Anxiety & Depression

How To Stay Strong During Tough Times? Improve Mental And Physical Resilience

Published

3 years ago

August 26, 2021

Adversity is one surprise guest that none would like to have to knock at one’s door. It may come unannounced in the form of personal traumas and tragedies like death, separation, financial distress like job loss/poverty/robbery/business crash, physical disability/disease, terminal conditions, affecting the individual and his family.

Natural disasters, on the other hand, have repercussions on a mass scale. Pandemics, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc., leave behind a trail of destruction that remains unaccounted for a long time and affects one and all, at the personal/community/national and global levels.

Contents

1 How To Stay Strong During Tough Times?
2 Ways to improve one’s mental and physical resilience:
3 Accept the ground reality
4 Daily Routine
5 Self-care
6
7 Importance of healthy meal
8 sound sleep
9 Journal your journey
10 Seek help

How To Stay Strong During Tough Times?

Concomitant effects are sickness, loss of life and property, economic downturn, high attrition rates at work leading to psycho-social problems with rising job insecurity, unemployment, poverty, rising crimes in the form of homicides and suicides, etc.

It is a commonly observed fact that in times of misfortune and hardships, man develops varying modes of responses to coping with the stress. Positive and functional responses keep him sailing through the crises, however, negative stress management leads to several psycho-physical breakdowns like heart failures, compromised immunity leading to infections, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and more.

In this short article, we give you life hacks that will keep your mental and physical equilibrium intact during tough times.

Ways to improve one’s mental and physical resilience:

Accept the ground reality

We need to accept first that with changed circumstances our attitude needs to change too. A negative mindset can only drain our energy, whilst a positive frame of mind fills us with hope and courage to face the worst.

With acceptance, then half the battle is won. More often than not, situations are never under our control. It is best to acknowledge that life will throw challenges our way unexpectedly and it is for us to navigate through them with all the resources at our disposal.

Daily Routine

It is very important to have an effective routine in place that is time and activity-bound. Negative circumstances can have a negative fallout with repetitive patterns of unhelpful behavior like feelings of despair, anger, hatred, etc.

However, having regular hours assigned for productive activities on your daily/weekly/monthly agenda, will not only keep the mind focused but will also help you achieve more. Muscles need to be put at work, be they mental or physical. The more one stretches, the more he gets done with an accompanying feeling of achievement.

Self-care

The importance of self-care cannot be overemphasized during trying times. It is only when we keep ourselves fit and happy, can we radiate positive vibes to those around us and help uplift them too. Self-care is taking care of both the body and mind/soul.

This can be in the form of taking regular physical exercises like yoga/aerobics/dance/sports/brisk walking; assigning half-hour each day for meditation; having balanced food; self-grooming like losing weight and tending to cosmetic needs; taking hobby classes or pursuing your own; planning small, inexpensive outings like shopping, dining, tripping – all of which are hugely therapeutic for the mind, body, and soul.

Importance of healthy meal

A balanced meal rich in essential nutrients and vitamins will also go a long way in restoring the worn-out parts and will help you save unnecessary trips to the doctors. The compromised immune system is largely responsible for various psycho-physical pathology.

sound sleep

No matter what, never neglect the stipulated hours of rest/sleep that your tired body and mind need. Power naps in-between tasks also improve one’s productivity and focus.

Journal your journey

It is a healthy habit to log your entries in a journal. The biggest pitfall to one’s growth and progress is one’s own negative self-talk during tough times. This can be allayed by keeping a personal journal and tracking one’s behavioral responses to stressful situations.

It is equally advisable to ban toxic people and relations in one’s life. It is a good idea to take a mental note of all who add to one’s distress and eliminate them gradually from life.

Seek help

Depending on the magnitude of the problem, one should never hesitate to take expert help. True friends, experienced elders, and professionals are the go-to people who can help you cope better with life’s difficulties.

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