The Science of Resilience
Did you know that happiness is strongly connected to how well you rebound from setbacks?
Here’s some of the latest science on training your brain to get better at it.
How we respond to stress is a critical part of resilience. In the modern world, stress is an inevitable part of life. A little bit of stress is ok. It is a burst of energy that can help you to get your work done, motivate you to reach your goals and it can even boost your memory. Stress is key for survival, but too much stress can be harmful. Emotional stress that stays around for weeks or months can weaken the immune system and cause us to feel tired and anxious. To stay resilient and strong we have to take care of ourselves. We cannot avoid stress completely, but we can learn some ways of how we can calm our body down when stress overwhelms us.
Unlike early humans we are not under serious physical threat from bears, lions, tigers and leopards that want to eat us. However we still activate the same neural pathways that trigger our stress response through fear of rejection, fear of loneliness or of not being good enough, worrying about the future, or the past. The more we think like this, the more these fear pathways grow and become our default.
Mindfulness actually changes our brain. New research shows humans can train their brains to build and strengthen different connections that don’t reinforce the fear circuit. Over time practicing and using these new pathways can become our new responses to stress. Resilient brains can turn off the stress response, fight or flight, and return quickly to baseline. A solid baseline puts us in a grounded state, it’s stabilizing, it’s a connection to this earth we live on, it’s what we need in order to ride the inevitable challenges and stresses in our lives.
We don’t plan for failures but they are a part of life, and we can also learn to pick ourselves up after failure. The more you do it the easier it becomes, it becomes a habit. So bouncing back becomes a habit, being brave becomes a habit and it becomes part of who you are. There is no one size fits all, your life is unique, you have to be true to yourself and live your life. Your strength comes from knowing who you are and being centered.So find resilience building skills you’ll stick with.
Here are some tips that might help you get started; ·
Try to maintain a positive outlook
Don’t run from things that scare you; face them·
Be quick to reach out for support when things go haywire·
Learn new things as often as you can·
Find a mindfulness practice you will stick to·
Don’t beat yourself up or dwell on the past·
Recognize what makes you uniquely strong – and own it
