How many of us get so eager to try something new that we just jump feet first, full speed ahead only to get burnt out quickly?
Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash
Most of us probably automatically go to a new workout regimen or diet plan. However, I find that, overwhelmingly, human nature is to do this really in any new endeavor we encounter. We live in such an instant gratification society and results is one thing that we want to be instant, but rarely ever is.
Recently, my boyfriend and I began taking vitamins based on our Ayurvedic Doshas. We began by finding out what our Prakriti (the natural state that we are born with) and then determined our individual Vikriti (the state in which we are currently, a very nature vs nurture ‘argument’). This is his very first time taking any herbal supplements, but for myself, it will be the first time I, hopefully, take vitamins successfully. The reason I bring this up is that our experiment is to not only see if the new herbs are working and helping us along our paths to health and wellness but to also learn to train ourselves to not fall into the cycle most people do. Full speed ahead, then stop.
How many times have you heard of a new supplement, vitamin, herb and think to yourself, “that could really help me with ___”? Oftentimes, as a society that is constantly bombarded with marketing and media, we are inundated with information but not always whole truths about a product. We think, “Oh, great, B12 will give me energy!” But very rarely are we encouraged to seek the root of the problem. Most times, with a change of behavior, we can alter things without seeking herbs or medicine. Need energy? How much sleep are you getting? What are you eating? No, we want to take a pill or an herb to help “cure” the symptom, but really we are just putting a band-aide on it. However, we are doing the best we can with the information we are fed.
If we really stopped and listened to our bodies, we would find that the symptoms we look to suppress are our body’s way of communicating when it’s happy or not, and by listening to its language of symptoms we begin to gain a better picture of what we need as individuals to keep our bodies & minds in homeostasis.
So, we head to the store and pick up an herb to solve a problem. Get home and take the maximum daily dose, every day for a week or two. Then, because we either see no change…probably because of the poor quality of which we bought…or we start to feel strange, but not the desired outcome, we burn out and stop taking them altogether.
One school of thought and I believe this is most on par with human nature, is to go full speed ahead in every action that we take. In everything we enjoy, every hobby we explore and habit we take on, we go all in, then we tend to taper off to find harmony and a balance.
Maybe I am just talking about me, though. But, so often I see people doing this. We fail to realize that human nature is to behave this way, but human DESIRE is to be successful. We all want to be the best version of ourselves. Being driven by the need for immediate results, we lose track of the journey and changes our bodies are making by SLIGHT alterations to our behavior. I feel as long as we celebrate these small alterations, and give ourselves and our bodies & minds credit for the small wins, only then are we able to successfully add larger scale routines.