Becoming more resilient leads to better levels of overall mental health, ability to handle obstacles, and having shared narratives around failures and challenges.
Our Philosophy
The Center for Student Wellness believes resilience can be learned and strengthened. Resilience is each individual’s ability to “bounce back” from the difficulties faced in life; defined as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.” Experiencing and overcoming challenging situations in life builds resilience, which can help individuals manage the next difficult thing that comes their way. Practicing self-compassion and leaning on the support from friends, family, faculty and staff are just some of the many ways to build and strengthen resilience to buffer against stressful life experiences. Becoming more resilient leads to better levels of overall mental health, ability to handle obstacles, and having shared narratives around failures and challenges.
Key Messages
Create a center of awareness by accepting what is true in the present moment; use your breath as an anchor.
Understand the challenge and take action; use your strengths to bounce back.
Practice self-care, self-compassion, and reach out to your support system to help you through challenges.
Discover
What messages do you receive around caring for your mind? Listen to a variety of perspectives, from experts and peers, and consider how it relates to your experiences.
Hear from an expert
What trauma taught me about resilience
Traumatic experiences taught Charles Hunt that resilience is one of the most important traits to have, is critical to our happiness and success, an can be learned.
More perspectives
TED Talk: A young poet tells the story of Darfur
Podcast: Introducing Resilience
BC Blog: Resilience: Roll with Resistance
This is My Brave: Ai
Explore
How do you care for your mind? Engage in these reflective activities to discover what works best for you.
Stop & Breathe:
Spend 10 minutes bringing yourself into the moment to fully enjoy a present positive experience, spend time reminiscing about a past positive experience, think about what you're looking forward to, or appreciate and acknowledge what’s going well in your life. You may also choose to do something that completely captures and engages your attention - something you can lose yourself in, rather than something that lets you tune out. Remember your breath is always your anchor. Visit the virtual calming room!
Assess & Adjust:
We can get caught up in negative thought traps that magnify our fear, anxieties, insecurities, and self-judgement. Engage in a mindful “noting” practice this week. As soon as you notice emotional discomfort or unease, bring mindful awareness to your experience, and mentally narrate what you are thinking and feeling in the third person - “you’re feeling irritable and impatient right now”. Bring an accepting, non judgemental attitude to this practice - “it’s hard to feel this way”. Noting practices improve our ability to handle difficult experiences by coping more mindfully. Take brief resilience scale and choose one way you can enhance your ability to respond effectively to hard times - read through the handout on ways you can build your capacity to manage hard times.
Dig Deep:
Take care of yourself, yes this absolutely includes finding time to eat, sleep, and exercise and it also requires more than tending to your basic needs, it includes nurturing yourself with love and appreciation. Self-care is power, it is “an act of self-preservation” and buffers against stressful life events. Dig Deep and take the radical Self-Care checklist, see what you want to include more of. You might decide to set aside 10 minutes in the morning or before you go to bed at night to write down three things that you are grateful for, and learn why it matters. Keep the journal somewhere accessible and pull it out when you feel your stress levels start to rise. Reading your own words back will help you gain a new perspective of what is important to you and remind you of what you truly appreciate in life.
Live
What do you need to do to care for your mind (or body, or soul) and live well? Sign up to meet with a Wellness Coach to reflect on your current wellbeing and set goals that feel achievable to you.
Let's Talk More...
We want to help you find joy in your journey, wherever you’re at. We have many resources within Center for Student Wellness and throughout campus to continue this conversation—we’re here to listen, reflect, and help you set and achieve health goals that feel intuitive, sustainable, and balanced.
Meet with a Peer Wellness Coach
Engage in a conversation about your health and wellness goals related to caring for your body - in the areas of sleep and general health, body image and exercise, and alcohol and other drugs!
Visit bc.edu/wellnesscoach to schedule your Wellness Coaching session and learn about each type of appointment, or use the links below to sign up directly through google calendar.
Did You Know?
60%
of BC students said their academics were not hard to handle
78%
of students believe in their ability to bounce back after an event
80%
of students said they would seek help from a mental health professional if they had an issue they wanted to work out