Frontline health workers deal with trauma nearly every day, and now a town nurse is offering them an outlet for some of the stress that inevitably builds up.
Frontline health workers deal with trauma nearly every day, and now a town nurse is offering them an outlet for some of the stress that inevitably builds up.
Registered nurse and yoga instructor Melanie Pinet will be offering Yoga on the Front Line, a specialized yoga class for workers in the trauma field. The classes will run once a month starting on May 29.
“I thought wouldn't it be cool to support the people I work with, ” Pinet said.
“Stress builds up over time without realizing it … and as caregivers we take on so much of other people's experiences. ”
After working in the field for 13 years as a nurse, Pinet said trauma workers might not always realize how their job affects them until they take a step back.
“People cope on the surface but there is still this stigma around asking for help, ” Pinet said.
“This will not be a class to talk about your feelings, I am not a therapist. I want to create a safe space where it is very personal and all the people are going through something similar. ”
While the class is promoted for “front line ” workers including firefighters, medics, and police, the yoga instructor encourages anyone with a stressful job to come and check out the class, especially nurses and physicians.
“I think sometimes nurses and doctors can be forgotten about but the patients come and stay with us - you build a bond on a deeper level, ” Pinet said.
Different from the “typical ” yoga classes, front line yoga focuses teaching trauma workers coping mechanisms with a mix of mediation, breath work, grounding techniques and gentle yoga poses.
Fellow yoga instructor Daphne Hollins, who is also a volunteer with Victim Services, agreed trauma workers can benefit from the class.
“Yoga can bring the connection back into the body and (the person) has a chance to release anything they were holding onto, ” Hollins said.
Pinet described trauma workers as “caring ” and explained that over time it can be easy to get caught up in with “compassion fatigue. ”
“We are in a compassionate field and you need to remember why you do what you do and why you want to do it … this helps teach how not to get caught up in the moment, how to cope and self-regulate, ” Pinet said.
No yoga experience is necessary and everything taught in the class is optional.
“People are more than welcome to just come and check out the class, if they don't want to do anything they can observe … it is all about what they need, ” Pinet said.
For more information call 403-465-9995 to inquire about the class or go to thegreenlotusyoga.com.
