Fueling a Resilient Mind: How Existential Flexibility and Brain Food Keep You Healthy in Any Circumstance
Harvesting Happiness
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We’ve all experienced unknown and unforeseen challenges. These stressors make us feel like we can’t manage life on life’s terms. Maintaining well-being amidst uncertainty, change, and external challenges can be difficult. For a minute, think about that old cartoon character Gumby, who is synonymous with extreme flexibility. Gumby is bendable, not breakable. His horsey sidekick Pokey is another story.
In times of turbulence, strive to be more Gumby-like. Gumby is a role model of existential flexibility.
“Blessed are the flexible for they will not allow themselves to become bent out of shape!” — Robert Ludlum
What Is Existential Flexibility?
Existential flexibility is a particularly important attribute in conditions that challenge our sense of security and well-being. It means being willing to go with the flow, shift, and course-correct, especially when life gets complicated. This concept goes beyond simply being adaptable.
Existential flexibility is the mindset that helps us to thrive, come what may.
Life is an unpredictable experience. We learn to roll with the punches when we adopt a flexible approach to each day. Adjusting our mindset and behaviors to match evolving situations prevents us from being derailed by setbacks and helps us maintain a strong compass, even when things don’t go as planned.
Building a Resilient Mind with Consciously Prepared Brain Food
Existential flexibility demands a healthy, strong, and resilient mind. Brain food isn’t just the nutrients we consume through our diet; it also encompasses everything our minds absorb from the world around us. This includes the environment we live in, the thoughts we entertain, the relationships we nurture, and the media we consume. External influences most certainly contribute to our mental state, contributing either to the health and resilience of our minds or, conversely, to stress and negativity. For instance, reading inspiring books, surrounding ourselves with positive people, and engaging with uplifting media can be considered as nourishing brain food.
Although we cannot always control external circumstances, we are the CEO of our lives and get to choose the narrative, how we respond, and what we allow to feed our minds. We can curate a healthier mental diet by being mindful of our focus, relationships, and the media we engage with. Maintaining a flexible mind, body, and spirit opens us to opportunities, creative problem-solving, and supportive environments. This conscious and decisive process strengthens our minds as nourishing foods improve our bodies.
Setting a solid foundation for resilience enables us to handle twists and turns more easily. Brain food extends beyond what we eat. As we feed our bodies, we must nourish our minds with high-quality information. Activities such as reading, learning new skills, and engaging in creative pursuits stimulate the brain and help to keep it flexible.
Challenging our cognitive capacities enhances our ability to adapt to new situations and think more innovatively.
Cultivating a Healthy Body and Mind for Greater Flexibility
A healthy body plays an essential role in maintaining mental resilience and existential flexibility. Regular exercise not only strengthens the body but also supports a healthy mind. Research has proven that exercise reduces stress, improves emotion regulation, and boosts cognitive function, helping us to adapt flexibly to difficult times. Physical exercise helps to calibrate our nervous system, making us more resilient to life’s challenges.
Mental health hygiene plays a vital role in our existential flexibility. Daily exercise, activities, and engagement that serve the mind, body, and spirit are like a soothing balm for the brain, training it to stay calm under pressure and helping us gain clarity on our thoughts and emotions. Learning to process and manage our feelings more effectively allows us to adapt to change and reduce overwhelm while improving mental fitness.
For example, research indicates that meditation helps to rewire the brain by promoting neural plasticity. This increased plasticity enables a more flexible mindset, helping us to face life’s challenges more effectively. By developing an awareness of the present moment, we also become less attached to rigid expectations, allowing us to approach life’s uncertainties with curiosity and openness rather than fear and resistance.
Resilience and Existential Flexibility in Practice
When life throws us a chaotic curveball, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or defeated. The good news is we can start practicing existential flexibility right now. Channeling our bendy green friend Gumby helps us to be more equipped to handle life’s inevitable changes. This strategy empowers us to stay true to our core values while allowing us to be open to new perspectives and solutions. For instance, when faced with a sudden change in our work environment, we can use existential flexibility to adapt our mindset and actions, staying true to our work ethic while being open to new working methods.
The key to maintaining well-being, regardless of external circumstances, is building a solid foundation for the body and mind. By feeding our brains the right foods and challenging ourselves with enriching experiences, we nurture a resilient mind that can thrive in any situation. Regular exercise, restorative sleep, meaningful work, satisfying relationships, and mindfulness practices further support this process, ensuring that our bodies and minds are robust and adaptable.
Summarizing Existential Flexibility:
Ultimately, existential flexibility empowers us to live fully in uncertainty. It helps us remain focused on what matters most while gracefully navigating life’s ups and downs. Through this integrated approach, which includes nourishing brain food, regular exercise, restorative sleep, meaningful work, satisfying relationships, and mindfulness practices, we can achieve well-being grounded in mental resilience and a flexible, adaptable outlook on life.
Like what you’re reading? Want more consciously prepared brain food?
Listen to this Harvesting Happiness episode: Existential Flexibility: Brain Food for a Resilient and Healthy Mind with Shai Tubali PhD, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode is part of The Good Citizen’s Election Season Survival Guide to Restoring Common Sense and Sanity in a Crazy World — produced in collaboration with renowned, fair-minded subject matter experts who provide strategies that enhance critical thinking, increase civic engagement, and foster healthy pleasure to boost personal well-being and relationship satisfaction.
Revised Bio: Shai Tubali, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Leeds and a leading authority on mental flexibility and self-development. His work combines psychology, philosophy, Yogic traditions, and Eastern thought and practices. Shai is an award-winning author who has written 20 books published in more than 13 languages, the most recent of which are Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Meditation and The Transformative Philosophical Dialogue.
Shai Tubali, Ph.D. blends intellectual rigor and spiritual insight, inviting us to examine existential questions and explore profound dimensions of the human experience.
Book: Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Meditation and The Transformative Philosophical Dialogue.
Website: https://shaitubali.com/
X: @STubali
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Disclaimer: This communication is for information only and does not constitute mental health treatment or indicate a therapeutic relationship. Individuals in need of treatment for mental health or psychological concerns should seek out services from appropriate mental healthcare professionals.