Get Enlifted
Ep. 78: Transforming Mental Health & Stories of First Responders with Darren Janzen
Today we're talking with Darren Janzen, Enlifed Level 2 Coach and former first responder. Darren's experiences as a police officer and witnessing first-hand the impact of trauma on personal relationships, coupled with his own struggles with mental health, have equipped him with a unique understanding of the challenges faced by first responders. He’s leveraging this insight to revolutionize their mental health support and is eager to share success stories from his podcast, 'Breathe 911'. Darren's sharing his life story and supporting transforming the lives of first responders with his workshops and using The Enlifted Method.
Get more from Darren:
@darrenjanzen / https://www.breathe-911.com/
Get more from Enlifted Coaches:
http://enlifted.me / @enliftedcoaches
Today we're talking with Darren Janzen, Enlifed Level 2 Coach and former first responder. Darren's experiences as a police officer and witnessing first-hand the impact of trauma on personal relationships, coupled with his own struggles with mental health, have equipped him with a unique understanding of the challenges faced by first responders. He’s leveraging this insight to revolutionize their mental health support and is eager to share success stories from his podcast, 'Breathe 911'. Darren's sharing his life story and supporting transforming the lives of first responders with his workshops and using The Enlifted Method.
Get more from Darren:
@darrenjanzen / https://www.breathe-911.com/
Get more from Enlifted Coaches:
http://enlifted.me / @enliftedcoaches
Get control of your words, get control of your story, get control of your breath. Get over your fear of not being good enough. Get your dream clients, get them results and get in lifted. Darren, what is a hot open?
Speaker 2:So this year I climbed Mount Everest. It took me 34 hours, 40 minutes. I did it with five weeks notice. The training and it was one of the hardest things I did. One of the reasons I did that was to build my mental toughness. If you want to find out the end of the story, wait till the end of the podcast.
Speaker 1:There it is. Oh my God, this almost as if you're about to graduate from level two, right. It's almost as if I practice that on.
Speaker 2:Wednesday you totally threw me under the bus completely. It's like I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1:It's funny. Welcome to the show, darren Johnson. And yes, I did just put you on the spot because I was unprepared. We were chatting before starting. So, all right, I'm going to give you guys, behind the scenes of how this podcast goes, what you don't get to hear. So when the guests come on and I start first start talking with them.
Speaker 1:We talk about our weekends, we talk about what we're doing, we're talking about whatever's present.
Speaker 1:We make jokes, we laugh, we get comfortable, right, like that's the vibe, and then you start to show and usually I'm ready to go, I'm prepared, I'm like let's do this. And I'm going to be honest, I have a little bit of Friday brain today. I have a little bit of Friday brain and so I just put Darren on the spot because I knew that he would understand, he would know how to do one, deliver a hot open and two, also give you guys indirectly an answer to what is the question of what is a hot open. So part of level two we go through we talk about giving great presentations, we talk about captivating an audience, being able to tell really good stories, and a hot open is when you open up. Hot right Versus a cold open would be welcome back to the getting lifted podcast, like without really engaging people and like pulling something really interesting in. So we had a teaching moment right off the bat while I was having Friday, brain and Darren stepped up.
Speaker 2:Well, and it's interesting because I'm a mark in the, in level two. I mean the author talks about being a pro right and being prepared and always, and it's like, yeah, you do the homework of the course. It's I would have no idea and I didn't. I I have never heard I'm sure I'd heard the term hot open, but it's like when you think back to like going to presentations and sitting through, you know, through my career and through school, it's like, hi, I'm Darren Jansen, I did this and I did this and this. And it's like I don't even know you, like I don't care, I don't care that you've lived in, you just moved to Tennessee and that you've got a dog, and like it doesn't connect with people in any way and it's all about you know, life in this work is all about building connections. So how do you build a connection really quick? Well, I'm sure people want to find out how I climb Mount Everest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Didn't you also run an ultra marathon or something crazy that's?
Speaker 2:that's the secret. I'm kind of lying about climbing Mount Everest.
Speaker 1:Oops.
Speaker 2:And that's. That's so well. I mean we can touch on that at the end or we can touch on whatever we'll leave it open hooks so they have something to keep listening to.
Speaker 1:So so Darren's with us today. So, darren you. So I'll give the listeners context of like where you fit into the uplifted spheres. Like you finished level one, you're about to graduate level two. On Monday you met Mark through podcasting, I think, is that right?
Speaker 2:And there's an online course called Apigee, which is with Matt Boudreaux. Mark spoke on a zoom call that I had with Apigee and just started looking up and lifted after that because I was hooked.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say I remember interacting with you on Instagram and that now and get now, I remember correctly, is like you did the workshop with Mark come in, and then we were chatting on Instagram. Then you invited Mark on your podcast, which is called three nine one one, which already we're interested because we like breathing, and nine one one Okay, this feels like an emergency. Then the conversation just spiraled because it was like you were very enthusiastic about what we were doing, you were hooked on it and and so you're fresh, you're coming fresh out of the experience and you are. Previous, you were a cop and a firefighter and you host a podcast breathe nine one one. That's we just mentioned. And now what are you using the uplifted method with, after moving into a whole new chapter of life?
Speaker 2:Right. So it's interesting how everything I mean the synchronicity of all of it, because I knew I wanted to help first responders through what I didn't even know what to call it the victim mentality, right. So I had been hosting, when we were living up in Canada, hosting workshops for first responders, because I was into, like Patrick McCowan who's the other, the other breathing guy, like Wim Hof, and all that stuff, right? So breathing stuff, cold therapy stuff, meditation stuff, all and all these pieces are coming together. I'm like this is powerful. This is what I used a lot of not knowing, you know, to deal with my victim mentality, to deal with tough calls that I've seen, to deal with the relational aspect of working, shift work and being a cop and a firefighter and how all that you know, your, your world shrinks when you get into those words because you do work, shift works. So the only people you're around are the people that do the same job as you, which is great because they understand you, which is also great because you all just, it's just this like never ending cycle of like negativity that's the best way I'm going to describe it, so, if I offend anyone with that, but that is what it is. And so in lifted, came along and it's like I was doing these workshops and I'm like, but I don't know how to tie all of it together and it's just the.
Speaker 2:The unlifted method for me was just this framework of like, oh, the Billy story that we talk about. And so I had done a ton of work, I've done a ton of counseling, psychotherapy, emdr therapy, like I had done it, all, tried at all right, I thought I had dealt with most of it and I had dealt with a lot of it. But it's like going through the Billy story and one on one calls with Mark, it's like, oh, there's still more there, and not only that, it's like cause, we all want to arrive. And on the last call that we had, corey and Will hosted the last class and it was like this realization of coming to the point where it's like, oh, even as I'm getting out of level two, I'm still going back to level one, stuff to like, like it's, it doesn't, it doesn't end, it's just the volume gets turned down, like we say, and but you get to recognize like, oh, I'm here and I need to take two steps back here to like, I need to build that base a little bit stronger over here to keep pushing because it's it's a, it's a sticking point, so that's anyways, and lifted, brought all of those things together for me to have really a framework to work off of, like the Google doc and and just incorporating I never incorporated the breathing into some of the calls right, it's like, oh, that that feels really good.
