Research shows that mindfulness and emotional awareness tools and practices have a large impact on the reduction of stress, anxiety, burnout, and symptoms of depression. These things are nothing new for Emergency and Disaster Responders to experience.

You are invited to rate each emotion on a scale from 1 (no feeling at all) to 10 (all the feels). If you'd like to add any notes to explain your rating, please do so. These are just for you. You are encouraged to rate each emotion/feeling/experience and share why it is where it is for you in this present moment.

This short exercise can be done whenever and can be done with another person or solo. It is meant to give you space to evaluate where you are in that moment. It’s like a pause in time. It is important to understand at times, we must slow down to speed up to remain resilient. Think of this as an opportunity to say "if I can measure, it, I can manage it."

You are then welcome to create a Positive Affirmation Statement for yourself! It is important to note affirmations are "I am" statements!

“Protect our People (PoP) is doing impactful work creating change around the stigma of reaching out for help. They have an amazing emotional check in process (“It’s Real, Check In”) that is so empowering... it is for times you are feeling amazing and want to check in and also those times when you need to feel grounded. I have done the check in a few times and notice myself feeling a little calmer, less stressed, and I have clarity on why I feel the way I am feeling. It has also it helped me to break my my thought pattern, and create a more positive way of thinking with the positive affirmation” - Anonymous