On our way to delivering some resilience workshops yesterday, Bird associate Elloa and I reflected on the extent of self-supporting resilience building strategies we actually have access to. Many of which are free and available to us at any moment.
Our discussion reminded me of Brené Brown’s perspective, from her insightful book ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’, that cultivating laughter, song and dance is a way to ‘let go of being cool and always in control.’ The new way of thinking about resilience is not so much battening down the hatches and surviving, but more about leaning in to the chaos and growing with it. Essentially, getting comfortable with being out of control.
And so, I see laughter, song and dance as really important and helpful tools to build resilience.
Finding ways to laugh, sing and dance allows us to let go, to break free from worries and concerns. Laughter song and dance also involve the body, which we know needs to be included in our resilience building. We can’t just think our way through tough times, we have to feel our way through too. We are not just floating heads, we are emotional, chemical and energy as well.
One of the ideas we shared in our workshop on resilience yesterday was the idea of Common Humanity. When we feel low in resilience, stressed or overwhelmed it can feel lonely, we can feel like we’re the only ones feeling that way, which can make the experience feel harder and more difficult to navigate. Laughter, song and dance remind us we are not alone, as Brené Brown says:
‘Laughter, song and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone.’
So we encourage you this week to think about laughter, song and dance. How, when and where can you incorporate them into your life? How can you utilise these beautiful actions to help build your resilience?
With love as always, Hannah and the Bird Team
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