Resilience is the
ability to adapt and overcome, rebounding from stressors and returning to a
balanced state of well-being. It’s key to living a positive quality of life – complete with joy, hope, and possibilities – regardless of challenges.

Physical and Psychological Resilience

Research describes
two types of resilience – physical and psychological. Physical resilience used
to be viewed as the opposite of physical frailty – but it’s more complicated
than that.

It’s defined as
one’s ability to withstand or recover from functional decline following acute
and/or chronic health stressors throughout the full lifespan.

Psychological
resilience refers to a person’s ability to adapt well in the face of adversity,
trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress. It relies more
heavily on the external environment and social support than physical
resilience.

Some people seem
born with resilience. They bounce back from tragedy, overcome obstacles, and
just keep moving forward no-matter-what. But a lot of people require help to
build it. They need to immerse themselves in a mindset and environment that
actively supports resilience.

Whole Person Wellness and Resilience

Supporting all the
dimensions of wellness – physical, social, emotional,
spiritual, intellectual, and vocational – is
part of the equation. They, of course, link together and overlap but understanding
them separately helps you support each one.

In the same way,
it’s important to understand individual components of resilience. Every person,
regardless of age or circumstances, has basic human needs. Some are concrete like
food, water, shelter and clothes.

But there are also
more abstract needs like having meaning and purpose, feeling competent and in
control, giving as well as receiving, and feeling of value to others. These
more abstract needs are critical to building and supporting resilience.

Behaviors That Lead to Resilience

Positive attitudes
and expectations (regardless of age) generate a sense of well-being, uplifting
hope, optimism, confidence, perspective, and mastery – which (by the way) are
building blocks of resilience.

Positive social
connections with family and friends, and/or a close-knit community of mutual
social support, build resilience, and a healthy active lifestyle is also
predictive of higher resilience.

Effective coping
strategies – like embracing a sense of
self-efficacy (I can face challenges with flexibility and adaptability.)
and a willingness to view challenges through a lens of optimism rather than
despair – impact happiness and well-being. To
activate resilience, seek to identify and solve challenges on your own and with
others.

Past Resilience

One strategy known
to bolster resilience is reminding yourself how you’ve faced and overcome
previous challenges. Remembering specific times you’ve been resilient can
trigger a mindset of seeking adaptive strategies to keep moving forward – to
overcome rather than simply cope with challenges.

Optimism

Practice optimism.
It’s important to avoid personalizing challenges (i.e., why me?). Life and
stress happen.

Recognizing stress
as a normal part of life and building yourself in ways to take stress breaks – short walks, mindfulness meditation – can help shift the
focus away from the stressor and towards what to do next.

Consciously
re-writing the story to include triumphing over adversity helps build personal
resilience.

Savoring Positive Experiences

A study done by
Mather Lifeways describes the value of consciously savoring positive
experiences to support resilience. They examined how some people tend to
amplify positive experiences by fully appreciating the experience, actively
choosing to share it with others, and feeling gratitude for it.

Comparatively, some
people tend more towards “dampening’ behaviors – i.e., thinking of ways an
experience could have been better, feeling disappointed that it will end soon,
and downplaying the overall value of its positive effect.

This study’s intervention
asked participants to intentionally focus on a happy experience twice a day for
one week. They were asked to fully embrace those feelings of happiness and
emotional well-being.

This simple
intervention had a positive effect on resilience primarily by helping people
who tended to downplay positive experiences become aware of their “dampening”
behaviors and helping them savor positive experiences.

It demonstrated
that even if you’re not naturally inclined towards a positive outlook, you can
use tools to support a shift in mindset – a strengthening of resilience.

Purpose and Resilience

Finally, having a
sense of purpose has been repeatedly shown to have a strong impact on building
both psychological and physical resilience. Purpose influences the building
blocks of resilience like optimism, mastery, and confidence which support the
ability to continue to move forward – regardless of challenges.

A strong sense of
purpose – especially when focused on giving support to others – also leads to improvement in physical health, making
individuals more likely to engage in healthy lifestyles, improving longevity,
and making the body more resilient against stressors.

If you want to learn more, download these free resources related to building family resilience and personal wellbeing.

What stress-reducing strategies are you currently using during this difficult time? Can you think of ways to reach out to others (remotely) to provide support? Please share one example of past resilience with our community.

Times are stressful—to say the least. For some, a bath provides a much-needed moment of relaxation. Lush’s bubble bars came at a clutch time. The brand just launched 17 bubble bars, both new creations and old classics from deep within the Lush vault. As expected from Lush, they come in cheeky shapes and sizes and yummy-smelling natural fragrances meant to seriously relax you. As we’re all washing our hands like crazy, these bubble bars also give the body some skin-softening hydration.

All of Lush’s bubble bars are vegan and cruelty-free. They differ from bath bombs in that they actually crumble in the water and create colorful bubbles that’ll make you feel like a kid again. They aren’t one-time-use either. You can get the amount of bubbles you want, and then set aside the bar to dry for next time. These scents aren’t kid-like, either. With notes like lavender, chamomile and patchouli, it’s more like a moment at the spa. And we desperately need these moments right now.

