Yoga for Firefighters That Fits the Shift With Hannah Flahr

Episode 119 Clean Transcript

Hannah Flahr with Arjuna George | Beneath the Helmet | Season 4

Editorial transcript prepared from the supplied recording transcript. Speech has been lightly cleaned for readability. Compare it with the final edited audio before publication; source timestamps have been removed because they may change in the edit.

Introduction

Arjuna: All right, everyone, welcome back. This is Beneath the Helmet. This is season four. This is episode 119. Today I'm joined with a expert in exercise with a master's in workplace health promotion, also the founder of Regulate the Responder, who has developed a very specific program for first responders, and firefighters in particular, on a yoga-based platform. So welcome to the show, Hannah Flahr. It's time to ignite your soul and unlock your full potential. Join us on Beneath the Helmet, the podcast exploring firefighters' health and wellness. Hosted by retired fire chief Arjuna George, our podcast is the perfect place to start your journey towards becoming the best version of yourself. So come on, let's join the conversation and find out what sets your soul on fire. welcome to the show, Hannah Flahr.

Hannah: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for, hosting me here.

Hannah and the fire service

Arjuna: Oh, it's a pleasure. And you're not too far from us, you're just on Vancouver Island, and, it is a,… yeah, it's been a treat. We've been kind of communicating back and forth over the last few years. And, we've done some work together of, you know, doing TRE and talking about different, modalities to regulate the first responder. And today we're gonna dive into to yoga and how that can support the first responder. Before we jump into that, share a little bit about who Hannah is, and kind of what brought you to, well, first of all, teaching first responders, particularly firefighters.

Hannah: Yeah. I mean, I might have mentioned this to you in previous, but similar to, like, many creative endeavors, I married seemingly unrelated skillsets to form the program that I operate now in fire departments. So, I started doing yoga myself when I was 15, and, I got certified to teach it quite young as well. I was 17. And so I had that kind of humming in the back of my mind. And then when I went on to pursue, education, I… further education, I did a undergraduate degree in exercise physiology, so I had kind of injury prevention training. And then I did a master's degree in workplace health promotion, and I looked at shift work, and just the negative health implications associated with it, coupled with the positive impact that physical activity could have on shift workers' health. And so marrying the yoga coupled with the injury prevention, and the shift work, and how to schedule physical activity, it's kind of was all bubbling up inside of me to create this for firefighters.

Arjuna: I know you're, you're not firefighter yourself, but your partner is, so you have a very close, understanding of the operations of the fire service, and you've been working obviously with firefighters. What have you learned about the fire service that kind of, I don't know, may- maybe caught you off guard or surprised you about the culture, the people?

Hannah: Yeah. What I have learned so much from firefighters, I have learned so much being in fire departments, and I think you kind of pose a good point of I am not one. And I think what's really important is this entire time I haven't pretended to be one. So I stay in a lane, as a variation per se of an expert in a field. And I think that's created, kind of a circle around me in that I'm not trying to be. I'm not trying to, integrate. I'm just teaching and providing something that I know to be true and supportive in a health sphere to these people, yeah, as an expert. And so what I've learned from firefighters Lately, I'm getting family is what I wanna tell you. It's just like the amount of inner workings and connection and camaraderie that can happen inside fire departments, and how each fire department tends to have its own, kind of hum and its own little culture. They're not all the same. Not even every shift pattern's the same

Arjuna: Is that the, your biggest kind of aha is that the, you know, the whole fire service, even though on Vancouver Island there's dozens and dozens of fire departments that are all slightly different? Is that, was that surprising to you?

Hannah: A little bit Yeah, and I think that's because, you know, you think that, okay, it's the same skill sets, it's the same equipment, you know, on paper. If you were to open up a job description, in Qualicum versus in Lantzville, it's gonna be similar. but it's the people within each fire department that I've found that truly make, the culture of it, and who's attracted to it. it's amazing. It's fascinating. And I work mostly with, paid on-call fire departments, and that's just because of where I live. The closest, career fire department would be Nanaimo, and that's what my partner, he works there. But, even still, between shifts, between stations, it's completely different, which is absolutely fascinating.

Arjuna: Between the departments that say, "Yes, I wanna investigate, I wanna invest in yoga in our firefighters," to the departments that say, "Not right now," what's the difference there? What have you noticed in the culture from the ones who say, "Yes, we're on board," to the ones that say, "Not now"?

Hannah: That's a great question. I think it's the progressive… It's the individuals, the leadership that is a little bit maybe more progressive. Like I've noticed the departments that say yes right away are, they also, like, have the latest, you know, doodad or, you know, bell or whistle. You know, they're the ones who are always just one step ahead. They get the training first. They send people to a training first so that,… Yeah, and maybe some of the more, the newer leadership, I would say. The maybe younger, leadership. Those are… 'Cause that's who I ask, right? I mean, the firefighters would say 1,000 times for sure, "Yes, of course. I love yoga. Let's do it. Yes." but it's the leadership who really has the final say at the end, right?

Arjuna: So I think everyone has a pretty clear picture of what yoga is in their mind. I think everyone can picture if you say yoga, boom. But say we remove the word yoga, what would you tell a apprehensive firefighter who doesn't really understand the benefits of yoga? How would you describe yoga to them without saying yoga?

