“Building Critical Thinkers:” Kairos brings Wellness Workshops to Local Police Academy
- Hannah Gonzalez
- Apr 28
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 29
by Hannah Gonzalez
In Morrisville, NY, local police academy recruits have built breathwork and holistic wellness into their coursework.
Since Spring 2024, Kairos Wellness Experience has worked with the academy to build holistic wellness workshops into the cadet training program. Spearheaded by Caitlin Clark, Investigator, the partnership incorporates breathing exercises, mindfulness practice, personal training and injury prevention to enrich the coursework typical of academy programming.
Kairos co-founder and health coach, Al Gonzalez says KWE’s approach builds essential wellness skills for students that increase mental sharpness, problem-solving skills, and the sense of community among cadets.
In Al’s words, “The authenticity of this work is immeasurable.”
Occupational exercise
At our core, Kairos represents the intersection of holistic wellness and personal fitness. For cadets, both of these aspects are of equal importance.
That being said, physical fitness is a central aspect of their training, an aspect that is greatly improved by breathwork. KWE’s workshops with the academy include breathing both for mindfulness and for personal fitness, allowing cadets to increase personal bests and, specifically, plank times.
Al and Carol, Kairos co-founders and academy workshop leaders, have also tailored and coined workouts that will specifically benefit law enforcement officers.
“We have a lot of weight on our backs and our hips,” says Clark, who took on the role as academy assistant director in 2024. “One wrong move, and you can injure yourself. People are more likely to get injured because they stepped out of the car wrong.”
In addition to strength conditioning and workout reps, Al and Carol teach an exercise that mimics getting out of the driver’s seat of a car. The specificity and specialty of each exercise, all tailored with the cadets and their careers in mind, are essential to the students’ physical fitness and injury prevention down the line.
The personal in the paramilitary
One of the most praised aspects of KWE is Al and Carol’s ability to not only meet clients and cadets where they are, but establish trust- and comfort-based relationships that will increase both strength and sense of wellness.
What stands out most to Clark about the two leaders?
“They make an effort to know names.” - Investgator Clark
As simple as it sounds, Al and Carol’s commitment to knowing each cadet’s first name in a traditionally last-name-basis environment makes a big difference in getting to know each cadet as a person, aspiring officer and critical thinker. In turn, the workshops offer an opportunity to model speaking respectfully and confronting harsh or toxic gym stereotypes, while still being challenging and pushing for greatness.
Moreover, the competitive but lighthearted environment promotes a strong sense of team building that drives cadets toward improvement in all areas.
“Rather than competing with each other, they’re kind of working together to be better in a holistic dynamic,” Clark states. “It’s fun because it’s lighthearted, and you end up side by side being like, ‘You call that a squat?’”
“We remember how we are made to feel”
Kairos offers a compassionate yet competitive environment for cadets to practice wellness and fitness, allowing the students to more wholly retain the essential lessons they learn while working out with Al and Carol.
“Studies have shown, learning in high risk situations [doesn’t] really happen,” Clark relates. “If I’m teaching you something and I’m just screaming at you, what are you really going to process?”
“If nothing else, you’re going to learn to respond fear-based, rather than learning to work through those primitive responses to hopefully make better decisions,” she continues. “Al and Carol treat [the recruits] as if they’ve been on the road.”
As for the cadets, “they know they’re gonna be sore,” but they look forward to their Kairos curriculum every week, according to Clark. Academy graduates from past semesters have even returned to participate in the weekly workouts.
While some were hesitant at first to practice breathing, a universally intrinsic skill, “you saw the buy-in happen,” Clark finishes. “The proof’s in the pudding.”
And for Clark? “I love going there because I feel like a [expletive] rockstar.”
Building critical thinkers
“When you are in a recruit dynamic, a lot of times people treat you a little subpar,” Clark says of the nature of academy training. “It’s paramilitary. We’re trying to build you to be a certain way so you can handle these situations and be able to act.”
“While there’s a time and a place for paramilitary dynamics,” she continues, “I think we need to work on building critical thinkers, not people who just do what they were told to do.”
In any first responder workplace, many professionals may face trauma as a direct result of their job. By incorporating KWE’s techniques for holistic wellness, first responders can better prioritize calmness and intention before stepping into stressful situations. This will allow for increased critical thinking ability and safe split-second decision making.
In addition to practicing breathwork, positive thinking and compassion, Clark emphasizes true proficiency as a central aspect of efficient, caring and safe law enforcement.
“When we’re proficient, we’re less likely to make fear based decisions, and we’re more likely to make really good decisions,” she says. “If we train to the minimum standards, it is hard to be able to transition to different skills or modalities because we lack the proficiency. In turn, our performance and efficacy takes a hit.”
Further, in a high-stress profession, holistic wellness makes all the difference in how you show up. One’s ability to stay collected in times of trauma or stress is directly impacted by their holistic state of wellbeing. For those in helping professions and first responders alike, holistic wellness will improve our ability to serve others with respect, compassion and safety.
“It takes a village,” Clark states, “and if you think it doesn’t, you will never be able to truly attain that calmness and gentleness. It is all about caring.”
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