Module 1 — Your Current Adaptive Pattern
We often describe ourselves as "stressed" or "exhausted," but these experiences can reflect very different patterns of adaptation. Discover how your body and mind are currently responding to life's demands.
Photo by Steve Adams on Unsplash
Think of your organism as a boat.
Before wondering whether it needs repairs, maintenance or any upgrades, you would first want to know how it is actually cruising, at the moment.
- Is it sailing smoothly and adjusting easily as the wind changes?
- Is it straining forwards, even when it could or should slow down?
- Is it making progress, but only because the crew are constantly bailing water, making repairs and sacrificing sleep to keep it going?
- Or is it barely able to stay afloat or make headway at all?
Module 1 is simply about understanding how the boat is cruising at the moment.
How is the boat cruising?
If you slept badly last Thursday, your brain may now be surprisingly confident that you have a sleep problem. Last Thursday has filed a very persuasive witness statement.
Don’t let one dramatic Thursday become captain of the boat.
For the questions below, think about how you’ve been functioning most of the time over the past 3 weeks. Choose the response that best reflects your usual waters, rather than an unusually calm or stormy day.
Privacy: Your responses are used only to generate your results and are automatically deleted after submission. An email address is optional if you would like to receive a copy of your results.
Knowing how your system is functioning is only the first layer of the map.
A boat may be sailing beautifully while still carrying worn sails or hidden damage below the waterline. Likewise, your current adaptive pattern tells you how your system is functioning today, but not necessarily what wear and tear may have developed over time.
Module 2 explores your current state, helping you recognise broader patterns of imbalance and areas of vulnerability.
Understanding your current adaptive pattern
Two people may report similar levels of fatigue, yet one may feel constantly “switched on”, restless and unable to relax, while the other feels flat, disconnected and struggles to find the energy to engage with everyday life. Likewise, someone may appear to be functioning well, yet only because they are relying on increasing determination or stimulants to keep going.
Understanding how your body and mind are currently adapting is often more informative than focusing on a single symptom such as tiredness.
This first module looked at four different dimensions:
- Activation – What “gear” your system is currently operating in.
- Compensation – How much does it cost you to operate in that gear. Note that we are surprisingly good at getting used to things. “I can do it” doesn’t necessarily mean “it doesn’t cost me much to do it.”
- Energy levels – How much reserve you currently have available.
- Recovery – How effectively rest restores your energy reserves.
A small warning about these labels: none of them is an award.
“Activated” is not the gold medal, and “Regulated” does not mean you’ve achieved enlightenment. They are simply descriptions of how your system appears to be functioning at this point in time
Regulated
Your system is generally able to switch gears as appropriate. You can engage when needed, recover afterwards, and maintain your resources over time.
Activated
Finding neutral is the problem. And the off-switch appears to have gone missing.
You remain capable and productive, but slowing down may be increasingly difficult.
Compensating
The boat is still moving, but the crew are doing a suspicious amount of manual labour.
You continue to function, but only through sustained effort.
Overwhelmed
Your capacity to adapt appears substantially reduced.
The aim is to restore the conditions that allow recovery and sustainable functioning.
A few important nuances
These four adaptive patterns are not diagnoses, personality types or fixed categories. They are simply broad patterns that describe how your organism may be functioning at this point in time.
Unlike some stage-based models, these patterns are not intended to represent a fixed sequence. People may move between them, experience elements of several at once, or revisit them as their circumstances change. The aim here is simply to identify the pattern that appears most dominant at present, rather than trying to assign you to one berth.
This is also one reason why this module forms part of a broader map. Understanding how your system is currently functioning is an important first step, but it is only one layer of your map.
If you know someone who is still insisting the boat is absolutely fine, while frantically bailing water, you can send them this post.
How was this assessment developed?
This assessment combines concepts from several complementary perspectives, including Ayurveda, stress and adaptation physiology, and burnout research.
Rather than aiming to diagnose disease, it seeks to identify broad patterns of adaptation and imbalance that may help make sense of your current experience.
If you’d like to understand how the assessment works, or the readings and resources that informed its design, you can read the introduction below.
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