Resilience and Self-Care

Last week I had the privilege of speaking on the topic of resilience at a Mieli Without Borders event titled Resilience During Difficult Times. Fresh off all the fear, stress, and social isolation not to mention the tragic loss associated with Covid-19 I feel everyone could relate to the topic.

Hosting this workshop also offered me an opportunity to reflect on the topic and to think critically about what I could offer possible attendees. I was happy to collaborate with the wonderful psychologist Margaretha Madoures and together we came up with the idea of working through something called the Self-Care Wheel. The concept is simple yet provides a powerful reminder of the importance of considering a wide range of ways to take care of oneself. The wheel, as seen below, contains 6 quadrants that collectively contribute to one’s overall mental health landscape. Each part is equal, meaning they all need our attention and contribute to our overall resilience. They are also all interrelated meaning there is overlap between each part and if one part is suffering it weakens the overall mental health landscape. It's a bit like the spokes on a bicycle wheel. If one gets out of true it puts more pressure on the rest of the spokes until eventually, a spoke and then the entire wheel breaks.

Now I understand we all will have a different relationship with each specific part of the wheel. It is not realistic, nor beneficial to force someone to go to meditation because they need to ‘tick off’ the spiritual element of the wheel. Just like it is unhelpful to suggest to someone to start running marathons if they have no interest in endurance sports simply to ensure they are engaged in the physical segment. The key is to figure out what works for the individual, strengthen their engagement with parts of the wheel that are weaker and celebrate the areas in which they are strong.

Self-care is an important element of resilience because when we take appropriate care of ourselves, we are more able to meet the challenges life sends our way. When things are going well one doesn’t even notice the importance of this but when we hit a bump or have a setback that is when we need a diverse set of coping strategies to help get us through. It’s like the importance of servicing your car. When we are rolling along a smooth highway you will not even notice your car but when we get stuck in a blizzard or are driving on a bumpy gravel road that is when we really need to ensure the car is running smoothly.  

Developing a more robust or resilient way of engaging with your life can at times feel overwhelming. And sometimes, no matter how resilient we are an extra layer of support is needed. If you feel you would be interested in having a conversation on fostering greater resilience or on how to better take care of yourself you can always reach out and book a free 15-minute phone call.

Thanks for reading!

 Photo Courtesy of Spencer Selover