THE RISE
During my undergrad studies at just 19 years old I started working undercover online investigations. At 20 I attended the academy and I was honored to have a position waiting for me as a Deputy Sheriff. I had the opportunity to experience working court security, prison transports until I settled into my main role on patrol and joined the marine patrol for the sprinkles on top.
At work I felt confident, strong and courageous. On Facebook life looked great. I was young, smiley, full of potential, powerlifting and training, my ducks appeared to be in a row and I was even named Officer of the Year. Underneath the Facebook facade, there was a storm brewing and I couldn’t hide it for much longer.
THE FALL
Pictured is early 2015, receiving Officer of the Year. By September of that year I was in the eye of the storm. See, what I didn’t know was that I entered into the job with a lot of “life experience”. Emotional debris that I had never processed. I knew I was in trouble when the way I felt at home started to tarnish the polished version of myself I displayed at work. I was showing up late, forgetting gear, irritable with…everyone, having trouble getting reports in and just overall disgruntled. These things seemed pretty common but something deep down told me that it didn’t need to be.
It became a decision that I never wanted to make, me or the job. I chose me. It took time but in getting the help I needed I learned that I was experiencing severe depression, PTS, adrenal fatigue and suicidal ideation. I always knew in law enforcement that narrowly escaping death was a possibility, I just didn’t see this sneaking in the side door.
THE COMEBACK
Returning to yoga was just one of the many things that brought me back to life. I had started in the academy for a “good stretch” but later learned that there was A LOT more behind it all. While working as a Criminal Court Victim Advocate and getting my master’s degree in Criminology/Victimology I decided to embark on a 10 month yoga teacher training (while also planning a wedding). *Which revealed a major observation that I tend to put too much on my plate at once.
I dove into meditation, neurobiology of trauma, breathwork, and began to realize that trauma doesn’t discriminate. Trauma is not exclusive to victims of crime, so I dug deeper. I studied somatic practices, IFS, crisis intervention, EFT, equine-assisted therapy for clinicians, and beyond. Little by little I found myself healing with each new piece of knowledge. I had no idea where this path was taking me but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that I was pointed in the right direction.
THE GIVEBACK
All at once the idea came flooding in, Life Saver Wellness. I had left my advocacy position and was a stay at home mom for a couple of months during the pandemic. I had no idea what my next step would be but it was revealed to me very clearly that I was to gather all of my experience, knowledge, training and grit to funnel all back to first responders.
I am now humbled to say that I perform trainings at departments, coach individuals and speak all over the country. I am not a clinician, nor do I claim to be. My aim is to provide solution based content to teach first responders how to use body focused tactics to manage chronic stress and mitigate the byproducts of working in a trauma-rich environment so that they can stay in the jobs that they once had such a passion for.
