Can Thyroid and Peating fix poor environemnt?
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Reading Peats articles he often talks about living a stimulating life, pursuing novel experiences and avoiding stresses like monotone routine as having a direct effect on our intelligence and health through stimulating the thyroid. This creates strong momentum where healthy thyroid -> Energy to find enjoyment in little things -> healthier thyroid, and the cycle just increase health.
. My question is would simply supplementing thyroid or optimizing it through diet make up for the lack of stimulating life. obviously this is sorta un-natural and ideally you would try to lead as exciting a life as possible, but if that is currently not possible for whatever particular reason, could supplementing work? Could you turn a sterile, drab, and unexciting environment into something with more vigor and virility?I would love any input as to your own thoughts and experiences.
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I think the most important things are lifestyle, mindset, nutrition, and supplements in that order. Good nutrition and supplementation can help you compensate and adapt to stresses in life, but ultimately taking action and trying to maintain a positive mindset are the only things that can really fix problems in my experience. Good nutrition and supplements are definitely great supports to lean on while you fix stuff, though.
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I don’t think it would make up or compensate for a less stimulating life but what diet and supplements might do if you do them right is give you the energy and perspective needed to change your environment.
I think that a stimulating environment will come if you seek it out and hopefully if you’re doing things right it shouldn’t interfere much with your nutrition. Things like taking up hobbies and clubs could be a start, going walks, travelling etc.
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@PrinceTrebata unless you are very wealthy I don’t think it’s fully possible to live a life without at least some normal routine. Especially if you have obligations like a family. I think fixing metabolism can in a way make an environment less stressful because you have the energy to engage with it. With that said I think it’s possible also to engage in meaningful things and novel experiences even when bound to a more routine work life. Look for opportunities to do fun and exciting things. I somewhat disagree with the Peat philosophy of constantly needing novel experiences. I think what would be more beneficial would be a return to true leisure as understood by the Greeks, Romans and even societies during the Middle Ages. Where work is not anything else than a means to an end and leisure is prioritized to allow man to think and create culture. When I say leisure I don’t just mean base entertainment to even recreation so much as an ability to just be passive and take in life around you. Instead of this world we live in of “total work” which even our leisure or time off becomes for the sake of work. I think a bioenergetic life will lend itself to proper leisure and vice versa. Stressful total work of today creates a cycle in which we are too exhausted to engage in meaningful leisure so we instead engage in mindless entertainment to attempt to recover so we can continue to engage in work.
Sorry for the disjointed response. I’ve been working this out in my head for days. Once I get it more sorted I might write a thread about it
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@Lothric This is a great response and I would love to read a full thread on it.
I agree with your initial paragraphs that fixing metabolism gives you the energy to engage with your environment thereby improving it by making it less stressful and even better, mold it to fit you. I made this thread because I've been Peating for quite some time and had seen great changes, despite being in a sertoninic/stressful environment. Peating allowed me to enjoy even some of the stressful situations which created a positive feedback loop and increased my metabolism. This was amplified greatly when I took thyroid, where things i used to dislike or dread became enjoyable and therefore stimulating. This I think has for now created a life where as you say leads to meaningful/proper leisure despite still being in a poor environment lacking higher forms of leisure such as good art, meaningful conversation, nature and architecture that is beautiful etc.
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@Lothric Good post! After first encountering Peat's work 10 years ago, I tried to write (for myself) what an ideally designed work environment might look like, "optimized" in some sense to minimize chronic stressors or maximize opportunities to confront "peak challenge" with creativity and then "productively" adapt (hormesis). It eventually occurred to me that perhaps my question wasn't the right one, because, like you said, it assumed objective was more efficient/productive work output (using Peat-inspired principles to "work-max" or "productivity-max"). Finding experiences that provide opportunities for "wonder" is another important Peat-inspired piece of this, acknowledging how challenging it may be to find wonder in many work situations.
I don't think Peaty productivity-maxing is a bad question. Some forms of productivity (facing up to a challenge and getting things done) are good self-care and can be fulfilling in deeper ways, consistent with bioenergetic principles. The deeper consideration of leisure and self-development @Lothric mentioned is on-point: not treating leisure as recharge to make work more productive but as an end in itself (deeper structuring of one's self, including yet exceeding the domain of work).
My conclusion? Peat-inspired principles to improve work productivity can be a valuable/valid/healing/bioenergetic objective. @Lothric's point is deeper and worthwhile to consider if one can afford to. Given the high-stress work environments and socially/aesthetically-depleted environments many of us find ourselves in, a few clever Peat-inspired inventions to manage stress and increase energy can be a godsend and even more than enough to adapt and "thrive in place" (metabolically speaking, assuming some tough and unwanted constraints). If one can afford to allocate more and more energy/resources on self development beyond work, that would be a privilege and could be a life-changing opportunity toward self-possession and fulfilment on the deepest levels. Meantime, a few Peat-inspired changes in perspective/behavior/diet/activity can make a massively positive difference even when constrained to "staying stuck" in an environment one wishes they could change but can't. Cope? Maybe. Worthwhile/life-saving/meaningful although imperfect? Yes.
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Ofcourse. Raymond Peat is king.
