A YOGI CHA BLOG

This is how you know that your compensatory strategies aren’t working

We have become very good at problem solving.

Like the saying goes “there are no problems, only solutions”.

So when we needed to be active even though it was time to sleep, we found the solution of electricity and when we needed to get from point A to point B faster, we found a faster transportation.

We didn’t take under consideration that maybe the “obstacle” was necessary for the natural balance of things. Obviously, if we would travel at our natural speed, like by foot, there would be no such thing as jet lag.

If you are a coffee drinker, you might have experienced different effects of the caffeine on you. There’s the “kick” we get that rushes the dopamine in and makes us feel alert and clear and motivated. It’s the state most people seek when “in the need of a cup of java” but we also experience the state where it doesn’t do the trick. Or just gives the side effect of the shakes, anxiousness and/or nausea. That would be an example of a compensatory strategy that didn’t work.

We have the same with alcohol of course. The state we seek when wanting a drink is the relaxed state, euphoric and carefree. We don’t even have to look at the times when that doesn’t happen (the feeling sick, the angry, sad jealous states…) because even what it does, there will always be the downhill in the morning that truly tells us “you didn’t really think this through, did you?”.

It goes for trying to be good enough by over achieving, trying to not feel lonely by being with someone else for the sake of not being alone and so on.

What I want to make you see, is that when you are trying to push for something that isn’t natural, you will receive the side effects. And this is why most people have hormonal issues.

The unfairness in it is that the hormonal imbalances are not your fault because even when you really try, the compensatory strategies of consumerism gives you side effects. Like the chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and whatnot that they put in tap water, crop and inject the poor animals with. All in the name of compensation for going against nature.

But there is a reason we hear over and over that to feel good we need to eat simple foods, we need to sleep well, exercise and stress less. And that is actually because if we would be going hand in hand with what is natural, we are pretty strong and good at staying in balance.

So why would it help to do all those things, exercise, relax etc? Because it regulates the nervous system. And when our nervous system is strong and stable, the rest takes care of itself pretty much. No need for strategies to problem solve.

Yeah, when you are really lacking in rest and you try to compensate with caffeine but it gives you the jitters instead it’s because you actually can’t fake it til you make it. At some point your body will tell you that “it won’t cut it” to work around it.

So even though (I know!) it feels quite frustrating to hear that there is no quick fix to hormonal imbalances but it needs to be taken care of with a longterm vision, it is also a pretty empowering message. Because you are not doomed to live with it and you don’t have to take some pill or pay trips to the doctor for the rest of your life to come back to a natural, full potential, radiant self.

It’s hard to let go of the strategies because we feel like it’s them keeping the whole structure up. But it’s a very unstable scaffolding. With the participants in my 8 week program, I ask them in the first week to note down two things : what they wish to achieve during the time we are together and also what compensatory strategies they have. Often, when you look at the two lists, you can see a conflict of interest. So I’m asking you: are you ready to invest in your own wellbeing in a sustainable way?

If you are, you might be interested in getting on the wait list for the next round of the program.

In that case, you can begin with reading more on it here and then sign up for the wait list here.