Thank you for attending the third session on Tuesday, Calvin and I, and Nathan too, hope you have found all three sessions helpful, insightful and enjoyable. It was great that in all sessions you asked so many questions and used the sidebar chat feature....it made for collaborative events which is always enjoyable from our perspective: so thank you for your open-mindedness and enthusiasm.
The subject of resilience and wellbeing is a complex one which is continually evolving with more research and opinion. Our present position is probably best described as "if it's not broken don't try and fix it". In other words, if you feel you are responding well to life's stressors, sleeping well and have good levels of enjoyment from life and work then perhaps it's best to not change too much. If, however, some of the stressors overwhelm you from time-to-time, you seem to have no time for regular movement, work/life balance feels out of kilter, or sleep quality is not great then maybe it's worth tweaking something.
Our objective, therefore, is to provide you with a framework, robustly researched and tested, within which you can explore your own self-awareness, habits and personal development. The framework is grounded in the neurophysiology of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which, when functioning well, provides us with the self-regulating mechanisms to adapt through stress to become more resilient. The chronic accumulation of stress, or traumatic incidents/episodes of stress, can cause the ANS to become dysregulated. In simple terms we lose our capacity to not only manage stress but also to adapt and grow/become more resilient. Ultimately this will hinder and undermine performance at work, home, social life and deplete our energy. It can be experienced in many complex and subtle ways. Today's environmental stressors often cause a relentless sense of being on the go...so even if our stressors are not too bad we can find ourselves unconsciously in the sympathetic branch for too long which results in unnecessarily levels of fatigue. So, even at the mild end of the spectrum we need to be aware of the wellbeing risks of prolonged fatigue and not enjoying sufficient rest, sleep and recovery.
A central message is to reflect on the recovery side of the equation:
stress + recovery = resilience
We will always experience stress but it can be successfully managed and harnessed for positive growth if we understand how to recover effectively. This is explained in more detail in the links you will find below.
If anyone wants signposting to more in-depth reading on any aspect of what you have listened to, please don't hesitate to ask. There isn't one book which pulls all our content together but there are great specialists out there on parts of it. We have compiled our own resources to try and help and these are explained further below together with links you can use to access them.
resilience slide presentation - this is the slide deck for the 2nd and 3rd session we had. Most are reasonably self explanatory from the discussions we had but if you need any further clarification please email me, mark@7futures.com.
a reminder of the slides from the first session which I believe you have already received.
a 90 second read on resilience which attempts to fill in some of the commentary that is delivered with the slide deck
a slightly longer read which goes into more depth about the nervous system and why it is important to understand from both a performance and wellbeing perspective - it's important to sustain performance (in all areas of our lives) in the long term and not burn out or become ill...or worse.
a short read about an important feature of the nervous system which we talked about - the social engagement system - this is what Nathan had inadvertently neglected when pushing himself hard to overcome the disappointment of failing to win a medal at the World Championships. So despite ticking all the normal wellbeing boxes (sleep, nutrition etc.) he developed chronic fatigue which plagued him for 3 years.
a slide which attempts to visually pull together all 3 documents - a bit ambitious and possibly a bit complex. BUT essentially it's helpful to remind yourself that whatever is going on in our heads we can only be engaged in certain systems in the body and these can be categorised according to their energetic state - relaxed (energy conserving/replenishing); aroused or activated (fight/flight) when we are burning energy - linked to fatigue; frozen - when we are burning excessive energy but are not moving - Nathan may have experienced this after he had failed to qualify and found himself unable to leave the stadium.
Click the buttons below to view each resource:
Furthermore, here are audio links to some of the techniques we practised. Please click on the arrow and wait for the audio to begin playing (may take a few seconds). Please read the instructions for the breathing exercises (click here to view) before listening to the downloads. It has important information about the nature of such techniques, the preparation you may find helpful and also safety guidelines for anyone who has experienced trauma/significant stress. For anyone who believes they have suffered from traumatic stress, at any time in their life, the first two books on the reading list are very helpful. ‘The Body keeps the Score’ is a more demanding read so it may help to start with the ‘8 Keys’ book. This also compares, quite simply and helpfully, the different approaches people can consider to treating trauma. Please note that talking therapies may not always be effective as the person delivering them considers them to be. As with any type of support/medical advice, you can find experienced and inexperienced practitioners. When it comes to your mental health it pays to be really clear on the advice you are receiving so ask as many questions as you need to get comfortable with the experience of the person offering to help you.
If you have any queries about the content or wish for any further information on anything that seems particularly relevant to you or your family please do not hesitate to email me mark@7futures.com or jo@7futures.com
many thanks
Mark
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© 2012 7Futures Ltd. Please note that at 7Futures, our role is to help educate and encourage our clients to take positive responsibility for their wellbeing. We are not medical doctors and are not able to offer individual medical advice. We always recommend you should discuss with your GP or other medical professional before making any changes you hope will impact your wellbeing, or that of your current/future family. 7Futures Ltd offers generic information which is for educational purposes only. The information we provided is not a prescription system and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. As such our materials, videos products and communications are for general information purposes only and should not be read as a personal recommendation for specific changes in lifestyle behaviour, nutrition, or exercise. Please click here for a clear description of our services and the relationship with you as a client. You should not participate in any of our services until you have studied this link...it is for your benefit.