Personal Resilience Resources
By Yaz Brien 2nd March 2021
When isolated cases of Covid-19 started to become the global pandemic we have all been living with, the Transition Network team took some time to pause, listen, reflect and adjust. As we continued our work of supporting the wider Transition movement, we also made space for collective reflections as we tried to understand the impacts we were living with, and those that were to come. We took time to share our individual circumstances and vulnerabilities, enabling us to build stronger collaborative relationships rooted in trust which supported us to take care of ourselves and each other.
The process of individual and collective grounding and care within our team expanded to thoughts of how we could support others undertaking the work of social change, particularly through times of crisis and upheaval. We began to gather up and make sense of all of the resources we were drawing from in building up inner resilience.
We started by focusing on personal resilience for individuals, as we see this as a crucial building block for every other aspect of life. Having the tools to cope with and respond to disturbances or adversity in ways that facilitate integrity and harmony, deepening and strengthening relationships, and leading to breakthroughs rather than breakdowns, can be very valuable.
The resources that we share with you here are organised in an easy to navigate structure of seven layers, so called ‘roots of resilience’, each linked to practices that promote well-being and that can improve an individual’s capacity to recover after a disturbance. Three relate to the physical body; two relate to the mind and the emotions; and two relate to compassion and connection.
We tried to encompass different types of resources, both for exploration and general information, as well as some offering practical guidance and activities you can do yourself. We have listed sources and related resources so you can explore the themes further, if you wish.
You can access and download all of the resources here.
There’s a lot there, so don’t feel you need to read them all at once.