We are in unprecedented times, struggling to respond appropriately to a mountain of uncertainty. I’d be surprised if you weren’t feeling somewhat anxious.

Managing anxiety in the face of adversity is one of the big challenges of being human. When threats appear—whether perceived or actual—our primal instinct is to flee or fight, both of which require a surge of adrenaline.

Anxiety is a prolonged experience of that natural defense mechanism. But used for long-term defense, it is an inadequate response. You know that if you spend too much time in that zone, it doesn’t feel so good, does it?

So when the world as you know it falls apart, you need a long-term strategy. This requires that you develop resilience.

Definition of Resilience:* the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. * the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Developing resilience is the ability to tolerate intense emotions and not crumble. It is strength derived from fortitude. The way to discover that strength is to ground the circuitry in the body. What does that mean?

It means training the body and mind to tolerate intensity. Much like an electrical outlet needs ground in order to not short-circuit, our nervous systems need ground. One way you can develop this by practicing yoga and meditation.

What Does Resilience Look Like?Characteristics of resilient people may be defined differently, but the way to detect resilience is primarily by an absence of reactivity. Resilient people don’t whine or complain. They don’t lash out in irrational anger or blame others for their own inability to tolerate a situation.

When facing a crisis or emergency, resilience is probably the most important tool in your kit. It’s what will guide you to clarity and wise choices—because it gives you the ability to slow down long enough to make choices, rather than react.. Resilience keeps you grounded in the reality of the present moment so you can respond, rather than react out of fear.

As a psychotherapist and online counselor for the past 25 years, I see people crumble for lack of resilience. So often the key to remaining steady in the face of change is to simply learn to stay still and tolerate the circumstances--like ducking under the surface momentarily to let a wave crash over you. But if you panic you get caught in the turbulence.

The magnitude of a problem might feel overwhelming. It’s just SO BIG. But if you can allow a bit of space to infiltrate your mind, then whatever might be troubling you starts to take on a new perspective--the space is always larger.

The answer always lies in befriending the space and allowing that spaciousness to express its sanity. YOu can learn to inject moments of spaciousness in your mind throughout your day. Want a great tool to learn this? Listen to a free guided meditation for anxiety.

What Is Resilience?* Patience * Forbearance * Discipline in staying focused on the positive * Wisdom * Alignment with your inner guidance * Steadfastness * Generosity * Delayed gratification * Confidence that you will come out the other end of whatever is happening * Acceptance that death is real, and we will all face it at some point in our life

What Resilience Is Not:* Checking your phone every five minutes for updates * Wishing things to be different than they are * Impatience * Busy-ness as a distraction * Anger * Hopelessness * Giving up * Denial * Numbing out * addiction

Resilience Is An Awareness PracticeResilience is a practice of developing awareness. The key is to learn to tolerate the sensation of fear long enough to determine the appropriate course of action. If a threat is simply a product of our imagination (such as when we mistakenly take a coiled rope in the dark for a snake) then the appropriate course of action is to relax and let go of the emotion. This can be easier said than done.

Once you invest in an emotion—whether or not it is an appropriate response to a given situation—it develops momentum, making it harder to release, even if you know logically that your reasoning is flawed. Fear doesn’t really understand reasoning. So the best way to combat the anxiety associated with irrational fears is to approach it through the body.

How To Develop ResilienceResilience is learning to stay the course when you lose your way, or the course itself seems to be falling apart. Maintaining resilience is not succumbing to exhaustion and overwhelm, but rather feeling confident that no matter what happens, you will do your very best to confront the challenges. It’s not giving in to a victim mentality--even though you may feel fear.

Even when the horizon looks so bleak you’d rather turn around and hide under a tree. Developing resilience is staying the path because, frankly, there is no other option. The path is life itself and if you choose to curl up and take a time-out, then that is also part of the path. So resilience is recognizing this and not giving up even when things look so bleak you can’t imagine ever seeing blue skies again.

Rest assured that --even though it may be obscured by thick clouds at the moment--the sky is not going anywhere. Learning to ally with that vast spaciousness and not the dramatic weather patterns is the practice of developing resilience.

Even if there are stormy skies for the foreseeable future, the blue sky is always there, and it always holds space for us to grow.

Want more tools to work with anxiety? Click here to learn simple + practical tools to manage anxiety.