Daily Intention of Building Resilience

Setting an intention is like drawing a map of where you wish to go—it becomes the driving force behind your goals and visions. Without an intention, there is no map, and you’re just driving down a road with no destination in mind.

Below we unpack the Intention of Building Resilience and how it can support you during your yoga or meditation practice and throughout your day-to-day life. When you set this intention and bring it into practice you will experience life with more balance and ease. Allow your meditation to be led by this intention or use it as a gentle prompt throughout your day to reflect on and come back to the present moment.

Resilience

Resilience is important for mental health and wellbeing and it’s something each of us can learn. Some people are naturally more resilient, it’s a skill that you can strengthen. Psychologists have defined resilience as “adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, threats such as relationship and family issues or downfalls at work.” As much as resilience is about coping well with adversity it can also inspire huge amounts of personal growth.

Neuroscientists have revealed we are inherently emotional beings, just like any other organism from reptiles to insects, we respond through emotions first and thinking second. Responding with emotions first has been ingrained to protect us as a defence mechanism to navigating the environment surrounding us.

But what if we could learn to train that, or at least be aware of our emotions enough that we can change the outcome and our actions to ensue. To build resilience.

Life begins to change when we practice resilience, it empowers us to accept, adapt and overcome challenges, to keep moving, and learn from setbacks.

“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive.” ― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

The Myall Wellbeing Team have shared some of their favourite resources on Resilience below. As you listen, read and watch, our hope is that you will feel inspired. Pay it forward to a loved one, share with us what resonated with you or share with us your own resources in return!

Elizabeth Gilbert on Resilience

Ever heard of Eat. Pray. Love? The exceptional author Elizabeth Gilbert has written another international best-seller called Big Magic, Living Beyond fear.

This time around, Elizabeth shares her wisdom of cultivating creativity, breaking down suffering and giving insights into inspiration. She delves into getting stuck into what we love goes hand in hand with confronting what we fear most, giving readers the inspiration to embrace curiosity and let go of worries and everyday stressors.

In a recent blog, Elizabeth shared her secret: when she’s feeling overwhelmed with fear and anxiety, she will write in the journal things she’d love to hear. For example:

“I’m right here, Liz, I love you. I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere. I see how much you’re suffering and I’ve nothing but time to sit here and be with you.”

She has admitted to writing numerous versions of these throughout her journal as motivation to get herself back on her feet. Perhaps we could all take a leaf from Liz’s journal.

― Elizabeth Gilbert , Big Magic, Living Beyond Fear

Failure Cultivates Resilience

Clinical psychologist Raphael Rose performs research for well-known company NASA about creating behavioural changes. Rachael believes that failure is the key to creating resilience. In this TEDx talk, Raphael chats about the importance of failure, to regard it not as a downfall but as a lesson that can hardwire us to learn resilience, resulting in a fuller and enriched life.

“Being resilient means you face stressors and learn from your mistakes and don’t avoid making them.“

Raphael is an advocate for maintaining meaningful pursuits, the more your attention is on a meaningful pursuit, the more your mind is taking off everyday stressors.

Watch the full TedX Video.

Mindfulness Builds Resilience

Often we can get caught up dwelling on the past or our anxieties for what is to come. In yoga or meditation, we are reminded to bring our attention and focus to the present moment. By focusing on the present moment we can practice resilience and remind ourselves that things are okay.
Mindfulness can help us do this, it can help us hone into where our emotions, thoughts and feelings are, allowing us to choose the reactions and thoughts we begin to use.

One activity that can help simmer negative thoughts and focus on the present can be through a type of meditation called ‘body scanning’. Here you will follow sensations in your body from head to toe. Strong emotions can manifest physically in the body, body scanning can help you focus on these areas and release them.

Read the full article and perform body scanning.

A Resilient Brain

Have you ever wondered why some people are more adaptable to stress than others? Perhaps they ‘bounce back’ quickly after a huge setback. Could it be possible that their brain is just wired a little differently?
This article analyses research by social scientists and answers the most frequently asked questions about resilience and what it does to the brain.

Read the full article.

Resilience in Business

Now more so than ever is perhaps the most critical time for businesses. With the uncertainty of lockdowns and government restrictions, resilience is essential in the corporate world to ride out an economic slow-down and maintain business operations. The following article from Financial Worldwide discusses post-covid lessons learned and the benefits of building an operational business resilience plan.

Read the full article.

Tips to Build Resilience

Cleaning up the mental mess is a collection of podcasts hosted by cognitive neuroscientist and author Caroline Leaf. Caroline provides in-depth conversations on sometimes confronting topics such as trauma, resilience and adversity, providing practical, science-based tips on how to take back control.

Listen to the podcast.

Here are some elements of everyday life that can influence and help you build resilience:

Practice self-compassion

Be kind toward yourself. If you are too critical you’re less likely to believe that positive change and recovery is possible. By showing yourself compassion,  slowly making changes and persisting.

• Be mindful: Bring awareness to your feelings without judgement. Use words to describe these feelings, like “This hurts me” or “This is stressful.”
• Remind yourself that you’re not alone: Although the trigger is different for everyone, every person on the planet experiences these painful human emotions in some shape or form. Say to yourself, “We all go through periods of struggle” or “Everyone feels this way at times”
• Be kind: Place your hands on your heart and say “I accept myself for who I am.”

Remain connected

Going through hard times with the support of loved ones is so much easier than doing it alone. Ensure you’re remaining connected to those that care about you most, these people can provide support during the hard times.

Foster wellness

Exercise and eating well can have huge emotional and physical benefits. These can help manage emotions and emotional regulation which is especially important in times of adversity where resilience is needed most. Mindful movement in the form of yoga can be a great way to quieten the mind and connect your body with your breath.

Be proactive

As uncomfortable feelings arise, notice them without judgement. It could be helpful to keep a list of feelings.

Continue setting an intention of resilience at our classes in-studio or virtually. Download the Myall App on Google Play (Android) or the App Store (Apple) and view our Studio Timetable.