Hannah: Well, I play the game, Arjuna. I play the game. I, whoever I'm, you know, speaking to, I might change the way that I describe what we're doing, and that's not as a trickery. It's just to meet the person where they're at so that they don't sell themself short in saying no to something that could really help them long term. So, you know, sometimes I'll enroll it as injury prevention and it is that, and we can talk about that as, and how I can even say that it is that. We can talk about that. But sometimes it's, you know, you see the really stressed out person, you think, "You know what? This is also good for your mental health." You know, sometimes I play it as, - This is just an opportunity of alone time. So just depending on who I'm talking to, I can kind of change the way that I would sell it per se to get more bodies on mats. But injury prevention is my number one kind of go-to. If I wasn't gonna say yoga, I would say just for doing some mobility, which in the yoga community they'd be like, "Oh." But, y- it's the translation piece, right? I would love to, make it more available, and if it means in the beginning I have to lead with its mobility, shortly after people participate they realize it's so much more than moving your body. It's connecting to your breath. It's connecting to your mind. it's deeper work than just shoulder range of motion. You know?

Arjuna: Just bringing down that stress level when people have this expectation of what yoga is. It's bending in all sorts of weird positions. It's, you know, being very flexible. It doesn't have to be all those things. but that's what we picture, right? We picture the, you know, the tight clothing, the mat, the water bottle, and yoga poses that are painful to be in, right? So. But that's not the truth, right? But that's what we vision when we think about yoga, right?

Hannah: Completely. Completely.

Shift work and access

Arjuna: So I'm interested about the prevention side of things. But I think before we dig into that, I wanna kind of explore the, the aspect of the shift work, 'cause that is a huge component, especially in the paid on-call world, volunteer world, and the career world. All those three elements, they have elements of shift. 'Cause a volunteer could be woken up at 3:00 in the morning and still has to go to work. So how does that work with… How does yoga support somebody who's going through shift work patterns? how does that help them in their wellness?

Hannah: Yeah. It's a really great question. So when I looked at shift work, in terms of studying, I actually studied nurses, and I looked at nurses who were doing 12-hour rotational shifts. So that's a day, night, and then off, off. So there's so many different patterns of shift work, and what becomes really apparent in shift work is no matter what the behavior you wanna instill, specifically as it relates to physical activity, no matter what it is, scheduling it in is quite difficult. And so when it comes to, paid on-call for example, to infuse yoga- These firefighters have a very unique,… they have very unique barriers because what they're doing is they're often working through the day, like you mentioned, and then they're turning their pager on at night often when they're back in the range of their community. And the pager's on at night, and then they're kinda locked into their community. And so if they wanted to go attend a yoga class somewhere, maybe a stu- a local studio or maybe a studio in the town over, they leave their jurisdiction and basically have to turn off their pager. And so there's this weird gap of, you know, I wanna commit to this fire department, I wanna commit to this thing that I'm passionate about, but it's at the expense of my own health per se. And so how yoga in the fire department or how I bring yoga into the fire department is I do just that. I truly bring a yoga class inside the fire department so that there is no choice. There is no choice. It's an opportunity to support your health in your own barn. It's not… You don't have to leave. A call comes in, no problem. People roll up their mats, they move to the side and off they go. And their response time is, I'm telling you right now, and this may be the plug for more yoga on Vancouver Island, but I'm talking three-second response time. I'm talking to you already have a bay full of people ready to go. Call comes in, that's instantaneous, and that's calm people getting ready to go. So yeah, when it comes to paid on call, when we bring it into the department, it just alleviates barriers and it also increases the chances that you're gonna have full trucks. when it comes to a firefighter… yoga for firefighters in career departments, that's more about just finding ways to, create healthy habits, and that could look like scheduling yoga in. That could look like having an accountability partner. That could look like doing it online. there's lots of ways that career firefighters can infuse yoga or any physical activity really into their life, but, it requires a little more planning

Arjuna: What I'm picking up already is your terminology is like you've been in the fire service for the last 20 years.

Hannah: That's hilarious.

Arjuna: Well- You're definitely talking the language now. and that's, I think that's why it's resonating so much with the firefighters, right? So.

Hannah: Yeah, it's funny that you say that because last year, I taught 560 yoga classes.

Arjuna: Wow.

Hannah: Wow. I know. And the year before that, very similar. I think I was, like, 561 or something. Mm. So I'm- I'm doing the work. It's not… It's a lot of,… Like, I'm in them. I'm in them. I used to keep track, too, of, you know, like I'd taught over 300 yoga classes and over, you know, to over 300 firefighters and over 30 fire departments, and I can't… I've… Gone are the days of keeping track now. It's full on.

Arjuna: So with that big of a number, have you seen a trend of yoga i- in the fire service, you know, being more accepted? Any changes that you've seen in the research that you've done yourself with that fairly large group of people?

