Burris Institute Blogs

There was once a man who loved to go fishing.  Whenever he had free time he would take off to one of his favorite fishing spots.  In fact, he loved his fishing trips so much that he often neglected his business and family responsibilities in order to get in a little extra trip or two.  He was often found missing at work related meetings and family gatherings with no explanation.  Early one Sunday morning, the man got up early and headed to one of his favorite fishing spots.  He drove for some time anticipating the peaceful time alone and the excitement of the nibble, the bite and the catch!  He arrived near a beautiful lake.  He parked his car, grabbed his gear and walked a long trail for about an hour down to his perfect spot!  He had been fishing only a few minutes when he noticed rather ominous clouds gathering rather quickly. 

I frequently hear, "Knowledge is Power."  I strongly disagree!  Knowledge in and of itself is powerless.  Knowledge, when APPLIED,  is POWER!!  As we apply the knowledge we obtain, we experience growth and with that growth gain even more knowledge.  We have all seen the two different states in our lives.  Their are those who have gained knowledge and never apply it.  Then there are those who gain knowledge, apply it, and continue to learn.  We see them as, one individual who has twenty years experience in a field of expertise and the other who has one year of experience twenty times.   LEARN - APPLY- GROW  

I’ve received some recent inquiries from clients, specifically around the images of service members I use on Facebook, and how my coaching process applies to those that have not served in the military. Some ask, “why warrior?”  Others inquire, “Are you going to teach me to fight?” Or “how can I accomplish more in my life if I am at war with someone?” These are all great questions, but for those that know me and know my background it’s easily understood.  For those of you that are beginning this journey with me, allow me focus this blog post to answer the questions around the use of the term warrior.

In my last blog post, we looked at the delay of our warriors reporting symptoms consistent with "adrenaline poisoning."  In many of the study subjects, there existed a 3-6 month delay in leaving the combat box, before symptoms for combat stress fully manifested and began to affect the warrior's behavior.

 

I sat behind the bullet proof glass at my newly cushy job with the Alberta Government in a Calgary court house as a judge's assistant, I found myself thinking..is this it?  Is this my life?  Everyday, from 9am-4:30pm, I will be here…"there has to be more" I thought…"there is more"…Then I would go home, which consisted of half hour train ride then a 45 minute drive in rush hour traffic (ewe), and find comfort and peace on my yoga mat.  It wasn't that I could (or can) contort my body into a pretzel, it WAS that I could connect with my breath, feel my heart beating and my body moving.  I would move away the stresses of the day and become one with my spirit…and think "ahhhh…yessss….THIS is what IT is about, this IS my life..right here, right now".  This "ah-ha" moment was back in 2005, when my interest of becoming a Yoga Teacher sparked and I began my studies in Yoga.  

In a previous blog post back in April, I speculated on the National Football League’s (NFL) intentions of setting a higher standard for head injuries and how our warriors might learn from their experiences. As previously stated, in December of 2009, the NFL announced stricter guidelines on when players could return to the field after a head injury. The stricter 2009 statement on return-to-play was developed by the NFL’s medical committee on concussions in conjunction with team doctors, outside medical experts, and the NFL Players Association in order to provide more specificity in making return-to-play decisions. The new guidance supplements the 2007 statement on return-to-play that encouraged team physicians and athletic trainers to continue to take a conservative approach to treating concussions and established that a player should not return to the same game after a concussion if the team medical staff determined that he had lost consciousness.

Some time between 563 - 483 BC, a young Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama uttered the phrase, "you will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger." We now know him by the name Buddha. Although these words are over 2,000 years old, they are apparently true today. In a recent investigation, led by scientists from the University of Valencia, researchers analyzed the changes in the brain's cardiovascular, hormonal, and asymmetric activation response (I will explain this in detail in a moment) when we get angry. What they found was very interesting. They observed increases in heart rate and rising arterial tension, along with increased testosterone production, and a decrease in cortisol (the stress hormone) production. Now these findings have always been know for many years, but the measurements were taken, nonetheless. What I found most interesting about this study were the findings around asymmetric activation response.

 Over the past 8 weeks, I have given you several new ways to look at healing your PTSD.  In taking this approach, I have received some questions from friends asking about the use of war principles to heal an anxiety disorder.  Well, if you had these same questions, I trust you went the extra step to read the posts so you could see that these Principles provide you a framework and philosophy for approaching this demon that hides inside you and many of our war-torn brothers and sisters.  If you did read along, then I want to thank you for your time.  I would even like to thank you for passing this blog along to others that may be wrestling with this disorder or sharing my blog with someone that you suspect may be suffering in silence.