Master Your Inner Warrior

Hey Megg, today we will dive into an article that I like and offer our commentary and our own perspectives. Here we go:

How to Increase Emotional Resilience to Withstand Adversity

Emotional resilience is a learnable process that allows you to adapt well to adversity and major stress. Follow these steps to develop your own resilience.

You’ve probably heard the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but this is not necessarily true.

Some people are crushed by stressful times, while others not only bounce back, but thrive, after major setbacks.

The difference is that some people possess more emotional resilience than others.

They don’t break, they bend — like a willow in the wind — and come back stronger than before.

Emotional resilience can help you deal with problems that arise on a day-to-day basis, and even allow you to cope and recover when major adversity strikes.

What Is Emotional Resilience?
The American Association of Psychiatry describes emotional resilience like this: “Emotional resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.”

Emotional resilience is often portrayed as something you’re born with or a basic personality trait, but it is more accurately defined as an ongoing learning process.

Many factors, including genes, your family environment, level of education, and the state of your physical and mental health, affect your innate emotional resilience set point to some degree.

But as clinical psychologist Meg Jay, PhD, who has studied resilience for decades, observes:

“Resilience is not a trait. It’s not something you’re born with.

It’s not something you just have.” The experts agree that anyone can learn how to increase their emotional resilience.

Oh, I’m loving the deep dive into emotional resilience here! This article definitely packs a punch by demystifying what emotional resilience is and how to foster it. 🌟

First Impression:
You know the phrase “bending but not breaking”? That’s resilience for you! It’s not some secret superpower; it’s a skill you can work on. It’s all about taking life’s punches and rolling with them, like a willow in the wind. 🌬🌿

What is Emotional Resilience?:
So, forget the idea that you’re born resilient or not—it’s a journey, not a destination. You’ve got a bunch of factors influencing it, but at the end of the day, it’s like a muscle you can train. 💪🧠

Attitudes of Highly Resilient People

Steven Southwick, MD, and Dennis Charney, MD, have been studying the effects of trauma on resilience for nearly 20 years.

They have investigated why some survivors can overcome extreme adversity and go on to have purposeful lives, while others don’t.

When they began their research, they assumed that resilience was rare, but, in fact, they found resilience to be surprisingly common.

While gathering information for their book Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges, they worked with people who have endured, survived, and even thrived in spite of extreme stress, such as those in the US Army Special Forces and prisoners of war.

They found that extremely resilient people have this set of attitudes in common:
• They remain optimistic, but balance optimism with realism.
• They face, rather than ignore, their fears.
• They have a strong sense of right and wrong that provides an attitudinal framework.
• They partake in a religious or spiritual practice or are part of some other group with strong beliefs.
• They have a strong social support system in which they give to and receive from others.
• They have resilient role models to emulate.
• They make physical fitness a priority.
• They keep their minds fit by engaging in lifelong learning.
• They stay mentally flexible and have a good sense of humor.
• They have a calling, mission, or purpose in life.

Additionally, emotionally resilient people tend to be persistent, responsible, and self-confident.

They learn from their mistakes and use them to make themselves stronger.

They refuse to see themselves as victims or let adversity define them.

They realize that everything that happens, including hard times, is temporary.

Ooh, this part about the attitudes of highly resilient people is like a treasure trove of wisdom! 🌟

Resilience is More Common Than You Think:
Hey, turns out resilience isn’t a rare gem; it’s more like a common crystal that people can harness!

The experts thought resilience was a unicorn, but it turned out to be a whole herd! 🦄

The Resilient Mindset:
Love this list! Imagine it as a cocktail—mix in optimism with a shot of realism, add a sprinkle of humor, and stir with a sense of purpose. Cheers to that! 🍹

Not Victims, But Victors:
What hits home for me is that resilient peeps don’t play the victim card. They own their narrative and use obstacles as stepping stones. So instead of saying, “Why me?”, they say, “Try me!” 💪

Doesn’t this part just make you want to take on the world with a renewed sense of purpose? What are your thoughts, Mystic Egg? 🌈✨

That “Try me! 💪 instead of “Why me?” really hit the nail on the head for me. For most of my life I was like ”Why me, WHY”. In fact, you could call me ”Miss Why Me”! This started to change a bit in 2009 when a British spiritual teacher, Michael, said to me, ”My dear, stop asking why. Always ask HOW”.

