We’ve all heard that resilience is important but what about prosilience?
This is a term that takes resilience a step further by focusing on building your capacity before life throws a curveball. It’s about preparing yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically so that when things do get hard (because they will), you have the tools and energy to handle it.
In this week’s conversation on the To Your Health podcast, I sat down with Jenn Fredericks, a resilience practitioner and resilience coach who’s lived through more than most—from two kidney transplants to caring for her daughter through a life-threatening diagnosis. Her insights on how to proactively build strength and emotional capacity were eye-opening and incredibly helpful.
What is Prosilience?
Prosilience is about more than bouncing back—it’s about stretching forward. It’s the practice of developing the internal skills and supports you need before adversity strikes so you’re not left scrambling when it does.
Jenn breaks it down into four core building blocks:
1. Self-Regulation (Calming Yourself)
When you’re in crisis mode, your survival brain takes over. Self-regulation is the practice of bringing yourself back to a grounded, calmer state so you can respond intentionally. One simple and powerful tool Jenn recommends? Box breathing. It’s not flashy, but it works—and it’s always available to you.
2. Choosing Your Strategy
When faced with a challenge, you’ve got options:
Reframe the situation by shifting how you view it
Change the situation, if possible
Accept and adapt to what’s outside your control
Jenn’s lived experience taught her that we don’t always have control over our circumstances—but we can control our response.
3. Engaging Your Resilience Muscles
There are seven “resilience muscles” we all have:
Positivity, confidence, priorities, creativity, connection, structure, and experimenting.
Some come more naturally than others, but all can be strengthened. Jenn helps clients identify which muscles are strong, which ones drain energy, and how to build a personal action plan to increase emotional stamina.
4. Managing Your Energy
Resilience takes energy—and when you’re depleted, it’s harder to access your coping tools. Jenn encourages people to look at four types of energy (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) and identify where the leaks are. Then, focus on small, daily actions to restore that energy, whether it’s dancing in your kitchen or texting a friend just to say hi.
Start Small, Start Today
You don’t have to overhaul your life to become more prosilient. Even one deep breath, one moment of self-awareness, one shift in how you respond can make a difference.
As Jenn puts it, “Why work so hard to heal if you’re not going to enjoy the life you’re working so hard to live?”
📌 Listen to the full episode here:
Jenn Fredericks
Jenn has overcome immense adversity and emerged as a beacon of resilience and hope for others. Her experience as a chronic kidney disease patient spanning three decades including two kidney transplants and as a caregiver for her daughter with a life-threatening diagnosis speaks volumes about her strength, determination, and compassion.
As a Personal Resilience Practitioner and Prosilience Coach, she guides her clients towards a new perspective on life. Her approach of cultivating self-awareness while honoring the struggles and triumphs in life builds a foundation to create renewed vitality, inner calm, and joy in life.
The specific focus on patients with life-threatening, chronic illness and their caregivers highlights her deep understanding of the demanding, unique challenges faced by these individuals.
By empowering them to build proactive resilience, she enables them to move from uncertainty, fear and depletion to experiencing more ease and joy in life, fostering a greater sense of well-being.
prosiliencecoach.com
Free guide: https://bit.ly/cantselfcare
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jennfredericks