Hannah: Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm picturing one specific fire department where I remember the first time I went there, it was two people and myself, and I don't care. I've been teaching yoga since I was 17 years old, so there's one person, there's 40 people, there's 200 people, doesn't matter to me. Like, it doesn't really make a difference. But I remember two people, four people, two people, four people, one person, like, very low numbers, and now four years later, this department has, like, 25. Sometimes it's like we're moving more, like, hoses out of the way to, you know, accommodate, to make room. So it's amazing that, it is picking up, and sometimes it's just a matter of the consistency. So she's not going away, or she is consistent. It's not something that's,… Yeah, it's not something that's unwavering. It's something that's reliable. I know what I'm getting. I know it's the same time every day. There's… It's just, you know, trugging along. Same thing, no surprises. Same thing, no surprises. And as a result of that, I can picture, yeah, there's a couple departments who have just really, their program has expanded tenfold, over the last four years.

Pilot and movement

Arjuna: Incredible job. Good job. So when we look at the injury factor, and obviously everyone listening right now wants to reduce injuries in the fire service, they wanna be healthier, they wanna be happier, and I think yoga plays a part in that. I'm curious about the aspect of injury prevention in yoga. How does that… How… I know you've built a specific program for firefighters, and I'm assuming that's probably helping in the injury prevention. Do you mind sharing what that looks like?

Hannah: Yeah, completely. So when I started this, because I came from a little more,… I had a bit of an imposter syndrome, like who am I to go in here, you know? I had the whole that we all have when you're starting something new. And because I came from academia, I just finished doing a bunch of research for myself with respect to shift work and, physical activity behaviors, I wanted to do this properly. When it came to yoga inside of a fire department, I didn't wanna throw spaghetti at the wall. I didn't want to… I wanted something legitimate. And so when I started, I built out a pilot program, and I took 30 firefighters from three different satellite sites, and to ensure that I was measuring, the prevent, the, just the impact on the physical body. Before we started this pilot, I took functional movement screening from the 30 firefighters, so things like hamstring flexibility, things like, shoulder mobility, core strength, things like this. So I pre-tested all of these firefighters, and then four sessions. We did four weeks of yoga. One, two, three, four weeks. The end of those four weeks, I retested- And so some of the results that we got from that retest were things like improved or at least maintained hamstring flexibility. We saw changes in shoulder range of motion, which if you can imagine, there's quite a bit of overhead work in fire service, and shoulder injuries are actually one of the most common injuries associated with firefighting. And so seeing these results tangibly on 30 bodies was enough for me to get going. And so the sequence, it's the same thing every time. It's a set sequence, so nothing changes, and that enables m- me to add a little bit further credibility to this as it's been done, it's been tested, and we're still doing it. And the individuals who do go to yoga, and I should touch wood somewhere, but the people who've been coming regularly, I mean, they're still showing up, and they're not off. So there's something to be said about that, right? They're still, they're in, they're healthy, their bodies are working well. But I did have… I did do some research prior to really launching this into the departments that we serve now.

Arjuna: Very cool. What would you say to the firefighters listening right now that's like, "I am not in any shape to start yoga. I need to get in better shape before I can do yoga"?

Hannah: Yeah.

Arjuna: What would you say to that firefighter?

Hannah: Oh, I love that firefighter. I see that firefighter all the time. Oh, it's funny. when I started the pilot, actually, I was doing a recruitment. So we had this Google form out for people who were interested, and, you know, they had to be able to attend all the sessions, that, you know, they had to do, they had to commit, right? And so many of these were, "I'm so inflexible. I'm the most inflexible person you'll ever see." These are all anonymous, right? "You've never seen somebody so in- flexible as me. I can't see over my belly." Like, I was getting the fun- the most, you know, comical and, outlandish. And the truth of the matter is, for yoga, you can find a pose or you can find a class that serves you. You can start anywhere. And to really further that, I work in many different communities teaching yoga. Fire is what we're speaking about, but I just left a, adult day program where there are people in wheelchairs, there are people with different, mental and physical abilities, and, we were all doing yoga too. So it's, it's, you're your biggest barrier when it comes to yoga. There's something for everyone.

Arjuna: So saying that, for the listener right now, you got a, you got a capture of a whole bunch of firefighters right now, listening to this. What's the biggest myth about yoga that you'd love to kind of say is BS?

Hannah: That it is young girls in tight pants. It's for young girls in tight pants only. Oh. That's not true. That's not true. And actually, yoga way back, was mostly practiced and taught by men for the first hundreds of years. So it was actually a male practice predominantly before, women in Lululemon tight pants, whatever pants, started doing it. Do

Arjuna: you notice a difference in, you know, the benefits from yoga for males and females? Is there a benefit, or is it kind of equal across the board on genders?

Hannah: You know, overall the benefits are the same. However, I find that the males might get a little more in terms of mobility. Women typically come in with a little more flexibility as is. That's not all the time, but I find that the men do get a little bit more just room in their bodies. Like, they come in a little bit tighter. but the benefits are the same. And once you kind of get past that first layer of the physical benefits, which are what most people come to it originally for, there's so much more. It's, cultivating-… a sense of calm within you. It's managing your breath, which is paramount, especially in fire service where people rely on supplemental oxygen, right? You need to be able to regulate your breath. You need to be able to take control, take deep breaths. And yoga is quite literally, the word means yoke, and that's to bring together your mind, your body, and your breath. And so we're taking dedicated time to do just that.

