Rooted Rising: A Creative’s Guide to Cultivating Inner Strength

Inner strength isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you build. Brick by brick. Breath by breath. Especially as a creative, your ability to return to yourself in the midst of uncertainty, doubt or adversity becomes a quiet superpower. One that sustains you through setbacks and softens you in the face of your own vulnerability.

Also known as resilience, inner strength is the ability to bounce back—not because life is easy or fair, but because you have cultivated the internal capacity to meet it with steadiness, clarity and compassion.

What Is Inner Strength?

At its core, inner strength is the belief that you are in charge of your own response. It holds the conviction that you are capable of change—on your terms. It isn’t about control or perfection. It’s about agency. Presence. Resourcefulness.

Not everyone has had the chance to develop the behaviours, skills or attitudes that support this capacity. But the good news is that it can be learned—and lived.

The Five Human Resources of Resilience

According to strategist and coach Tony Robbins, there are five intrinsic resources that support our ability to bounce back from adversity. Think of these as foundational pillars that can be cultivated over time:

Adaptive Emotional Skills: mindfulness, resilience, empathy
Positive Emotions: love, self-compassion, gratitude
Optimistic Outlook: confidence, openness, determination
Engaged Manner: relaxed, humorous, responsible
Warm Personality: generous, hardworking, wise

These traits aren’t fixed. They’re flexible. Each one can be deepened through awareness, intention and practice. If this resonates with you, I recommend exploring Resilient by Rick Hanson for further insight.

The RISE Framework: A Four-Step Guide

To help you embody these qualities more fully, I offer a somatic practice framework called RISE—a four-step process that supports you in navigating difficult experiences with acceptance and compassion.

R – Reflect: Determine What the Situation Means

When something painful happens, it’s easy to be swept away by the emotional current. Reflection allows you to pause and digest. What meaning can you draw from what’s happened? Sometimes clarity arrives slowly. Other times it speaks through memory or sensation.

Personal example: During an intensely stressful time, I lost my hair. It was a deeply vulnerable experience. And yet, it taught me to reconnect with my body, to honour my limits and to cultivate the compassion I had so often reserved only for others. Meaning doesn’t always arrive wrapped in ease—but it arrives.

I – Invite Growth: See Your Hardship as an Opportunity

Muscles grow under pressure, and so do we. While stress is rarely welcomed, it can offer something transformative when approached with care.

Ask yourself: What is this experience asking me to learn or do differently?
Can you reframe this moment as a chance to build new muscles—like discernment, courage or flexibility?

S – Shift Focus: Choose What You Can Control

Focusing on what’s out of your hands can leave you depleted and paralysed. Resilience means gently returning your attention to what is within your power—your breath, your beliefs, your next small action.

By doing so, you protect your mental health, lessen emotional overwhelm and reaffirm your agency.

E – Envision: Visualise a Supportive Outcome

When emotions run high, the body tightens and the mind narrows. Take a moment to visualise the outcome you wish to create. This practice can calm your nervous system and reconnect you with possibility.

Why not start your day with a brief visioning practice? It can ground you for the hours ahead, especially when life feels unpredictable.

Cultivating Inner Strength in Daily Life

Inner strength grows through consistency and compassion. Here are supportive practices to accompany the RISE framework:

Morning rituals (even brief ones)
Gentle cold water exposure
Prioritising rest, nourishment and sleep
Conscious breathwork during stress
Daily self-compassion check-ins

And remember: your beliefs shape your experience. If you believe you can respond with strength, you likely will. If you believe you are incapable or at the mercy of others, that too can become your reality. The shift begins with choosing a new story.

In Closing

To live from your inner strength is not to avoid hardship. It is to meet life with more grace and less fear. It is to understand that your emotional response matters. That self-compassion is not weakness. That your resilience is built not in a moment—but in many moments, returned to again and again.

You are not behind. You are right on time.

Let each breath, each pause, each act of self-kindness be another thread in the strong, soft tapestry of your becoming.

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