Speaker 2:And to have gone through it myself personally and to have to have come out the other side to be like, yeah, as a serial entrepreneur, when you start things you're not sure because you are bringing something to the world that you've created, so you're like I've done some of this. So it was really cool to be in the program, to have experienced it and to see other people experience it in their own ways in the class in real time and be like, okay, valuable networks, like it's, the beta testing's already done, I don't have to go and do a ton of figuring out on other people if it works like tons of confidence around that. So, yeah, that anyways.
Speaker 1:That's a long winded answer of where, uh, yeah, yeah, well, so yeah and I completely relate to what you're talking about around a framework, because that's where, similar to what you just mentioned, many coaches have a lot of the therapy skills or something that they've gone through for themselves different types of tools and techniques in fitness, wellness, breathing, ice baths, all that stuff and they're like I'm using all these tools but I'm like still not able to really like get in there to the stuff that's keeping people the most stuck. So what is that? And then you come to learn victim mentality, imposter syndrome, all of those things fueled by an internal dialogue, and then I'm left to give you the tool to break that apart. And let's start back to the beginning, in the context of, like, first responders. Why first responders? Why did you think I mean, this is a leading question and people are going to be done? Why did you think that they needed help?
Speaker 2:Right, because I, because I needed help, right, like where it comes, where it comes down to it is I didn't realize. This is where I'm having a lot of actually trouble figuring out, because you have, you have to do this work. You have to self identify that you need to do this work Right. I cannot come in and say and no, or any counselor or any of that. But I cannot come in and say I see your blind spot. I have to craft my I mean call it sales copy, call it advertising, call it whatever you want. I have to craft that in a way that allows you to self identify as someone who's like yes, that's me, that's a pain point for me, without making you feel like a failure because you're not right, it's it's we grew up in, this culture of, it is generational, cultural, victim mentality within a community of first responders, because it's it's a protection mechanism.
Speaker 2:One right Like it's you, you want to protect yourself against feeling things because you go and you see these things that are like very, very sad. It's like how is a human, do you process these things? How is how do you go to like see a really bad car accident where you see lots of blood and guts and then you go and a baby dies and then like the heaviest of things and you're like well, I don't want to feel any of that. I don't feel permission to cry at a scene, even though I want like, and we have this macho mentality of like. We need to be strong and tough, and we do, and then we need to figure out how to deal with all of that, right? So it was me figuring that out and people don't want to feel vulnerable. Nobody like Mark says like people will pay not to do it. People will pay lots of money to not have to go there, right, so you have to. You have to self identify. So it's me I'm in the process right now being like how do I, how do I get in there to like help people, cause the coaching calls that I've done.
Speaker 2:Actually, this is super interesting that I found it's all relational Cause it's all how we relate to people, but amongst first responders it's like it's like dad issues. It's very interesting. It's like 90% of like dad was there. Dad wasn't there. Dad was a good dad. That was a bad dad, dad didn't care, like all of it. I'm like, wow, it's like I mean.
Speaker 1:Are you working primarily with men?
Speaker 2:You're most equipped to help the person. You once were Right. So I'm happy, but like that's one reason why Chris Christie did it with me. My wife did and lifted as well. We did the level one and two together. It's like because one women can, I think men can relate to men better. Women can relate to women better, especially on some of these issues, because a lot of cause, the coping mechanisms, are completely different. Our woman will cope with stress and trauma is different from how like primarily.
Speaker 1:Yeah, our physiology is different. It's right, I'm, I'm, I'm so. I'm so sick of people pretending that men and women are the same. They're absolutely not. We're not, we're not, we're not the same, we're not even anywhere close to the same. Anyway, continue.
Speaker 2:Agreed and and and that's, and to be bold enough to in this in the culture to say like, primarily, this is what we're doing, this is what we're dealing with. So, christie, she doesn't she was in the first responder but she knows, like I've shared with her, she knows a lot about how, how that works and she knows how women process things. And also the wives of the men that I coach like they have dealt with the other end of the irritability, the anger, the numbness, the addiction. That like they've dealt with the other end. Just to like she dealt. She came out of that right. So it was a really cool realization. That's like she just really the reason she took it.
Speaker 2:She's like I don't want you taking a course about language and how to talk and all these and victim mentality, and then coming to the family and saying you're all doing it wrong. I don't want to be told that. So I'm going to take it with you so that I know what we're doing. I'm like that's fair. I'm like I know who I am. You are correct, I would do that. So please take it with me Right. So I mean it's, and I mean even able to self identify as as someone who's like that, right, and so she took it. And then, through that course, it's like, yes, these, these wives also need, need help figuring out. Why is our relationship the way it is? Why is my husband the way he is? Why? Why does he come home when he's like this? And it's like, if we can tag team, that I mean it like power in the, in the family, right?
Speaker 1:So yeah, absolutely, I relate. I uh, for a short period of time, dated a cop and you were a cop, so you understand.
Speaker 2:I love how you said. I love how you said for a short period of time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it was something that I I didn't have any experience with. My brother was in the military. My dad, for well before I was born, like born and alive and operating like, had some military experience and other than that, I didn't have men in my life that were police officers, firefighters, anything. So I didn't, I didn't understand, like I didn't get it. Until I was dating him it became clear to me that there were certain and of course, me being the person that I am and doing the work that I do, I can see people's stories through and not like I'm like staring at you, looking at your stories and psychoanalyzing you, but I can understand what's happening beyond what you're saying and what I'm experiencing, and the thing was was like I could tell that was my first like clue into oh wow, there's so much, like you mentioned, the environment that you work in is mostly negative.
Speaker 1:The other men that are being modeled to you are also not dealing with their shit and you are being put in high trauma scenarios and then just expected to just like shake it off and go deal with it. And it's not. It's not that simple, it's not that clear and it was really like it was not easy for me to deal with, and so that's why I didn't I didn't continue. But the other experiences, like understanding, like I think you had the nail right on the head, with you and Christy doing this together because it is trauma does not only affect us individually. It affects all of the people we're in relationship with, and so when you're talking about working with a group of men that have a significant amount of trauma and story and challenging things to deal with, of course that's going to spill into their families, of course that's going to affect their wives, their partners, of course that's going to impact their kids, and so the work of doing it as a unit is so important and so valuable, versus just only trying to isolate one person.
Speaker 1:So you were drawn to different types of therapies before this. What got you to initially seek that out? Like, was there a turning point where you were you in a lull? Were you in a spot where it was like just too tough to deal with and you sought that out? Or was it more? Tell us the story around that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where it, where a lot of it came to a head, was a few, a few calls involving children that were the same age as my children, right, and it's like I don't know how to process this. So I took some time off work and it's like, well, that's not helpful either, like being like for an A type personality who's a doer to not go to work and to not do things and then to think about I'm not poo pooing on other therapies because they're very helpful, they help me and they help me identify and recognize some stuff. Personally, for me, talk therapy is not very helpful because and I think for a lot of first responders because you're not taking any action towards like it's repeatedly going over the same thing without changing the story essentially right. So for me it was like it was. It was just kind of like opening wounds over and over, but it allowed me to identify like I'm having an issue. Emotionally I'm not able to to deal with this and I don't like going to work anymore, but I want to go to work. So it was this like but yeah, for me the tipping point was a few calls involving kids, back to back to like you say that repeated exposure like that, back to back to back, within a few weeks, a few kid calls that I'm like I don't like this, I don't like this anymore. I don't like feeling this right.
