emily Hightower where we talked about Yoga Nidra that's linked in
15
00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:04,000
the show notes and then last episode with Olivia Mead from Yoga for First Responders.
16
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,160
We got into the leads about Yoga as a practice and what Yoga actually stands for and how
17
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:16,160
it allows us to tap into our nervous system through tools like our breath.
18
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,320
It really has nothing to do with stretching initially.
19
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,280
And now today we're going to talk about a different type of yoga which has no stretching
20
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:26,640
at all.
21
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,440
You actually just lay there and listen to a vocal script.
22
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:38,120
It's called Yoga Nidra and even more recently than that Dr. Andrew Huberman has gotten a
23
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,120
lot of exposure for non-sleep deep rest.
24
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,760
And you can check out some of his stuff or I have some links in the show notes on non-sleep
25
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,840
deep rest and what that means and how to do it.
26
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,280
And it's essentially just a version of Yoga Nidra.
27
00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,800
So Yoga Nidra for those of you that aren't familiar with it is somewhat like a form of
28
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:09,560
progressive muscle relaxation and sometimes it's even referred to as local sleep.
29
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,240
And so it has been identified as a sleep replacement practice but the brain wave analysis of that
30
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,080
you're not actually fully asleep.
31
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,240
But it does create rest and relaxation.
32
00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,280
It creates parasympathetic tone meaning rest and digest.
33
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,600
It calms your nervous system down and that's all shown through multiple studies.
34
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:34,600
I have some studies linked in the show notes that you can deep dive if you would like.
35
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,280
And a big thing that it does is it helps slow your respiration rate down.
36
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:45,560
So for those of us in emergency services we are exposed to different sorts of things throughout
37
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:50,840
our careers throughout our shifts throughout the different cycles or jobs that we have
38
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,200
within our emergency services.
39
00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,720
And not all of them are 911 call related by any means.
40
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:04,520
So one of the problems with emergency services and for us as emergency services personnel
41
00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,240
is we are exposed to different things which can create hypervigilance which means we really
42
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,000
can't turn our brain off.
43
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:19,560
We have a very, very small window of tolerance and a reminder for the window of tolerance.
44
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:25,640
So I'll have a window of tolerance podcast episode that we did in the show notes as well.
45
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:30,680
But the window of tolerance is that space between the sympathetic nervous system, fight
46
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:36,160
or flight and the parasympathetic nervous system, rest or digest.
47
00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:41,680
And we want a nice big wide window of tolerance because it means that we're more resilient
48
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,560
and are able to adapt to different stressors.
49
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,320
And so some of us do a great job with stressors on the job.
50
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:59,560
We do a great job processing and succeeding and crushing it when the 911 call comes in.
51
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:05,400
And then we do a really bad job in other areas of our life, things like driving down the
52
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:12,040
road or when we walk into the house maybe our relationships suffer a little bit because
53
00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:17,760
our window of tolerance is very, very small and we don't have a lot of resilience towards
54
00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,040
different sorts of stressors.
55
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:26,880
And so all of us that have had little kids understand what this means and some of you
56
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:32,480
are currently living that reality right now and you might snap it a little kid for doing
57
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:39,520
something that just little kids just do like leaving the cap off the toothpaste or whatever
58
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,440
drawn on the wall, you understand my point.
59
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,960
So the window of tolerance, we have a nice big window of tolerance and we have a good
60
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,840
wavelength between that sympathetic nervous system and that parasympathetic nervous system
61
00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,880
were more resilient to stress.
62
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:59,800
And this is essentially what heart rate variability is measuring is how resistant can it forecast
63
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,840
you being resilient and resistant to different types of stressors.
64
00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:09,320
So those of you that are wearing wearable technology, whoop, apple or a ring, all those
65
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,840
sorts of things that measure HRV heart rate variability.
66
00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:18,280
That is a pretty good snapshot to your window of tolerance and you can watch how that is
67
00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:25,400
impacted throughout your career throughout different shifts, different call types.
68
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,720
And most importantly, how you're reacting and adapting and your parasympathetic nervous
69
00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:38,480
system versus sympathetic nervous system is reacting to sleep debt.
70
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,240
So yoga nidra is a good way for us to attack sleep debt.
71
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:49,600
It doesn't replace sleep by any means, but it can help us refocus, calm down and fall
72
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:55,600
asleep, fall back asleep or take that quick power nap that safety nap.
73
00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,800
And so in the show notes, I'm going to have a script that's linked to and the big thing
74
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,760
for yoga nidra for me, it's really just progressive muscle relaxation where you lay there and
75
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:11,720
you literally just listen and follow the script of the voice that's talking to you.
76
00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:17,440
The really big key that I found with yoga nidra specifically is finding a voice that
77
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,040
doesn't make you go completely insane or piss you off.
78
00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:27,280
And so if you have a yoga nidra script that you're listening to and the voice just irritates
79
00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:31,600
the crap out of you, it's probably not going to relax you.