First class and choice

Arjuna: You mind walking us through a paid on-call firefighters coming the first time to the fire hall to do a yoga class with you? What would they expect for that duration of time with you?

Hannah: Yeah. Some banter. I'm just kidding. no. I

Arjuna: mean-

Hannah: Well,

Arjuna: set the stage, right?

Hannah: Yeah, of course. Yeah. No. what typically happens is, you know, if they're, if it's a program, we already are in a program, so if people are… This class is running, running non-stop, weekly, and somebody wants to all of a sudden just show up for the first time, happens weekly, they would fill out a physical activity form most likely, and then I'd probably just have a quick conversation with them, this is what to expect, and rest when you need rest, take breaks when you need a break. And again, there's, there's… Each department has their own, you know, some people, "Oh, blah, blah's in today," you know, like, there's a little bit of that, like, playfulness, right? Absolutely. but sometimes it's the opposite. It's welcome. Like, "I'm so glad you finally came. I'm so glad you made it." But I try not to draw too much attention to the new people. I don't want them to feel like, you know, this is a big thing. It's just I keep an eye on them if something doesn't look right, but, you know, sometimes I say, "If you want a good visual, just come towards the front." But, I don't pay attention. I don't usually call them out. I don't. I just let them do their thing. 'Cause really all I'm doing is holding it down for an hour, and I'm managing the room. I'm keeping an eye, making sure everyone's safe, and I'm letting them move into their bodies, come in and out of their breathing. and I'm just kind of, holding the container for everybody to do their thing. And at the end everybody leaves. So don't make a big deal about the newcomers

Arjuna: Best parts, the, was it Sh- Shavasanad or-

Hannah: …

Arjuna: at the very end? Yes. That's the best part, eh?

Hannah: Shavasana, yeah. Yeah. Which is interesting, 'cause, in Shavasana when we, when I do that or the, you know, the deep rest at the end, in comparison to my community classes, we don't hold Shavasana or, like, that final resting pose in the fire departments for very long. And that's intentional. So even when I train people now to teach the sequence to go on into their own departments to take it with them, I've had that comment come up. You know, "Why don't we stay in Shavasana for longer? Why don't we lay here longer?" And I always give the option to stay longer, but I find right away it's almost as some people, as soon as I suggest, you know, "Here's some quiet time. I'll leave two minutes. I'll mind the time. You can move if you wanna move. Your eyes can be open, no problem," right away there are those, some individuals who are still vibrating. They're still a little bit elevated. And I don't wanna hold people in that… I want them… Yeah, I don't wanna hold people in that, in that space. So I just- It's best. Yeah. But the people who love Shavasana love Shavasana. "Hell, let us stay." But the people who don't really don't, right? So you kinda just kinda find a happy medium.

The firefighter sequence

Arjuna: I can see that for sure, yep. So in your development of this, of this program, have you modified any yoga poses that are classic and everyone knows about to fit the firefighter, or are you using pretty standard yoga moves, practices, and that just naturally supports the firefighter?

Hannah: Yeah, the latter. So it's… These are all yoga poses that were, that have been around for many, many, many years. And, what I did actually in the development of the program when I was choosing the poses, that's a great comment, it's like, how do you choose the poses to support firefighting? So what I did was I actually began, before I even did the pilot, I did a big literature search of the most common injuries associated with firefighting, all of them. So all these meta-analyses, these, systematic reviews, and the most common injuries in fire service were the lower limb, strains and sprains mostly from the knee down, and then shoulder, so, and low back. So low back, lower limb, and shoulder injuries. And so knowing that information, knowing that shoulders, low backs, and knees are kind of problem areas, I looked at the yoga poses that would either maintain or increase or enhance strength or mobility in those areas so that I could counter, so that I could strengthen those before. So more preventative than, you know, catching up after an injury happens. So building out the poses as it relates to the most common injuries. And then to double-click because I'm not a firefighter, I went on the NSCA, that's the National Strength and Conditioning Association. They have a, kind of a layout of the most common activities that a firefighter would do, so things like pulling c- ceiling, hose drags, victim drags they call them, all these different, common movements that a firefighter would do, movement patterns. And then they have next to that certain exercises you would do in the gym to strengthen those areas. So taking my literature search of what's probably gonna hurt or what are you probably gonna sprain or strain, coupled with this information about what do other exercise associations try to do to strengthen firefighters in these areas, that's how I took the poses and created the poses. So it was a combination of those two things to create the standardized sequence. And it's very… It's almost like a mountain. You start really low. We do hips, and then we do a little bit of core, and then we do some balancing stuff, and then we cool it down, do some back strength, and that's it. very much like a mountain.

Breathing and regulation

Arjuna: So I've kind of chatted about the muscles, you know, flexibility, sprains, strains, but I think also another superpower of yoga is the nervous system. How does it impact a firefighter's nervous system?

