Sacramento, CA, August 24, 2023 - FireFlex Yoga, a data-driven yoga and wellness program for first responders, announces a 3-day training November 3-5, 2023 in a state-of-the-art fitness facility near Sacramento, CA. This one-of-a-kind training is for first responders and for yoga teachers. First responders will learn how yoga postures correlate to daily on-the-job physical tasks and they’ll learn how to lead customized yoga sequences for their crew at their agency. Yoga teachers can earn continuing education and equip themselves to connect with and deliver yoga to first responders in their communities.
Without proactive interventions, like yoga, first responders and their families are vulnerable to traumatic stress disorders, compassion fatigue, and maladaptive coping strategies. Through FireFlex Yoga, first responders learn how to strengthen their bodies, breath, and attention. Interoceptive mind-body awareness creates stronger resilience and decision-making under pressure.
This training will provide a behind-the-scenes look at first responder “warrior” culture. Yoga teachers will learn how to apply their yoga background in sequencing, anatomy, and meditation to personalized first responder classes that increase functional fitness and reduce the impact of stress with trauma-informed teaching principles.
FireFlex Founder Shannon McQuaide grew up in a “fire family” and has delivered yoga and wellness classes to thousands of firefighters, first responders, and public safety personnel. She’s led mindfulness trainings for teachers and government agencies and she’s presented at prestigious fire-industry conferences. Her mission continues to be delivering wellness tools to help people increase resiliency and mitigate injury using mind-body practices, functional fitness, and yoga.
“After many years delivering weekly yoga classes inside fire stations, and now implementing 3-day trainings across the country to public safety agencies, I hope to empower first responders with impactful wellness tools they can take with them back to their colleagues,” said FireFlex Founder Shannon McQuaide. “My mission is to provide practical resources to help them recoup from stress, reboot, and truly rest with tactical wellness practices for mental and physical health.”
In 2022, a peer-reviewed paper was published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies showcasing the measurable, positive results that FireFlex Yoga provides to first responders. FireFlex Yoga is unique in that it utilizes the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) and MAIA (Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness) to measure its impact. Train the Trainer attendees will learn the science-backed benefits of yoga and how to competently approach department decision makers to make the case for why yoga needs to be integrated into ongoing first responder wellness programs.
“We are constantly on the go and in a state of hyper-awareness. It’s important that we find time to slow things down and I have learned how to do this by slowing down and regulating my breath. This is one of the many benefits I have experienced through FireFlex Yoga. Now when I hear the tones go off, I take a deep breath and feel my body calming down. This helps me to think more clearly when I have to make decisions that will ultimately affect my crew and the public,” said Southern Marin Fire Protection District Captain Jason Golden.
All Train the Trainer attendees will receive a manual that includes several step-by-step sequences for leading first responder yoga classes. Attendees will also receive a copy of Shannon’s book The Conscious Warrior, an electronic toolkit with breathing practices, meditations, and video of several FireFlex Yoga class sequences to support future practice and teaching. Upon successful completion of the training (17 hours), reading assignment (2 hours) and the take home exam (1 hour), Yoga Teachers with a 200-hour certification can apply to receive 12 CEC Yoga Alliance contact hours.
Watch a video from Shannon describing FireFlex Yoga’s Train the Trainer November workshop. www.activewellness.com/fireflexyoga-foundations-training
November 3-5 Training Location: Active Wellness Center at NorthBay Health, 1020 Nut Tree Rd., Vacaville, CA 95687
Early Bird Pricing: $750 (registration after September 1 will be $895)
What’s included: Sequencing Manual, a copy of The Conscious Warrior, plus an electronic toolkit containing breathing practices, meditations and video of five FireFlex Yoga classes to support your practice and teaching.
Closest airports: Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose
Questions? Phone: 831-431-0850
About Founder & Director Shannon McQuaide
Originally from a fire family (her father, uncle, sister, brother-in-law - all firefighters), McQuaide is an entrepreneur, a published author, certified life coach, certified diversity coach, and yoga teacher. With a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and two master’s degrees in spiritual psychology and transformative leadership, Shannon blends her immersive education and trauma-sensitive yoga training to deliver unique and impactful trainings to first responder and public safety agencies.
Contact: Shannon@FireFlexYoga.com (831) 431-0850
LinkedIn: Shannon McQuaide
For more information, please visit: FireFlexYoga.com
IG: @fireflexyoga
YouTube: @fireflexyoga
About FireFlex Yoga
FireFlex Yoga is a wellness program designed for first responders to mitigate stress and on-the-job injuries. Its flagship program in 2014 gathered quantitative data on first responders before/after a series of classes to measure results of daily fundamental movement patterns and interoception skills. The data consistently demonstrated physical and mental improvement for a high majority of first responders, which correlates to testimonials describing increased resiliency and decreased stress. Today, FireFlex delivers multi-day customizable trainings to first responders at state agencies including CAL FIRE and to high-security federal government agencies in Homeland Security.
Media Contact:
Katy Pollock, FireFlex Yoga Marketing Director
503-929-5612
Katy@FireFlexYoga.com
Contact
FireFlex Yoga
Katy Pollock
503-929-5612
fireflexyoga.com