Speaker 2:And the really interesting part is when I did my one on one call, my peer to peer coaching call, with John, because one of the stories that we asked and lifted is like what does this mean about you? Right, what does the story mean about you? So I had a few call, a few of the stories that I'd written out, and I had gone through and written out this one particular story but a kid who drowned, right and it was the exact age as one of my daughters, and I wrote that story out and I was like, and then I thought to myself, what does this mean about me? And I was like I was able to identify that this story is very, very, very, very sad and I am still sad about it and I'm allowed to be sad about it. We did everything we could Like. It means nothing about me. So I have no beyond it being a sad thing that I was a part of. I have no emotional attachment beyond that to like who, who? That said, does that say anything about who I am Right.
Speaker 2:So then I was very able to quickly move past a bunch of these stories that had that I felt had a hold on me, and actually able to identify the meaning that they had. Right. To be able to identify a meaning that a story has to you is very powerful. And if you just keep shoving them down and being like I'm just feeling sad and I don't know why, and it's giving yourself permission to feel that sadness, permission to be emotional about it, and move on Right, and then you're able to be like, ok, now, where am I playing the victim here? It's like, oh, shoot, like no, it's a story about, or like where am I hung up about? Who, like what story saved me? Oh, it's no story about me, about math and grade four. And I'm like, breaking down over this story of me feeling like a complete dummy.
Speaker 1:Please tell me you did that story with John Mantrella about you. Yeah, perfect, I did it with.
Speaker 2:I did it with Mark and then Mark and like the story was like, I needed John Mantrella, like it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's like it's very interesting when you get into the storywork of like this is why I love it. So I'm like, ok, I haven't thought about that forever, like I haven't thought about that since it happened. Obviously I've been thinking about it, but I haven't consciously been thinking about it. And and now it's like, yeah, I have all these trauma stories that like they come up all the time. Last night Christy was talking to me and I'm like she was like, oh, there's that house by the train tracks. I'm like train tracks.
Speaker 2:That brings up a really, really traumatic incident for me and it's just like able to move past it.
Speaker 2:Right, it's like that's sad and able to move past it because so I'm able to identify where I need to work on myself continually and it's like that's the really cool part about this For me personally. I found within the tree and everyone will have a different story, it's not a one size. I don't I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm like diagnosing or saying that your trauma should be easy to deal with. Please don't hear me say that. But for me personally, I've done so much work in this that I'm like the trauma is sad, the repeated exposure that that impacts me and affects my emotional state sometimes and it doesn't inform me. But what informs me is like today the I had an issue with my kids and the dog knocked my coffee over and it spill. It's like if they didn't do this, then the coffee wouldn't and I'd have my cup and it's like yeah, it's like I don't need to help with trauma, I need help with my dog.
Speaker 2:Right, like I need help with how I view up, like like this is Right, it's like the victim mentality is so present and, if you can identify, like that's what Christy said, we had the exact same thought as we're cleaning up coffee off the ground, we're like yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, like, just so it's. That's why I love this work, because I think a lot of what holds first responders back is there. They're holding on to trauma, like I did. I'm holding on to trauma as a reason to be angry and be a victim. It's a very easy reason. It's in your face, in society, says like you are our heroes, don't? We don't want like it's well, it's true.
Speaker 1:Sometimes they say you're our heroes, and sometimes they say that you're the problem.
Speaker 2:Right, I agree, I definitely, and well, it depends on. That's why I went from a cop to a firefighter, because I wanted to be a hero and not a problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But no, it's in joking aside. It allows people to say I have a reason for my problems and it's other people's problems, right, like that's essentially where, where I got to with it, and to just to be able to be on the other side of that and to say, oh, like I am by no means perfect and, beyond any of this, it is continually working on it, which is, I mean, taking and lifted. I there's like four people in from level one that I can call up at any time and say I've worked on this story. It's in my Google doc. You already have it. Do you have 20 minutes? Right? And it's like you can work through some of this stuff and and just have it be like, as you have repeated exposure to trauma you can have repeated, like ring it out, like just repeatedly when they come up, just it doesn't have to be a three hour session that drains you. It can actually give you energy to work through it and and then you can go back to to whatever you were doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the word that keeps popping into my head of what you're describing is resilient, and it's like being resilient and at the core of what you would want a first responder to be is resilient because they're going to be put into many different challenging scenarios, potentially back to back to back to back to back, and without any ability to you know, without the without, potentially without the ability to reset right Because, like, you're responding to emergencies, you are, you are in the potentially in the line of fire, you are like, you're in tough spots, and so the ability to be resilient is what you're talking about and is what you're, what you've built for yourself now because of doing the repeated work.
Speaker 1:And imagine if we were teaching first responders military, anybody who's working in these more traumatic sort of scenarios where we're being confronted with life and death. We're being, we're seeing really challenging scenes and high adrenaline and high stress response. Imagine if we were teaching them how to be resilient alongside of how, how to fire a gun, how to put out a fire, how to do like. Imagine that we're teaching them those skills alongside of all of the other skills, and then being able to help them shake it off in between each thing and process between each thing and actually acknowledging that there's a need for that, versus like, oh, no big deal, you're good, man up, let's go. That's not accurate, and so the the first thing that comes to mind to me is the name of your podcast breathe 911. Why did you name it that?
Speaker 2:That's, that's where you know spitballing names. It's like I was an am really into like the Wim Hof breath work and Patrick McHown for like. So Wim Hof is more like the upregulated a lot of us more of the upregulating breath work and Patrick McHown is more like performance based, which I you mentioned. I run a lot and train a lot, so so the breath work is like I got really into the breath work. I'm like, okay, breathing. I'm like this sounds so down that breathing is a thing like that.
Speaker 2:People don't breathe, right, right, I'm the guy who tapes his mouth shut at night and all like all those things. Right, it's like and I've been doing it for a while it's gaining some momentum, which is fantastic. It's like the. It all comes back to the breath, like it's the first thing you do when you're born. It's the last thing you do before you say goodbye to the world, and hardly anyone ever thinks about it in between.
Speaker 2:Right, we do not think about the quality that we can. It's part of our autonomic system, right, like it automatically happens, but it's one of the only things in our auto autonomic system that we can actually change. We can change the rate, we can change the speed, we can change the volume of it, right. So I just got super fascinated with this and I'm like, okay, it's all about breathing. And then it's like and then there's the ice component and all these things. So it was like breathe first, responder, 911, emergency. It's like, all right, that works right. And I'm more like good enough is good enough for me. So I'm like, okay, that fits, that works, let's, let's roll with it. So we've been rolling with it for the last year and a half.
