WHAT IS RESILIENCE?
Stress is an integral and necessary part of our everyday lives. However, too much all at once may be harmful to our performance, so developing resilience is essential to protect ourselves.
In order to become resilient, we need to develop a compassionate self and accept stress as a necessary part of life: we might choose to practice meditation and relaxation, refresh and reframe situations, notice and practice new behaviours, and come to understand how our limited belief systems can get in the way of our progression. Once the warning signs become more quickly recognised, we are then able to remain calm in stressful situations.
Simple therapeutic techniques enable us to challenge our personal biases and learn to embrace uncertainty. We become less fearful of new experiences, allowing greater strength and resilience. Perfectionism can be an obstacle to this, so a healthy management of expectations allows us to move away from the negative default of our mindset and develop realistic goals so that we can stay motivated and optimistic.
Flexible thinking helps to anticipate potential stressors and further develops this sense of adaptability and self reflectiveness, by breaking down problems into manageable pieces and reframing potentially negative situations into opportunities for learning.
Self-awareness, patience and recognition of these triggers promotes awareness of the fight freeze or flight response . Then together we can use various therapeutic counselling techniques to make more reasonable choices and feel better in ourselves.
Self compassion is imperative to build on emotional intelligence, which in turn enables us to navigate challenges and negotiate change, whilst maintaining our resilience by regulating emotions. By being more self-compassionate and developing protective boundaries, we discover that it is okay to occasionally lean on others and use our lived-in community to feel more integrated. Everyday life can feel lonely and isolating sometimes even with a partner, but by responding in the ways suggested, we are able to remain socially buoyant. Good health is not just an absence of disease, it is a lifelong quest for holistic balance, achieved by small regular efforts & daily or weekly disciplines we can discover.
The only certainties in life are its integral uncertainty, dynamism and fluidity, so freeing ourselves to live life to the full is enhanced by nurturing our on-going resilience. Resilience enables us to bounce back from difficult experiences, maintain a sense of psychic well-being and navigate challenges with greater optimism.
I look forward to meeting you for counselling in Brighton and Hove to explore these ideas further.
