Last week we discussed how anxiety is perfectly natural. In fact we are even programmed for it. Being vigilant and a bit worried about the future can bring the benefit of preparation and protection. Focusing on past mistakes can help us learn from them.
However, unremitting anxiety and the concomitant stress that it brings is not so good for us. At the extreme it can even cause illness.
We need to be able to heed the messages from our anxious thoughts and then let go of the fear – returning to the natural flow of our lives.
The ability to recover from anxiety and fear, time and time again, is called resilience.
Yes, the antidote to your natural tendency to worry is your system’s ability to rebalance itself. This ability is called resilience.
What is this resilience and how do we support and maintain it?
Henry Emmons answers this question in his wonderful book, The Chemistry of Calm. He is an integrative psychiatrist who weaves together mind-body natural therapies, mindfulness teachings and other holistic approaches to treat mental health issues like depression and anxiety. You can check out his website here.
Dr. Emmons likens resilience to a water cooler. Imagine each of us has a similar container in our brain. In that vessel is an elixir that keeps us resilient and able to handle the stresses we face without developing illness. This elixir helps keep us vital and alive. But the elixir gets used up as we face daily trials and expend energy in the business of life.
Each one of us has a different sized container depending on genetics, influences from our environment, the quality of caregiving we received when we were young, and our temperament.
But no matter how large or small our resilience vessel is, if we keep it adequately filled, we will remain energized, vital, and relatively free of symptoms.
So how do we keep our resilience vessel full?
Dr Emmons outlines exactly how to do this. He describes seven roots of resilience – with specific guidelines on how to nourish each root and support resilience. I will condense the roots to three.
In order to cultivate resilience we need to create balance in three important areas of our lives:
- Body – including diet, supplements, lifestyle choices like sleep, activity/rest cycles
- Mind and Emotions – including mindfulness, awareness of inner experience, releasing “my story”
- Connection – to ourselves and to others through acceptance, kindness and generosity
Stay tuned for my next blog where we will take a deep dive into balancing our bodies and learn specific strategies to balance our biochemistry.