Hannah: Oh. You know, I kind of joked about it when I said that when a call comes in when we're in yoga, and people are just so calm when they get up. But that's the… If that was filmed and any fire chief saw that, I mean, there'd be yoga in every fire department in the world. but I think what the actual practice does is it enables us to get a little quieter and a little more inquisitive And we know that the breath and using breathing is a free tool that every single person in this world has. And so I think it's the breath. Yes, the camaraderie, being in a familiar place with people that, you know, you like spending time with, and having, like, somebody guide you through, and moving your body in healthy ways. Like, these things are all good, and they kinda help your nervous system feel, "This feels good." But I think what really helps the nervous system in these yoga classes is that consistent reminder to get into your breath. Those bigger breaths, those more full breaths, like you're really tapping into, like a tool that you have within you for 45 minutes to an hour. So it's the breath, I think, that really targets the nervous system, and I see shoulders at the ears, running around, just making it into class, rolling the mat out. It's a mess, it's heavy, it's hectic to you go, and people don't even wanna stand up at the end, you know? So I can see the room change, the mood changes, the feeling of the place changes, and I think it's the breath. I

Arjuna: agree 100%. I'm all for breath, and I didn't know anything about it until I went through my journey of burnout and discovered breath. I was totally breathing wrong for my whole life. And yeah, very powerful. Do you teach breathwork during yoga, or is it kind of just support it, or do you actually teach how to breathe properly in yoga?

Hannah: Yeah, we start and finish the practice with a very specific breathing practice. So in the beginning, we do a three-part breath, and this is every class. This is every class. Even when I'm teaching people how to teach this, I say, "If you got 10 minutes, just teach the breath. If nothing else, just teach the breath." Because when it's 3:00 AM and your pager goes off, whether you're a career or a volunteer, that's… You're not gonna go into downward dog in your living room or in, you know, in your bunk. You're not doing… Like, you're not doing a pose to regulate. You gotta get into your breath. That's what's gonna take you from alert to calm and in control while being alert, right? And, so we do a… In the beginning, we do a three-part breath. So that's just learning how to take deliberate control, abdomen, ribs, and chest. And we work on learning how to actually manipulate the breath. Because you said, you know, you were breathing wrong, so you probably were a chest breather maybe or, like, a shallow breather. Yeah. So we just learn, three minutes. We just spend time going into the belly, into the ribs, into the chest, and then trying to link that all together so that we actually inflate and create, more room in the lung capacity. And then at the end we do what most fire departments already likely have awareness of, which is box breathing. And that familiarity piece is so helpful, too, at the end, especially if there's somebody who's new to yoga. They get to the end, they're like, "I know this. I know this. Perfect. I know this. I can do this." And box breathing has some really, good research now about the, just the positive benefits for mental and physical health, right? Yeah. I love box breathing. Yep. And specifically for, the count. The count is unique, and it's in that when you're counting your breath, you can't fixate on the count and the worries or the trials, the tribulations, what you're doing before, after, next. You can't focus on the two simultaneously. So the count hijacks your prefrontal cortex, and you're pretty much in the game. You're focused. You're… You know, you have to be in the breath. You can't be doing two things at once. And so for busy minds, I find that box breathing and the count is a perfect way to just anchor you into right now. So powerful.

Arjuna: Very cool. So what is your overall mission goal? What do you wanna see the firefig- or the fire service look like in five years from now due to yoga? Like, what's, what's the impact you wanna leave, the footprint you wanna leave in the fire service around yoga? Do you wanna make firefighters healthier, more flexible? Like, what is your ultimate goal there?

Hannah: I just wanna open a door to another modality. Yeah. I want to show the firefighters, fire service that, you know, there are different strokes for different folks, and sometimes what's everybody else is doing or the strategies that you've been given either don't work for you or they're no longer working, and I wanna show them that there's another way that we can regulate our mind, our body, and that could be through yoga. And hopefully, like and I've noticed it even the last four years, that it's becoming a little more… Like, there's a softening and a m- more of an openness to try than even four years ago when I started. So a lot more people are willing to even just give it a try than there was then.

Arjuna: I agree, and yeah, I would say people that I never expected to even speak the word yoga have said, "Yeah, I'm doing yoga." I'm like, "Wow, that's amazing. So good for you." Yeah. Just blew me away, 'cause that's just not… You know, once again, that's a stereotype that we have in our minds of who a yoga person is, right? So-

Hannah: …

Leadership and department culture

Arjuna: it's nice to squash that and make it more norm. So saying that, right now you have a whole bunch of fire chiefs listening right now. What would you tell them about the benefits of yoga and how they should consider bringing it into their fire hall?

Hannah: If the fire chief doesn't wanna do it themselves, that's fine But maybe they could open up the door for other people to try it. And that doesn't have to be a big thing. You know, like an email to a chief is like two words. You know, you try to make it as short and sweet as possible, and like so low barrier to entry. And so if I was gonna suggest bringing a yoga program in, I would say what I say to all the other chiefs, is it's really not that difficult, especially if you're on Vancouver Island. We bring the instructor, we bring the mats. Clear out a bit. You can sweep it if you want, not required. It's really not… There's not a lot of preparation to go into it. It's a really low cost and high reward thing to do. You don't have to buy a whole bunch of equipment, and, you know, you don't need to rearrange or break down a wall in the department. Everything you have is there. Everything you have is there

Arjuna: What do fire chiefs see different in those firefighters after a year of doing yoga?

