Five Mental Health and Resilience Tips for Lifestyle Expats

We discussed the growth mindset and its evil twin sister, “homeostasis”. I have tried a couple of the challenges myself, and one of the best experiences was asking a stranger on the train who spoke neither English nor German to watch my things while I was going to the bathroom. It’s always an awkward moment when I am solo-travelling, but I have started to enjoy the quick exchange of weird smiles that usually follows. This man was a bit confused, but I think he got it when I came back. 

You probably heard me tell you before that I don’t consider myself an “Expat” and you also might not identify with the term itself. I have lived in the same home for more than ten years now and feel so settled in Switzerland that I am currently awaiting my Swiss citizenship. Still, there are a few issues when you do not live in your home country that earn you the title “lifestyle expat”. 

During the pandemic, I became an “accidental expat” because, for a while, the borders between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany were closed. Then, for a long time, it was just too dangerous to travel and potentially bring the virus to my elder family members. My family was fortunate during these times. 

However, I will not forget that it took a virus to close the borders, and we might be exposed to border closures during any national or international issue in the future. You decided to go on this adventure, but you might not always cherish it when you are in the middle of it. You might find many aspects of the global nomad lifestyle satisfying. You could still feel stressed, exhausted, OR lonely when you have a serious health issue or when a relative suddenly passes away, and you are not sure if you can make it home in time for the funeral.

You might have overworked yourself, taken too little time for yourself, or your loved ones. Maybe you feel the exhaustion of lengthy political discussions, annoying cancellations of DEI policies, or a back-to-work initiative that suddenly rattles your well-thought-out family card house. You might need to repatriate, find a new role, or maybe your children are acting up because they are in puberty. 

Remember January? You were probably more optimistic about your personal transformation than you are today (or, like me, you wondered if all your work was worth it, given that a few old-white men can bring us down with a five-minute decision). Go back to your goals and intentions now (I hope you wrote them down.). We are all experiencing varying levels of emotional and mental turmoil this year.

There is no solution to the root causes of that anxiety, but we can maintain our mental health like we do our physical health.  When you consider your growth mindset, please remember to focus on your circle of control and influence, and leave the circle of concern to others (or God/ Allah/ the Almighty beings / the universe)

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/sustainable-approach-to-growth-in-2025/

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/body-learning-for-beginners/

1 – Take a Breathing Pause

Take some slow breaths, inhaling through your nose and slowly exhaling through your mouth. Slow breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress because it signals your brain to relax your body. There are various breathing practices, such as Yoga and other forms. You can start right now by listening to your breathing for a few minutes without trying to control it. Taking pauses is one of the most essential teachings in our modern world, as we can hardly spend one minute without DOING anything.

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/five-safety-stops-for-expatriate-health-and-wellbeing/

2 – Improve your Health Routine

The emphasis here is on both Health and Routine. That means not using alcohol and drugs to deal with fear, anxiety, boredom, and social isolation. Instead, focus on establishing consistent sleeping patterns, maintaining personal hygiene, eating regularly and having healthy food, and improving time management, including exercise, work, and personal time.

Handout 040 Sleep Hygiene for Expats

3 – Practice Self-Care

We are human and thus not immune to doubt and anxiety. Don’t expect too much of yourself on more difficult days than others. Instead, accept that you may be more productive some days than others. One way to practice self-kindness is to reduce how much you watch, read, or listen to news that makes you feel anxious or distressed, especially news from your home country. Limit news to fixed times during the day and listen only to trusted sources. 

4 – Offer Support in Your Circle of Influence

If you can help yourself and have the capacity for it, helping others can be good for you, too. Offer support to people in your community who may need it. We have learned to be resilient, we have survived previous crises, and we have managed to turn our lives around in the oddest situations. But now, we are not so sure anymore. When will this end? And how will we live when we get out of it? Which part of the world still feels safe? Will our children ever be able to catch up on the school lessons they have missed? Like yeast to bake bread, we need energy and love to work and live with the people around us. We might think that we can just stay at home and send our avatars to work, but who would we then be? We need to get dressed in nice clothes, have a commute to work, and have a distance between “work” and “leisure.” Otherwise, we lose our fire and inspiration and lose touch with our inner creator. 

5 – Book a RockMeRetreat for Your Team

I miss running offline workshops, and what I love about this retreat is that we can be offline most of the time and connect with our inner creators again. We can work on our relationships with people who are important to us. We can build a community of people who help each other irrespective of their cultural or religious background, based on shared values and profound love for people. We can also dedicate time to a specific transformation or skill (such as writing). Let me know your needs and how many people are on your team. We will discuss time, content, and length together.

Video Interview: