Build Resilience

08/11/2022

I never was a runner. Because I inherited an athletic build, everyone assumed I was into sports. But I couldn't run more than a couple hundred feet before my lungs and brain felt like they were on fire.

I loved moving and getting outside, but for some reason any serious exercise sent my heart racing so fast I felt panicky and uncoordinated. It bothered me but I had no idea what to do about it, so I threw myself into books instead of sports.

Then the panic attacks started hitting even when I wasn't exercising - so bad I would collapse on my floor convulsing like a bug dying. No one had answers. Desperate, I began studying everything I could about my brain and nervous system. Gradually, I realized what I had was not an illness but an injury. My survival response had been chronically activated over decades and my body was in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze.

Gradually, I understood that this constant survival state had put my brain on a hair trigger. Every time my heart rate increased, my brain thought I was about to die. I needed to train my brain how to stay calm when my heart rate started going up - and running was a powerful way to do that. So I dug in.

The first quarter mile was torture. And that quarter mile was all I could do for a long time. But I kept plugging away at it, day after day, and gradually that quarter mile turned into a half mile and then a mile. I attacked it like a science project and began devouring the latest studies out of the world of elite athletics and human performance, looking for clues on how to hack a panicking brain and shift out of survival mode.

Because the truth was, I didn’t just want to run - I wanted to fly.

And now, five miles into a trail loop that winds over a rock bed next to the American River, that’s how I feel.

These days, my morning run and meditation is always the highlight of my day. Once I find that deep foundation within, get into the rhythms around me and hit that sweet spot of forward momentum, I feel like I could keep going forever.

So I hope the lessons I share here can help you learn to fly both on the trail and off.

07/11/2022

feelings are fine!

feelings are not a problem

feel your feelings

but don’t let your feelings

convince you

you have problems

and definitely never

let your feelings convince you

you are a problem

cuz the secret is

beneath all the other feelings

there’s just one feeling

which is what you’re made of

and who you are

and that’s love

are you with me?

throw a 💪 below if you’re ready to feel your feelings, let go of your problems and step into love ❤️

I’m resilience,
Caitlin

11/04/2020

Getting comfortable with discomfort is a skill, and it's a key foundation of resilience. Building resilience means getting comfortable with feelings of ambiguity, taking charge of our experience and channeling our energy in constructive ways.

With everything up in the air with the election right now, I know a lot of folks are feeling anxious and uneasy. I made a quick video to share some simple tools to get through the day one step, and one breath, at a time.

Sign up for more hands on, practical strategies for building resilience

09/21/2020

09/19/2020

We live in challenging times - the COVID crisis combined with increasing social, environmental and economic pressures has resulted in unprecedented levels of chronic stress. In response to these challenges, "resilience" has become a new buzzword - but what does it mean?

We often see resilience defined as “bouncing back” or “recovering quickly from adversity” – but resilience is more than simply returning to baseline. Resilience means responding to challenges in a way that makes us stronger. If we conceive of resilience in this way, it flips the script on ...

09/15/2020

It's okay to take life one day at a time - actually, there's no other way to do it!