16.08.2023 Gabriele Strasser 17267

2 simple exercises for more resilience: Raisins against stress?

Whether in childcare, at work or in family life: Resilience is an indispensable skill. The good news: resilience can be trained. The pme Academy team presents two simple exercises.

There are people who - you might think - took a full bath in a cauldron filled with magic potion as children. They get through even severe crises, suffer hardly any injuries and recover quickly. This superpower is also known as resilience.

The bamboo is a symbol of these qualities: it is stable, leans in a storm, but does not break, it straightens up again.

Originally, the term resilience was used to describe children who developed into stable and successful personalities despite poverty and difficult conditions. Nowadays, "resilience" generally refers to the ability to deal with crises and everyday stress without suffering physical or mental damage.

Training resilience with mindfulness exercises

But what about us "mortals" who did not start out in life with such resilience from an early age? There is hope! Because what makes resilient people can be learned and trained - acceptance, optimism, self-efficacy, personal responsibility.

Mindfulness helps us to be more resilient in the face of life's adversities while remaining sensitive. Mindfulness exercises train attention, invite us to focus on the present and train us not to judge.

Two simple resilience exercises for in between

Many exercises can be easily incorporated into everyday life - for example on the streetcar, during your lunch break or just before going to sleep.

Resilience exercise number 1: The here and now

If possible, close your eyes and focus your attention on the moment. Where are you right now? What sounds do you hear? What movements do you perceive? Notice your breath! Notice how your thoughts drift off and concentrate on the here and now again. Let your thoughts drift by like clouds in the sky. How does it feel when you move slightly?

Resilience exercise number 2: Raisins against stress

One exercise that appeals to all the senses is the raisin exercise: you have probably eaten a raisin before - as part of a muesli, in a Christmas cake or in a handful of trail mix. But what does the individual raisin taste like? How does it feel? What does it look like? What flavor does it exude even before you start biting into it? How is the aroma and sweetness distributed in the mouth? How long does this last?