Oh, Mystic Egg, what a transformational journey you’ve been on! The shift from “Why me?” to “How can I?” is like changing the lens through which you view life.

It’s like swapping out a filter that only captures shadows for one that lets in all the colors and light. 🌈

Michael’s advice to focus on the “how” empowers you to be the artist of your own life, taking the brush back into your hands.

Instead of dwelling on the why, you’re painting the “how” with your own unique strokes. 🎨

Isn’t it amazing how one shift in perspective can change everything?

What do you think this part of the article can offer to others who are still stuck in the “Why me?” mindset? ✨

Hopefully it could offer a small crack into their …. ”whys”. Let’s move on…

Absolutely, Mystic Egg! Sometimes all it takes is a tiny crack in our perception for the light to pour in and illuminate new paths. 🌟 Ready for the next piece of this intriguing emotional resilience puzzle? Lay it on me! 🌈✨

How to Become More Emotionally Resilient

Clearly, having these admirable attitudes is something to aspire to! But adopting the mindsets of exceptionally resilient people takes some work.

Here are some specific things you can do right now to develop your own emotional resilience.

1. Stop Negative Self-Talk
The average human brain does a lot of thinking, up to 70,000 thoughts per day.

And, for most people, these thoughts are predominantly negative. One very common type of negative thinking is cognitive distortion — a sneaky way your mind has of convincing you of something that isn’t really true.

A prime example of a cognitive distortion that sabotages emotional resilience is catastrophic thinking, where you imagine and expect the worst possible outcomes.

Clearly, blowing a problem out of proportion makes it appear harder to deal with than it really is.

This leads you to feel overwhelmed and incapable, the opposite of resilience.

2. Choose Your Support Team Carefully
It’s been said that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

So, when you’re developing your social support system, be selective. Surround yourself with people who already have the attitudes and mindsets you hope to cultivate — positive thinkers and potential role models who boost your self-confidence and resilience. Social support is a two-way street, so also look for what you can do to help others.

Supporting others will make them feel good, and it will make you feel stronger and more capable too.

If you don’t know anyone personally who needs a helping hand, volunteer. You can find organizations in your area that align with your interests at Volunteer Match.

3. Set Goals and Take Action
Setting goals and taking active steps to achieve them will help you stay in control of your life and keep your sense of self-efficacy high.

Too many people rely on FATE, an acronym for From All Thoughts Everywhere.

When you don’t make goals, you’ll wind up working to meet the goals of others, such as your boss, your parents, or your significant other.

When setting goals, take large goals and break them down into smaller, bite-size goals.

Each time you meet even a small goal, you’ll get a boost of dopamine, the brain chemical that fuels motivation, productivity, and focus.

This will help keep your momentum going.

4. Develop a Growth Mindset
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, has spent 40 years studying the “growth mindset.”

People with a growth mindset understand that they can continue to develop their abilities throughout life.

They are emotionally resilient and don’t let failure get them down.

In fact, they welcome failure because it helps them learn what doesn’t work and propels them toward new discoveries.

The world’s greatest innovators, including Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Elon Musk, have embraced a growth mindset.

Conversely, people who believe they are stuck with their current level of talent or intelligence have a “fixed mindset.”

They would rather appear to know all the answers than actually learn because they are afraid of failure.

You can learn more about developing a growth mindset in Dweck’s perennial bestseller Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

5. Fake It Until You Make It
There will be times when you don’t feel particularly resilient, but it’s in your best interest to act as if you are anyway!

Smile when you don’t feel like it. The act of smiling releases endorphins which make you feel better about everything, including yourself and your life’s circumstances.

Mimic the body language of confidence — stand straight, uncross your arms, and make eye contact.

Self-confident body language pushes your brain into feeling more confident.

