The Military Lifestyle

You never know where life will take you. For Bruno Guevremont, it took him into the Canadian Armed Forces for 15 years, including two tours in Afghanistan. It also took him on a battle with his own mental health, one where he got help, and is now helping others.

Special Guest
Bruno Guevremont was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for 15 years including time in the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Navy. In addition to being a mental health advocate, Bruno does high performance coaching with organizations and individuals.

Highlights

• Bruno's backstory.
• The experience of dismantling roadside bombs.
• 4:41 How he knew he needed help with his mental health. 
• Impact on his family life.
• 10:49 You can only connect the dots looking backward. 
• What he would tell military members and their families about mental health.
• 17:47 What really changed things around for him. 
• The power of the expedition to the North Pole. 
• Would he do anything different?
• 24:24 This journey of mental health is something you constantly work on.

Quotes
"The military told you you can no longer serve in the military. But nobody told you that you could no longer serve your country. We need you in the communities we need the training that you've done. Nobody puts the amount of money in training you all around and all kinds of things like the military does. Basically, the average price between basic training to fully trades qualified, whichever trades you're picking up in the military is about a million dollars, you're worth a million dollars, you're a Million Dollar Man. So use those skills because they are needed in community." - Bruno Guevremont

"And that starts by making a plan of before while you're joining in basic training and all that and, and really creating that support system around you and saying, hey, guys, what if? Because it might happen. And what if it happens, how we're going to deal with it?" - Bruno Guevremont 

"If you want to find out who you are, the military will show you that. It's the right platform to really find out what your abilities are, what you're capable of, and who you truly are at the core." - Bruno Guevremont

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• Bruno's website
• True Patriot Love Expeditions

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Food can do many things, it fuels us up, keeps us going, brings friends and family together. A healthy diet, so many positive effects on our lives. But during times of stress, it can be hard to keep the motivation. 

Special Guest
Alli Jones is a health promotion specialist at CFB Esquimalt.

Highlights

• Canada's new food guide looks way different.
• Micro and macro nutrients.
• 7:13 MUFAs and PUFAs.
• Eat a variety of foods.
• A few good habits.
• 15:21 Having a plan is setting yourself up for success.
• Staying motivated by you're cooking solo, or cooking solo for kids
• Staying motivated through isolation and loneliness. 

Quotes
“All of us engage with food very differently. So it's really about figuring out you know, what triggers you? You know, if you're feeling low or if you're feeling lonely? Is your comfort found in food? Do you crave those maybe those higher fat foods when you're feeling low or when you're feeling tired? The first step is awareness and understanding, you know, what drives me to make these choices or what triggers me to make these choices."  - Alli Jones

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• Health Promotion

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Now, some believe if you work harder, you'll be more successful. If you're more successful, then you'll be happier. Maybe not that simple. Living in the military lifestyle can be a handful, but wouldn't it be great to feel more productive living the life.

Special Guest
Sarah Francescutti is mindset coach with Exhale and Thrive Coaching.  A former military member, she also works at CFB Esquimalt's Transition Centre.

Highlights

• Prioritizing the things that are important in life.
• 4:09 Filling yourself up.
• Writing out what you should focus on.
• 8:34 Using your schedule as an intention setter.
• 10:19 Inside-out scheduling.
• Look at your life, what you do with your time and assign it a number.
• 15:48 Even robots need maintenance.
• For military families, each transition presents an opportunity.

Quotes
“You've probably heard about filling up your own cup first so that you can help others it's the same kind of concept. But I think of it more like a vehicle. Most everybody has a car. And you know, if you're running on empty fuel, you're likely gonna burn out, run out of gas on the side of the road and be stuck between here and wherever you're trying to get to. And the same sort of concept comes to mind, in your work and your personal life."  - Sarah Francescutti

"It's more around, working less hard, making things easier, prioritizing the things that are important. And when you know what those are, then you can choose where you put your focus and your time and your energy, then your productivity soars." - Sarah Francescutti

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• Exhale and Thrive Coaching
• Inside-Out Scheduling Guide

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Relationships are great, but they're not always easy. Got to make time for each other, got to communicate. If you're in a relationship with a military member, in the context of the lifestyle, it's just more complex. This episode explores what you need for a healthy relationship and some things to watch out for.

Special Guest Holly Flower is a social worker and counsellor with the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre.

Highlights

• Characteristics of a healthy relationship
• Financial issues can be massive.
• 10:44 The importance of trust
• 11:58 Anger gets a bad rap.
• Red flags
• 16:36 Communication and how we are showing up in the relationship
• Do not take relationships for granted.

Quotes"It's really critical that we're prioritizing our relationships, that we're not taking them for granted, that we are learning how to turn towards one another, how to communicate with one another, how to have each other's back when it does get difficult." - Holly Flower

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• Healthy Relationship on CAF Connection
• Family Information Line
• Member Assistance Program

Holly's Recommended Book List

• "Hold Me Tight - Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love" by Dr. Sue Johnson
• "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work" by Dr. John M. Gottman

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Trauma. Postal Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those words might spark a reaction in you.  Imagine being able to change the culture around trauma and PTSD. Imagine when people seek treatment, it feels the same way as recovering from any other injury.   

Special Guest
Dr. Tim Black is an Associate Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Victoria. He has been working with the Canadian military and Veteran community for over 20 years and has delivered programs to help people with trauma.

