The Complexities of Resilience
Recently I was asked to discuss resilience and its importance for body workers and yoga therapists at the Vancouver School of Healing Arts where I have taught for over a decade. I initially hesitated. Given my position of privilege, I wondered what I could offer on this topic. This initial doubt revealed my assumption that resilience is primarily honed through adversity as if it were a muscle solely developed as a result of surviving life's challenges.
However, as I delved deeper, I recognized an alternative perspective: perhaps resilience could be seen as a privilege. Imagine growing up in a safe environment in which one’s stress response wasn’t overtaxed, surrounded by love, and a sense of unconditional support—this too could fuel resilience.
Interestingly, the day I sat down to begin preparing my lecture, I had a session with a young Indigenous client who spoke of resilience when she asked, “Why do Indigenous people always have to be resilient? When do I get to let my guard down?” This highlighted a third, very crucial perspective which suggested that for some, what we call resilience might simply be survival.
These reflections have led me to believe that my understanding of resilience is layered and nuanced, leaving me with more questions than answers. It's a journey I am still navigating, and I invite you to explore these complexities with me.
What is Resilience?
As a part of the lecture, I was asked to provide a clinical definition of resilience. I turned to the American Psychological Association which states that “resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioural flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” (APA, 2024). The idea that resilience was about adjusting to “external and internal demands” immediately made me uneasy and brought to mind Martin Luther King Jr. who expressed a compelling counterpoint to this idea. He declared his proud refusal to adjust to numerous injustices, including segregation, discrimination, and economic inequalities when he said “ … there are some things in our nation and the world to which I am proud to be maladjusted... I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few, leaving millions of people smothering in an air-tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism and the self-defeating effects of physical violence…” (King, 1964).
This resistance to adjustment poses a significant question: Are some aspects of resilience not about adjustment but the refusal to accept unjust circumstances?
Some researchers suggest resilience is a trait observed in children who meet the world on their terms, often showing autonomy, a zest for new experiences, and a positive social orientation. They possess what is known as an "internal locus of control"—a belief that they can influence their outcomes more than any external circumstance might (Konnikova, 2016).
Others view resilience as the framing of experiences—not all adversity must lead to trauma; instead, it can offer opportunities for growth and learning. Moreover, shifting one’s explanatory style—from internalizing blame to recognizing external factors, from viewing situations as permanent to seeing them as changeable—can significantly enhance resilience (Konnikova, 2016).
Resilience as Connection, Presence, and Transformation
Ultimately, resilience is interwoven with the ability to connect deeply with others, to remain present during challenges, and to find transformative meaning in adversity. It’s about how we interpret and respond to our experiences that define our path forward.
As you continue to explore and expand your understanding of resilience, I encourage you to reflect on how resilience appears in your life and how you might harness it not just to survive, but to thrive and effect change.