I studied engineering. I did a MS in Industrial Engineering specializing in composite materials. Then, I did a PhD in Engineering and Applied Sciences and studied nanocomposite materials. In those years, I learned about metals and polymeric materials and about materials reinforced with fibers and with particles. 

One of the things you need to learn when you are studying different materials, is the relationship between stress and strain. There is a curve that shows the relationship between the stress applied to a material and the strain that the material goes through under that stress. 

Depending on the type of material you will have different curves. 

There are materials that will resist a lot of stress and will deform with time and it will take a lot to break them. There will be materials that will break almost instantly under the stress applied without any deformation…

When the material under the stress or load deforms, this deformation can be elastic or plastic.

I’m sure you are familiar with what that means, you know a material is elastic when it deforms momentarily and then it goes back to the original form. But when a material has a plastic deformation, once it is deformed, it cannot go back to the original shape. 

Think of one of those resistance bands for exercise that you stretch and then release, that’s an example of an elastic material. 

Now imagine a soda can, I’m sure you have crushed one before after you finished drinking, and you know that you cannot get it to its original form again, that is a plastic deformation.

By now you are probably tired of this lesson in materials’ science and you might be wondering where is all this going…

Stay with me for a little more with this…

When we are looking at the stress and strain curve and we see materials with an elastic deformation, the capability of that material to absorb the energy and deform elastically is what we call resilience.

And that, my dear friend, is what I want to focus on today. 

RESILIENCE.

Resilience is a very powerful skill to develop, specially in these days…

The ability to maintain your “form” and be “elastic” under stress, in the same way materials behave, is a key skill to develop in life. 

For us human beings, resilience is the ability to maintain or quickly return to a stable physical and psychological equilibrium despite experiencing stressful events. Being resilient means that we can get back to a neutral or relaxed state after experiencing a stressful situation.

When we study materials to see if they are resilient, we can perform a very specific test. We can set up the conditions, put them under stress and then evaluate their behavior and determine if they are resilient or they are brittle or their toughness…

But, what do we use for us humans to see if we are resilient? 

Is there a way for you to train and increase your resilience so you can respond better to life’s challenges?

As it happens, there is a way to measure, train and increase your resilience. 

You can do it by tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV). There are several studies that are using the HRV as a measure of resilience. 

And what is HRV? HRV is a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. 

The variation in time between each heartbeat is directly related to your stress and relaxed states. When you are under stress in what you know as the fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. 

The opposite happens when you are in a relaxed state, where the variation between beats is high. 

When you are able to switch between a stressful to a relaxed state faster, you are going from a low variation of your heartbeats to a higher one.

That means your HRV is higher. And that shows that you are able to bounce back quickly, meaning that you are more resilient. Higher HRV is related to a greater cardiovascular fitness and higher resilience to stress. And that is what you want to achieve and measure.

How do you measure your HRV? How do you train to have a higher HRV? 

There are a lot of fitness devices that monitor your HRV.

You can do a quick search in Google and you’ll find what’s out there. Personally, I use an Oura ring.

Thanks to the HRV measures that I track with the ring, I can see which days I am more resilient than others and that helps me figuring out how to train and when to rest.

On days where my HRV is higher I can do more active workouts and strenuous activities and on days where is lower, I focus more on rest and recovery activities so I don’t increase my stress levels. 

That is the magic of the HRV, it gives you personal feedback about your lifestyle and how to manage your stress. 

Maybe you are wondering, besides knowing your HRV, is there a way to improve it? Can I train to increase my HRV? 

Yes, you can. 

The way I do it is with an app called Inner Balance from Heartmath. With this app you can monitor your HRV, practice and learn how to get a higher HRV.

The technique used is powerful and simple and it teaches you how to use your breathing and mindfulness to change your stress levels very quickly, increasing your resilience.

But, what if you don’t want to buy a device or get a new app?

You can still increase your resilience by adding a few minutes of meditation each day, by practicing focused breathing, by exercising regularly and by ensuring you get quality sleep. 

These are tools that are at your reach, things that can help you bounce back faster from a stressful event, that can make you feel better as you face new challenges because you know you have tools to deal with them.

Now, tell me, how do you deal with challenges in your life? How do you face uncertainty?

Do you have a way to know that you are recovering from the stresses of daily life? What can you do to increase your awareness and know that you are reaching your limits?

Let me know below what methods you use to bounce back from stress, I’d love to know!

xoxo,  

Sofia