由香农·麦奎德（Shannon McQuaide）
In June, a highly skilled and passionate group of yoga teachers and first responders gathered in Santa Cruz, CA, for the first FireFlex Yoga Foundations Teacher Training weekend. Demand for on-duty yoga classes is growing, as more firefighters experience the benefits of yoga off-duty as well as on the job.
During the training, yoga teachers had a rare opportunity to meet and hang out with first responders. Yoga teachers opened up and revealed their fears of teaching yoga to firefighters. First responders dispelled many misunderstandings about the profession as well as confirmed some of our fears about walking into a fire station to teach yoga for the first time. Firefighters Jake Maxson, from the Hanford (CA) Fire Department, and Gene Eden, a 30-year veteran firefighter from the San Francisco (CA) Fire Department, did a great job separating fact from fiction and Hollywood spin, and we all shared many laughs and moments of inspiration as, one by one, assumptions came tumbling down.
瑜伽老师认为消防员是正确的
瑜伽还是战术拉伸？
大多数瑜伽老师都足够明智，可以知道不要出现在消防部门，祈祷珠子从脖子上悬挂着，并且第一次不要问“纳马斯特”，不要第一次向消防队长打招呼。但是，为了不吓firefighter，我们倾向于过度正确。最近，斯科茨山谷的一名消防员告诉我，一些与军事组织合作的瑜伽老师称瑜伽是战术伸展运动。虽然我同意瑜伽可以提高一个人的灵活性，但瑜伽这个词是威胁的吗？
When I look back on my first few yoga programs at the San Jose (CA) Fire Department, I cringe. Convinced that I needed disguise yoga to feel like a boot camp experience, I led a 75-minute power yoga session. Now keep in mind that most of the firefighters had never practiced yoga before, and the classes took place in the apparatus bay in the middle of summer. Sweat flying, faces pinched and grimacing, audible groaning. This was the yoga experience firefighters wanted, right? Well, yes and no. These early classes affirmed and dispelled some assumptions I held about firefighters. And I come from a family of firefighters!
My assumption that the strong foundation of fitness possessed by most firefighters translates well to strong yoga practice was correct. But I realized that my assumption about the purpose of yoga for firefighters was not. I learned that fire stations can be an exhausting environment and, although a good workout is welcome, yoga can be the perfect practice to bring some well-deserved physical rest to the body and balance to the nervous system.
My approach to teaching yoga inside firehouses is much different today than even a year ago. I tend to spend as much time or more on deep-breathing exercises and other stress-reduction techniques as I do on building strength and flexibility. Most firefighters know how to create a physically strong body, and many stations have fitness rooms with treadmills, Nautilus equipment, free weights, and kettle bells. But when I ask a firefighter, “How do you strengthen your mind?” I mostly get a blank stare. But, firefighter performance is a balance of both mental and physical fitness, and by focusing on developing mental stamina, I get to bring something new and necessary into fire departments.
Keep Your Hands to Yourself!
这显然是一个敏感的话题，因为大多数消防员都是男性，而大多数瑜伽老师是女性。But the assumption that came up during the FireFlex Yoga Foundations Training is that it’s better for yoga to teachers to refrain from using their hands to make adjustments to postures because touch would trigger an unwanted emotional release from stressed-out firefighters, compromise the integrity of the yoga teacher, or just be a distraction. But is refraining from touch the best solution? In certain situations it may be, but this has not been my experience. In fact, the opposite is true.
消防员始终报告说，用来进行瑜伽姿势调整的身体触摸是一种积极的体验。最近的瑜伽课结束后，我问小组让我提供一些身体支持是多么有帮助。绝大多数小组报告说，第二双眼睛对他们的练习产生了巨大的影响。一位消防员说，使用自己的身体的杠杆作用和重量产生了良好但有限的伸展和释放，但是当我为这个姿势增加压力时，他经历了更深的伸展，并从身体上释放了更好的张力。
消防员是训练有素的专业人士，他们在自我控制和自我控制方面度过职业培训。瑜伽老师也是训练有素的专业人士，他们练习自律。自我控制的实践只是瑜伽和消防文化之间的许多重叠之一。我通常会给消防员一个机会，当他们闭着眼睛或额头触摸地面以消除同龄人的压力时，他们选择了无帮助的调整。尽管我希望这会在我的教学中发生某个时候发生，但我还没有让消防员退出。
In the next column, I will continue with more assumptions demolished and lessons learned about yoga with firefighters!
香农·麦奎德（Shannon McQuaide）是瑜伽联盟的注册瑜伽教练，也是Fireflex瑜伽的创始人TM值程序。Fireflex瑜伽是通过与圣何塞（CA）消防局的合作开发的，她继续领导Fireflex瑜伽课。她是一名经过认证的功能运动教练，并拥有领导力和心理学的艺术硕士学位。shannon@fireflexyoga.comhttp://www.fireflexyoga.com.
