Four years ago, Adelphine Abewe found herself in a situation where she couldn’t understand, she was feeling lonely, empty and didn’t know how to go about it. This was until she found something to enlighten her life. Abewe, who is the managing director and founder of El Amor Garden Ltd says although she loved plants from an early age, she never had enough time to concentrate on them, and when she finally did, she started finding her purpose and happiness in life. “I came to realise that plants are important in our life not just for clean air, but also to relieve stress and decoration, and this is what saved me from the negative thoughts I had previously,” she says. Well, according to experts, finding your passion is just one of the remedies that have been proven to help manage your stress and build your resilience as well. Sylvestre Twizerimana, a clinical psychologist in Rwanda says with a lot going on in the lives of people, it’s just normal that one is likely to go through different challenges that might leave them stressed and depressed at the same time. He says that in such circumstances, being prepared for periods of stress can make it easier to get through them, and that most importantly, knowing what you should do to keep off such moments is essential as far as your well-being is concerned. “From a psychological point of view, knowing how to manage our wellbeing can help us recover after stressful situations in our lives, and the ability to manage stress is what we refer to as resilience, the two go hand in hand,” he says. Building resilience Omer Mayobera, a peacebuilding and development practitioner with knowledge in psychology says to build our resilience, there are things we can try out to stay away from stress. He says that it’s paramount to understand factors that might also make it harder to be resilient, adding that our response to stress is not something that we can all easily control, it all depends on the individual. “There are some causes of stress that are beyond our control. And some ways of managing stress and building resilience are not always the same to everyone, and for this reason, it’s essential to seek guidance from an expert to help you on the best way to go,” he says. Although there are things that can be practiced that can help or make it easier to get through stressful situations, it doesn’t mean that all your stress in life will disappear. Emmanuela Mahoro, a Kigali-based psychologist says one of the common remedies of managing stress and building resilience is simply taking care of your wellbeing. This, she says, can help one feel more able to manage stress, although different things will work for different people. “When we talk of taking care of our wellbeing, it’s also important to know that being kind to yourself is part of it. This can help with how you feel in different situations,” she says. She goes on to add that finding time to relax is also part of being kind to yourself as this can help with how you feel, including developing your confidence. Twizerimana says developing your interests and hobbies is also another remedy for managing stress and building resilience. For instance, he mentions that spending time on things you enjoy could help distract you from a stressful situation. From experience, Abewe says spending time in nature can help to reduce stress and improve wellbeing, and that for those who love nature, they can try out and see the benefits. Meanwhile, it is also recommended that one should look after their physical health, which includes getting enough sleep, staying physically active and eating a balanced diet.
