SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast
The SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast is a fun, entertaining, and enlightening look at health and wellness. It breaks down complex health topics and interviews experts in the wellness field to help participants live healthier lives.
SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast
Part I - Roadmap to Resilience
Strengthen your resilience with this Wellcast episode as we talk to Dr. Lock from the University of Utah and Utah Valley University about understanding what resilience is and how we can overcome stress and burnout by focusing on our values and connecting with others.
Hello listeners and welcome to the Salt Lake County Employee Wellness Wellcast, where we break down complex health topics and it's often described as the ability to bounce back from challenges. But what does that really mean? And, more importantly, how do we actually strengthen our ability to navigate stress and uncertainty and change that is bound to happen in our lives? Resilience isn't something that you are born with. It's a skill that can be developed over time, through mindset shifts, daily habits and strong social connections. Today, we are diving into what that looks like with the help of an expert in the field. I am thrilled to welcome Dr Amy Locke, chief Wellness Officer at the University of Utah Health and Executive her career to helping individuals and communities achieve optimal health and healing by addressing physical and mental health together. In this episode, we will explore what resiliency really is, how stress impacts our bodies and our minds, and practical strategies to build resilience at work and in life. So let's dive in. Welcome, dr Locke. Thank you.
Speaker 2:It's so good to be here.
Speaker 1:Let's get right into it. I have often heard resilience described as the ability to bounce back, but how do you define resilience?
Speaker 2:It really is this idea that when bad things happen, you can manage and grow from the experience. And ideally you would end up better than you did before the stressor, and so that can be hard to think about in the midst of a stressful event. But that is the idea. Well, the American Psychological Association defines it as the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or changing life experiences, particularly through mental, emotional experiences. And it's this idea of behavioral flexibility and adjustment to internal and external demands.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. I just read the book Resilient by Rick Hansen. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that book, but it opened my eyes a lot to the idea of resilience. I think I didn't have a full understanding of what resilience was, that it's something that we're not really born with, that we can. It's a skill, basically, that we learn and develop, and we have to expose ourselves sometimes to hard things in order to develop that skill. So I'm curious what are some daily practices that can help strengthen resilience over time?
Speaker 2:I think that part of being resilient is having that growth mindset, just like you described, that when something bad happens to me, where's my locus of control, where are the things that I can do? And there is this resilience formula that is often talked about in resilient circles, which is this idea that when something really bad is happening, I can just keep going status quo, I can walk away, maybe, or I can change my situation to some extent. We often talk about how focusing on our values can be a really helpful way to frame what I'm going to do next. What's my action to this experience?
Speaker 1:Can you talk a little bit more about the locus of control? I just recently learned a little bit more about that and I think it's really important to understand the idea of resilience.
Speaker 2:Yes. So let's say I'm raising a teenager and I'm having a hard time and they're, you know, struggling and I'm trying to think of what to do and they yell at me. So my locus of control is not to make them stop yelling, right, they have chosen that. But I can choose my risk. So that can feel like a really helpless situation because you really can't get rid of your teenager and you know, raising teenagers is very difficult. But again, what's in my locus of control? I can yell back, I can walk away, I can pause, I can say hey, I can't talk about this right now. Can we talk about this later, when maybe we're less upset and so much of managing stress in general is around self-awareness. Do I recognize that I'm getting riled up, that I'm about to lose my cool? Do I recognize how much of a burden this conversation is on me personally? And again, not to be poor me, rescue me. But what can I do as an individual to?
Speaker 2:make the situation better or worse?
Speaker 1:Taking that ownership and understanding what you can and can't control. Yeah, yeah, okay. So I love that example you shared about your teenager and when we're in the thick of stress, so if we're having a really difficult conversation and we're feeling that all of that, those sensations in our body, what are some just in the moment techniques that we can use?
Speaker 2:I think the biggest thing for folks is recognizing that it's happening in the first place, because in that moment you kind of get in that fight or flight state, right, and so this is not your analytical brain, let's think about coping. So having some tools already at the ready can be helpful, like I'm going to take a couple of deep breaths, I'm going to step away, I'm going to, you know, anticipate this situation where it's going, before it gets there. So, before I'm yelling, what are the few things that I could have recognized maybe before that, to take me in a different direction.