80
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,640
So the one that I have linked, which is a Spotify link in the show notes is a voice
81
00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,960
that doesn't drive me completely insane.
82
00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:47,440
If it does drive you insane, you can simply Google yoga nidra script, yoga nidra audio,
83
00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:48,720
you can jump on YouTube.
84
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,240
The problem with YouTube is sometimes there's commercials that interrupt you in the middle
85
00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,360
of your yoga nidra practice.
86
00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:02,680
You can also find them on Pandora Spotify, tons and tons of really, really easy to access
87
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,920
resources out there.
88
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,960
Cool thing about yoga nidra is it's pretty heavily studied through peer reviewed scientific
89
00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,440
research.
90
00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,500
And there's a good study here called the effectiveness of a short yoga nidra meditation
91
00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:21,920
on stress, sleep and well-being in a large and diverse sample by I'm going to butcher
92
00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:28,520
their name, Mozik Von Ortzen and Heisen's renner.
93
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:35,760
That study will be linked in the show notes from 2020 where they did a yoga nidra study
94
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:40,840
which just using an 11 minute yoga nidra meditation practice.
95
00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,400
And the meditation group which had a sample size of 341 participants.
96
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:50,120
So it wasn't just a super, super small study size by any means.
97
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:55,760
Those 341 people that went through the meditation group, the yoga nidra group showed lower stress,
98
00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,840
higher well-being and improved sleep quality after the intervention.
99
00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,280
The meditation group had a stronger impact on the reduction of negative affect than on
100
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:11,520
the increase of positive affect and also a stronger effect on effective components of
101
00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:18,000
well-being, meaning how we're people viewing their well-being and the parts and pieces
102
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,160
that go into that.
103
00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,680
All effects remain stable at follow up six weeks later.
104
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,400
So that's a really, really cool thing there.
105
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,540
They did a 30 day practice for 11 minutes at a time.
106
00:08:30,540 --> 00:08:34,720
So I know all of us are super busy and we don't have time for another thing on top of all
107
00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,440
the other things that we need to do, but I bet you you got 11 minutes.
108
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,720
And I know for a fact that you got 11 minutes if you're at work and if you're on the fire
109
00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,760
service or maybe you're working 24 hours on an ambulance and you're able to sleep, you
110
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,600
have sleeping quarters more often than not.
111
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,800
If you're having a trouble falling back asleep, yes, sometimes you run lots of calls back
112
00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,480
to back, but it seems like they're spaced out a little bit more than 11 minutes apart,
113
00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,800
even for super busy companies that aren't running and never coming back to the house.
114
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,320
So you probably have 11 minutes.
115
00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:12,840
So if you really struggle falling back asleep, give yoga nidra a shot, especially if you
116
00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,720
get back at three or four in the morning.
117
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,720
And based on your shift time, maybe you can sleep until six, maybe you can sleep until
118
00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:21,720
seven.
119
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,360
And a lot of us have a really, really hard time, especially the later we get in our careers
120
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,960
of falling back asleep in that three to four o'clock.
121
00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,280
And then if you're on 48s, if that happens to you on your first night and you're awake
122
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:39,520
from 0300, and then that next day gets going, you got lots of stuff planned, you got training,
123
00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,280
blah, blah, blah, blah.
124
00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:46,520
And now you're smoked by one, two, three o'clock in the afternoon and you're just trying to
125
00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,280
survive until shift change.
126
00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:56,200
We're not going to get into the 4896 or different shift schedules on this podcast specifically.
127
00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:57,960
But yoga nidra is a great thing.
128
00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,120
Maybe if you're going to take a safety nap, you have a hard time, you know, taking naps.
129
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,600
Maybe you're a person that doesn't like to take naps or you're a person that tells yourself
130
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:06,920
you can't nap.
131
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:12,040
Well, just take 11 minutes or take a 10 minute on that Spotify link that I have in the show
132
00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:16,160
notes and just take some time for yourself and calm down.
133
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:17,160
Don't fall asleep.
134
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:18,160
That's great.
135
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,480
Hopefully you make it all the way through the practice.
136
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,200
And Emily Hightower talked about that in her episode with us on the Firefighter Craspmanship
137
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,520
podcast of, you know, yoga nidra, really, you don't really want to fall asleep in her
138
00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:31,160
opinion.
139
00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,400
But for us in emergency services, if you're having a hard time sleeping or you need to
140
00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:39,800
go to sleep and you do fall asleep during yoga nidra, man, that's a win.
141
00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:41,200
That's a win for sure.
142
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,280
And you know, you can take a nap right there.
143
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,080
That's really, really good.
144
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:51,280
In a study titled a closer look at yoga nidra early randomized sleep lab investigations
145
00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:57,160
where they specifically looked at the impact of yoga nidra on people that have insomnia,
146
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:02,720
clinical diagnosed insomnia from sharp and a whole bunch of other authors also linked
147
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,760
in the show notes.