Highlights

• What causes trauma in a military setting
• 5:28 The effects of a traumatic injury
• How do you know if you need help?
• Stigma
• 19:06 Could receiving treatment for trauma be as accepted as getting physiotherapy on a knee injury
• With trauma, it is a social responsibility for us to foster resilience
• 26:12 The role that families can play

Quotes

"If you're suffering you're suffering, you don't have to have anybody's permission to seek help when you're suffering. If you're upset and you're suffering, go talk to someone. I wouldn't wait." - Dr. Tim Black

"Part of the reason I agreed to do this is really trying to help people understand when someone's traumatized, they're just not finished a process, and their brain is trying to finish it. And that's why and it's exhausting. When your brain continually tries to finish off this process, it's exhausting, because it never stops, it never takes a break. So if we can help people finish what they need to finish and support them to do that, then they can come out the other side." - Dr. Tim Black

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• Wounded Warriors

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Military postings can be as easy as ABC, but there's still a lot to think about a lot of fine details. So let's explore what to do before you get your posting message, after you receive it, then after your move.

Special Guest
A former military member, Carole Lajoie is the Director of Education and Collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces Ombudsman's office in Ottawa, Ontario.

Highlights

• Updating your budget
• 2:54 Important questions to ask before you get your posting message
• Post Living Differential
• 8:27 After you get your posting message
• Things to consider during a house hunting trip
• What needs to be done after your move

Quotes
“The best way to get through a posting is that you share the load when you consider the conditions now, all you have to consider, it can be overwhelming, but it's at the same time. There's so many tools. It's cool to have that so you can have a look before you actually get the posting instructions."  - Carole Lajoie

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• The ABC's of Military Postings
• CAF Ombudsman
• House Hunting Trips - Information on Different Community Conditions

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Mindfulness is everywhere nowadays. Schools, companies, smartphone apps, even the military. Mindfulness has gone mainstream. For some it's a buzzword, big business, a product. If you strip away all the packaging, what exactly is it? And how can you apply it to military life?

Special Guest
Patricia Galaczy is the Founder and Director of The Art of Dialogue, Associate Faculty with Royal Roads University, and Associate Faculty with the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s Centre for Leadership. As a Leadership Educator specializing in Mindfulness and Organizational Effectiveness, and Associate Faculty with Royal Roads University, Patricia has accumulated over 20 years and 10,000 hours teaching People Leaders.

Highlights

• What exactly is mindfulness? 
• Myths that exist
• What it means to be a mindfulness person
• 10:23 The value to the military community
• How to get started
• 15:15 Sandra Pinard offers a deeper military perspective 
• 19:56 A short guided meditation by Patricia Galaczy

Quotes
“When we can be more aware and compassionate of our own hearts and our own minds and our own bodies, we're able to offer that to others. Really importantly, mindfulness when we think about the military, we think about action, and taking strategic action taking wise action. When action comes from a place of calm when it comes from a place of non reactivity. That's when we're our smartest selves. So we're actually taking our most strategic actions when we're practicing mindfulness, the benefits are infinite."  - Patricia Galaczy

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• The Art of Dialogue

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

For couples experiencing a military deployment, a homecoming isn't always like the movies.  Reintegration can be a challenge.  Let's take a look at what people are feeling and a few tips to have a smooth reunion.     

Special Guest
Sandra Pinard is the Deployment Coordinator at the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre. She previously appeared on a previous episode to talk about preparing couples for deployment.

Highlights

• What people are feeling leading up to reunion
• Is reunion stressful?
• 5:38 Homecoming is not what you see in the movies
• Communication tips
• 8:38 Give yourself the same amount of time as the length of the deployment
• Intimacy
• 16:50 All feelings are normal
• 19:25 Discourage surprises
• Ease back into things
• Don't be too firm on scheduling things

Quotes
“Couples have to renegotiate all of the different parts of being a couple, not just the intimate part, not just the who mows the lawn."  - Sandra Pinard

"So homecoming is not what you see in the movies. It is not this military member is in their white uniform, running down the jetty to their spouse who's in a dress and high heels and then they go off into the romantic sunset. That is not generally the case of what homecoming is like."  - Sandra Pinard

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• MFRC Deployment App

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.

Back with more episodes starting Wednesday September 16th, 2020. The military is not just a job, it's a lifestyle. Join Jon Chabun from the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre as he explores the world of deployments, postings and transitions. Each episode will feature interviews with MFRC staff, experts in the community, military members, veterans or military-connected family members. The lifestyle can be dynamic and all encompassing but it can be learned. In this second season, we examine the journey further -- resilience, health, and relationships within the military community. Get ready to dive back into military life with season two of "The Military Lifestyle."

Military Families learn to be resilient through living the military lifestyle. A pandemic might be the perfect time to lean in on those skills. Let's examine how life has changed and what can help military families through this experience.

Special Guest
Pauline Sibbald is a social worker with the Transition Centre at CFB Esquimalt.   

Highlights

• 2:28 Lives have been turned upside down and Covid-19 as a significant life altering event.
• Grieving the loss of our lives.
• 12:22 Talking to kids about the pandemic.
• 20:14 Military families might have the skills to handle the pandemic.
• R2MR The Road to Mental Readiness and its application to Covid-19.
• Can we distract ourselves nowadays?
• Staying connected in a world that preaches physical distancing.

Quotes

“We are truly stronger together. When you live this military lifestyle, you kind of live your life in two to three year increments. That's the cycle of deployment. That's the posting cycle. That's career progression. But with that there's all this adaptation that comes into play as well. Part of living the military lifestyle. There have been opportunities along the way, where people may have been able to learn some skills to help them cope through when dealing with COVID.”

– Pauline Sibbald

Connect

• Podcast website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram

Links

• R2MR – The Road to Mental Readiness
• Member Assistance Program
• Family Information Line

Thank you

• Thank you to Organized Sound Productions for their help bringing this podcast to life.