“Energy is eternal delight.” William Blake (1757 – 1827)
Fatigue is not necessarily a bad thing. It indicates it’s time to rest…but the trick is knowing what to ease off doing to have a rest: active physical things?, concentrating for long periods? or worrying or stressing for long periods? Lack of energy can be physical, mental or emotional.
Physical, mental and emotional energy levels are affected by diet, exercise and sleep and stress levels. In a feedback loop diet/ exercise/ sleep can all be negatively affected by fatigue. To complicate matters in trying to sort out why you feel tired, physical, mental and emotional energy do not necessarily rise and fall in tandem.
It is important to try to work out why you might feel tired because the right action will depend upon why you are fatigued. Have you been doing extra physical activities over those you would normally do? In that case, you are probably physically spent and need to physically rest to let the body recover and build. After lots of physical work often one feels “tired but happy” and the emotions are peaceful and the mind pleasantly soft. The practice for you then is a quiet, stretchy, restful one. Sleep will probably come very easily to a tired body.
Are you tired because you have been concentrating all day…studying or working out your taxes, sitting in one position? Are you tired because you have been stressed for a few days or longer, feeling sad or cross with yourself or someone else? These examples might wear you down, make you feel physically tired and your resistance to activity mistaken for physical fatigue. In these two situations a physical practice might lift the heavy load and increase energy levels. The practice from Week 5 includes lots of arms overhead, big breathing, working big muscles in movement and quite a few back bends. These are all energy builders. An added advantage to a more physical practice is that it will give you a better chance of a good sleep. If the mind and spirits are exhausted, but the body has done little, the mind will keep you up all night!
Remember that there are huge natural differences in energy levels between individuals. The aim is to optimise and manage your energy levels. It is important if fatigue has become a problem for you to see a doctor to have any chronic physical causes ruled out such as anaemia or thyroid function.