The Kenshō Way

Our guest, Jeff Shannon, is a retired police officer, licensed mental health professional and law enforcement master instructor. His journey from his police officer'Father's journey through injury, alcohol addiction and early death...to his own journey through law enforcement trauma and cultural abandonment after retirement to overcoming tremendous adversity and living a life that is thriving in every possible way will deeply impact you Heroes. Jeff can be reached at his email; [email protected]. Enjoy today's POWERFUL episode. 

On today's episode we interview former Air Force Captain and retired Police Sargent Michael Sugrue (linkedin.com/in/msugrue). Michael has an incredible story that ranges from the idealistic beginnings of service to community, to an intense critical incident, to department betrayal, to PTS and ultimately healing and new purpose and meaning to help his Brothers and Sisters in the Hero community. What you will hear today is deep wisdom and reflections from lessons learned. 

It's a buzz word these days, and yet resilience is a cornerstone of warrior achievement. It is also a perishable skill, easily lost within the tides of challenge that a life of service offers. It is the foundation of thriving in our personal and professional lives and it is among the least practiced skills within the hero culture as the sad statistics bare out. On today's show we take a dive into a powerful motivation toward building resiliency, to make it a way of being, a core part of who you are in service. 

There is a DEEP DIVIDE between administrations and the support we need for front line of the First Responder and Veteran communities, especially at the state and federal level. However, I'm wiling to bet you have NO IDEA just how many people are working behind the scenes to improve the situation. Our guest, Jim Reed, is part of a bipartisan group that provides detailed information to the decision makers, especially at the state level, so we can keep the ball moving forward. We are making progress Heroes!  

You are not special. You are not unique. You are human and while you might think you're above being negatively influenced by the saturation to trauma and human dysfunction you experience in the field, you are NOT, because if you were, well, you would be a psychopath...literally. What gets us in trouble Heroes is denial, and, to quote Lt. Col Dave Grossman; "denial has no survival value whatsoever". In this episode we take a look at how we can avoid this trap and put out own self-care as a top priority in our lives. 

On this episode, our guest is a combat Veteran from Iraqi Freedom who now works with Veterans and First Responders to heal post-traumatic stress using equine therapy. This Kentucky Veteran of The Year is creating new paradigms for healing and raising the bar in a big way - his insights and compassion for the Hero Community is massively inspirational. You can learn more at www.veteransclubky.com. 

Our interview today features Mary Nicoll, LPC, an amazing therapist who comes from a military family where her unique experiences lead her to serve the hero community with a focus on helping our Veterans and First Responders to heal from the trauma they experience in the field. We blow up some old paradigms surrounding the stigma around "selfless service" as well as exploring how to build new paradigms of sustainable resiliency in service. 

There is a new tech that helps us measure something called HRV, heart rate variability and what happens between heartbeats electromagnetically, heart coherence. Turns out this is one of the best biofeedback devices and we no longer have to visit a doctor to get it measured, we can do it on our phones! Coherence is CRITICAL for improving all aspects of physical and mental performance as well as improving what hammers us in the Hero Community, cardiovascular disease and early death. 

As a former bottom dweller on the emotional maturity scale, today's podcast is one that is near and dear to my heart because if I can change, trust me, anyone can. This is a rather eye-opening episode where you will have a chance to rate your own level of emotional maturity (which might surprise you) and then we dive into some ways to enhance wherever we are. Why is this important? Simple, emotionally mature people obtain higher levels of peak performance, live longer, and experience dramatically better health. Nuf said? 

We have the honor of interviewing Rod Francis, an internationally recognized expert and teacher in the life-altering art of mindfulness. In this episode we explore mindfulness and how it is a TOTAL GAME CHANGER for the Hero Community of First Responders. I've personally experienced Rod as a teacher, and he is clearly a master! If you want to learn more about Rod and his work, check out his website Rod Francis Coaching