Resilience represents our ability to adapt to a situation and face sudden difficulties head on. When unexpected events happen including medical emergencies or illness, the loss of a loved one, workplace stresses and sudden financial difficulties, people who are described as being resilient are able to use their strengths to withstand adversity and ‘bounce back’.
Being resilient doesn’t mean that someone won’t feel stressed or upset, and resilience is not something that only a select few possess. Resilience is something that can be developed and worked on over a period of time – we can train ourselves (and others) to be more resilient.
How to Build Resilience
Try to imagine resilience like a battery that needs charging to rely on it. When it is fully charged we can utilise it when we are in a stressful period of our lives. The activities that charge this battery are those that make us feel ‘nourished’, energised and centred. Below are some ideas on how to do this:
Eating a healthy and balanced diet, regular exercise, drinking plenty of water and avoiding excess alcohol. The healthier you physically feel, the more energetic you are likely to be. Training teams in nutrition so they have an understanding of the effects of food & lifestyle choices on their stress is a really helpful way to improve a team’s resilience to workplace and personal stress. Check our Wellbeing in Your Office’s nutrition courses.
Getting enough sleep. It’s common during times of stress for our sleep patterns to be interrupted or for insomnia to develop, and lack of sleep can have a detrimental impact on our physical and mental health. Most people neglect their sleep and don’t practice good ‘sleep hygiene’ and yet, it can be one of the most effective things one can do to improve resilience. Wellbeing in your Office run sleep workshops to help teams understand the power of sleep and how to improve it.
Keeping active. Whether it is going to the gym, practicing yoga, getting outside for regularly walks or a jog, swimming, cycling etc, staying active can have a positive impact on both the body and mind. Regular exercise increases endorphins (helping us to feel more positive), can reduce the risk of serious disease, lowers blood pressure and helps us to focus and concentrate.
Encouraging teams to get to know each other can be a great way to enable people to talk and discuss their issues. This can be achieved through regular activity classes, charity challenges or simply have a dedicated day to getting to know someone new in the business though a coffee of lunch date.
Financial wellbeing – having your finances in order, a budget in place or a good understanding that you are not continually over spending your income will help provide resilience. Wellbeing in Your Office provide Financial wellbeing sessions to help teams understand how to budget, be aware of their finances and reduce the burden of worry associated with finances.
Reframing depleting activities into nourishing activities. Mindfulness meditation teaches us how to utilise every day activities into small nourishing mindful practices. This way we not only practice being in the present moment which is clinically proven to reduce stress but also, we can help turn those tasks we once viewed as stressful or frustrating into less depleting or even nourishing ones.
Being present and in the moment. Being mindful allows us to focus on our environment and experience and face it head on. Mindful meditation is an excellent way of being able to be present – being aware of the moment with an openness that allows us to see things as they really are. This gives an opportunity to choose an appropriate response to a situation, thinking rationally and calmly. Find out more about our Mindfulness Meditation here:
Let us know what you do for you teams to keep them resilient?