Emotional resilience is the ability to bounce back during tough times. It doesn’t mean that we don’t feel anger, pain or grief or that life becomes more manageable. Being resilient isn’t about having all the answers or being bulletproof but rather about increasing our psychological flexibility and ability to face, process and navigate our current circumstances.
Many people choose to relocate, emigrate, or seek new opportunities when life becomes difficult; there is nothing wrong with that. However, a “contextual cure” won’t necessarily last forever, and no matter where we are, we need to learn skills to help us cope. Therefore, given life’s unpredictability, we must learn how to adjust our expectations and develop skills to manage unexpected circumstances.
This post will discuss emotional resilience and offer tips on developing this capacity, which includes insights from one of our recent webinars, Master Happiness: Emotional Resilience and Joy. We’ll also share some SACAP Global courses to help you improve your emotional wellbeing, and learn tools to approach adversity with a growth mindset.
What is emotional resilience?
As mentioned above, emotional resilience is the ability to bounce back when things get tough. By increasing our level of resilience, we also increase our psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility means we can be present with our current circumstances instead of turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
However, it’s important to note that feeling overwhelmed in a problematic situation is entirely normal. It’s also important not to see building resilience as something you must do alone. While building inner strength is essential, learning to ask for support is also part of building these skills. Friends and family can be incredibly valuable resources, but intentional support and faith groups can provide additional emotional support.
One of the most critical aspects of building resilience is inner strength, which includes radical acceptance. When we learn to avoid the trap of idealism and expect things to always be easy, we can start to appreciate life’s complexity. While it’s not easy, learning the power of acceptance can help us find ways to change what we can control instead of fighting against what we can’t.
How to build emotional resilience
We have established the importance of building inner strength and psychological flexibility, but how do we develop these capacities in practice? Here are a few ways you can start to build resilience in your everyday life:
Mindfulness
As we mentioned in connection with the concept of psychological flexibility, being present with our current circumstances is key to building inner strength. Mindfulness tools can help us develop this flexibility by teaching us to pay attention to the present moment without judgment. This capacity is also known as non-reactive awareness, where we learn to be present with everything in our lives, even if it is difficult.
Self-awareness and emotional regulation
Mindfulness is one approach to building self-awareness and becoming more in tune with our emotional landscape. Learning to regulate emotionally is also an integral part of becoming more resilient, as we can learn to become in tune with how thoughts and emotions show up as bodily sensations. By developing more awareness of these sensations, we learn to integrate them instead of finding ways to escape. Eventually, self-awareness and emotional regulation can become a state of being, allowing us to move and flow through life’s ups and downs.
Gratitude and personal growth
By focusing on what we have and practising gratitude, we can develop a growth mindset when building emotional resilience. A daily gratitude practice is a proven positive psychology tool for enhancing our wellbeing, which spills over into other areas of our lives, including our relationships. When we focus on practising joy and what is going well, we can gain a broader perspective on our lives and purpose. While no one wants to experience pain and adversity, through dealing with challenges, we can empower ourselves to navigate life beyond just a series of hardships but as a path for personal growth.
Develop your psychological flexibility at SACAP Global
At SACAP Global, we offer several short online courses to help you enhance your wellbeing and build emotional resilience and psychological flexibility. These courses include:
- Developing a Growth Mindset: By shifting our approach to life and adopting a growth mindset, we can learn to navigate stressful life circumstances and see them as personal growth opportunities.
- Enhancing Mental Health: Improving your mental health and wellness can help you deal more effectively with challenging life circumstances.
- Motivation Mastery: Unlock Potential and Achieve Goals: Aligning with your life purpose and developing ways to achieve goals can help you build greater resilience in the face of obstacles.
- Introducing the EmotionAid Protocol: learning about emotional regulation is a powerful tool that can help you to self-regulate in even the most stressful situations.
Browse our course list for more information about what else we offer, including more courses on mental health and personal development. To learn more about practical tools for enhanced wellbeing, subscribe to our YouTube channel and view our past and upcoming webinars.