DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

A BADGE OF HONOR healing

A BADGE OF HONOR healing our heroes Thirty Minutes of Tactical Brain Tools By John Salerno Gearing up. What does this mean to you. Gun, Vest, Taser, Cuffs. Check! We all make sure that all our safety equipment we use each day is in proper working order. We wouldn’t go out on shift without our gun or vest, that would be crazy. The Boss wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen, they would stop you at the door! But, what about the most important piece of equipment? which is not located on your gun belt. Our Brain. If our brain is not properly working during the shift, it can be as deadly as going out without a vest or empty clip in our firearm. How many Bosses check your brain health prior to you going out on patrol? So, what does it look like when you are getting ready for a shift? It’s how you begin your day that plays a vital role in how the day will most likely end, and vice versa, how you end your day is how the next Day will begin. This cycle is critical in your career. Your days are full of stressful events, and you don’t need to add any extra baggage. Most of us start the day wrong! Rushing around, shoving an unhealthy breakfast down our throats, and speeding to work. This is because we stay up late, eat a late dinner and deal with all the stressors of our daily life. When we finally get to bed, we toss and turn before finally falling asleep. The reason for this is we didn’t fully decompress from shift or before bed. When we get home from a long day, we tend to follow the same patterns which for each person, may vary depending on lifestyle. We need to break some of the toxic habits which have become the norm in our lives. Taking a few steps each day will help in a longer and healthier career. First, our new day should start the night before. What does that mean? It means we need to adapt to any de-stressing activity which works best for you after we get off shift. This can include breathing exercises, a short walk, meditation yoga, anything to get your SAMANTHA HORWITZ & JOHN SALERNO mind out of a hypervigilance state, slow down the chemical dump and place it back into healthy balance Remember the 5 Ps Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance Proper nutrition and a good night’s rest is a great place to start and will make a world of difference in how we react on our next shift. So how to we achieve this. Plan on at least 15-30 minutes of activity to get your mind back in balance. We cannot carry the weight of the day into the night. When our brain is full of the day’s activities. It places us in a state of Hypervigilance, causing disruption in sleeping and poor eating habits. Eating an early dinner will allow your body to properly digest before bed. To get a good night’s rest, all our bodies’ internal systems, which include our digestion, need to slow down. Prepare the night before. Make sure you have everything ready before you go to bed. Rushing around in the morning also places your brain into a hypervigilance state. It’s the little things we forget, like having gas in your car for the next day. If you are running late and must stop for gas, this leads to more unneeded stress. Turn off the gaming, social media, and news at least 2 hours before bed. Gaming, social media and the news place your brain into further hypervigilance. Remember, although your body may not feel tired, your brain is exhausted. The motor is always at high RPMs after a shift. It has been making life and death decisions all day long, and it needs proper rest. When you wake up, stretch, bend, and loosen up. Drink a glass of water (Before Coffee) to rehydrate your body. Eat a light breakfast and do a slow 10 seconds before you walk out to your car to begin your day. This will allow your brain to settle down and prepare. Our Bodies and Mind must be in top working order to perform at the best of our ability. Changing a few habits will help bring our body back into a healthier balance. You will see and feel noticeable change by just adjusting these few things. John Salerno Co-Founder -Badge of Honor Ret. NYPD Detective Help us reach our goal of 100,000 subscribers. CLICK OR SCAN THE QR CODE for your FREE SUBSCRIPTION. Please share with all your friends and co-workers. 110 The BLUES The BLUES 111