Krystal Barschig

I believe that resilience may be the greatest measure of mental and physical health and well-being.

Resilience is defined as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” (Websters Collegiate Dictionary) Psychiatrist Frederick Flach defines resilience as “the psychological and biological strengths required to successfully master change.” In other words, resilience is the ability to cope, adapt, and then continue on when faced with change, adversity, or mental, emotional, and/or physical stress.

No matter how well we take care of ourselves, no matter the strength of our body or will, no matter the number of precautions we take, we all get sick sometimes. And that’s okay. Sickness does not negate health. Like with everything in life, there is a natural ebb and flow of physical and mental wellness, dancing around rather than fixed upon a central point of balance and homeostasis. A healthy body will get sick sometimes, but it will not stay sick. The scales will tip back and it will be considered “well” again.

Similarly, no matter how thoroughly we plan and prepare for adversity, we all face difficulties in life which take a mental and emotional toll. Every one of us gets knocked down. Every single one of us has crappy days. We all spend some amount of time (maybe a moment, maybe a month) feeling exhausted, downtrodden, and just plain beat up, no matter how mentally and emotionally tough we are. But when we are in good mental health, we don’t stay down. We are able to get back up — sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, but we always rise.

If you are reading these words, you are resilient. This is evidenced by the fact that you are here right now. You have survived 100% of your worst days. Every time you’ve fallen, you’ve risen again.

Perhaps some people are born naturally more resilient than others. I don’t know. But I do know that we can all actively boost our resilience response. Resilience is like a muscle that each of us has, and it can be exercised and strengthened. Two qualities we can cultivate as a means of strengthening our resiliency are: Elasticity (Adaptability) and Perseverance. (Since Elasticity implies bouncing back to an original shape, state, or mode and usually when dealing with human transformation the source of origin has evolved and dissolved its previous shape, state, or mode I supplement with the word Adaptability to address the how of Elasticity. In other words, how you live through and stay with yourself in the stretch or transformation which often brings with it discomfort and uncertainty, and then how you adjust accordingly to the new “normal” once you’ve emerged.)

I find that the practice of yoga helps us cultivate mental and physical elasticity (adaptability) and perseverance as a means of strengthening our resiliency. Here are just a few examples:

When we practice yoga asana on our mats we stretch to improve muscular elasticity and challenge rigidity. As the body and mind inform one another and are inseparable, this translates to improved flexibility, expansion, and openness of both the body and mind. We exercise the elasticity of our mental and physical containers so that they may hold whatever comes their way. In meditation and yoga asana we also train in practicing present moment awareness. This mindful practice of responding truthfully to the present moment is all about adaptability. It is the ultimate practice of placing ego aside and stepping into the natural flow of ups and downs and side-to-sides.

We practice perseverance right on our mats, as well. For example, when we fall out of a pose, we don’t roll up our mat and walk out the door (though we may have the impulse to do so somedays). Instead we keep going, we try again, and we continue practicing with the intention of staying with ourselves. I find that what encourages and supports perseverance both on and off our mats is a sense of purpose and intentionality. In other words, being aware of and feeling connected to our “why.”

And then there is the spiritual component of our yoga practice and the concept of connecting to something which is both within us and also far bigger and more constant than both our bodies and personalities. I would say that the practice of yoga helps us re-connect or re-center to this source, but really we’re always there — completely connected and perfectly centered. Our yoga practice is more of a tool for re-focusing our awareness and cleaning our lens.

I find the untouchable power, peace, knowing, and completeness we experience from a clear and focused awareness on that place to be the real source of resilience. It is that which makes us able to rebound from the lowest lows, survive, and thrive. This is the part of us which is always buoyant and totally unbreakable.

In every breath we take, there is a moment of pause at the end of the exhale, right before the next inhale. When we get still and quiet, we can hover there in that pause and tap into the deeply seated resilience which resides in us always. It is right there. What we practice is not even so much building this resilience but rather accessing it. We practice traversing and fortifying the neural passageways which lead to that place, clearing overgrowth and brush a little more each time so that eventually this becomes the preferred path.

How do we go about clearing these paths? We draw on our courage to open and stay with ourselves. We witness our strength and our ability to stay and weather the storm instead of running away. We identify with that ever-lasting part of us which is the witness, which is deeper and older and more vast than ego, which is the source of Truth and Love. We draw strength from there, from within. We root firmly there, and then we rise.

In our yoga asana practice we touch in on this pause, and we notice. For example, we may get into a pose and then bear witness to ourselves in that moment, in that particular physical shape with all the thoughts we’re having. In this pause we connect to and identify with that part of us which is the witness, that part of us which is neither body nor mind, sensation nor thought. And while being very much in tune with all these things, we notice that we have the capacity to watch them. The part of us which watches is infinite, and it is from this part of ourselves which we draw real resilience.

I’ll conclude by saying that rest is vitally important for fostering resilience. If you are mentally, physically, and/or emotionally exhausted, your stores of resilience are depleted. Rest restores and replenishes those stores. It also allow you to de-stress and breaks the fight-or-flight response as you move away from a contracted state and instead  toward clarity, peace, truth, and love.

Please listen closely to and do what is necessary to take care of yourself.