Speaker 1:I like it a lot because it, yeah, it's like I think about. I mean well, you know we like words. I mean think about how those words make us feel or how they create mental imagery in our head.
Speaker 1:And it's for me. It's like I hear that and I automatically imagine a more down-regulated 911 response. Right, it's like, oh, okay, if I'm okay, anybody who is needing to dial 911 is likely going to be in a stress response. Like how could you not be, unless it's a butt dial, like you know sometimes where that emergency number goes off on your phone, and even then you're probably in a stress response because you're still not breathing right anyway. So just hit it with the truth.
Speaker 1:So the ability to breathe first and to breathe in, to go through the process of understanding, to be in control, to try your best to calm your body down.
Speaker 1:And when I think about it from the side of the responder, yeah, I want you breathing well, yeah, I want you to be able to be cool, calm, collected, to be able to be listening and observing and have all of your ability to handle the situation.
Speaker 1:And so it's so much of it is like I think about the you mentioned, like you were already doing a lot of this breath work and then bringing in and lifted in the breath work in my book. The breath work and the breath being able to control that autonomic system, being able to use the breath to shift up or down is something that is is great. And without the ability to also do that with your internal dialogue and have the same control of the thoughts through your head in the same way that you can ramp up the breath, if you can ramp up the thoughts or down regulate the breath and then down regulate the thoughts, I mean they are so interconnected it's wild. And so when you started to you already mentioned once you brought and lifted in, you started to being able to incorporate that together. What was that experience like? Where you realized like, oh, this is the thing. Like if I had, like, how would that have gone differently in your past careers? Like if you had that tool.
Speaker 2:I'm not upset about it, but I'm kind of like there's a chance I would like. I sorry I left the fire department for a host of reasons. I won't get into all of the all the reasons nothing bad but there's a chance that I would still be within the fire department because this would have given me a much better coping mechanism. Kyle Stubbs, who is an absolute beast and an amazing human. He's an RCMP officer out in BC. I'm just going to plug Kyle. I'm sorry but like, go to Kyle Stubbs, go to Kyle Stubbsca if you want. He's amazing and he's doing this work and he's currently an officer and he's able to deal with a lot of what he's dealing with on the job and a lot of.
Speaker 2:So right now, everyone realizes we have a mental health crisis in society and that translates into first responders and there's tons of stats on how that's affecting our first responders and then how that affects the communities that they serve. Lots of money is being poured into how do we deal with this right, and it is some of the things that we're talking about and those are amazing things and not a lot's being done for, like, how do we deal with it in real time? And that's something that Kyle is awesome at. It's like okay, when you're in your cruiser, when you're in the truck, after that's all done and your stress response is high, how do you down-regulate in the moment, while you still have another six hours of your shift left, like, how do you deal with it so you can go on? Because if something else happens, it lessens that impact, right, it allows you to deal with that better. It allows you to show up in a more professional way, right? So Kyle's doing amazing stuff with that.
Speaker 2:As far as how do you use the breath and use your mindset and use the words currently, while you're experiencing that, to do a better job? So that's I mean. Yeah, I just wanted to plug Kyle because he's I love that guy. He is, he is unbelievable. I love that guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's super cool. Yeah, the yeah. The thing I'm thinking about too is, like you mentioned, shift work a couple times, and when you're likely operating on long shifts, overnight, weird hours, your circadian rhythm is fucked, your nervous system is going to be more taxed, your stress is going to be higher. What ways have you seen before using like healthy coping of this stress and what you're experiencing in your life? What other ways are you seeing first responders? How are you seeing them? What's the average way that they cope? What's like the things that they do to blow off steam or to, like you know, shake?
Speaker 2:it off, because an alcohol is a great way, right, I mean that's still and always will be. And so, like community is great, right, and so you have a community of first responders, but like there'll be like a there's like a 911 hockey league, which is awesome. They go out and they play hockey and and they are exercising, they're doing something competitive, they're they're checking a lot of boxes and then after they go for beers, right. So like you're immediately, like you're immediately like messing with all of the things that you've just done are good. And there's the next generation.
Speaker 2:I would say, from what I've seen, they are better at recognizing. It's like, yeah, I, so I was hosting these workshops which I'm about to get back on, and since we moved and I had a ton of people coming out being like so we would do like sauna, breathwork, cold exposure, do some language games, right, and it's like, so there are people that want it right. There are people that are self selecting, saying I need something different, I want this, but yeah, like, what is the norm is is drugs and alcohol, and now getting lost in like scrolling, right, it's like I don't want to think, I don't want to think, and so you get back from a call. You can't really sleep and then you're in bed looking at a screen or you're on in your cruiser looking at a screen, saying like just take, I don't want to think about what I just saw and I'm just going to look at this thing and completely mess my sleep up even more and like, yeah, it is a recipe for shift work and throwing off that circadian rhythm.
Speaker 2:Like we know that. Like sleep, water and breathing. Like you want to get healthy, like figure those three things out. And it sounds so dumb and there's no money to be made in it. So nobody, lots of people are talking about it, but you know what I mean. Like yeah, it's like take. Like okay, you don't want to do.
Speaker 1:Oh, you mean, are you suggesting that there's money to be made in pharmaceuticals? Are?
Speaker 2:you suggesting that?
Speaker 1:there's money to be made.
Speaker 2:This podcast will not see the light of day if I say that. So I will not say anything about. Oh man, big pharma, yeah, so like, but it doesn't have to be big. The thing that, the thing that's hard, is that they don't have to be big changes. So you don't have to go and say I'm going to do 10 minutes of breath work.
Speaker 2:No, wake up, have a glass of water and take three deep breaths and just start there and expect that it's going to take time and that, like everything else in life, you will feel good and bad certain day. Like you will not, like you can't do this stuff. Like I have bad days, I have days that feel terrible and in those moments you have to say you have to make the choice to continue doing the good thing, because that will compound over time. Just like you've seen, just like anyone who's you know been in the first, like I confession as a cop we have a coffee company that all Canadians will know called Tim Hortons. Up in Canada they're everywhere. They're like Starbucks are on every corner and every shift I would have it's called the double double to cream, two sugar and a coffee, and I would have a donut. Every shift. I go to the same coffee shop every shift and I went filling the cop stereotype.
Speaker 2:I right, I was going to be a cop, I'm going to be a cop, right and so. But I put on weight. I put on a lot of weight and I'm like a natural, like 175. I was 215.
Speaker 1:Right, I put on weight and it's like, well, you're sitting all day in a car and yeah, but I continued to make the choice.
Speaker 2:So, I'm going to do this, I'm going to, and it just compounded, just like the weight keeps on coming on, right, and then to lose it, it was like I just had to make the opposite choice, right. And I didn't do that. And I did a few other things and a few other good habits and within you know, eight months, it was like, oh, all that came off. But if I had a bad day and decided I needed my brain, needed sugar, it's like, well, then you're just, you're really just handcuffing yourself, right. So it's the same thing with these like like sleep, breathe, water, right. Like just just do those three things and your life will start to get better over months, not over days, and as you feel better, you'll be like, oh, maybe I'll sit down and do a guided breathing app thing and and all of that feels really good, right.
