A Mindful Shift for Public Safety Professionals
In a recent training, I found myself saying that if I could wish for every person – every officer, every professional staff member in the room to take away one single thing, it would be this: I don’t just want you to go home safe. I want you to go home happy, satisfied, and fundamentally proud of who you are.
When I first began teaching and facilitating mindfulness for public safety, I had heard from the retired officers that had become my mentors that I better have the appropriate credentials. Law enforcement being one of the most highly trained professions in existence, I shouldn’t attempt to teach something without demonstrating my qualifications. While this is true, walking into that first Sheriff’s Office room six years ago, I fell flat on my face.
It took two training sessions for me to recognize the source of the disconnect I was feeling. I spoke from a place of authority and knowledge – from the letters behind my name. I spoke from my head and not from my heart. As soon as I realized this, I shifted my entire perspective.
My personal truth is that I do this “work” – the work of my heart – because I love the people behind the badge, the uniform, and the call signs. As a civilian, I’ve come to believe that we hold our warriors and defenders to an inhuman standard of perfection. Statistics tell us that the average law enforcement officer encounters somewhere between 400 to 900 traumatic incidents over the span of their career (4). Setting aside the human impact of this trauma on the body and brain, we expect them – without mental and emotional training – to be perfectly emotionally intelligent and to handle themselves and others at their maddest, saddest, and baddest with perfection EVERY time over a 25+ year career. We set an impossible standard, and then we also somehow imagine these individuals can live a life where they feel healthy, happy, and satisfied – where they can live with peace, love, and joy.
NOW, when I begin any training, I start with my truth and with my heart: “I’m here because, on the deepest level, I want you to go home every day happy, healthy, and not just surviving but in love with yourself and your life.”
For the past six years, I’ve had the profound privilege of walking beside law enforcement, corrections, and professional staff members all across the country. As I travel, connecting powerfully with the humans behind the uniform, one conversation rises again and again:
“We feel well. We feel resilient. Why do all the statistics say otherwise?”
It’s a powerful and necessary question. The data is sobering:
- The average age of a first heart attack in the general population is 65.
- For law enforcement officers, it’s 46. (1)
- Life expectancy in this field hovers around 57, compared to 79 in the general public.
That’s a 20+ year difference. (2).
In these powerful conversations with our men and women in blue, I often talk about one of my favorite TED Talks by health psychologist Dr. Kelly McGonigal, titled “How to Make Stress Your Friend.” In it, Kelly shares a study of 30,000 adults over eight years that found something remarkable:
If you experience high stress but also engage in acts of compassion, your body shows no increased risk of death. In fact, those who helped others under stress completely reversed the negative cardiovascular effects. Your heart, quite literally, heals itself through compassion (3).
If you want to nerd out with me for a moment, this is due to the powerful effect of oxytocin. Oxytocin has gained attention in recent years as the “cuddle hormone.” When I teach about it, I often ask people to think about the difference between the “pat-on-the-back” hug and the kind of hug where you hold someone – your partner, your kids, or your best friend – long enough that your energy shifts, your heart settles, and you take a breath in love. Those feelings are oxytocin surging through your body: occurring when we relish a moment of connection.
The fantastic thing is that oxytocin is also a stress hormone (5). It floods our systems in moments of stress, urging us to reach out and connect with another human being. As Kelly says, we have a built-in stress resilience mechanism in our bodies, and it’s human connection.
But with this truth, an even deeper question arises in my heart, one that I have asked hundreds of public safety professionals over the years:
“How do these two truths exist simultaneously? How can a profession built on helping people have the worst cardiac profile of any profession ever studied?”
And the answer I hear is almost always the same:
“Because we don’t feel like we’re helping anyone.”
Everything starts to feel transactional. You’re seeing people at their worst – high, hurt, hostile, heartbroken. You get cursed at, rejected, second-guessed. Sometimes even by the people you just protected.
The weight of that? It doesn’t just live in your thoughts. It settles in your chest. It lodges in your nervous system. It changes how you walk through the world and how you walk through your own front door.
You start surviving the shift. You operate from muscle memory, not meaning. You move from your mind, not your heart.
But today I want to be a mirror of the truth:
You are a protector. You are a defender. You are a HERO.
And what you do matters.
Every. Single. Day.
Whether you’re writing a citation, escorting someone safely to jail, intervening in a family dispute, showing presence on patrol, or simply being the calm in someone’s chaos – you’re doing something most people cannot do.
You’re showing up when it’s hard. When it’s thankless. When it’s scary. And that? That is something to be proud of.
You deserve more than to just go home safe. You deserve to go home proud.
Not because the shift went perfectly. Not because everyone or even anyone said “thank you.” But because you showed up. You made a difference – even if you don’t get to see it right away. Even on the calls that have no closure.
A Mindset Shift for Your Heart (and Your Happiness)
So here’s how to begin reclaiming that sense of meaning. This isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about remembering what was never lost.
Give yourself 2 minutes at the end of your shift:
1. Reflect at Shift’s End
Ask yourself: What’s one thing I did today that I’m proud of? Big or small. Seen or unseen. Name it. Honor it.
2. Practice Compassionate Presence
Take a mindful breath. Pause. See yourself clearly – not your actions, but your intentions. Feel that quiet pride. Let it land in your body. This single moment begins to restore and heal your heart.
3. Rewrite the Narrative
When the cynicism creeps in, challenge it gently:
“I showed up. That is what matters. I help in ways I may never fully see. And I am proud of who I am.”
The science tells us your heart needs this. But even more than that – you deserve this.
You deserve to feel proud of who you are, not just for what you do, but for how you keep showing up when it’s hard. For the way you carry the weight of the world and still try to make it better. For the quiet moments you stand as a shield for someone else’s storm.
So tonight, don’t just go home safe.
Go home proud. And know that there are people like me – civilians, other humans, members inside and outside of your community – who love you for exactly who you are, every single day.
THANK YOU. Thank you from the every corner of my heart. You are seen. You are valued. You are loved. You are so very worthy.
Sources
- Heart Disease in Law Enforcement Average age of first heart attack for law enforcement officers is 46; life expectancy is approximately 57 years. Source: “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of LEOs — Here’s how to protect yourself,” Police1.com. https://www.police1.com/police-products/fitness-mental-health-wellness/articles/heart-disease-is-the-no-1-killer-of-leos-heres-how-to-protect-yourself-LEtC4hJys1VsG1Xd/
- Law Enforcement Life Expectancy vs. General Public Source: “Enhancing Officer Safety and Survivability,” Police Chief Magazine, International Association of Chiefs of Police. https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/enhancing-officer-safety-survivability/
- Oxytocin and Stress Resilience McGonigal, K. (2013). How to Make Stress Your Friend. TEDGlobal. TED Talk and Study Reference: “Stress and Health Study” (U.S. National Death Index, 1998–2006; University of Wisconsin-Madison) https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend
- Trauma Exposure Estimates for Law Enforcement Source: OK-FRWD Wellness Needs Assessment Report (Oklahoma First Responder Wellness Division), 2023.
- Oxytocin as a Stress Hormone Carter, C.S. (2014). “Oxytocin Pathways and the Evolution of Human Behavior.” Annual Review of Psychology. Also discussed in: Love, A., & Schultheiss, O.C. (2009). “Oxytocin and Social Bonding.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences.