Resilience is the capacity to recover from difficulties in life, to adapt well in the face of adversity.  Learn how mindfulness can help build greater mental resilience.

7 Days of Resilience

Go Slow To Go Fast

When we go through something difficult, whether it is losing a job, our best friends moving away, a relationship breakup, or even losing our home to a natural disaster, there is emotional pain of adjusting to the way it is compared to how we want it to be. It’s normal and healthy to feel some sadness, or sense of loss. Allowing yourself to acknowledge and be curious about your feelings can help you provide yourself with the support you need, and possibly to even grow from the experience.

Awareness

Curious Observation

Cognitive Flexibility

Attitudes of Mindfulness

Focus

Shine On

There are a certain amount of ups and downs that are inevitable in life. This is inherent in being a human being. What if you could be a beacon of light for yourself in these moments? What if you engaged in the qualities and practices that support greater resilience? Resilience means that we're able to quickly recover from setbacks and challenges.

Resilience Rituals

Research shows that we experience around 50 small stresses every day! And to make matters worse, we probably don’t engage in ways to recover from each stress. So over the course of the day we can become more drained and less able to respond constructively to what’s happening. Each little stress we haven't recovered from might even be setting us up for overreacting to something small that happens later in the day.

An Encouraging Conversation

The way we talk to ourselves in moments of disappointment and challenge may have more impact on our lives than the challenge we’re facing itself. Some researchers estimate that only 10% of our stress is the stress event itself. The other 90% is the way we talk to ourselves and relate to the stress.

Playing The Long Game

t’s easy to get discouraged as you watch your goals and dreams be delayed and take more effort in the face of obstacles. Research by Carol Dweck shows that our mind-set has a lot to do with envisioning our dreams/goals as a long-game and not quitting when the going gets tough. If we believe our goals should require little effort and only our natural talents, we easily feel defeated and limit our ability to learn how to be more prepared and skilled in the future.

High Hopes

When we say we don't want to get our hopes up, what are we really afraid of? Is it that we don't believe we are resilient enough to face disappointment? Are we afraid of the embarrassment of something we put ourselves out there for not coming through and having to tell people? Are we trying to protect our own pride by pretending we don't really want something so badly?

This I Believe

It can feel easy to connect to confidence in another person’s resilience, but doubt our own. One reason is because we’re an outsider to other people’s struggles and this makes it easier to get perspective, and we take a more flexible and balanced view of others. But for ourselves, we often get caught up in one of three identity crises. The beliefs of I’m not capable, good or loveable enough are often provoked when we experience failure.

7 Days of Resilience

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