In a time when almost every human being on this planet is dealing with the stress of what comes next amidst this pandemic, the topic of resilience is more important than ever. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or any other significant source of threat.  Losing your job, a close friend or family member, or even your freedom to leave the house can cause a massive amount of stress and threaten your well-being. More than ever, we need to be resilient. 

This poses the question: How can we be more resilient? 

I propose that the answer might be more simple than we imagined: meditation. 

According to the American Psychological Association, increasing your resilience takes both time and intentionality. By focusing on connection, wellness, healthy thinking, and meaning, you can empower yourself to withstand such traumatic experiences. Meditation is the perfect solution because it enables you to be more mindful. For those of you who don’t know, mindfulness can be defined as the ability to be fully present in the moment.

There are a boatload of benefits associated with being more mindful, including decreased stress and increased focus. Being mindful and present allows you to feel more connected and think intentionally, which both are said to increase resilience.  In fact, Psychology Today states that “mindfulness in meditation beginners has been linked to increases in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation (associated with attention control) and deactivation in the amygdalae (associated with threat detection).” 

Mindfulness meditation works at increasing resilience because it changes the structure, therefore affecting the function, of the brain regions involved in regulation of attention, emotion, and self awareness.  We know this is true because functional MRI studies of the brain exhibit that when someone is daydreaming or not focused on anything specific, there is still consistent activity in certain regions called the Default Mode Network, or DMN, which is actually involved with brain functions like thinking about yourself or rumination, as well as areas associated with depression and anxiety. The DMN is defined by the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and angular gyrus. The DMN directs our attention to the past or future while ignoring the present, which does allow us to plan and organize but also has negative aspects like ruminating. 

On the opposite of the DMN is the Task-Positive Network, or TPN, which is active during attention-demanding tasks.  Either the DMN or TPN can be active at a single time, not both. This network is the “action network” responsible for our awareness in the here and now. There is no rumination when the TPN is active because there is no past and no future, just the present. In the case where mindfulness practice enhances attention, the anterior cingulate cortex, the region associated with attention, changes in activity and/or structure in response to mindfulness meditation. 

Bringing attention to our breath, a sound, or a sensation activates your TPN, therefore stopping your wandering DMN.  The more that you practice mindfulness, the easier it gets to activate your TPN.  This change in your brain structure means that you can react differently to stresses in your everyday life.

Because a state of mindfulness does not just occur because of one area of the brain, there are other important structures that play a role. The other important structures associated with meditation are the fronto-limbic networks, which are involved in emotion regulation and stress reduction, and show various patterns of engagement in mindfulness meditation.

With all things considered, there are really no downsides to meditation and mindfulness exercises. In fact, it can help increase your resiliency so that you are able to handle what life throws your way. Lucky for us, there are several free resources out there to help you be more mindful, my favorite being Headspace.

To close, next time you are feeling overwhelmed, bring your focus to your breath and the rest of your five senses to activate your TPN.