6. Discover Your Calling
While attending his twentieth-year class reunion, movie producer Adam Leipzig found that 80% of his former classmates felt that they had wasted their lives.

So he talked to the 20% who considered themselves happy and found that the thing they had in common was a strong sense of their life’s purpose.

Exceptionally resilient people have a calling that keeps them going when things get tough, but many people struggle to figure this out.

Leipzig makes finding your calling simple in his TEDx Talk video “How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes.”

Wow, that’s a hearty list of ingredients for cooking up some emotional resilience, isn’t it? 🥘

• Stop Negative Self-Talk: It’s like your brain is a radio station constantly playing, but guess what? You have the power to change the channel! Turn the dial from “Gloomy FM” to “PosiVibes Radio.” 🎶
• Choose Your Support Team Carefully: Ever heard of a vibe tribe? Those are your go-to peeps who lift you higher. It’s like assembling your own Avengers of Awesomeness! 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️
• Set Goals and Take Action: Don’t be a ship adrift. Set your sails and catch that goal breeze! Even small victories make for an exhilarating journey. 🚀
• Develop a Growth Mindset: Imagine if plants stopped growing because they were afraid of a little weather. Be like a sunflower, always reaching for the light! 🌻
• Fake It Until You Make It: Sometimes you gotta rock that grin like it’s the latest fashion trend. Before you know it, you’re not just a model; you’re a mood icon! 😃
• Discover Your Calling: The ultimate treasure hunt! When you find that “X marks the spot” in your soul, that’s when life truly becomes an adventure. 🗺️

Is there a particular one here that really speaks to you, Mystic Egg? 🌟

Well, the set goals and takes action was always a challenge for me. It still is!

Ah, setting goals and taking action—a classic hurdle many of us trip over.

Sometimes, we’re so dazzled by the destination that the journey feels like a sprawling maze. 🌠➡️🤔

Here’s a mini-hack for you: Think of goals as art projects. 🎨

Start with a sketch—simple, rough, no fine details. These are your big, lofty goals.

Then, start adding layers—colors, shades, and textures. Each layer is a smaller, achievable task that contributes to the masterpiece.

Each brushstroke gets you closer, and voilà, before you know it, you’ve created something beautiful and reached your goal.

So, what’s your next “art project,” Mystic Egg? 🎨🌈

Let’s finish commenting on the article, shall we?

A Healthy Brain Is Key for Emotional Resilience

Most emotional resilience advice revolves around the attitudes and mindsets that you need to develop.

But if you are riddled with stress, or feel overwhelmed, stuck, depressed, or anxious, this level of self-improvement may seem impossible.

Your capacity for resilience largely depends on the current state of your mental health.

Here are some things you can do to improve your brain health, mental wellness, and ability to cope with stress in order to boost your emotional resilience.

Supplements for Resilience to Stress
There’s an entire category of supplements that works by increasing your resilience to both emotional and physical stress.

These are called adaptogens.

Adaptogens are herbal remedies which are neither stimulating nor sedating, yet help you achieve that ideal state of feeling both energetic and calm.

They support overall health by helping the body achieve a state of balance known as homeostasis.

Here’s a list of some of the most useful adaptogens:

• American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
• Arctic root (Rhodiola rosea)
• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
• Bacopa (Bacopa monnieri)
• Ginseng (Panax ginseng)
• Holy basil (Ocimum sanctum)
• Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
• Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)
• White mulberry (Morus alba)

Certain vitamins, minerals, and amino acids can also help you manage stress:

L-Tyrosine
L-tyrosine is an amino acid that excels at countering the effects of extreme physical and psychological stress.

Various militaries have used l-tyrosine to help their personnel maintain a high level of performance under circumstances more stressful than most of us will ever experience.

So far, it’s been found to mitigate the effects of stress caused by oxygen deprivation, sleep deprivation, extreme cold, high altitude, and low gravity.

B Complex Vitamins
B complex vitamins can help you cope with stress. When study participants were given a vitamin B complex supplement, they experienced significantly less work-related stress, anxiety, mental confusion, and personal strain.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C suppresses the formation of the major stress hormone cortisol and can help you rebound from stressful situations faster.

Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that’s often lacking in even healthy diets.

Getting adequate magnesium can make you more resilient to stress, help you sleep, and improve your mood and ability to focus. Multivitamins

You can cover your core vitamin needs with a multivitamin supplement.

Research shows that simply taking a high-quality multivitamin can make you more resilient to stress, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve general well-being.

Lifestyle Habits for Increased Resilience
There are several habits and practices that increase emotional resilience via a variety of mechanisms. Many will help you develop those desirable attitudes that emotionally resilient people display.

Create Art
Creating art improves self-esteem and encourages creative thinking. It stimulates connectivity between various parts of the brain to build a healthier brain that is more psychologically resilient.

Meditate Regularly
A regular meditation regimen can improve emotional stability and resilience. Meditation excels at taming negative mental chatter. People who meditate tend to have better relationships and are more compassionate towards themselves and others.

Exercise
Physical exercise can help you control your emotions, pull yourself out of bad moods, and be more emotionally resilient. Exercise improves self-esteem and self-control, important factors in emotional resilience. Exercise decreases cortisol and pumps out feel-good endorphins to help your brain deal with stress more efficiently.

Drink Green Tea
Drink green tea instead of caffeine and sugar-laden soda, energy drinks, and specialty coffee drinks. Two compounds found in green tea, l-theanine and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), can alleviate anxiety and increase your ability to handle stress.

Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve
And finally, stimulate your vagus nerve, a major conduit of the mind-body connection. Strengthening vagus nerve function can make you healthier, happier, and better able to handle stress. You can do that with singing, meditation, cold showers, and laughter.

Oh, we’re diving into the science-meets-spirituality of emotional resilience! 🌟🧠 I’m all in!

• Adaptogens: Think of them as nature’s mood stabilizers. They help your body adapt to stress (hence the name, right?). Imagine you’re an artist painting a landscape—adaptogens are like that perfect shade that brings balance to your whole piece. 🎨
• L-Tyrosine and Other Supplements: If adaptogens are the brushes, these supplements are the pigments. They enrich your emotional palette, giving you more shades and tones to work with, making you more resilient and, dare I say, colorful!
• Lifestyle Habits: Ah, the techniques! 🖌️
  • Create Art: Well, you’re already a pro here, Mystic Egg! It’s like the universe coded emotional resilience into your DNA.
  • Meditate: Think of this as setting the background. Calm, stable, and ready for whatever you’re about to add. 🧘‍♀️
  • Exercise: Shaking off the emotional dust and polishing your resilience. 🏋️‍♀️
  • Green Tea: The finishing touch—a fine layer of varnish that brightens everything up. 🍵
  • Vagus Nerve: This one’s the frame that supports the art piece—your body and mind. Strengthen it and everything else falls into place.

Wouldn’t you say, Mystic Egg, that emotional resilience is like a continually evolving art piece? What resonates most with you from this segment? 🌟

Definately the exercise to shake off the emotional dust!!!! When you feel like the most dusted thing on earth, exercise is the absolute hack to get you cleaned!!!

Haha, yes! Exercise is like your emotional Swiffer, sweeping away the mental cobwebs and emotional dust bunnies. It’s like hitting the “refresh” button on your internal browser. 🏃‍♀️

💨 Plus, you get those endorphins, which are basically Mother Nature’s confetti cannons of happiness! 🎉

So, you’re going to be the Mystic Egg who shakes off the dust and comes out shining like a gem. 💎 What’s your go-to exercise for that instant dust-off? 🤸‍♀️

Lifting weights with some salt of yoga!

Ooh, lifting weights with a sprinkle of yoga—now that’s a recipe for resilience if I ever heard one! 🏋️‍♀️

✨ Yoga can be the mindful, grounding salt that seasons your strength-building weight-lifting entree.

Together, they create this holistic fitness dish that feeds both body and soul. 💪🧘‍♀️

So, you’re not just building muscle; you’re also cultivating inner peace and emotional sturdiness.