Speaker 2:And then you figure out how to operate and down regulate and it's like people don't have time. That's the thing. People don't have time, energy or I don't know the other adjective I'm looking for, but they don't. They to like dive into the breathwork world like I have. They just they just need to start like simplicity, and implementation is going to kill it and you don't have to be this guy who sits like for three hours and meditates, cause, right. I see all these memes on on Instagram of like the perfect morning routine, right. It's like, yeah, anyone has kids and animals. Like that doesn't exist. Right, and we're shift work. It's like good luck, like what are the small things that you can do? Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think this is the thing that pops up in my mind too is like this the, so bringing it back to the collective story. So there's the. There's your personal story about what you're experiencing doing the first responder work. Then there is the first responder communities story about what it is, that, how you operate, what's normal, what is expected of you, what is like the status quo there, and then you have another bubble of story about how the community you serve views you, and so you've got these layers of it.
Speaker 1:And in the world today there are contentious views around our cops good or bad, and what's their like? You know, are they really doing what they're supposed to be doing? Are they really here to protect and serve us? That's crazy, because there are plenty of good men that are trying to do good things and women that are trying to do good things for the community. But when you consistently uh undercut them, and then now they're already depleted from just what it what that lifestyle and career requires of them, and now you're projecting a story onto them that they are fighting an uphill battle, to already be on an uphill battle, and then within the community, it is echoed that the victim mentality is real.
Speaker 1:There's uh, all of the expectations around health and wellbeing are minimized and then the mental health conversation just becomes like uh is, yes, there's a a focus on it and there's. They recognize that it's important to address, but at the same time, you're still up against that collective story of I'm supposed to be tough. This is for pansies. I don't need to sit and breathe Like I'm never going to be the guy to meditate, like that's not for me. There's so many layers to being to a place where for someone to realize and to desire support in all of this. So when you start first working with men that are coming to you and saying like I want help, are they primarily coming from a place of mental health or are they primarily coming to a place of physical health? Is it both? Like what do you notice? Like what's an easier entry point for them to raise their hand and say I would like some support or I'm looking for a way to deal with this For the ones that I'm working with primarily mental health.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say it's like PTSD mental health. It's like I'm I'm not where. I want to be more.
Speaker 1:So it's not like we're not.
Speaker 2:We're not dealing with the far end of, like, the extremes. Extremes. It's like I'm at a four or five and I want to, I want to get up to an eight and nine. Right, that's kind of. I'm not at a zero. I'm not dealing with anyone who, like, can't get out of bed Not that I couldn't, not that I wouldn't, but I just that's not where.
Speaker 2:They're not coming to me, they're, they're mostly looking for a qualified mental health professional. Right, I'm not, I am. I have no degrees to my name to say any of that, right? So, and then we deal with the physical health. I don't deal a lot with the physical health because I don't have a. I don't have a big, I have a big background in myself training, but I, I don't have any certifications as far as training and I don't really desire to put together training plans for people. The what's between the ears and what's going on up in there really has me so fascinated that that's, that's full time for me, as far as what I can. So, yeah, and you will just find that you can just pass them off to trainers, right, Like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, people, when they get this straight, the head straight, there's no like the other parts follow it's not as. Yeah, but it's not a strategy. I was just. I was asking the question primarily from the standpoint of like what? What do you think is like? Like, where are people's where, where it's more approachable entry point for them to say they want some help? And maybe for some people, maybe it's both, maybe it's both and just I think it is. I think the physical is actually easier.
Speaker 2:I think it is easier for people to raise their hand and say I want to get in shape, because I want to look good, because people see that, and then that's an outward expression of like I'm doing well. And when they get there and it's especially for a first responder, when they, when they get there, or guys who have always been fit and they're like I fit and like everything's going well, but I don't feel. I don't feel like everything's going well, right, and so it. It's a. It's a really hard point to come to because everybody wants to be like David Goggins, tough like the baddest, right, like and I'm, I'm the same way and it's like, yeah, but is that healthy, like, is that, is that the healthiest version of who you are? And some people can do that for a long time.
Speaker 2:We're really fortunate, actually, because we are in a cool time where the old guard is retiring and it's like just shove it down, drink it away, like that that those people are retiring and that generation is retiring and they were there for a reason and they grew up a certain way and we've grown up another way, and so we are getting to this place that people are willing to say like I, I want some help in this area. Right, and that's. That's really awesome and really encouraging to see. Right Cause, yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is. It's like yeah, I think about so much of this is that paradigm is shifting in so many ways. I mean the even the mere fact that we're here having this conversation and that the business have been lifted exists and that there's as many people listening to it as there are and as many people are saying. I want support and I want tools to work with the thoughts in my head that that paradigm is shifting and it has shifted and it's. It's something that, like, I'm very grateful for because it's changed and impacted my own life. You know, it's something that I want other people to have. I want people to know that exists.
Speaker 1:I want people to like, realize going back to the part of where you said it started to become easy. I want people to know that that's possible. You know cause it is. It is and it does become easy because eventually you learn, you learn the process, you learn mechanics of how and why your body is responding the way it's responding, your mind's responding the way it's responding, and then you can work within that and so much of like and again, that's the resilience is like being able to be resilient and to step into that, and I keep coming back to this idea of like what if people were trained on this prior to going into these first responder roles or military roles?
Speaker 1:And what if they were trained on this alongside of it, and how much smoother would that experience be for them? I also like makes me question, wonder if they would do it, if they would still do it. And you know like it's because when you start to learn and think for yourself and you start to understand how that all works, sometimes you're not as incentivized to work. I mean, and these are all state positions, so it's something that state, county, country, like you know, the federal. If you're working at another level, it's like this is you have to buy into the, to the mission of the government and trust all that too. So there's a, there's a deep level of, there's a lot to it where, if we start unraveling too many of the stories, it may not be beneficial, and so I don't know.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of that story to my story, right, yeah, and and coming, coming full circle. I'm like I'm currently looking at the volunteer department in our small areas like I can, I can go back, I can, I can do that and I want to help on that, like whatever's going on upstream. It's like, yes, that will always be there. From whatever perspective you want to look at it from, I'm showing up for the people that I live beside. That's it. That's it, that's all right, that's, and I can do that, and I can do that now in a healthy way.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Can I, can I, can I hijack this for for a minute that?
Speaker 2:I think please do yeah something that I want, something that I want to touch on that I made a note on, is, first, a lot of first responders have they have families, right, they have kids and it lifted and what that's done for us and our kids has been because, like, the reason we all go to, the reason I go to work is, I mean, there's, you know, some ego stuff in there and all those and all those things right, but the reason I go to work is to provide for my family, right, so my kids can have a better life than I had all these things right, especially because, christian, I did it together. We just started like Like hitting them with a lift, like they got sick of it fast. But repetition is the mother of whatever right, whatever that saying is, and like you like so to a couple of stories To last night, christie said something about no two nights to go. Christie was like are you gonna work out with Cory tomorrow? And I was like I think I might and my daughter Avery goes, sounds like soft talk.
