Six Ways to Enhance Your Resilience
Joshua Allen • April 13, 2020
Resilience is how well you can deal with and bounce back from difficulties in life.
Stay Calm
Finding ways to remain calm in a time of crisis is probably the most important thing you can do to cultivate your resilience. Being calm means being relaxed which means engaging your nervous system that is opposite of ‘fight or flight’. This takes discipline to do especially when much of our day is spent in stressful (fight or flight mode) situations. Stretching is a great way to do this (join Nova each week for a guided stretch class on Instagram Live). Other ways to be calm are focused breathing, magnesium supplementation, meditation and limiting media exposure.
Connect with Nature
Being outdoors provides infinite ways to make yourself healthier and more resilient to getting sick. Head to the lake to experience a ‘Blue Mind’
that comes by being near water. Go for a walk in the forest and listen to the wind blow between the trees. Sit in your backyard and watch the birds. Setting up bird feeders is something my family has done during quarantine which has helped not only engage my children but to calm my mind. Consider starting a flower or vegetable garden. Did you know that working the soil, being in nature and breathing the air while outside exposes us to beneficial bacteria that helps us become more resilient to viruses?
Intentional Movement
Exercise and move your body. While fitness centres are closed, there are plenty of options you can explore that will keep you healthy and fit during quarantine. A strong and fit person is less likely to become sick compared to someone who does not exercise. Walking is the most basic form of movement we can all do. Perhaps kick around a soccer ball with your child in the backyard. Working out on your own or with your online training coach can take you a step further. Remember that exercise is a form of stress that our body adapts to. If you feel 'under the weather' make sure your exercise is not too intense as to tax the immune system more than necessary. During Covid-19 it is important to stay fit but not overdo it by draining your immune system if it is already down.
Sleep and Rest
Being at home more allows us to utilize our bed more. For those who never had the option to take a nap during the day due to travel or office setups, now have a chance. Taking a 10-15min mid-day snooze is one of the best things you can do for your body and brain. Not only will you be cultivating better resilience, you will find enhanced mental clarity allowing you to accomplish better work. With nowhere to be after 8pm but home, there is no reason why we should be staying up later than necessary. Yes a late movie once a week is good but the other days, try to turn off the light before 10pm. Now is the time to catch up.
Mindset
Together, we are all facing adversity. Each person deals with adversity differently. Some may have never experienced much adversity in their lives, making Covid-19 their first life shattering challenge. Others may have dealt with struggles in their past, giving them a better mindset on how to get through the current situation. When we face a problem there are three types of mindsets.
1) Problem oriented. This is when we can not stop thinking about the problem to the point of victimizing ourselves and holding ourselves back from seeing the solution.
2) Solution oriented. We recognize the problem and see a way to fix it and focus just on that - making the situation better by problem solving.
3) Infinite Possibilities - We see opportunity all around us and anything is possible.
What mindset do you find yourself in? It is okay to feel down and focus on the problem as we are all human. But humans are problem solvers and the sooner we can think positively about problem solving the sooner we will make the most of this situation and come out better.
Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation
While nothing beats a well balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and occasional meat, the reality is that the quality of our food is not the same as it once was. The more we eat food that is not local, pasture raised and organic, the less minerals and vitamins we get, even when we are eating a ‘healthy balanced diet’. Supporting our bodies and beating a virus can be improved with supplementation. Some of the best supplements to add into a diet for added resilience include multivitamins, Vitamin C and Vitamin D3. These are the basics that if you are not eating a predominately locally grown, organic, pasture raised well balanced diet should consider. Personally, I also like to supplement with magnesium, fish oil and glutathione (body's most powerful antioxidant) for added support.
-Joshua Allen
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