148
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:11,320
What they found was that 84, 83, 84% of the part study participants actually reported
149
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,520
that they felt like they fell asleep during the yoga nidra practice.
150
00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,280
This was a 30 minute yoga nidra practice.
151
00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:25,600
And from the actual study that it showed that they slept for 10 to 50% of that yoga nidra
152
00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:26,600
practice.
153
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:32,120
So meaning they took, you know, potentially up to a 15 minute nap for people that had
154
00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,880
clinical diagnosed insomnia.
155
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,080
So there's a lot of really, really good benefits to yoga nidra.
156
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,680
One of the ways that I like to use yoga nidra, that's not just specifically for myself.
157
00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:52,000
I like to do yoga nidra, especially on day two for us that work a 48, 96 hour work schedule.
158
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,800
But I like to use it with the younger crew members, the younger generation and especially
159
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,640
with the probes on our crew.
160
00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,760
And so you can run your crew however you want.
161
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:09,440
But for me, I want high performing probationary firefighters and I want high performing firefighters
162
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,920
for the entirety of their careers.
163
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:18,720
And it's up to us to teach them great habits in relation to wellness, fitness, nutrition,
164
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:24,160
mental wellness, and the humongous one of sleep.
165
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,520
And sleep is a very, very big component of overall wellness.
166
00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:35,160
It has a tremendous impact on mental health, PTSD.
167
00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:40,280
It also has a tremendous impact on cancer.
168
00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:45,680
So yoga nidra for us on our crew is a great way for us to teach the probes that it's okay
169
00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:51,600
to take 10 to 30 minutes for yourself on a shift, especially when you need it, especially
170
00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,680
if we got throttled the night before or something was going on at home and you didn't get a
171
00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,080
lot of sleep because you have a new baby or whatever is going on.
172
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,600
Yoga nidra is a great way for us to say, hey, you don't need to go take a nap.
173
00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:06,760
I understand, you know, you don't want to go take a nap.
174
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,440
You don't want to be thought of and we're not going to get into the cultural implications
175
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:15,600
of sleep on this podcast specifically, on this episode specifically.
176
00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,240
But yoga nidra is a great way to say, fine, don't fall asleep.
177
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,400
That's great.
178
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,120
Just go take a minute and follow this script.
179
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,120
It's an audio script.
180
00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,560
It's a progressive muscle relaxation technique.
181
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,280
It's going to help you calm down.
182
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:34,080
It's going to help you feel rejuvenated, revived, refreshed and ready to catch a good call later
183
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,000
tonight and be able to perform.
184
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,200
So yoga nidra, huge fan of this.
185
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:45,000
I'm very, very glad that I was introduced to this way back from actually, Emily Hightower
186
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,880
from shift.
187
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:47,880
So thank you.
188
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:53,360
Lots of shout outs to Emily on this episode here and go back and take a listen to the
189
00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:58,320
two part episode series that we have with Emily Hightower because she just drops knowledge
190
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,120
bombs one right after another.
191
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,720
Lots of resources in the show notes for you on this one, including a good easy follow
192
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:10,840
script that I've had lots of success with personally and I've had lots of people with
193
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,480
lots of great success stories just by me sharing that to them.
194
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:16,840
That's on Spotify.
195
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,960
I don't know how it works if you don't have a membership to Spotify, but I've never heard
196
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:21,960
anybody say that they can't listen to it.
197
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:27,240
So if that voice drives you crazy, find a different one, send it to me so I can put
198
00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,880
it into the cache and send it to people where they don't like the voice of the one yoga
199
00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,480
nidra protocol that I send to them.
200
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,760
So take care of yourselves.
201
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,280
Really, really focus as we get into the heat of summer here, making sure that your notches
202
00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,640
on the bullet train all the time.
203
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,760
Take a few minutes every single day for yourself.
204
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,920
It doesn't have to be yoga nidra.
205
00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,760
You can take two, three good quality breaths in through your nose, out through your nose,
206
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:58,680
and just be present and take it down a notch and ramp it back up when you need to, but
207
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,200
make sure that as we are in the heat of the summer that we're taking good care of ourselves.
208
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,400
We're getting a lots of good quality sleep.
209
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:07,160
We're getting out there training really, really hard.
210
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:14,280
We're hydrating and we're ready to be great customer servants for those people that depend
211
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,240
on us no matter what branch of emergency services you're in.
212
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,680
So thanks for listening to the Firefighter Crasmanship podcast, a super quick hitter
213
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,680
episode, just full of resources and show notes for you.
214
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,000
Please reach out if you have any questions, if you have any topics or any guests that
215
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:35,080
you'd like to see on the Firefighter Crasmanship podcast, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook,
216
00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,800
or you can find me on LinkedIn, which is Kevin Housley on LinkedIn.
217
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,120
You can find lots of different training resources.
218
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:47,320
You can check out our Pre-Zilliance for the Emergency Seen Online class.
219
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,240
All that can be found at firefightercrasmanship.com.
220
00:15:51,240 --> 00:16:13,400
Stay smart.
