Stress is simply a fact of life. Some stress is good. It motivates us to action and helps us meet deadlines. Other types of stress turns toxic, robbing us of happiness and stealing our ability to function at our best. Regardless of what control we have over the stress situation, what we do have control over is our stress resilience.

Stress Resilience is the ability to adapt to and quickly bounce back from stress inducing situations.

Strong Resilience = Adaptability + Faster Bounce Back = High Stress Endurance

Resilience starts well before the arrival of stress

Being resilient is the intentional choice of regular self-care habits and thinking patterns that bring mental, physical and emotional rest, rejuvenation, energy and joy. Some common examples are:

  • Reading a good book
  • Time with friends
  • Exercise
  • Getting outdoors
  • Meditation
  • Gratitude and positivity
  • Prioritizing sleep
  • Creative outlets

Activities that give our brain, body and emotions a change of scenery at regular intervals daily, weekly and/or monthly build up our resilience to the negative pressures of stress. People who seem most resilient in stress always have some form of self-care creating that resilience. The good news is all of us can increase our stress resilience.

Experiment and practicing

It is important to experiment and practice with different resiliency habits and thinking patterns to find the ones that are best tailored to you.

Explore how and when these work or do not work for you. Learn what your ideal habits are and what your minimal stress resiliency habits are. That way you can live in your ideal habits most of the time and hold to your minimum when times are hardest.

Trying something once will not give you the wisdom you need. Remember, it may take up to 3-6 months before you see the impact. The goal of experimenting and practicing is to find the mix of the resiliency that increases your personal stress strength.

Go ahead and try out what works for other people, but don’t settle until you find your unique stress strength resiliency and management tools. You are worth the investment.

Enlist the help of a Vera Coach

It is always helpful to have someone in your life who can help you identify your stress resiliency strategies. Someone who is skilled at helping you discover what works best for you as a unique individual.

There are things in life we can not change, however, we always have the power of choosing how we show up and how we respond to things. If you are tired of living under the tyranny of stress, try a session or two with a Vera Health Coach to see if coaching is a stress resiliency strategy that works for you.

Take time for an annual self-check for stress:
Once a year, take time to be self-aware and check on the stress levels in your life. A great time to do this is during your annual whole health evaluation.

Is it time for you to have a stress resilience and/or stress management tune up? Check in with your health coach. Then make a choice to take one step towards being stress strong.

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