Spirit of the north wellness how to#

Your physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being, as well as the quality of your life, all depend on their level of preparedness and the development of an effective support system that is non-judgmental, caring, and supportive.

Such activities tend to keep them isolated and away from more productive, life-sustaining activities that serve to breathe life into their spirit.ĭevelop a trusted support system and discuss how they can best support and most effectively help you. Most firefighters spend significantly more time watching television and using a computer than they did starting their career. It is important to their spirit to learn to focus on what their spouse, children, community, work colleagues, and others need from them rather than what they want from others.įirst responders need to remain involved in activities they found fun and interesting before becoming a first responder.

A first responder with a healthy spirit is driven by the heart to solve problems, help those in need, and make the world, home, community, and work better places to be. The most meaningful things in life cannot be seen or touched, but are felt with the heart. The virtue of service is fundamental in making a first responder feel alive and useful, while finding purpose in their work.

Search for ways to express and demonstrate service with compassion. All of them can help improve coping ability, mitigate stress, prepare a first responder to more effectively process trauma, and enhance overall wellness.

Spirit of the north wellness how to#

Wellness practices for the spirit, or spiritual wellness, is a concept fairly new to first responders, but learning how to nurture, protect, and sustain one’s spirit is critical for survival.įollowing are several emotional-survival and wellness principles that firefighters and medics can develop. They suffer heartache, suffer with their victims, and bleed just like everybody else. They feel fear and are helpless at times. Similarly, Spirit of the North is the ideal wilderness companion, passionate, authentic, and deeply reverent of the natural world.Firefighters and medics are not invincible. David Backes, preeminent Olson biographer and scholar, contributes an introduction to each chapter, illuminating the historical context and personal significance of Olson’s words.įrequently, during a quiet moment of contemplation on a canoe trip, Olson would read brief passages of poetry and prose scrawled on small scraps of paper for inspiration and peace of mind. Reflective, anecdotal, and universally poignant, this book is a chronology of thoughts and experiences that ebb and flow in their assuredness and reveal the whole man, a wilderness icon mired in doubt while he doggedly refused to abandon his dreams. Revealing Olson’s understanding and love of wilderness, Spirit of the North gathers together for the first time the most quotable and memorable of his well-loved passages gleaned not only from published works, but also from personal letters, journal entries, and speeches. The wilderness was the spring of happiness in Olson’s life, and he devoted himself to the pursuit of sharing this magic with others and ensuring its future existence. His renowned writings, including the nature classics “The Singing Wilderness” and “Listening Point,” evoke the singular beauty and richness of the northern woods and lakes and reveal a philosophy of preservation that is as eloquent and relevant today as when he first wrote. Olson was the most beloved wilderness advocate of his generation.