Speaker 1:I was like wait to go right, like Number one complaint of parents who have taught and lifted to their kids is that they call them out and that then puts them on the spot to like. It's like the most direct way of like crap.
Speaker 2:It's amazing because it's what one? It points out your flaw. And yeah, it's an ego check, because it's like I should be telling you what to do and you're telling me what to do.
Speaker 2:You're not telling me what to do, but you're essentially telling me what to do, right? So, like, just with the language stuff, even the, the like I have to, I need to, I get like, I get to. Like our kids pick up. They are picking up on all that which is so good. And then the story about the breath. This is, this is the thing that unlocked the breath for me. I won't tell you which child that was, because it's been more than one of my children. I don't want to put them out, but we've had a few meltdowns in the and I'm the fix it guy. Most first responders are like what can I do? Do you want ice cream to a pony? Like, what are we gonna do? Let's, let's make you happy, right?
Speaker 1:It's like you have a pony no, but we're okay yeah.
Speaker 2:I was my daughter's pretty convinced that she's getting a pony for Christmas, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1:I know you're out there farming, so I'm a farmer, I got chickens and a dog, so.
Speaker 2:So I am always whenever there's kind of a meltdown or when there's something and and it's like what can I say to fix it. So this happened on more than one occasion and the first time it happened I was blown away. It was a complete meltdown. All I did was got in bed, is crying in bed, upset, got in bed. She is a little spoon, I was the big spoon and I just breathe super slow, super low, very loud. So that was intentional and it was like within.
Speaker 2:So I didn't count the first time, but it was really quick. I counted the spin three times, I counted the second time, six breaths, completely, completely matching my breathing in common. I'm like, wow, absolutely, as a parent. I'm like I don't have to. I have to be present. I'm not trying to fix you, I'm not trying to tell you there's something wrong with it. I'm not not doing any of that. I'm literally just being present, my intention is on you and I'm breathing right and it's like as a parent, man, please listen, that is exactly what women want you to do for them.
Speaker 2:Children and women right, but it's like it's like this parenting hack that I'm like, and it's not like it doesn't work every time and they catch on them. They catch on me pretty quick. They're pretty smart, right, so they stopped. But they like it, right, they don't. They don't want to be like Jedi mind tricked into like feeling better just by breathing properly, but like the one time she's having a panic attack, essentially, and couldn't and couldn't even talk, right, and it's like People, you are a product of your environment, so be a good environment for your kids and you will have good kids, right. Like, essentially, people don't want to be told that necessarily. I wouldn't want to be told that when I was acting Certain ways around and towards my kids, when I was not able to control my irritability and my anger, and let's just like what? Like what is wrong with you? You're supposed to be a grown-up and you are acting like a child, right, and now when you're able to, and now when I'm able to recognize it in myself, I'm like oh, just breathe.
Speaker 2:Yeah and that's when, when, when you guys say like gun to head, you know it's about the words and the breath, but gun to head it's about the breath I'm like yeah, yeah, from, for us it is. We've, we've come to realize that and that's almost the harder thing to almost, but it it's the harder thing to reckon, reconcile, because it's like it seems, it seems so simple, it's like it can't be this, it cannot be this easy, like that's, that's like still, even still. I'm like, no, I need to change the way. It's like no, no, no just sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I completely agree. And there's also this well, there's, you know, this is the thing you mentioned earlier is like people don't want to be vulnerable. And there's vulnerability in consistent, deep breathing because it down regulates so much that it feels like it's turning off the fight or flight response that you're having. So it feels vulnerable because if you feel that you are in danger or you're threatened whether that's real or mental or like whatever if To turn the fight or flight response off by breathing makes you vulnerable, and it feels vulnerable and it feels uncomfortable at first, and then reality is, as you get that you come down and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, this is what I wanted to feel, this is how much better it feels. Yeah, with kids I mean so much of like I really like the way.
Speaker 1:The point you said is like the reason I go to work is provide for my family, and when people are thinking about from this context of like you know I, there's so much more that goes into providing for your family than purely an income, and so there's so many facets of how and why you would provide and what ways you want to provide, and I was listening to a podcast this morning. It was talking about how men like the generations. The most recent generations of men are the first generations where men have been actively expect, expected to actively parent and be involved in their children's lives, because previous generations of men it was like they were working and they weren't expected to be emotionally available or emotionally involved in their children's lives and that the women were and like. Obviously, women have mothered forever, as long as we've existed, and men have not always fathered like in the way that you're talking about fathering Right and in the way that you're talking about like teaching and being involved in your children's lives.
Speaker 1:Is that something that you saw too in working in the first responder community, that the men were more absent fathers, or were they like what? What type of thing? I mean, it's just it's. It's curious how this all maybe not absent fathers, but just like it's to bring it all into the same conversation of like, because you mentioned too is like you took Luckily, you took the enlisted shirts with Christie because you wanted to integrate this into your family, you wanted it to be a cohesive working with the unit and then thinking about it from a perspective of like. How has that, how have you observed that in with your peers or with the men that you're coaching.
Speaker 2:Well, it's interesting because I'm on the, I'm on the gap of like being one of the older guys and then the like I'm probably the Bare front end of the millennial generation, right? So? But it comes back full circle to what I said is, of most People, it comes down to daddy issues. So most of the people that I have, I'm having interactions with they, weren't present dads. They were. So what I'm finding is this next generation is like they are, they're self-aware enough to see that and they're like most of them have young families and they're like I am going to be the best dad, right? So I am finding that this generation that's that's what you said more expected to co-parent they're up for because they didn't get to experience that and they don't have a relationship with their dad that they want and they didn't get from their dad the things that they felt that they needed.
Speaker 2:In hindsight, you could say they got exactly what they needed because who they're showing up for as their family right Like the mentality like it, like assign whatever meaning you want, and yeah, so I am finding that there is a and just the shift work has the downside and it has the benefit of, like I can I'm gonna miss Christmas some years and I'm going to be able to coach your sports and be present at 80% of that because of right, when you have a Tournament and it's over along, I will be the one to drive everyone down there because I'm available and I can trade shifts and I can be off. So there's there's the benefits to them, like the working shift work and being tired and at the sleep thing and then also Having large chunks of time off. Right, it's usually you work a lot and then you're off a lot. So, yeah, I find that this jet, this next generation Showing up, they, they're figuring out how to show up as a dad. Where I'm finding that I'm valuable to people is Assigning the story, being able to say, like I want to show up as a dad for my, my kid, because my dad was never there, and it's like, okay, now let's look at the story, let's breathe and slow it down, let's zoom out and let's say why wasn't?
Speaker 2:Oh, my dad was the. Oh, my dad never got that. Oh, oh, that I have grace for my dad now and I can actually pursue a better relationship with my dad Because I understand more, because I was able to just wait until you take ancestor staring Just wait until you take a lift to the ancestors.
Speaker 1:Oh my god. Oh, here we go. I'm up for me, yeah.
Speaker 2:I told you we love it. Yeah, so my yeah, absolutely the the story.
