It’s Not Lack of Discipline — It’s Depletion | Why Caregivers Struggle with Self-Care
- Jean-Francois Alleno
- Nov 10
- 4 min read
It’s not a lack of discipline — it’s depletion.
If you’ve ever started a new self-care routine only to drop it after a few days, this video is for you.
Caregivers often think they just need more willpower… but the truth is, your energy tank is already empty.
Ayurveda shows us that before discipline comes rebuilding capacity.
In today’s video, you’ll learn:
🌿 Why self-care feels impossible when you’re running on empty
🌿 How Ayurveda helps rebuild your Ojas — your natural vitality and resilience
🌿 Simple ways to bring self-care back into your busy, caregiving reality
Stay until the end — I share one grounding Ayurvedic practice you can start today to bring calm back into your day.
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Caregivers, tell me if that sounds familiar. You promise yourself this week I'm gonna take care of myself. And you start strong. You maybe meditate once, you eat a warm meal, and maybe you go for a walk. Short walk but still go for a walk. And then life happens. A crisis, a phone call, an appointment, and suddenly your self-care disappears.
You start thinking, I'm not just disciplined enough. But here's the truth. It's not a lack of discipline. It's actually depletion. So in today's video, we're going to explore why self-care is so hard to maintain. So first, I'll share with you that it's not about discipline, but it's more about depletion and how your system is empty. And then we'll talk about how Ayurveda helps you with
build your capacity instead of forcing willpower. And finally, I'll show you a few examples or a few ways to bring self-care back into your reality, even when your schedule feels chaotic.
Stay until the end because
I will share with you one Ayurvedic grounding practice that you can start today. Hi, I'm Jean-Francois. I'm a registered nurse, an Ayurvedic health counselor, a yoga teacher, and a Vedic astrologer. My job, helping caregivers of aging parents protect their well-being and stay grounded so they can continue taking care of their parents without losing them.
in the process. On this channel I share practical holistic and Ayurvedic tool to rebuild your energy, balance your nervous system and bring steadiness into your chaotic life.
If that resonates with you, please subscribe and like the video. So more caregivers will be able to find this advice as well.
So let's talk about what's really going on when self care doesn't stick.
All right, so let's focus on why self-care feels so hard for caregivers. Okay, so let's be honest. Caregivers live in a constant alert mode. What does that mean? Well, you are often the first one to wake up in the morning and likely the last one to go to rest at night.
your nervous system doesn't really get a real break. It's always scanning and thinking, okay, is mom doing okay? Did dad take his medications today? And what if something's happening tonight? So when you try to start taking care of yourself from a place of depletion,
It's like trying to run a marathon without any preparation or even without any energy to do so. So you don't really need more motivation. What you need is actually recovery or restoration. Ayurveda calls that low OJAS. OJAS is that natural resilience and
vitality that you have, and when that well of energy is low, everything feels harder. Discipline, focus, patience or even digestion.
So if you can't stick with self-care, it's not because you are weak, it's likely because your body is asking for restorations before starting new routines.
Let's talk about self-care that fit your crazy reality, right? Many caregivers think if I don't have 30 minutes to take care of myself, well, it's not really worth doing it. Actually, Ayurveda says the opposite. A drop of oil every day is better than a bucket.
once in a while. What does that mean? It means that instead of chasing perfect routines, you can create micro moments of self-care that fit your real life. This small moment will build rhythm and rhythm routine calms the nervous system more than intensity
And that's still Ayurveda in action. In Ayurveda, there is that beautiful concept of Ojas. We talked about it. Again, it's that vital essence that gives us strength and passion and compassion. When Ojas is low, you feel reactive, anxious, or even foggy.
When OJAS is strong, you feel calm, steady and resilient. So instead of saying, I need more discipline, ask yourself, what can I do today to rebuild my OJAS?
So let's recap what we talked about today. First, you are not undisciplined, you are likely depleted. Second, real self-care starts by restoring capacity and it's not about pushing harder.
Small, consistent steps will rebuild, OJAS the essence that keeps you grounded. So start one simple thing today. A cup of warm water, three deep breaths before rushing to the next things, or simply...
taking the time to just sit and watch your environment. Alright, if you like the idea, you can go and see. If you like more grounded techniques like this, feel free to download my free guide called 3 Grounded Techniques to Protect Your Energy. You can download it in the notes below directly.
And if you are ready to explore how Ayurveda can help you feel more grounded and less overwhelmed, book a free discovery call or book an assessment with me.
I'd love to meet you and see you, to see how we can support your caregiving journey. All right, thank you for watching the video. And remember that caring for others begins with caring for yourself. Ciao.
