Last month’s Resilience Round Table was an event not to be missed. It highlighted that through collective wisdom, we can break out of silos by applying principles such as Systems Thinking and Chaos Theory. For instance, Kimberly Lechnick brought the aspect of the family into the discussion within minutes. During that one-hour meeting, we collectively practised what my friend Dr. Eric Zabiegalski calls “Unthinking.”
As part of this newsletter series, we examine one part of the two resilience equations each month. At the last meeting, my main focus was General Health. I was thrilled to see how quickly our Round Table Group took it out of the silo, recognising that everything is interconnected.
What is General Health?
Most people think about physical and mental health, and some also consider spiritual health. Until very recently, I personally preferred Kevin R. Strauss, M.E. ☮️❤️🤝 ’ four types of health: Physical, Mental, Spiritual, and Emotional. However, Gabor Maté inspired me to add a fifth—Social Health. This refers to how healthily we are connected to one another and how those connections impact our individual health.
An increasing number of thinkers and researchers from various disciplines are showing us how interconnected the various aspects of our health are. For instance, Gabor Maté writes, “Not only does our individual and societal sanity depend on connection; so does our physical health.” I would argue that general health is an intricate balance among these five areas. If one area is suffering, all areas are affected. If you find this hard to believe, I encourage you to read books like “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma” by Bessel van der Kolk or “The Myth of Normal: Illness, Health & Healing in a Toxic Culture” by Gabor Maté. Because of this intricate balance and interconnectedness of body, mind, soul, and spirit, it is crucial that we develop an integrated approach to resilience building that considers all five aspects of health. I firmly believe that building Resilience Equity must be a part of this exploration.
Resilience Equity
Tom McManimon, who participated in the last Resilience Round Table, introduced me to the term Resilience Equity, which deeply resonated with me. Equity involves preparedness, resources, tools, capacity, and, above all, people. It serves as an antidote to our current predominantly reactive model, which often springs into action only when resilience equity is already negative.
When looking at the five aspects of health, it’s clear we need resilience equity in all of them. However, my work as an emotional logic coach has shown me that resilience equity is often either non-existent or disproportionately shared across these five areas. For instance, many men I’ve worked with have lacked emotionally safe people in their lives (Social Health) and thus often struggle with resilience equity affecting their mental, social, and emotional well-being. Similarly, many women do not feel emotionally safe in their relationships. Additionally, social and familial connections are increasingly fractured worldwide. People seem to have lost the ability to commit, even when that requires effort in relationship building and personal development. This lack of commitment is also observed in the workplace, where trust has diminished. Today, even small challenges are labelled as red flags or toxic, resulting in a tendency for people to quickly advise others to cut ties and move on.
How can we build resilience equity?
While the interconnectedness of our health aspects presents a challenge (as one suffers, all suffer), it also offers an opportunity (as one heals, all can heal). As we explore developing a more integrated approach to resilience building, it seems less important which aspect we start with. What matters is that whatever we do is undertaken with an awareness of the interconnectedness of the five aspects of health and our relationships to others.
For example, if you are coaching individuals to become physically fitter, don’t simply tell them to push through their limits when they feel like giving up. Instead, take this opportunity to help them build resilience in their mental and emotional health. That supports your aim for their motivation to come from within themselves rather than relying solely on your encouragement.