Speaker 2:And I think we often, particularly in really intense careers or times in life, the stress can build up and we don't really notice it, and then all of a sudden things are just terrible. Yeah, then we're like a teapot, yep, and then you kind of helpless, right. So when things are just all piled on, it can feel like I don't have any locus of control, like the world is happening to me rather than I'm participating as a part of it. We often use a stress scale of green to red, and so what we often find is that people or all the way to red and they say, oh, wow, maybe I should go for a walk, but in that case it's like I need professional help. So how do we recognize stress, like maybe when it's yellow or orange before we get to full-blown red?
Speaker 1:Yeah, just staying in that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right. And then how do we ask for help For anyone, no matter how many coping skills they have and no matter how self-aware they are? There are going to be times in our life when it gets really, really hard, and so how do we have a community around us to lean on when those things happen?
Speaker 1:I love that. I noticed in your bio how you focus on that community, that social support, and I think that's so important and I'm curious about the role of how can we cultivate more meaningful connections, Because we can be out and around people but still feel alone. So how do we create those meaningful connections?
Speaker 2:Loneliness is a big, big deal, and you might think, oh, people who are lonely are alone, but that is not always true. Many people are lonely and are surrounded by other people. We are often glued to our phones and rushing all around, and so sometimes just taking a minute to really look at someone and set your phone down for a second and engage on a human level, you know, to be able to ask that question how are you really can be so important, and you don't always have time for that. So one thing I heard last week or two weeks ago that I really really liked was someone said I've stopped asking people how are you and have instead say it's so good to see you because that's such an easy thing. Yeah, we don't have to pretend we're all fine but still be excited to see it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. I've been trying to. When I even check out at the grocery line or something, I've been trying to ask questions. I even check out at the grocery line or something. I've been trying to ask questions that are more meaningful. So I'm asking what's the best part of your day? How's your day been going? Something along the lines rather than just a how are you? Because, yes, those meaningful connections really can fill our cup throughout the day and it doesn't have to be super complicated. No, exactly, yeah, I love that. I also love the idea of how we interpret a challenge can shape our experience. You talked about that a little bit earlier. So what are some ways that people can reframe that, especially if I know that a lot of our thoughts are subconscious? So, if we've had this negativity bias for a long time, or this victim mentality, so to speak, what are some ways that we can reframe that?
Speaker 2:Well, I think in the moment that can feel like a should and that can be hard right.
Speaker 1:Then the shame comes in again, right.
Speaker 2:Recognizing when should shows up is a really important skill, I think, because if you're doing something because you feel like you should, it's much, much harder than because you want to, or because it makes you feel good or you are getting some other positive experience out of it. And so again, I think, trying to convince yourself that this terrible thing that has happened is somehow good for you probably is not going to be that helpful. Probably is not going to be that helpful. So instead I might spend more time just sort of recognizing how that experience is showing up in the body. So you know, stress shows up in the body in a couple of ways. There's this acute stress. So you know, someone starts yelling fire and we all start to panic. Right, we're going to feel that in our body in a way. So you might feel tingly or numb, you might feel your heart race, you might start sweating, you might feel faint, you might have to go to the bathroom suddenly, and those acute stressors are more obvious.
Speaker 2:Chronic stress shows up in different ways and many times it shows up like pain disorders or mood disorders or irritable bowel syndrome or migraines, or you know, also, it just it causes a lot of inflammation in the body, right.
Speaker 2:So your risk of diabetes is higher, your risk of heart disease is higher, and most of that is kind of unconscious, and in fact how we manage that stress often is also unconscious, right. So all of a sudden I'm reaching for a martini, or I'm yelling at my kids, or, you know, I'm in the car having rage as I'm driving down the street, and so the more we can bring that into awareness and recognize like, wow, I'm really stressed because something just happened at work and I'm yelling at my kid, or I'm, you know, just had a really hard day because I'm sandwich generation and I'm caring for parents and kids, and now I'm yelling at the person in the car in front of me and starting to think about what are the ways that I managed stress when maybe life was better, and what are those methods that I could bring back or what are new things that I could employ, and so I feel like that framing can be really helpful.
