Resilience isn’t just being tough; it’s a skill you can develop, and meditation can help
When it comes to weathering life’s storms, resilience can help. What you need is flexibility and balance – things yoga and meditation will teach you
Maybe it’s just coincidence that resilience is trending during these troubled times, but it does seem to have become a buzzword.
Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant examine it in their bestselling book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, one of hundreds of similar titles online (many aimed at children). The highly motivated can enrol in courses such as the one taught at the University of Minnesota in the United States, “Change: Loss, Opportunity and Resilience” or the online course “Mental Resilience Masterclass”.
Tara Brach, psychologist and Buddhist meditation guru, puts it this way: “Our habit is to view challenging situations as if something is wrong; that we are a victim and we have a problem. What if instead of a problem, we perceive stress as a signal to call on our resourcefulness, our intelligence, care and courage? Resilience grows when we become intentional about bringing our best to difficult life seasons.”
I have more than just an academic interest in the subject. In the space of four months this past year, my mother and father died; my husband and I separated; and I had a health scare. “Any one of those would be enough to make someone trip if not fall,” was a constant refrain from friends. They were surprised by how resilient I was.
I was, too.