Speaker 1:Component of this right like, because, at the core of it, like we have to, we have to heal back, like we.
Speaker 1:That and that's what the ancestral work is is like looking specifically at the stories that revolve around our families, so our parents, our grandparents, generations further back and then also looking forward at future generations and realizing how to break that generational stories and then step into the role and the identity that you want to play and how you, how you want that to look within your family.
Speaker 1:And I can imagine that when you're harboring a lot of anger, resentment or just like looking at your dad like he's evil or that, like he was, you know, just such a douchebag and it's like I don't want him in the picture, then how, until you heal that relationship and that story within yourself you are, you're still not going to get across the finish line of being the dad that you want to be, because you're going to be held back by that. If you can work through those stories and find that grace and the compassion and just distance from the things that you're so emotionally charged by you, you're going to step into the role better, easier, smoother. Everything will have more clarity. All of that, all of that. So it's not just a sim, it's, it's, you know, it's like that's. Part of the work is to do that, is to rectify the stories.
Speaker 2:Well, and even as, as you said, that like it doesn't necessarily involves repairing a relationship that's broken, that someone else doesn't want, it just involves for what I've seen just involves like zooming out so you can give a sign proper meaning to what it is from a more objective stance, but also, like it's part of my part of the origin story that I think first responders will really get a kick out of. I, when I, when I came up with this piece, it's like very disciplined individuals, for the most part, very in control when they when required to be, but also like able to like the other things on the other end. But it's, it's you have these people in your life that and people you don't even know, people on calls, all these things that they are able to elicit a response from you because they know how to push a button, because of the type of person you are right, and so you, as someone who is in control and values control, you essentially give control to other people Because of who, because of who they are and how they treat you. You're able to treat them a certain way because of your position right, you're position of authority, and so you're essentially giving power to someone else who you don't know, you don't care, you don't like all these things and you're giving them the power over how you respond to people.
Speaker 2:And that's one of the most valuable things, as like and lifted, really like when I boil a lot of it down, it's like it gives you power, it takes back your own power to control your own responses. So you are in control of how you are responding. And that's one of the big things that I took away from when I boiled down level one and level two, and it's the Billy story and it's the soft talk and it's the projections and it's all those things combined with. Then you start celebrating your wins and you start realizing and it's like, okay, I get to, I get to control my response and my story. Right, it's very, very powerful when you actually feel in control. As a cop, as a firefighter, you are required to be in control of scenes and situations and you are expected to take control. But when you don't necessarily feel like you can control your own emotions and responses, then you feel out of control and then lifted for me has just that's brought up full circle to be like I'm in control because I'm not a victim.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So with first responders, right, obviously, you're going to have a lot of challenging, what we'll call stuck stories, trauma stories, things that are really, really difficult to deal with, and you're also going to have a lot of wins. You're also going to have a lot of save the day moments. You are going to be that hero. You are going to be the person who made a difference because you literally saved someone's life. How often is that talked about and celebrated? Right, like I would imagine that all of the negative calls far outweigh the positive calls and that the negative ones take up so much more mental space than the positive that, like, can you even, can you even really feel proud of some of the work that you've done and the great, like the true hero stories that are happening which I'm sure are happening potentially as much as the bad ones. Like how much of a difference to shift that.
Speaker 2:They do and they are celebrated in their newspaper, articles get written and you get an interview and all these things. That stuff does happen. It comes down to one. One of the keys of and lifted that I've taken away is you got to write stuff down, like you have to capture it. So both good and bad, right, you have to capture it to really be able to go for a walk and think about it. Right, to think about your thinking. So there's, there's that piece of it and then, like you're, you're still stuck right, like like we talk about in level one, like you got to get through in order to truly celebrate, like you can feel good and elated after a call, and like you get a good result, people are high five, it's great, right, but are you crafting an affirmation based on evidence that you've seen that you can know? You just kind of think about that call and you feel good, like what does that call mean about you? What does it mean about your coworker? Like what? What is the meaning that you're assigning to it? And it's the same thing. If you're, if you're stuck in that, in that mentality of, of victimhood, then how do you? You're not able to really embrace that right and that, from my perspective, that's. That's. Yeah, there are.
Speaker 2:There are instances I can think back of and, and, like one of the, I mentioned a call that really affected me.
Speaker 2:We're a child drunk, right.
Speaker 2:Well, shortly after one of the best calls that we've had in our, as we saved someone out of an icy river, but both involving water, so one like there was this weird.
Speaker 2:I didn't feel good after it, like I felt great that we had a great result, and it was like, oh, I don't like water anymore, like what's with that, right. And it's like so there's like the good can can shift into the world of like, oh, that actually triggers a negative emotion for me, right. So there you just like, when you think about how many over the course of my career, how many calls I was on and how, how they're all, how they all intertwined and intersect into this web in your brain that I've, who, who knows how it works, right, it's like this triggers that, triggers that triggers that, and so to be able to look at that and say, oh, I assign I don't have to assign that meaning to that anymore, and then I'm able to celebrate this and be like man, we did a really great job and I don't. I love swimming, so I want to be able to enjoy the beach with my kids, so that's, that's dealt with right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely yeah. It's like I think about that, like, just like, as you were talking about the celebrating wins, I was like, damn, yeah, there's probably so many more. And if I look at the media attention to, if we go back to that collective story, it's like people are demonizing cops left and right. People are there's there's not as many celebratory things there's there's so much attack on that that like, to be honest, I'm like grateful that there's men that and women that still want to do this. You know, it's like this is it's. It is that collective story right, some of it, which is controlled, some of it which is just, you know, has been amplified. It's detrimental to the community. Detrimental to the community and and and, whether they think it's good or bad or whatever it's, it is, and in my perspective, it's detrimental. I don't see how that's supportive in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 2:But one of the things you said is like there's good, like there's good cops and there's bad cops and and and all and all these things. And one of the things that you said is like if, if we can get even some of the cops who are disengaged and don't and don't care, if you can get like this isn't just about getting like you get people right. Cops are going to want to get better for themselves and their family, but but if you can adjust that victim mentality and if you can just turn the volume down on that, they will show up in a way that matters for their community, even if it's 10% better. Like as you start to build a community around caught, like as as one cop improves in another firefighter and as that, as the culture can change, like it's a it's a giant ass to shift that culture.
Speaker 2:And I don't. I honestly, I'm like can it be done? I'm like I don't know. My goals right now are like who can? I'm all about the individual, because I'm like I am not equipped, nor my at a scale, nor do I know if it's even possible to to to really impact the culture of that community. So right now I'm on an individual level, but I'm like if, if one, a whole, like the hall that I was at, I had four guys two of the guys start to take some of this into consideration, while then you you're at a 50 50 playing field within that hall and that and and you can start to see the radius, grassroots stuff for me, but, yeah it's, it's really exciting to see just you know what's what's possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. Starting and the individual is is so, it's so, it's in, it's super impactful because, as you shift and change, people around you start to shift and change because they recognize what they see in you and then they ask questions or they have learned through you and then it starts to shape everything around you and the reality is is the only thing you have control over as the individual, in your solidly specifically yourself. So, yes, there's people along this journey that want to help you and can help you if you seek them out, but it's all on you, and in a good way. It's all on you. So you can change it and or you can stay in it. You can. You can choose the victim mentality or you can choose to get the hell out of there and enjoy your life, and I prefer to enjoy my life and I prefer to help the people around me enjoy their lives more too. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that because, because, yeah, from that community, it's like a lot of it's. So so, nick, to like for me to think about, like the joy, some of the joy pieces are hard right. So that's, yeah, enjoy, enjoy your life. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, enjoy your life Great.