Speaker 1:And you also talked about values, which I thought is another way you could kind of reframe it, bring it back to your values. I always find that's really useful in resilient situations useful in resilient situations. So if someone wanted to strengthen their resilience just right away, they're listening to this and they just want to get going on it. What are some concrete actions they could take today?
Speaker 2:Well, I think there are a number of tools that help kind of assess the stress. So we have a tool in the resiliency center that was developed by our team that kind of says if you feel like this, maybe you're yellow or maybe you're red, so then it kind of again gives you a sign Helps that awareness right.
Speaker 1:Some people don't even know Exactly.
Speaker 2:It's like okay, one to five, where am I? And then what are the things I might do to help? And there's a great book called Burnout the secret to ending the stress cycle. Love that book, yes.
Speaker 1:Love that it goes through a lot.
Speaker 2:Of Emily Nagoski yes, yes, very practical steps of engaging in humor, talking with loved ones, creativity, going for a run or an exercise, sleep there are all these things that are very evidence-based to improve stress. And then I think the other thing is just continuing to frame these experiences as a normal part of life. Like all, humans will experience very stressful things and sometimes in the moment, we think of it as this unique experience to us, and when it's unique to us, we then have a hard time engaging with other people. When it's unique to us, we then have a hard time engaging with other people. Keeping an eye out for those assumptions that this is permanent and all-encompassing can be very helpful in reframing what will hopefully later be a good story and a learning experience.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, that's so important. In that book, the resilient book by Rick Hansen, he talked about how we often are like, well, the next shoe's going to drop, what are we going to do? And he said, yes, it is going to drop. It's inevitable that the next shoe will drop, because that's life, you know, and sometimes it's hard to accept, but we're all doing it together and that's really important to remember in all of this. So, yeah, I thank you so much for all your sharing. This is so important, I feel like. So my final question is what resistance do you see when it comes to people wanting to build resilience? What keeps them from doing it?
Speaker 2:I think again, that sense of permanence. I will say that we have not, today, talked about what I consider the foundations of health, of what makes a healthy human. So what do I eat, how do I move, how do I sleep, how do I connect with the world? Yes, when those are strong, a person's ability to manage stress is way better. And I will say sleep is like the critical one, and so when people are not sleeping, it becomes almost impossible to really manage and show up in the world, and we often overlook that. I mean, we often think of sleep as like this gift that happens when everything else has been taken care of.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, it's so true, that's so true.
Speaker 2:Coming back to the basics seems too simple sometimes, but it really can be helpful. And then there is a whole world of therapists out there who are so good at helping people from the outside. Think about work through some of those steps, and so getting someone with training in this space can be a really helpful way to get help if you get stuck.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, that's very important as well. Well, this has been very insightful. We're going to have a second part to talking about the workplace. I appreciate you so much, dr Locke, and thank you all for tuning into this Wellcast. Be sure to check us out for our next episode, where we dive into resilience at work. I'm so grateful for Dr Locke sharing her expertise today, for Dr Locke sharing her expertise today, and I hope listeners walk away with a clearer picture of resilience and how it's something that we practice every day, not just in crisis.
Speaker 1:Remember that resilience is built in the small moments. You don't have to wait for a major life event to start strengthening it. Start by checking in with yourself, recognizing those moments when stress starts creeping up and leaning into your personal toolbox, whether that's taking a deep breath, going on a walk, connecting with a friend. And if you're ready to go even deeper. Stay tuned for part two, where we explore resilience in the workplace and talk a little bit about how leaders can foster resilient teams and how to navigate those workplace boulders that can get in the way. A quick reminder that our June wellness program is dedicated to building resilience and ridding yourself of stress and burnout, so we'll be sharing resources, tools and challenges to help you thrive both personally and professionally. You can find details in the June newsletter, our weekly lineups or on the Employee Wellness website. Thanks for listening and until next time, have a healthy day.