Strengthening Resilience
Before I learned about mindfulness practices…
I lived in the reactivity of my mind. My thoughts and emotions controlled me by keeping me up at night and making me worry about things I could not control. I would create scenarios on my way to work that made me anxious. I would ruminate on the past, the shoulda coulda woulda, that made me feel deep sadness and shame. My inner critic kept me in self-judgment, holding me back from experiencing new things, people, and life. I was not fully connected to my life; I was absolutely in my head and reacting to the scenarios my mind would conjure up, creating so much unnecessary suffering.
When I was introduced to mindfulness practice 12 years ago, I did not realize that it would play an essential role in who I am today and how I live my life. Mindfulness practice helped me develop resilience that I did not know existed. Because of my practice, I learned to become aware of and unhook from thoughts that create suffering. I learned to allow space for my emotions and lean into self-compassion when suffering. Mindfulness has allowed me to become more in touch with my intuition and listen to what I need for self-care.
Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle with anxiety, grief, and depression because these are a natural part of being human. But I can say that these moments do not last as long as they used to, and I have confidence in my ability to cope during these times. I am grateful for my resilience and self-compassion.
What is Resilience?
Resilience is the ability to thrive during challenging times. It is not just pushing through and holding on until difficulties subside, saying “few… I made it.” Resilience means tapping into your resources to manage life’s stressors.
Luckily, we have many resources to tap into. As mentioned in a previous blog post, Burnout and Resilience, there are 5 sources of self-care that help you thrive during challenging times. These sources are Physical, Cognitive, Emotional, Spiritual, and Relational resources.
Developing mindful awareness and becoming intentional about these 5 self-care sources of your life is important to strengthen resilience.
So how do we do that? We do that by developing a mindfulness practice around the 4 foundations of mindfulness: our breath, body, thoughts, and emotions. Becoming aware of these foundations of mindfulness will help you turn inward and listen to what you need. Listen to your intuition, as it will.
Developing mindful awareness of your body helps you compassionately meet your Physical needs to cope with life’s stressors, such as exercise, nutrition, hydration, and rest. Mindful awareness of your thoughts helps you with your cognitive resource by to get off auto-pilot thinking that causes you mental fatigue.
Mindful awareness of your emotional resource, “your emotional capacity,” helps you identify your needs around emotional self-care, such as journaling and allowing emotions to be present. Mindful awareness also supports your spiritual resource by helping you connect with purpose. Lastly, awareness of relational sources enables you to build connections and belonging.
After you have developed a mindful awareness and practice of these foundations, You can ask yourself.. what areas need extra support now. Do I need to rest, go outside, or get fresh air? Do I need to get off electronics, or do I need to delegate some of my to-do lists? Do I need to meditate? Do I need to connect with others? Do I need to allow space for my emotions?
Becoming aware of what you need for self-care at the moment will help you not only get off autopilot thinking that cause you cognitive fatigue and emotional distress, it will help you lean into self-compassion during challenging times.
Developing Your Mindfulness Practice
To support you in developing a mindfulness practice to learn to live in the present moment. Develop compassion for your body and all it does for you. To unhook from negative beliefs that cause you suffering. And allow space for unpleasant emotions to process and heal with compassion.
I am introducing the Daily Mindfulness Course which will help you develop a deeper mindfulness practice to boost your personal resilience and gain greater agency over your own well-being through awareness and compassion. Check it out!