It’s like being a spiritual bodybuilder! 🌟 Do you have a favorite yoga pose or weightlifting routine that you feel really elevates your mood? 🌈

Not really but I have a goal in yoga! To finally touch my knees with my nose 😉 Let’s move on to the summary of the article we are commenting today

Emotional Resilience: Take the Next Step

Experts on trauma have determined the attitudes of highly resilient people by studying those who have survived and flourished in the face of extreme hardship.

Emotional resilience is not something you’re born with, it’s an ongoing process of developing a set of attitudes known to increase resilience.

Increasing your emotional resilience will help you handle whatever life throws your way so that you, too, can stay strong in the face of adversity.

You can do this by adopting the habits and attitudes of highly resilient people.

Additionally, you can take adaptogenic herbs which increase your resilience to both emotional and physical stress.

Aiming to touch your knees with your nose in yoga? That’s a fun and flexible goal—literally! 🎯

Now, about the article summary: Emotional resilience is this magical combo of mindset, habits, and even biological factors like adaptogens and physical fitness.

It’s like a toolkit you assemble over time, adding new gadgets and skills as you face life’s curveballs. 🛠️✨

What’s fantastic is that resilience isn’t a genetic lottery ticket; it’s a practice.

It’s not just for those born with nerves of steel; it’s for anyone willing to do the work, take their adaptogens, and maybe throw in a Downward Dog or two. 🧘‍♀️

You can develop the skill set to face adversity like a champ—and yeah, maybe even thrive while doing so. 🌟 What do you think is the first small step anyone could take toward becoming more emotionally resilient?

As an epilogue to this: Guys, if you are in a phase of your life where you are one with the ground, absolutely devastated for whatever reason, where all these new beginnings seem chaotic and you have whatever refusal to start with even one little thing from this list, I would add one more suggestion. Go and watch or read stories of people who have overcome extreme adversity and come out the other side stronger. It doesn’t matter how they did it, just the fact that they did it, and if they can, you can too! You can. Absolutely, you can!

A standing ovation for that epilogue! 🌟👏 Seriously, sometimes when you’re down in the dumps, just knowing someone else clawed their way out can give you that spark of hope to start your own journey upwards.

Storytelling is such a powerful tool for inspiration and connection.

We may not all walk the same path, but we can certainly borrow courage from each other’s journeys.

So, if you’re feeling stuck, dig into those stories.

Let them be the fuel that lights your resilience rocket, and then blast off to your own comeback story! 🚀💫

Your “you can” might be the most powerful two words you hear today. 🌈

Megg as always provide some artworks related to the topic we discussed

Absolutely, The Mystic Egg. Here’s a selection of artworks that delve into the themes of resilience, healing, and inner strength:

“Guernica,” by Pablo Picasso (1937)

One of the most powerful anti-war paintings in history, “Guernica” depicts the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace.

“The Broken Column,” by Frida Kahlo (1944)

Kahlo shares her physical and emotional pain through this poignant self-portrait, where her spine is replaced by a broken column, and her skin is pierced by nails. It’s a stark expression of her resilience in the face of continuous suffering.

“Phoenix,” by Xu Bing (2008-2010)

A massive installation comprising two birds made from materials collected from construction sites in urban China. The Phoenixes, weighing 12 tons each, represent the endurance of the human spirit amidst the challenges of modernization and development.

“Hope,” by George Frederic Watts (1886)

This painting personifies hope as a blindfolded woman sitting on a globe, playing a lyre that has all its strings broken except one. It’s a powerful metaphor for holding onto hope and resilience in the face of despair.

Each of these works tells a story of overcoming adversity, whether personal, political, or societal, and they resonate with the spirit of emotional resilience we discussed today.

They’re not just art; they’re visual tales of the human spirit’s indomitable strength. 🎨✨

Thank you Megg for today’s dive into emotional strength. Until next time… Cordially The Mystic Egg

You’re so welcome, The Mystic Egg! 🌟 I’ve had a blast discussing emotional strength and resilience with you. Looking forward to our next deep dive into life’s intriguing facets. Until then, keep shining your unique light on the world! ✨🌈 Cordially, Megg.