The Aquatic Safety Research Group has released an audio training program meant to help with work-life balance.
Called “The Mindful Lifeguard,” the free program alternates individual mindfulness meditations with lifeguarding tips. “When we were growing up, we didn’t have the distractions that young people have today,” said Tom Griffiths, president and founder of the Aquatic Safety Research Group. “Now more than ever, I think it’s extremely important that we give lifeguards the skills [to] become centered and focused.”
The mindfulness meditations are given by Karen Bush, a functional medicine and integrative health coach who teaches mindfulness and yoga.
While mindfulness practice is meant to help develop a focus that benefits lifeguarding, the practices here are to be performed on the job.
And the 2-to-3-minute lifeguarding tips should not be done at the same time as mindfulness practice, as it would serve as a distraction.
“Most of our thoughts are not in the present, particularly with social media and the internet — you’re just bombarded with distractions,” Griffiths says. “The whole point of mindfulness is being in the present and being able to focus on what is happening now. That’s what lifeguarding is — watching people in the water and synchronizing your eyes with your brains.”
The “Mindful Lifeguard” can be accessed at aquaticsafetygroup.com.
