Mark D. Seery, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, recently published research challenging the popular belief that, “people are born with a certain level of resilience (and are prone to either breakdowns or breakthroughs).” His studies showed that subjects who had endured adversity in their lifetime not only had a greater sense of well-being than those who’d suffered a severe amount of trauma, they were also better off than those who’d experienced no trauma at all.
“Fortunately,” writes life coach Martha Beck, “suffering emotional blows isn’t the only way to grow psychologically stronger.”
Here are three ways to grow your psychological muscles without suffering any kind of emotional trauma.
1. Yoga
“In a challenging posture, your body screams, ‘Stop, stop! Are you nuts?’ ” Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD explains. “But you strive for equanimity. You’re learning to react less emotionally. And that’s the heart of resilience—having self-control.” Read more.
According to Psychologists at the Institute of HeartMath, an organization training U.S. military service members to cope with the stresses of war, the key to keeping calm involves two steps of body awareness. First, you must recognize what your body is doing – how it is showing signs of natural stress response. Step two is consciously returning to balance. This can involve breathing slowly, and summoning back feelings you had the last time you remember feeling serene.
“Remind yourself that stress is often an overreaction,” Beck writes. “It’s usually not the problem that triggers panic; it’s the undue significance you’ve placed on it.”
3. Look back
Recognize your natural resilience through looking back over setbacks and turning points in your life. Recall what you did in each instance that helped you to push through, and then take a moment to celebrate your inherent strength that not only allowed you to rise above conflict before, but will help you do it again.
Read the full article here.
How have you built resilience against anxiety in your life?