What is Resilience, and why does it seem so important in today’s fast-paced society? Have you considered what resilience means to you? Do you think you are resilient enough? Is it possible to have more resilience? And if so, how can you build more of it?
These are some of the questions you will see answered once you pick The Resilience Workbook written by Gleen R. Schiraldi, one of the books I recently read.
What is Resilience?
Resilience includes both inborn and developed mental and emotional skills that allow us to cope and respond to adverse experiences. These experiences may vary in severity and can represent different realities to different people. For some people, getting into a plane is terrifying while for others it’s an exciting moment. The first group can benefit a lot from developing their resilience skills so that their flight experience doesn’t impact them so negatively.
Instead of giving in to stress, anxiety, and depression, resilient people have a greater capacity to process and transform negative life events. They can’t control what happens to them but they can choose to respond from a more collected head and heart space by working on a few techniques. Resilience is an indicator of mental and emotional fitness, and thus helps us:
- bounce back more quickly
- navigate through complex situations
- manage and prevent stress-related emotions
What is the relationship between resilience and wellbeing?
When you build up your resilience muscle, your health and well-being tend to benefit as well. This occurs because the mind and body are not separate from each other. They are connected, which means negative mental and emotional conditions can be manifested in the body, making us more vulnerable to disease and several medical conditions. Some of these conditions include heart disease, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia.
| Heart disease | Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Hypertension | Thyroid disease |
| Irritable bowel syndrome | Psoriasis |
| Chronic pain | Obesity |
| Fibromyalgia | Metabolic Syndrome |
| Cancer | Gynecological complaints |
How can Resilience be developed?
So what can you do to enhance your resilience? The Resilience Workbook offers you plenty of ideas and techniques you can learn from and put into practice.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is only one example of a tool you can learn more about with this book. Mindfulness gives you the opportunity to reduce mental and emotional stress by making you grounded in the present moment. You learn to become the observer of your human experience and less reactive to what is.
Expressive Writing
Expressive Writing is another useful tool presented in this book. By writing down your thoughts and feelings for twenty minutes a day, you give yourself the opportunity to process and transform your experiences into something more positive. You gain a wider perspective on what happened and how you can brainstorm ways to move on from there, reducing the risk of falling into overwhelming levels of anxiety or even depression.
Final Thoughts
I believe this is likely one of the most useful books I have recently read. It is fully packed with tools and techniques to help you navigate through stressful and depressing times. Whether you are more mentally or emotionally wired, I’m sure you will find a resource in it that fits your needs and personality.
If you are a mental health professional or you work to improve your client’s well-being, this is definitely a book you must have in your personal library as it gives you both the science and the practice you need to help others become more resilient.
Are you a creative looking for ways to improve your resilience? Don’t let setbacks hold you back from reaching your full potential. See how I can help.
The Wellbeing Blogger 
This is a very nice review and informative. The bouncing back in time is resilience that I’ve always associated with. I totally agree with the staying in the present moment because that reduces anxiety. I like it! Xx
Isa A. Blogger
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Thank you, Isa. I appreciate your feedback and coming by! It’s a fully packed book with lots of techniques to boost resilience xx
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I definitely need this book! I’ve been searching how certain thoughts lead to certain illnesses in the body and I saw this post in the perfect time! Thank you so much for sharing, Vanessa. xx Penny / http://www.whatdidshetype.com
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Hi Penny, thanks for coming by and sharing. That’s a very interesting aspect to look into. Psychosomatics and Psychoneuroimmunology offer great evidence of the impact of mind-body connection on our health and well-being. I look forward to learning with your findings xx
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Stress and illnesses reminds me of research I did in graduate school. But the book seems interesting and will be added to my list
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I think you might find it useful if you want an “index” of several practices to build on (healthy) positivity and resilience 😊
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