What is Resilience?
Being resilient means adapting and bouncing back when something difficult happens (Miles, 2022). It is important to note that we will have different levels of resilience at different points in our lives – sometimes we may bounce back quite easily but may need a little bit more time and support at other points.
Overall, building resilience is important to respond to stressful situations. This makes us better prepared to combat stress and overcome issues. Resilience is important for individuals as well as businesses. In fact, Resilience is one of our values here at Maxwell Hodge as we recognise that you cannot maintain a successful business without resilience, as we need to adapt to the ever-changing world of business. This includes changes in the economy and market as well as legal changes. Similarly, resilience for individuals means the ability to cope with change, whether that be in our personal or professional lives, or both.
For individuals, the benefits of resilience are outlined by Miles (2022) as:
- Improved learning and academic achievement.
- Lower absences from work or study due to sickness.
- Reduced use of risk-taking behaviours such as excessive drinking, smoking or use of drugs.
- Increased involvement in community or family activities.
- A lower rate of mortality and increased physical health.
Barriers to Resilience
Although it is important to build resilience, it is not always easy as there can be barriers to overcome. According to Mind (2024) these barriers include:
- Having a long-term physical health condition.
- Having a mental health problem.
- Experiencing discrimination and hate.
- Experiencing loneliness.
- Experiencing poverty and money worries.
- Being a single parent.
- Being a carer.
Meditation
Lower levels of stress and increased resilience can be achieved through meditation. This is because meditation releases physical tension and worries, which helps to ease anxiety, stress, and low mood. Meditation can help us to become more resilient because it brings a sense of calm, enabling us to respond to events in a measured way, as opposed to reacting with our emotions. (NHS).
Try adding meditation to your daily routine by:
- Setting time aside.
- Finding a comfortable place to meditate.
- Practicing mindfulness to focus on the present moment.
Once you have achieved the above, you can start your meditation: “with your eyes closed, simply breathe in while saying “breathe in” in your head as you do. Then breathe out and say, “breathe out”. For the next 20 minutes or so, your aim is to focus on this circular breath and the simple words in your head as much as possible”. (NHS)
One of the main challenges with meditation is focusing the mind. This is why practicing mindfulness is key, to avoid distractions and remain present.
Like most things, you will get the hang of meditation overtime and be able to incorporate it into your daily routine, e.g. starting or ending your day with meditation.
References
- How to meditate for beginners
- Managing stress and building resilience
- The importance of building resilience