Siemens Distribution Systems July 6th 2021

Thank you for attending the session on Tuesday. Nathan, Matt and I hope you have found it helpful, insightful and enjoyable. 

The subject of resilience and wellbeing is a complex one which is continually evolving with more research and opinion. Our present position is probably best described as "if it's not broken don't try and fix it". In other words, if you feel you are responding well to life's stressors, sleeping well and have good levels of enjoyment from life and work then perhaps it's best to not change too much. If, however, some of the stressors overwhelm you from time-to-time, you seem to have no time for regular movement, work/life balance feels out of kilter, or sleep quality is not great then maybe it's worth tweaking something. 

Our objective, therefore, is to provide you with a framework, robustly researched and tested, within which you can explore your own self-awareness, habits and personal development. The framework is grounded in the neurophysiology of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which, when functioning well, provides us with the self-regulating mechanisms to adapt through stress to become more resilient. The chronic accumulation of stress, or traumatic incidents/episodes of stress, can cause the ANS to become dysregulated. In simple terms we lose our capacity to not only manage stress but also to adapt and grow/become more resilient. Ultimately this will hinder and undermine performance at work, home, social life and deplete our energy. It can be experienced in many complex and subtle ways. Today's environmental stressors often cause a relentless sense of being on the go...so even if our stressors are not too bad we can find ourselves unconsciously in the sympathetic branch for too long which results in unnecessarily levels of fatigue. So, even at the mild end of the spectrum we need to be aware of the wellbeing risks of prolonged fatigue and not enjoying sufficient rest, sleep and recovery.

A central message is to reflect on the recovery side of the equation:

stress + recovery = resilience

We will always experience stress but it can be successfully managed and harnessed for positive growth if we understand how to recover effectively. This is explained in more detail in the links you will find below.

If anyone wants signposting to more in-depth reading on any aspect of what you have listened to, please don't hesitate to ask. There isn't one book which pulls all our content together but there are great specialists out there on parts of it. We have compiled our own resources to try and help and these are explained further below together with links you can use to access them.

We would suggest you read the 90 second guide to resilience before the ANS and Social Engagement resource. It is a more complex read but very helpful for managing/leading others and also it has relevance to parenting. Please ask for more clarification if you need it because it is a highly nuanced area. The 'expert' who has developed this over the past 30 years has had a significant influence on the world of therapy/personal development in the USA and globally.

  • resilience slide presentation

  • a 90 second read on resilience which attempts to fill in some of the commentary that is delivered with the slide deck

  • a short read about an important feature of the nervous system which we talked about - the social engagement system - this is what Nathan had inadvertently neglected when pushing himself hard to overcome the disappointment of failing to win a medal at the World Championships. So despite ticking all the normal wellbeing boxes (sleep, nutrition etc.) he developed chronic fatigue which plagued him for 3 years.

Click the buttons below to view:

 
 

Furthermore, here are our audio links to nervous system/breathing exercises. We didn't have time to discuss or try these but they can be incredibly useful in helping you protect/build your resilience because they encourage the ANS to work with stress. Please click on the arrow and wait for the audio to begin playing (may take a few seconds). Please read the instructions (click here to read) for the breathing exercises before listening to the downloads. It has important information about the nature of such techniques, the preparation you may find helpful and also safety guidelines for anyone who has experienced trauma/significant stress. If you have experienced significant trauma in your life then you may wish to get in touch to discuss how to proceed with the use of such techniques. We never discuss any such communication with your employer unless you wish us to i.e. we treat your request for support with complete confidentiality and respect.

If anyone wishes for more specific signposting please do not hesitate to email jo@7futures.com and we'll get back to you asap.

best wishes

Mark


 7Futures Limited is committed to protecting the privacy of your data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

To view our current Privacy Notice please click on the link at the bottom of this page. If you have any queries about the content please email jo@7futures.com



© 2012 7Futures Ltd. Registered Office: Laurel Drive, 7 George Fox Lane, Fenny Drayton, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV13 6BE.Registered in England and Wales No. 7945762

© 2012 7Futures Ltd. Please note that at 7Futures, our role is to help educate and encourage our clients to take positive responsibility for their wellbeing. We are not medical doctors and are not able to offer individual medical advice. We always recommend you should discuss with your GP or other medical professional before making any changes you hope will impact your wellbeing, or that of your current/future family.  7Futures Ltd offers generic information which is for educational purposes only. The information we provided is not a prescription system and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. As such our materials, videos products and communications are for general information purposes only and should not be read as a personal recommendation for specific changes in lifestyle behaviour, nutrition, or exercise. Please click here for a clear description of our services and the relationship with you as a client. You should not participate in any of our services until you have studied this link...it is for your benefit.