Resilience is traditionally defined as the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties – toughness; or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape – elasticity. – Oxford Dictionary
Resilience refers to the ability to successfully adapt to stressors, maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adversity. – US Defense Department
Several factors influence our resilience:
- Attitude (response to the stress)
- Environment – internal* and external
- Resources – both internal and external
- Flexibility
- Resolve or commitment
- A greater purpose
One or more of these factors has to break down in order for us to lose our way and the most important is our response and internal environment!
So, what is stress?
The World Health Organisation defines stress as: A state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives.
Chronic or low-grade stress, which is on-going such as financial worries, nursing a loved one or a sudden event which is shocking and potentially overwhelming, can induce a stress response which puts our bodies into ‘fight or flight”.
This response is driven by the sympathetic nervous system and results in the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.
These are the hormones our body releases to create alertness and to ensure our survival from danger and predators. Unfortunately, in modern life we are subjected to these chemicals for prolonged periods of time and, being hyper alert, on edge and always on the lookout for danger, can make it very difficult to relax thus leading to trouble controlling our moods, anxiety, insomnia and depression.
How does our body try to help us cope?
As a result of long-term stress, our brain updates our programming in a process called neural adaption. Neural adaption affects two main parts of the brain; the amygdala, our survival and fear centre and the pre-frontal cortex responsible for impulse control and decision making.
Remember: This entire stress response is because of how we have chosen to respond to or think about the stressful situation/s.
Signs to look out for: Short tempered, more irritable or more emotional than usual, easily overwhelmed, or “just not coping” and starting to have sleep disturbances or restless sleep.
According to neuroscience, our brains cannot think of creative solutions to fix our business or personal problems when they are in survival mode and the coherence between the different sections of the brain is lost. We must rewire the brain, calm down the amygdala and rebalance pre-frontal cortex activity and restore brain coherence.
How? Deep breathe, take up Dr Joe Dispenza meditation, balance your meals and prioritise your sleep.
Sleep plays a crucial role in building and maintaining resilience, both psychologically and physiologically.
A good night’s sleep, every night, supports the body and mind to handle stress more effectively, and in maintaining overall health.
One of the ways the brain does is by flushing neurons each night while we are sleeping. By keeping our neurons fresh we can think straight and are more likely to make good decisions to creatively fix our problems.
SleepDrops range of 15 expert sleep support products can be combined to create your own individual sleep programme. Now is the time to ensure you are getting the best sleep you can. Need help?
Please contact us support@sleepdrops.co.nz | www.sleepdrops.co.nz