Hannah: That's a great question I should add to my annual survey to all the firefighters now. What's, what's different about you? Did we notice? But, they would see likely improved attendance. They might see more family involvement. And I say that because, you know, when the firefighter… Some ti- some departments allow their spouses to come, and so it's this, you know, something that they can do together. The p- paid-on-call departments tend to take, you know, people away from their families even further, so when there is a opportunity for the spouses or even the children to join as well, it creates that family feel. It really does create that family feel. So you might notice, the chief might notice, like, a change in the culture. You might notice camaraderie or people who don't usually connect with each other, they're starting to connect with each other because they're meeting for yoga. You know, little weird inside jokes that they pick up with each other. These quirky little things that are so subtle that you think nobody notices. You might notice less injuries. You might notice people taking, time or breathing. You might notice their skills improve. Maybe they can tie a knot faster because they're taking a breath. They know how. I had one firefighter, and I mean, I get these kind of testimonial-type things all the time. One firefighter was doing a confined space situation, and it was a training, although they got really panicked, really panicked in the moment. And they told me at yoga the next week. They said, "You know, I was s- I was wound up, and the guy behind me said, 'Just box breathe.'" 'Cause they both go to yoga together. And so w- buddy did a bro- a box breath, and then in he went, done, sealed the deal. But his buddy told him to do the box breath because they both do yoga. So all kinds of things come. All kinds of positive impacts can come from doing yoga in the department.

Delivery and training

Arjuna: Beautiful. Yeah, I can, I could definitely see that. So tell us a little bit about the program itself. Like, if, somebody's listening right now is like, "I wanna look into this. I wanna get Regulate the Responder to my department." Is that something, like, a commitment of, like, one time only? Is that a yearly thing they do, a weekly thing? Is it a monthly thing? How does that, how does that work? And then, I don't know, anything else you wanna add about the program itself that would benefit the listener?

Hannah: Yeah. So- Depending on where you're located, there's lots of different ways that you could bring yoga in. If we're talking about Regulate the Responder specifically, on Vancouver Island, there's myself. And at this point now, I do, twice a year I train the trainer. And so I teach other people how to teach the specific sequence, and then they can take it on and go on and do what they wish with that. And I found that really beneficial for the career departments and also for the more standoffish, the ones who are like, "You know what? Let me train myself up." We li- we like to train our people, you know? And you see that all the time. There's the certain hose trainings or certain this or that trainings, and you get the expert in, they teach the crew, and then, "Okay, goodbye expert, we've got this," you know? There's that kind of energy. And so no problem. I host the teacher training. You can send somebody there. And this happens, especially in rural departments. They'll send somebody, they'll do the training, and then they take it on and it's theirs, and they just teach the sequence. They've got somebody trained up to do it. If distance is a problem or a barrier, there's an online… I have an online platform now, and I can send you the link to that at the end, and people can go on and do the exact same sequence that 500,000… who knows how many people have done this sequence now. they can do it online. You can do it by yourself. And my partner, Brock, the, he's in career, and they usually end up doing a video because you're in the middle. You know, that's a logistic, a logistics problem, right? It- You're on a shift, you wanna do yoga. If I came into their department, call comes in every however often, you'd be interrupting. Stop, start. Stop, start. Stop, start, right? So just put it on the TV instead. and then yeah, if you're local, then you can always reach out and,… Well, local as in Vancouver Island, because we have instructors from Oyster River, so kind of like North Island, to Sydney, so South Island. So we've got instructors scattered now trained in that region, that area.

Arjuna: Do most departments cover the ex- cost of this, or is it user pay, or how does that work?

Hannah: They do. There's many different ways. so some of the smaller departments, they open it up to spouses too, and then they charge a drop-in fee, and then the spouses basically cover. some… Otherwise, it's a flat rate. It's the same rate for every single department. that's another way. and to ask your, answer your question about scheduling, the scheduling is various departments. So some departments, when they're in-person classes, they might do one-off. Some will do once weekly. Some do, once monthly. Some do bi-monthly. It just depends on their own health budget and all the different trainings that come on. Most common is either weekly, people will have, like, a weekly or a biweekly class. That's the most common.

Arjuna: You hear a lot of feedback from the people who attend your classes that they do this on their own, or they do it at the fire station outside of the class? Or is it they kind of reserve it just when they're with you?

Hannah: They don't. I would say the majority, I would love to tell you that I've instilled such a healthy behavior in all the individuals, but no. Most of the time, I had good intentions, I was going to, or… But most of the time, you'll get… You know, you kind of rub off on people a little bit. Maybe they do a pose or two, or they practice box breathing one or two times, but, like, throughout the week. But they… To sit down and do 45 to an hour of yoga on their own, it's a pretty big ask

The five minute starting point

Arjuna: So for that tired firefighter who's been working overtime, long shifts, lots of shift work, what would be the bare minimum that you say would be a benefit to them? Do some box breathing? Is that kind of what I'm getting out of that? Five minutes. If they have five, 10, 15 minutes to-

Hannah: Oh… to get going. Do five minutes. Do five minutes. The first, do a couple deep breaths, and then just do a quick body scan, see what feels sore, and then choose one pose, and do a pose that supports that area in your body. And if you're exhausted, then just lay down and breathe. Five minutes. Even on the online platform, there's the big 45-minute sequence, so you could do the whole thing, but it's also broken up into chunks. You could just do the hips if you're feeling like that, or just the core, just the balance, just the back. So you can handpick, and they're all about five minutes. You don't have to do it all. It's so all-encompassing to do it all. Sometimes it can be scary. No, just daunting, exhausting before you get started. So yeah, you can break it up.

