When crisis occur, there are surges in mental health and physical pain demands. Capacity and resilience training for these two large scale problems need to be brought to the forefront, to help prevent before we need to cure.

That is what resilience is in a sense, a means of prevention rather than cure.

For every 1% in unemployment there is an 2% increase in chronic pain conditions. Disasters can increase mental health demands by upto 25%! That is gargantuan!

We need to be there for one another of course. However this is not always possible, as in this current COVID-19 global pandemic.

 

Sometimes the causes of stress are outside our control. We always have options to:

Change how we respond, Rethink the problem, accept what is happening (this will only help you see clearly).

Stress itself is not a bad thing.

Pattern of stress is really important, If you experience stress in a prolonged or extreme way, you alter your capabilities and make yourself more vulnerable. In contrast if you bring predictability to stress in your life you bring resilience.

When you under stress, your Brain will make certain decisions for you, it will turn on/off to take away the threat.  When you are calm you have this Brian access. When under threat you do not have access.

When this happens and we are not in control, we feel dis-regulated.

So, we need to become regulated. This can happen by pattern repetitive somatosensory activity. (Essentially meaning a pattern of sensory stimuli). Can be tapping, moving whole body (why people also like running to calm their stressful lives). These are usually regulatory rhythms between 60-80 beats per minute. (Not heart rate!) 

We need little doses of these regulatory activity to keep us regulated in stressful times and prevent us from falling down the dis-regulated hole.

When you are having high mental energy, you are burning calories, you cant sustain it.

Daily essentials for Stress Resilience:

sufficient sleep

hydration + stable Insulin/Glucose (imperative – ditching the comfort foods we crave for)

Social connection (touch point people) – good quality relationships is probably the most imperative factors in determining longevity.

The mind controls the body, and subsequently the body changes the mind. So when we think about stress in a positive way, it can positively affect our body.

Labelling emotion and sharing – invite these positive/negative emotions with kindness and acceptance

if overthinking into the future and uncertainty – come back to the present moment and focus on environment/ nature – up close and at a distance (good eye exercise too)

Massage

Tai chi

Understand what MY stress trigger are and my pattern of how i react to it (when begin to lose empathy, reach for comfort foods, become more angrier… learn your behaviour patterns)

Mindfulness – is anything that hides, worries, woes and work for a time being.

Gratitude

breathing exercises

 

schedule all these in – for short bursts during stressful times

 

In midst of a hurricane – trees can break. But other trees can bend – these have stronger and deeper roots. Build your roots and look after them.