Your body is constantly adapting to the way you move.

When one area isn't doing its share of the work, another area may step in to help. This is called compensation. 

The “Borrowing the Sugar” Effect 

Imagine your neighbor is baking a cake and suddenly realizes they're out of sugar. They ask if they can borrow some from you. You help them out. No problem.

But then they bake another cake. And another. Soon, they're running a baking business—and every time they need sugar, they come to you.

Eventually, you might say: “I'm happy to help when you need it, but if you're going to keep baking, you need to find another source of sugar.”

Your body can do something similar. When one area isn't moving or functioning as efficiently as it could, another area may step in to help. At first, this may simply be your body's way of getting the job done. But if that same workaround continues long after it was needed, the body may keep relying on it.

When Compensation Becomes Your Normal 

Think about some of your everyday habits… 

Maybe you always carry your bag on the same shoulder. You sit with the same leg crossed. You lean toward your computer. You look down at your phone. Or you tend to stand with more weight on one leg.

None of these movements may seem harmful on their own. But your body experiences them thousands of times.

Over time, a movement that once helped you compensate can become part of your normal movement pattern. You may notice that certain muscles always feel tight, one area seems to do more work, or discomfort keeps returning even after you address the painful spot.

That's why it can be helpful to look beyond where it hurts and ask: How am I moving?

The goal isn't to blame yourself for your habits. It's simply to become more aware of what your body has learned to do.

Helping Your Body Learn a New Way to Move 

The encouraging news is that your body is always learning.

If repetition helped create a movement pattern, intentional movement and greater awareness can help give your body a different experience.

You don't have to change everything overnight. Start by noticing the little things you do throughout the day. Pay attention to how you sit, stand, walk, reach, and carry things.

This is part of the work we do through Posture Therapy: helping you understand how your body moves as a whole rather than focusing only on the area that hurts.

Your body isn't working against you. It's adapting to what you repeatedly ask it to do.

And with the right input, patience, and consistency, your body can learn something different.

Serving Colorado  from our centrally located office in Westminster and seeing clients from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder, we can also help globally via WebCam such as Zoom or FaceTime.

Anu Lawrence owned Egoscue Method clinics for over a decade before moving to private practice in 2022 and is a certified master instructor in the Egoscue Method, having learned the craft from Pete Egoscue directly.