Speaker 2:Good try, is your dry suit ready?
Speaker 1:What does it look like?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's a surprise Come on. I'm trying Nope.
Speaker 1:Did you get matching ones?
Speaker 2:No, we didn't know. Damn so good, I looked at some. Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of I'm not there yet I think the weather's not in Tennessee. The weather's not, you know, conducive to wearing a lot of track suits this time of year but I'm definitely not. There's some. There's some pretty cool track suits that might call my name in the fall. Yeah, there you go I need to get a little wardrobe of track suits to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, take it for me. You need a wardrobe of track suits. I have, um, I have at least five or six that I would classify as my version. I actually call I don't really call them track suits, I call them luxury lounge suits because they look, they're a little more.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, it's a vibe, it's a whole mess. Oh, this has been such a fun conversation and so much of this. You know I'm sure that there's people that are going to benefit from this Absolutely, of hearing it and understanding it and just seeing a different perspective and understanding how a scene, another scenario in which how the words and breath being applied, unraveling the stories, is beneficial in people's lives and in a really tangible way where we can see, like the ripple effect that would have of a first responder, a cop, firefighter, military, anybody who's like in that world that's going that could benefit from this. So what ways can these guys find you, darren, to talk more about it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm on Instagram, just Darren Jansen or breathe nine and ones on Instagram. And then we have a website breathe hyphen or dash 911.com. We're starting, uh, I guess 15th, we're starting our next group session. We're always available. I'm always available for um, when I'm on coaching, when I say we, it's Kristi and I, we do this, and then we are hosting, uh, breathe 911, nicaragua, nicaragua 2023. So in November 26th to December 1st, we have a resort down in Papoyo, nicaragua, that we are going to do and lifted, so we're going to do a bunch of one-on-one sessions we're going to do we got ice baths, we're getting set up. Bunch of breath work. We're going to get in the ocean, do some surfing lessons, horseback riding, local meals, community style dinners it's going to be epic.
Speaker 1:That sounds awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's uh. We we are just working out details for that and, um, then we're going to start taking uh deposits on that next week, I hope.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh yeah.
Speaker 2:And so that's exciting and full circle. Sorry.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we have to tell the end of your story before we go.
Speaker 2:I didn't climb Mount Everest, but I did climb the height of Mount Everest. So there's a race in Tennessee. I'm an ultra runner. There's a race in Tennessee called the mid state mile and, uh, about a month ago I had run it two years ago. It didn't do as well as I had hoped and I came back for a second shot. So I ran 34 hours and 40 minutes uh, 112 miles, and I climbed 112 miles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, and I climbed 31,000 feet. So 31,000 feet up and down. Everest is 2,902, nine, never, it's just 29,000, 29 feet. I climbed 31,000 feet, uh, in 34 hours, 40 minutes, and it's it's. It's a crazy race cause it's called the last man standing event. So it's a one, one point, one mile loop and every 20 minutes you have to be at the starting line to start your next mile. So you have to be back within the 20 minutes and back in the starting box every 20 minutes and the race there is no end. The end is when there's one person left standing. So I came forth, so they went for another after I was done 34 hours and they went for another six or seven hours. They went 130 something miles. It's insanity, it's, it's really really fun.
Speaker 1:Hold on, I need to understand this again. So you run one mile at a time? How many miles? Okay, run one mile at a time. You have 20 minutes, so you run, come back. I'm assuming you get to rest recover and then you got to be back there to go again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so your rest recovery period is like if you want to run your mile in 15 minutes and have five minutes to recover, great. If you run it in 19 minutes, you have one minute to recover and you go back out and you just keep on running, so that it's a loop and it's a it's just over a mile loop. Okay, and so if you don't make it back for this 20 minutes.
Speaker 1:Start, you're done. You're done, yeah, or if you choose not to go out. Some people just are like I don't want to go.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so in one loop there's 340 feet of elevation gaining and lost, and one of the 340, 320 in a loop I forget what it is. So like there's two really big hills and yeah, you, just so it's not like it's not running, do you run the flats and you hike Like you can't like this hills are so steep that you can run up them, but it's, you won't run very long. So, yeah, it's a run, hike, walk, crawl, whatever, yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's been two actually. So a good friend of mine made a documentary on it on a guy. There's a neck Navy seal X retired Navy seal name Chad. Right, my good friend, dwayne Covington, did a documentary on this race two years ago where Chad won called one mile out, I think it's called it's on prime, so it's it's, if you want to see a weather race is all about. It's a really, really fun race. It's in a small Franklin Tennessee small town on a private piece of property that they actually started during COVID. All the races got canceled. They're like let's hold the race because a lot of races are on public lands. So they started, if they started during COVID on a private land and yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I didn't climb Everest. But I climbed the height of Everest, and I'm a liar.
Speaker 1:But maybe you're a good storyteller, so it's maybe stuck around to the end maybe stuck around to the end to find out that I am a liar and stop recording. I'm kidding. Are you guys coming out for the event in October?
Speaker 2:We are not, we are. October is fully booked for us, with we got Florida and we're going to a bunch of places, so we had that before we won, I know. Kyle's coming out. Kyle's like are you going? I'm like you're going. Still, I wish I could.
Speaker 1:I just think, the next time around I totally get it yeah.
Speaker 2:That's going to be an amazing event.
Speaker 1:We're going to have a great time, for sure. I'm really looking forward to it and the magic is real Bringing all these people together. So if you're listening and you want some real magic, come to Richmond in October for the enlisted experience Details in the photos. Yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:And plug for you guys Like if you're like I don't know when you guys are running your next level one, but a very impactful. I've taken lots of courses over my career Very, very one of the most, if not the most, impactful course on me personally, thank you.
Speaker 1:That's a.
Speaker 2:that's a plug for enlisted sign up. It's worth it, Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Yeah, I think so too. This is awesome, darian. Happy Friday. Thanks for joining me. Thanks for dealing with my Friday brain, I hope you have the best weekend. I hope the listeners enjoy themselves whenever they hear this that they're getting take the time to take their Thursday afternoons off and coming back and doing this, talking about the good words and the breathing and yeah, until next time.
Speaker 2:Thanks, keep it.
Speaker 1:Hey coach, ready to get your clients out of their own way and over their shitty mindset? Start by learning the words and make mindset coaching practical. Master the enlisted method and guide your clients to lasting results by changing their words to enroll in the next class of enlisted level one certification. Head on over to and lifted dot me and click get certified. Let us know your love in the show. Subscribe, leave a five star review and be sure to share it with your friends. Abracadabra.