A YOGI CHA BLOG

How you are making yourself worse

“How do I know if I’m just leaning into one of my compensatory strategies for balancing my doshas?”

asked a participant in my online program. 

And I thought it was the best question ever because on the surface level it can absolutely look like something hard to dissect. Yet underneath, it truly is the complete opposite. And that’s what is killing you.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain what the two terms mean. A compensatory strategy is a behaviour we have taken on in order to improve our level of energy. This energy does not necessarily have to be high one : people who smoke a lot of weed often do so to keep their energy levels lower or grounded. Yet, smoking all that weed is a compensatory strategy. 

Then we have the very common and socially more accepted ones such as caffeine, fat and sugar. As stimulants, these substances are used to heighten the state of perceived energy levels. Note the italic word because it’s the important one in the phrase. 

When we balance our doshas, we are supporting our energy levels. What this looks like is noticing low energy through fatigue and implementing a nap in the mid-afternoon. It’s the heavy head and slight headache that are being dealt with by drinking a warm ginger tea and increasing the daily intake of water. 

The big difference between the two is how you see yourself. It’s the difference between “tough love” and compassion. It’s the difference between kicking someone who is already on the ground with the belief that it will motivate them to get up again and lending them a helping hand to come back up instead. 

The difference between the two is not accepting where you are at because you don’t want to be there and accepting it but not condoning. 

Not wanting to accept looks like instagram posts with “striving to be the best version of yourself” whereas accepting but not condoning looks like “one step at a time” mentality and celebrating the small signs of progress. 

Now that we have clarified one and the other, how come most of us can’t see the difference between the two in their own daily habits?

Because we have been conditioned to do and while believing that it’s the other. 

We have been told that there is one way to be and when we are that way, we will be happy. We will be successful and free. The end justifies the means. And this is because we come from a place of lack when we do it. I am not enough just the way I am so I better beat myself up a little bit more in order to feel motivated enough to make the changes necessary. 

When we speak about the generalised trauma we all carry, this is the result of it.

The first step on the way back to balance, to simply being healthy is to see that by not accepting what is right now, you are going in the wrong direction. It is really hard because there are so many things relying on you performing and being perfect that there seems to be no time to stop and breathe for a bit. But I can promise you that if you just keep going, at some point your body, your mind, your spirit will hand you the bill. Because, like they say “the body keeps the score”.

Since a lot of these strategies are supported by the society and the people we have in our lives, it can seem impossible to make changes. But changes are made this way : having a guideline to follow, implementing them progressively and being surrounded by like minded people. 

And this is why I created the online program. So that no matter where you are and what you have to keep doing in your day to day life, you can connect with me and other participants and finally make the changes you want, in a sustainable way.

If you wish to know more about it, simply check the landing page of the program or email me at [email protected]