Resilience Series – Lesson One

What is Resilience?

Resilience is the capacity each of us has for growth and positive adaptation despite the nearly constant barrage of stress we all feel daily at work, in our communities, and in our personal lives. A strong resilience core means that you will be better prepared to:

• Meet life’s challenges with confidence.
• Recover more quickly from adversity.
• Learn and grow stronger as you navigate through life.
• Adapt to changing circumstances.
• Live with courage.

Stress, adversity, and trauma do not have to determine the outcomes of your life. You can be proactive and make changes now that will make a long-term difference in your life. By the way, your resilience must continually be cultivated and grown. Just like our physical muscles need daily exercises to remain firm and agile, our resilience muscle needs daily and consistent development.

Resilience is a Lifetime Approach

You can imagine the changes that occur over one’s life. If you are not growing resilience, you are shrinking back, there is always a constant pull on using your emotional capacity. It will be helpful to stay ahead of adversity by building your resilience.

Our resilience core comprises five characteristics essential to resilience:

• A sense of purpose
• Authenticity
• Perseverance Self-reliance
• Equanimity

Practical Exercise for Resilience

Building resilience takes time and a willingness to continue going forward even when it is difficult, and you are too tired to do one more thing. The following exercise is a good place to begin. Try to integrate it into your daily routine.

EXERCISE #1 – Learning to quiet and rest.

Take two minutes a day to enjoy getting acquainted with quieting your body. In our fast-paced world, resting or quieting has not been protected or reinforced. Give you mind and body a break by going outside, try to be free from distractions of other humans. Once outside in a distraction free place. Set your timer for two minutes so you don’t have to look at your watch. Allow yourself to take in some deep breaths, close your eyes if it would be safe, and continue to slowly take deep breaths and exhaling slowly. Notice what you hear as you are breathing. Listen for your breath, the birds, the hum of a mower, the cars driving on the road, the dogs barking or whatever is within an ear shot. Once the timer goes off, open your eyes, take one more deep breath and exhale. Notice how you feel with just two minutes of relaxation. Rest builds resilience.