Arjuna: You're going into it already exhausted and tired, and then you're like, "Ugh, I gotta work out for another hour?" But yeah, having this option is a nice thing for that tired first responder, right? So.

Hannah: Yeah.

Growth and purpose

Arjuna: So Hannah, is there a question that you wish I asked you that I haven't asked you?

Hannah: I think what I wanna tell you is that in addition, you know, what started as this yoga program going into these departments, I remember myself walking in and kind of being shy, and I really wanted to give this because I believed in it, to where I am now. I think this is for anybody who's listening who just has an idea or, a belief in something. I wanna tell them not to quit, and I wanna tell them to believe in themselves because, like when have you ever failed yourself? And you won't even believe the opportunities that come to you if you commit to it. 'Cause even in doing this now, I've spoken at, I was at Fire Service Women BC this year. I've been sending an instructor to the Island Ignite, so that's a women's, a young youth fire camp. So they've implemented yoga into that camp annually. I've been doing the Climb the Wall in Vancouver annually, the BC Lung Foundation. All the firefighters climb, local… Not local, anywhere around the world actually. People in Germany came, this year. Firefighters from Germany came, and they climbed the Sheraton Wall Center in Vancouver to raise money for lung cancer, and I've been teaching yoga there. And in the last four years too, we've been- I've been partnering with other health professionals. So, there's a clinical counselor on Vancouver Island who supports most of the fire departments here, and her and I do a joint. So we do a spouse support night where she'll do a presentation about mental health, signs and symptoms of stress, and then we finish the session with yoga. So collaborations. And we start our tour actually next month where we go… I got, like, seven departments lined up where we go in, she'll do her conversation, I teach the yoga, and, people can come for one, for both, for either.

Arjuna: Oh, very cool. So what's, what's next for Regulate the Responder? What's, what's next in store? What do you want to share with the world?

Hannah: What's next? You know, I… By the end of this year, I've gotta do one more teacher training, so I've got a list of people that are interested. Nice. So I've gotta get one of those under out into the world. but other than that, just the consistency. It's just, it's every day it's giving yoga to people who want it, finding solutions for people who maybe aren't in closer proximity so that they can experience it, and, like, maintaining and staying in the craft. Like, that's where the depth comes, right? I told you at the beginning of the podcast, taught over 561 classes last year, so I'm in it. I'm deep in it. I'm so deep in it that, yeah, that I'm so… I love it. I love being deep in it. But, yeah, staying in the craft I think just helps you refine your skillset, right?

Arjuna: So this whole journey of becoming an instructor at 17 to where you are today, helping so many first responders, I'm curious what you've learned about yourself in this whole journey.

Hannah: Ah, bet on yourself. Because when I did my teacher training when I was 17, I said to myself, you know, "I only wanna do this. Like, I just wanna teach yoga. Like, I love this so much. This is what I wanna do." It saved me at a time when I needed it. And I say that, saved, maybe not saved, but it changed the trajectory of my life, practicing it. And so I knew then that I wanted to spend most of my day talking about it, doing it, reading about it, learning about it. But I still had to, you know, go through what I thought, you know, society should have me do. I need to go get an undergraduate degree, then I need to go do a post-graduate degree. I need to, you know, build this CV and get all these, you know, accolades. But the whole time, all I wanted to do was teach yoga. And so it's just ironic that I'm here. I, after all of this, all I wanted to do was teach yoga. And what… And here I am. Here I am, right?

Arjuna: Well, you listened to your heart, didn't you? Yep.

Hannah: Big time. Big time Are you still doing TRE? Yeah,

Arjuna: yep, for sure. Yeah. Yep.

Hannah: Yeah.

Arjuna: Yes, 100%. It, well, I often say that TRE saved my life. and I say that, and when I'm- when I say that, I say, and not to be dramatic or anything, but it truly saved my life 'cause it changed me, right? And that allowed me to see things so much clearer, right? So yeah, just going in with a balanced nervous system, game changer. 'cause you can actually think and make good decisions and make good habits. Well, if your nervous system's dysregulated, it's very challenging to operate in life, basically.

Hannah: Completely. Completely. And we've all, I mean, we've all been there, but I mean, obviously your listeners, even more so maybe experience it. But the,… When you find things that are helpful and self-serving, not at the expense of your health, like, you gotta hold onto them no matter what the modality is, you know? Like TRE for you, yoga for me, whatever it is. If it's hiking, if it's walking your dog, swimming, sauna, cold plunge, whatever it is, something, whatever you've got that's bringing you, making you a little less fuzzy, making you a little more clear,

Arjuna: 100%. most of those things you just listed off are either free or very affordable, right? They're… It's not like you have to buy a big gym or massive memberships or anything like that. It's very accessible, right? A lot of those things.

