Five Practices to Enhance Your Resilience Mary Steinhardt The University of Texas at Austin

Transform our Resistance Grow our Resilient Self What is Resilience? The capacity to bounce back from stressful situations, adapt and succeed. That ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Transform our Resistance Recognize emotion and get curious about our feelings, thinking, and behavior Get honest about the stories we make up regarding our struggle and what needs to change Based on key learnings, change how we engage with the world Grow our Resilient Self

Resilience (recovery) Stressful Situations Thriving (growth) “STEP UP” FLOURISHING Resilience (recovery) “BOUNCE UP” FOCUSED, FLEXIBLE, FLOWING Homeostasis (protective factors) (sustainability) Disruption (overwhelmed) Diminished (stuck in a rut) “PUT UP” FLOUNDERING Succumb “GIVE UP” FAILURE O’Leary & Ickovics 1995; Carver 1998

The Practice of Mindfulness (nonjudgmental awareness) Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… The Practice of Mindfulness (nonjudgmental awareness) Stressful Situations (stressor) Resilience FOCUSED, FLEXIBLE, FLOWING Homeostasis (Biopsychosocial protective factors) (sustainability)

The Practice of Mindfulness (nonjudgmental awareness) Sitting Meditation; Body Scan; Yoga Loving-kindness Meditation And consider a daily Loving-kindness Meditation, for example, each morning you could pick from any of the following and say to yourself as you begin your day: May I be filled with loving-kindness. May I be healthy. May I feel calm. May I be free from fear. May I be safe. May I trust myself. May I have patience. May I show myself the same kindness I show a loved one.   Or a Forgiveness Meditation, for example, you can say: For any hurt I caused myself in this situation, or others, I offer myself forgiveness. And I’ll suggest one of my favorite books “Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life” by Jon Kabat-Zinn It’s an easy read full of suggestions to keep you in the present moment, with nonjudgmental awareness. May I be filled with loving-kindness. May I be healthy. May I feel calm. May I be safe. May I have patience. May I show myself the same kindness I show a loved one. Forgiveness Meditation For any hurt I have caused myself in this situation, or others, I offer myself forgiveness.

Working Life High Stress Personal Life Working Life (stressor) (consequence) High expectations……. Anxiety Long hours......... Exhausted, angry, resentful Unreasonable Faculty member….... Mad, hurt High Stress No time to exercise……….. Stressed, resentful Lack of sleep….... Exhausted, lying awake at night Lonely, hurt, overeat Strained relationship……… Health Friends/Family

Resilience (recovery) Thriving (growth) “STEP UP” FLOURISHING HOW WE COPE WITH STRESS Adaptive Coping (problem-focused) Action Planning Positive Reframing Acceptance Using Social Support Resilience (recovery) “BOUNCE UP” FOCUSED, FLEXIBLE, FLOWING Maladaptive Coping (emotion-focused) Denial Behavioral Disengagement Self Distraction Self Blame Venting Diminished (stuck in a rut) “PUT UP” FLOUNDERING Succumb “GIVE UP” FAILURE

Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… 1. The Practice of Mindfulness 2. Using Stress as an Opportunity to Grow

Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… 1. The Practice of Mindfulness 2. Using Stress as an Opportunity to Grow Carver, C. S. (1998). Resilience and thriving: Issues, models, and linkages. Journal of social issues, 54(2), 245-266.

Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… The Practice of Mindfulness The Practice of Using Stress to Grow 3. The Practice of Self-Leadership An active and compassionate inner leader containing the perspective, confidence, and vision to lead your life harmoniously and sensitively.

The Practice of Self-Leadership Calm Clarity Curiosity Compassion Confidence Courage Creativity Connectedness Contentment Schwartz, R.C. (1995). Internal Family Systems Therapy. The Guilford Press (NY).

The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… The Practice of Mindfulness The Practice of Using Stress to Grow The Practice of Self-Leadership 4. The Practice of Positivity(3 to 1) The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions

FOCUSED, FLEXIBLE, FLOWING Thriving (growth) FLOURISHING Stressful Situations Resilience (Strong Foundation) FOCUSED, FLEXIBLE, FLOWING Homeostasis (protective factors) POSITIVITY Fuels Resilience and Human Flourishing Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity. Three Rivers Press (CA).

Five Practices to Enhance Resilience… The Practice of Mindfulness The Practice of Using Stress to Grow The Practice of Self-Leadership The Practice of Positivity The Practice of Renewal Production (results) requires development of Production Capability (resources).

Rising Strong process... Brene Brown: Living a wholehearted life... We all want to show up and be seen in our lives. We all struggle and fall. We all know what it means to be brave and broken-hearted. As Rumi says… We’re all just walking each other home. Rising Strong process... The goal is to rise from our falls, overcome our mistakes, and face hurt in a way that brings more wisdom, more leadership, and more wholeheartedness into our lives.

The Reckoning: walking into our story Recognizing emotion; getting curious about our feelings and how they connect to the way we think and behave. The Rumble: owning our story Get honest about the stories we’re making up about our struggle, then challenge these confabulations and assumptions to determine what’s truth, what’s self-protection, and what needs to change if we want to lead more wholehearted lives. The Revolution: rising strong, growth Writing a new ending to our story based on the key learnings from our rumble and use this new, braver story to change how we engage with the world and to ultimately transform the way we live, love, parent, and lead.