subject: Increase your stamina and energy throughout the day with these ideas [print this page] Increase your stamina and energy throughout the day with these ideas
If you have ever told your self "I'm so exhausted, all I want to do is sleep" then you need to read this article. Chances are that when you do lie down to sleep you are unable to.
After a night of tossing and turning you face another day of feeling you will never get everything that needs to be done and life is not enjoyable anymore. Research tells us that we cannot "make up" sleep so planning to spend all day Sunday in bed is not going to do the trick.
Exhaustion is quite different than being tired. Being tired at the end of a long day is a normal function of the body. Exhaustion is a state in which your body has been dumping adrenaline and cortisol into your system, depleting your mental and physical resources.
If you do not already know the difference between exhaustion and simply being tired, here it is in a nutshell.
Exhaustion feels like depression.
Tired feels like being ready to sleep.
Some people suspect that they are depressed when they are really just exhausted. In this case, it is as if all the color and texture have left your life. Typically the exhausted person is emotionally "red-lining", or chronically worn out.
A person who has had a busy day or series of days but is able to settle comfortably into sleep and wake up feeling refreshed is experiencing being tired.
Simple Steps to Stop Feeling Exhausted
Acknowledge that you feel overwhelmed
Be patient with yourself
Note, without judgment, the things in your life that cause you to feel overwhelmed
Replace one thing that causes you to feel overwhelmed with one thing that replenishes your energy
Note, again without judgment, how doing this one thing just for yourself makes you feel
Set aside 15 minutes a day to simply be
Create a simple mantra to repeat to yourself once or several times a day that affirms you in a positive way
It really does sound too simple to be true doesn't it? That is the point though; you have been allowing things and situations in your life to take on magnified proportions. It has gotten you to the point of exhaustion and now you must start the journey back.
You were meant to be a deep well full of emotional reserves but somehow it has gotten to the point that your well is close to empty. This is not emotionally healthy and so you feel exhausted instead of simply a normal tired.
Learning to replenish is learning to honor your own needs in order to keep that emotional well spring at optimal levels. Probably, if we were really honest with ourselves, we would acknowledge that part of our exhaustion is the fear of not being able to do for or be there for all the "others' in our lives.
Becoming more balanced, and less exhausted, is almost magical. By allowing for your own unique needs you will have more energy, less exhaustion and a more fulfilling life.
