145: Mindfulness Saved My Life: Breaking Misconceptions from Spec Ops to Cops with US Navy SEAL Commander (ret.) Jon Macaskill

Jon Macaskill (@mindfulfrogman) is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned consultant and mindfulness and meditation teacher. Jon was a lieutenant during the famous Operation Red Wings disaster made famous by Marcus Lutrell's book and the related movie Lone Survivor.  Jon was born in South Africa but grew up in Ruston, Louisiana. After graduating high school, he served briefly as an enlisted sailor in the US Navy before receiving an appointment to the US Naval Academy and graduating from there with a BS in mathematics 4 years later. Jon served in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the coast of Somalia, and in Panama.  He now co-hosts a great podcast called Men Talking Mindfulness (@mentalkingmindfulness) which I highly recommend. His goal is to improve cultures and individuals through mindfulness, meditation, vulnerability, and compassion. In this episode you'll learn:  How Jon deal's with significant survivor's guilt from Operation Red Wings  A simple breathing exercise Jon uses to calm and center his mind.  How even a U.S. Navy SEAL Commander struggles with imposter syndrome. How cops and special operations personnel benefit from a mindfulness practice.   You can learn more about Jon at macaksillconsulting.com.  I want to offer you something that I'm very excited about, and it's absolutely FREE. We launched Tactical Tuesdays - a free weekly email where we bring you a few tactics, tips and strategies to help you succeed in the week ahead. It may be about a book I want to share, gear I've found useful, an inspiring quote, or anything else I think you'd like. To sign up for the Tactical Tuesdays email list, you can visit thesquadroom.net/tacticaltuesdays or just text your email address to 805-364-2331. I promise we won't sell or spam your email account.  If you want to know how you can support the show, there are a few ways to do that:  If you like what you heard today, if you got something out of the conversation, please consider leaving a review on the podcast player of your choice. If you got a few seconds, please leave a comment with your review.  Second, share this episode or any other episode you loved with people you know need to hear it. You can share episodes right from our webpage at thesquadroom.net and from most podcast players. Also, join our FB group and follow me on IG @thesquadroom  A special thanks to our sponsor for today's episode OfficerPrivacy.com. If cleaning up your name on the internet and making it harder for criminals to find you is important to you, check out the deal at officerprivacy.com/thesquadroom where you'll get a FREE USB data blocker and a one free month of monitoring when you sign up.  There are some great companies who support the podcast and support you as well. Go to thesquadroom.net/support to see exclusive deals from Signature Coins, Hard to Kill Fitness, Onnit, RangerUp, Hard Head Veterans, and Audible.  If you're looking for the best fitting ballistic helmet that exceeds NIJ standards and won't break the bank, check out Hardheadveterans.com and use the coupon code "Squadroom" to get $20 off your helmet.