Hannah: Very. Yeah.

Resources and closing

Arjuna: So Hannah, how can listeners learn more about Regulate the Responder? How can they connect with you? How can they maybe even join one of your classes down the road?

Hannah: Yeah. So if you're local on Vancouver Island, most of the fire departments here that we have programs in will just let you show up. If you're a firefighter, you're in. And so if you can… If you're interested in looking at the schedule, my website's regulatetheresponder.com. Instagram's Regulate the Responder. It's not that active, 'cause I'm teaching so much that I don't really have time to get on, get on the, on the social media. But, it's there. The stuff's, the mentor things are there. And then if you're interested in trying it online or just getting curious, I have a Patreon website with all the classes, even the five minutes up to the 45 minutes. And actually, for your listeners, I'll give you a code, and the first, say, 10 people that are interested in just learning about it, they can have six months free just to try it out.

Arjuna: Oh, so generous.

Hannah: Of course. Gotta bring yoga to the people. Gotta bring yoga to the people.

Arjuna: Awesome. So thank you so much for sharing that, and I wanna kinda close with, what's your final message to the listener today about the power of yoga, a- and just a message you wanna leave with our listener today?

Hannah: Okay. If you try it once and you don't like it, try it again. And then if you really don't like it that second time, no problem. I get it. But you gotta just… You know, people say try everything once. Just try it twice, because it might just be the mood, it might be the teacher, it might be how you were feeling. There's a lot of different variables at play, so just give it two tries. Give it two tries.

Arjuna: A- and once again, you try it, and it doesn't resonate with you, that's totally fine, and you there's something else that's gonna hit you and resonate with you. And I think that's the beauty of offering all these different modalities to the first responder world is not one shoe fits everyone. So lots of choices. You pick what fits best for you, right?

Hannah: Yeah, absolutely. And if anybody has any questions too, I'll say that. If anybody has any questions, they can email me either through the website or regulatetheresponder@gmail.com, and I'm happy to field questions or even problem solve about strategies to get yoga into your department or if you wanna take the training or host the training.

Arjuna: Do you envision this going outside of Vancouver Island? Yeah. Outside of the internet, but, like, in person outside of Vancouver Island or?

Hannah: Yeah. I honestly- Yeah… there's no reason why I couldn't. It's just the people power, right? Having more people being able to teach it.

Arjuna: Well, the amount of fire departments on Vancouver Island is, you know, kind of astonishing.

Hannah: And right now it's interesting, too, even l- the last couple years I've been teaching to BC Wildfire a little bit too in the off-season. And, that's a whole nother shift work. But, a whole nother side of shift work. But, yeah, there's, there are so many firefighters that could and will benefit from yoga, so many firefighters that could and will benefit from yoga. So if you're interested in teaching it, definitely reach out.

Arjuna: Have you had any considerations on outside of the fire service, such as police, law enforcement, paramedics? Do any of them join the classes, or are you s- kind of mainly focusing on the firefighter?

Hannah: Yeah, we do. I have had, and other responders come. The kind of signature about this specific sequence and the Regulate the Responder sequence is that I built it for fire. You know, I saw- I built it for fire. Like, I buil- I looked at their injuries, I looked at their common movement patterns, I looked at these things, and then made this specific sequence for them. Not to say that everybody could benefit. They bring their spouses, et cetera. in terms of branching out to other, professions, it's on my mind, but I mean, I, like, now that I'm with the firefighters so much, I love 'em. Like, I just, they're my people. I just, I don't mind if they recline on their chairs for a couple hours and, you know, watch sports on a Sunday if they're in- on a shift. Like, it's no big deal. Like, it's, they, I don't mind that they like eating and they like, you know… I don't mind that they all drive Tacomas. I'm gonna get in trouble now. But yeah, I like firefighters. I like firefighters- Awesome… and I think I'll, I'll stay in this lane for a while. It's taken me a while to even feel, yeah, this affinity for them, so I'm happy to just stay with fire for now.

Arjuna: Funny, my dream truck is a maxed out white TRD Toyota 4Runner. Tacoma.

Hannah: Shocking.

Arjuna: don't. One day. One day I will.

Hannah: Yeah. Funny.

Arjuna: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing, your wisdom, your experience with yoga, and how you're making a huge impact in the fire service. So, thanks for sharing everything with us today. Much appreciated.

Hannah: Mm, yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me.

Arjuna: Fantastic. All right, everyone, hopefully you enjoyed this awesome episode all about yoga in the fire service, and how that can support your wellness, your nervous system, your flexibility, injury prevention. A whole bunch of, benefits that yoga can provide you. So be sure to check out, Regulate the Responder. Check out the website, the online, platform as well. And once again, thank you very much for the generous offer of the first 10 who respond back get a free six months with her, so thank you so much. All right, until next time, stay well. All right, that's a wrap. Thank you for tuning in to Beneath the Helmet. We hope that this podcast has provided you with valuable insights into the world of firefighters' health and wellness. Remember, caring for your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being is crucial to achieving optimal performance. Join us next time on Beneath the Helmet for more inspiring conversations. Until then, stay well.