How yoga helped me find my inner resilience

Written by Kate Zourkas 

I attribute yoga and meditation to improving my overall physical, emotional and mental well-being which includes building inner strength and resilience. When I started my yoga teaching journey in 2012 I didn’t quite know what I was in for and to this day I still say that it is the best leadership and self-awareness training I have ever done. As my own yogic journey has evolved I have started to find more joy and passion in writing and sharing my stories and helping other who curious about improving their mental health, managing stress and anxiety, improving productivity and focus. For the most part though the biggest benefits have been around being authentic and true to myself, more grounded, centred, and agile when it comes to facing change and adversity. All personal capabilities that are important in our personal and professional busy lives.

So I have created a short list (although there are many!) of the ways that yoga has helped me find my inner resilience and thrive from life’s challenges.    

1. Increased awareness and understanding of self. The inward focus of yoga and meditation can be challenging for many as it can be hard to be still or to slow down when our lives are so busy.  However the stillness and solitude brings increased awareness and clarify of self. Awareness leads to self-respect and empowerment, you start to make different choices that serve you better and you are able to set boundaries and treat yourself with the respect you deserve.  You become resilient and less influenced by the outside chatter and distraction around you as you are more focused and confident in your own path.
2. Focus on the present moment. There is power in living in the present moment, there is calm and balance in living in the present moment and this helps you when you are faced with challenges as you manage what is in front of you and be present. Stress and anxiety comes from living in the past or the future, there is stillness and calm in living in the present moment. Yoga and meditation helps you to become more present. In addition the physical yoga practice and breathing exercises helps keep you present and calm and reduces stress and anxiety.     
3. The ability to observe and not absorb.  With increased awareness and consciousness comes the ability to observe rather than react or respond to every situation. This is a powerful resilience tool that I use regularly as a check in with myself and when I notice I am starting to absorb a situation, I sit back and look at it differently, almost with a sense of curiosity and wonder. This is also an important leadership tool as leaders are managing people / stakeholders / customers – this  an become emotionally and mentally exhausting – learning how to observe and not absorb helps you to manage your own well-being as a leader and lead with better clarity and energy.      
4. Flip to a non-judgmental mindset. One of the principles of yoga is non-judgement. As mentioned above you don’t have to react to everything, learn how to be in a state of curiosity rather than judgement and your life with change immediately. While I know this can sounds strange in a business context where corporate life is all about making judgments, yoga has actually helped me make better and clearer decisions as I am more curious than judgmental. 
5. Be positive. Your mindset can really make or break you and even the most resilient of us have down days and this is completely normal, in fact this is what I believe makes you truly resilient in the first place. I have come to focus on the learning, the growth and the gratitude from my experiences rather than the negatives. Having a positive mindset will fill you with position energy and help you to be empowered and resilient and give you the energy and motivation you need to persevere through challenges and change.  
6. Less control, more flow. I previously tried to control everything both in my work and personal life and the result was that I was always very busy, worried and anxious as I thought the more control I had the more I could control the outcomes of what I wanted. Instead, I just ended up with a lot of stress, anxiety and exhaustion in my life as I was constantly controlling and doing everything myself. This has been a huge learning for me, learning to flow with life rather than trying to control it changes your perspective and your mindset. Go with the flow and trusting the process, everything will work out.
7. Self-Kindness is everything.  I can’t think of a better point to finish on - How you treat yourself matters, be kind to yourself and everything with flow from there. You can’t pour from an empty cup and often we focus outwards on everyone else rather than giving ourselves the kindness we need. Setting boundaries, learning to say no and being honest with yourself are great examples of self-kindness. 

The formula for building resilience and getting through change is different for each of us. However, I can share that my experience of yoga and meditation has helped me build resilience and ultimately thrive through adversity. The stillness of yoga helps to anchor you through change so that when the winds of change occur in your life you are able to bend and be flexible without breaking. It gives you the foundation to manage challenging situations, keep things in perspective and also gives you the centre and composure you need to persevere.