Building Resilience Through Spiritual Practice: Simple Tools for Hard Times
In a world that seems increasingly chaotic, we often hear about spiritual practices as tools for enlightenment or self-improvement. But what's discussed less frequently is how these same practices can be practical lifelines during our darkest moments.
The spiritual community sometimes falls into the trap of toxic positivity by suggesting that with enough meditation or the right affirmations, suffering will simply dissolve. This approach can leave us feeling inadequate, especially when we continue to struggle despite their spiritual efforts.
Here’s what I’ve come to understand, spiritual practices don't eliminate hardship, but they can cultivate resilience. Resilience isn't about avoiding difficulty; it's about developing the capacity to recover from it. Spiritual practices can contribute to this capacity in several ways.
When we're under stress, our nervous systems can become dysregulated, pushing us into fight-flight-fawn-freeze responses. Regular spiritual practice helps widen the gap between a triggering event and our reaction to it. This space allows us to respond thoughtfully rather than react automatically. Research in neuroscience supports this, showing that contemplative practices can strengthen neural pathways associated with emotional regulation and executive function.
Many spiritual traditions emphasize kindness toward oneself, not as self-indulgence, but as recognition of our shared humanity. This self-compassion becomes crucial during difficult times, as it prevents the additional suffering that comes from harsh self-judgment.
Whether through connection to nature, community, or a higher power, spiritual practices remind us that we are part of something beyond our individual struggles. This perspective can provide comfort and context during times when our personal suffering feels all-consuming.
As I write this, I'm five days into recovery from a hysterectomy. Although this procedure was very much needed, I was scared to undergo it. I've also been extremely disturbed by what I'm seeing happen in the country in which I reside (I'm a United States citizen on what is known to the Indigenous peoples here as Turtle Island).
Needless to say, to be of service to my community and to heal physically from surgery, I've had to lean into my spiritual practices. These include volunteer work with children in my local school system, meditation, journaling, engaging with tarot as a self-care and spiritual practice, and tending to the land on which I reside. As an evidential psychic medium, my relationship to Spirit is central to my practice, and I find various ways to regularly make time to sit in silence to feel the Great Spirit that unites us all.
That said, sometimes I just need to remember some basics. I return to simple practices that return me to the current moment and help to connect me to my intuition. Here are a few quick practices that have felt helpful lately.
Three Simple Practices for Building Resilience
These practices require no special equipment, minimal time, and can be adapted to any belief system. What makes them powerful is their accessibility during moments of distress.
Minute Breathing: The Foundation of Presence
The Practice: Place your hand on your heart. Take one deep breath, focusing only on the sensation of air filling and leaving your body.
Why It Works: This simple act engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which governs our "rest and digest" functions. Even a single conscious breath can begin to lower cortisol levels and heart rate. The physical touch component—placing your hand on your heart—activates the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in stress regulation. This combination of touch and breath creates a physiological shift that can interrupt anxiety spirals.
Building Resilience: When practiced regularly, even in non-stressful moments, this creates a neural pathway that becomes more accessible during crisis. The body remembers, making it easier to return to this centering practice when you need it most.
Going Deeper: After building comfort with single breaths, try extending to three breaths, then five. Notice how your awareness changes even within this short practice.
Compassionate Touch: Embracing What Is
The Practice: When emotions are intense, gently place your hand wherever you feel that emotion in your body. Simply say "I see you" to that feeling.
Why It Works: This practice combines two powerful elements: somatic awareness (locating emotions in the body) and acknowledgment without judgment. Our difficult emotions often intensify when we resist them. By physically touching the location of discomfort and verbally acknowledging it, we're engaging in a form of exposure therapy—safely approaching what we might otherwise avoid.
Building Resilience: Regular practice teaches us that emotions, no matter how overwhelming, are temporary states rather than permanent identities. This recognition builds emotional flexibility—the ability to experience difficult feelings without being consumed by them.
Going Deeper: After acknowledging the emotion, try adding: "This belongs to my experience now, and that's okay." This cultivates acceptance of your present reality without demanding immediate change.
Grounding Connection: Beyond the Self
The Practice: Step outside for just 30 seconds. Feel the earth beneath you if possible or simply look up at the vast sky above. Remember that you are part of something much larger than this moment's struggles.
Why It Works: This practice quickly shifts perspective by engaging with the natural world. Looking at the sky activates what psychologists call "awe"—the emotion we experience when encountering vastness that exceeds our understanding. Physically connecting with the earth (when possible) engages our proprioceptive sense—awareness of our body in space—which can help people who feel "ungrounded" during stress.
Building Resilience: Regular practice reinforces our interconnectedness with the larger world, providing a counterbalance to the isolation often felt during difficult times. This sense of connection is consistently linked to greater psychological resilience.
Going Deeper: Try adding this brief affirmation, “Just as this sky/earth has witnessed countless human struggles before mine, it will remain long after this difficulty has passed."
Consistency Over Intensity
The power of these practices comes not from their intensity but from their consistency. A one-minute practice that you actually do is infinitely more valuable than an hour-long practice that feels too overwhelming to attempt during crisis.
Start by incorporating one of these practices into your daily routine—perhaps the minute breathing practice when you first wake up. Once it becomes habitual, add another. The goal isn't perfection but familiarity, so these tools are readily available when hardship arrives.
Building a Personal Resilience Practice
While these three practices offer a starting point, true resilience comes from developing a personalized toolkit. Consider which aspects of these practices resonate most with you and adapt them accordingly.
Some questions to consider as you develop your practice:
Which of your senses tends to ground you most effectively? (Touch, sight, sound, smell, etc.)
Do you find more comfort in movement or stillness?
What time of day do you most need support?
What specific challenges trigger your distress?
By answering these questions, you can refine these practices to address your unique needs.
The Ongoing Journey
Building resilience through spiritual practice isn't a one-time achievement but an ongoing process. Some days you'll find these practices flow easily; others will be more challenging. Both experiences are valuable.
The true measure of success isn't how you perform the practices but how they serve you during difficult times. Notice when you naturally turn to these tools during stress—this is the resilience you're building in action.
Remember that spiritual practices aren't meant to bypass human suffering but to help us move through it with greater awareness and gentleness. In embracing this approach, we discover that resilience isn't about avoiding storms but about learning navigate them with greater tenderness and grace.
My Personal Journey as an Evidential Psychic Medium
As an evidential psychic medium, these practices have been transformative not just for my personal resilience, but for my professional work as well. The minute breathing has helped me attune to subtle energetic shifts that I previously might have missed. Compassionate touch has taught me to distinguish between my own emotions and those I'm sensing from others. And grounding connection has broadened my awareness beyond the confines of everyday consciousness.
What I've found most profound is how these simple practices have strengthened my connection to my inner voice and intuition, creating space between my thinking mind and deeper knowing. When fear or analytical thinking would previously have blocked a clear reading, these practices help me step aside and allow information to flow through me rather than from me. This brings not only personal peace but also a more profound connection to the greater consciousness that surrounds us all—the same consciousness that allows me to serve as a bridge between worlds during readings.
What simple practices help you during difficult times?