Of course, all Lush stores are closed right now to help flatten the curve. From now until April 30, you can get free shipping on any order of more than $40 to stay in the comfort of your home. There are so many bubble bars to choose from but we chose a few to get you started.

Image: Lush.

Big Bottle of Calm

With chamomile and lavender oils.

Image: Lush.

Keep It Fluffy

With jasmine, lemongrass and ylang ylang oil fragrance.

Image: Lush.

Mermaid Tail

With lemon myrtle and grapefruit oils.

Image: Lush.

Peach Crumble

With grapefruit-davana fragrance.

Image: Lush.

The Big Comforter

With a sweet cassis scent.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

My friend Mary’s husband died unexpectedly, leaving her to raise
their five-year-old son and tend to a generous life insurance settlement, while
learning to navigate life without her mate.

If that wasn’t tough enough, her first meeting with a new
financial advisor started with a foot-in-the-mouth message that stopped a
trusted relationship from forming right out of the gate.

“Congratulations on having such a tidy sum to re-start your life,”
the advisor said.

This was followed by a long pause, a punch to Mary’s gut, and the
temptation to leave the room just moments after she arrived.

The love of this woman’s life just died, leaving her alone to
manage everything in life they had dreamed to navigate together, and the
advisor’s first words were a message of congratulations!

“This is death money. How can you be so insensitive?” she said.

What could have bloomed into a collaborative, trusted relationship
was instantly derailed.

A Change Was in
Order

The advisor’s ill-chosen words had Mary searching immediately for someone
new. She wanted the person responsible for helping with her finances to have
the presence of mind and compassion to appreciate the context of her situation
before considering how to engage in some sort of transaction.

These kinds of conversations take place every day to the dismay of
women who find themselves with sudden money from an inheritance, death, or
divorce.

Seven out of 10 women will survive their spouses and be
responsible for tending to the day to day financial and household matters, as
well as tending to investments and other assets left behind.

These women deserve care, compassion, trusted and fiduciary advice
to support them in navigating their new lives.

How to Choose the
Right Financial Advisor for You

Here are five important factors to consider when choosing the
right advisor who can look after your interests in the best and worst of times.

These tips come from a conversation I had with CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER Professional Steve Juetten:

Know What You’re
Paying

Ask how the advisor is compensated. If you aren’t familiar
with the different types of financial advisors, here’s a short report that can bring some clarity.

Ask About Credentials

Inquire about credentials and make sure you understand what they
mean. A fiduciary is an advisor who puts your interests front and center.
Anything less isn’t good enough.

Trust Your
Instincts

Listen to your gut, your heart, and your head as you evaluate
whether the fit you have with the advisor feels right. If the rapport feels
forced, uncomfortable, or you sense any pressure to make a decision, walk away.

Consider Your Goals

Come to the meeting with some ideas around the important goals you
want to achieve with your new potential advisor as your guide.

You may have questions around how to make sure your sudden money
lasts as long as you do or other questions around anticipating and making the
most of your financial assets. This Ready Set Retire Quiz may help you come to clarity around your goals.

Take Your Time

Do nothing in a hurry. During the first few months, take care of
immediate needs, protect capital, and go slowly on major decisions. In some
circumstances of sudden wealth, we encourage clients to spend 10% of the
windfall on something that’s fun, but other than that, go slow. 

Every day, life serves up unexpected surprises that can turn life
as you know it upside down in an instant.

That’s why finding the right guide to support you in navigating
the road ahead – in the best and most challenging of times – can be among the single most important decisions you make.

Have you ever stayed with an advisor because you didn’t know what
else to do or the right questions to ask? What did you learn from that
experience? Let’s start a conversation!

Whether natural gray hair growing out of your head or a trendy dyed hue, gray hair is always a good idea. We’re loving that celebs are embracing their gray hair while stuck at home and not able to get a root touch-up. But it’s not just now during social-distancing. Some celebrities rock their gray hair all the time and look seriously fab doing it. Because there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and a smattering or grays or an entire head is really beautiful.

Of course, there’s unnatural gray hair, too. Celebrities love the platinum, ashy hue that’s equal parts pretty and edgy. Sure, it’s a lot of maintenance but the finished product is a bold, memorable look. It doesn’t have to be fully gray from the roots. Dark roots and balayage gray can look pretty incredible on all skin tones, as well as gray pixie cuts and even gray highlights. (Real or faux!)

From Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren’s sophisticated gray strands to Ciara and Winnie Harlow playing around with wigs, there’s a ton of gray hair to draw inspo from if you’re looking to switch up your own look. Or, if you have some grays, let them grow in and rock the look with pride. Check out some of our favorites from the last few years below and bookmark this page for next time you hit the salon.

Source: Instagram

Ariana Grande

Image: Shutterstock.

Meryl Streep

Source: Instagram

Kim Kardashian

Image: Shutterstock.

Ciara

Image: Shutterstock.

Dilone

Image: Shutterstock.

Helen Mirren

Source: Instagram

Lady Gaga

Image: Shutterstock.

Winnie Harlow

Image: Shutterstock.

Zosia Mamet

Source: Instagram

Stacy London

Image: Shutterstock.

Tia Mowry