Physical Rejuvenation

Once you look at what is draining your energy, see how you can build your energy back up. It’s not unlike a boat with a hole in the bottom. Once you fix the hole (stop the energy drain), you can bail out the boat (get your energy levels up).

There are really 4 areas of life. The vast majority of life falls into these four categories. They are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Each of these can be an energy drain, and each of these can be an energy provider.

Physical
Do you get enough sleep? I don’t, but the reason I stay up the extra half hour is worth it to me emotionally and mentally. The reason I get up early is so that I can do what I want to do before my morning commute. I could possibly get another hour of sleep, if I didn’t exercise, eat breakfast, take care of my pets, or shower. Each of those things feeds me in some way, and I do not want to give them up for an extra bit of sleep – at least not most days. There are times that sleep becomes more important, at which point I choose what to eliminate or delay for that morning. Do you get enough sleep? Is what you’re staying up for worth the drain on your energy? Is what’s getting you up early worth the drain on your energy? If it’s a scheduled appointment or a regular meeting (even those with friends), can you reschedule it for a more convenient time? If you just can’t sleep at that time, can you shift the other end of your sleep to compensate? For example, if you just can’t get to bed before midnight, is there a way to adjust when you get up so that you get enough sleep?

There are other things that can affect your sleep. Even if you get eight hours worth of it, you may still not get quality sleep. Are there noises that bother you? Do you get up in the middle of the night? Does the morning sun keep waking you up earlier and earlier every spring? These things can be changed. Eliminate or deaden the noise or learn how to sleep wearing ear plugs. If you get up in the middle of the night, why? Is it to go to the bathroom? If so, stop drinking water or anything else at a set amount of time before you go to bed. If you need water to take pills or other medicine, of course do so, but cut down on the other times you drink. For me, that time is about an hour and a half. And of course, cut down on the caffeine in any form. It may be that you have a high tolerance for caffeine and thus it doesn’t affect you as much as most people, but even with a high tolerance, it can still affect your sleep without you realizing it. Also, you know or can observe after a time what kinds of foods affect your sleep. If you always have stomach problems that wake you up every time you eat a philly cheese steak, then don’t eat one for dinner. If you must have one, eat one for lunch so that it has time to digest more before you go to sleep. If the morning sun is waking you up, can you get curtains? Blinds? A folding screen to put in front of the window? A painting you can hang over the window? One person I know taped butcher paper over her windows to dull the light. You need your sleep. Take care of yourself.

What about what you eat? We’ve already talked about drinking and eating before bed, but what about overall? Alcohol is a depressant. It makes people seem funny because it depresses their inhibitions. Other people, it doesn’t bother with the inhibitions and goes straight to depressing them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t solve any problems, it just makes you forget about them for a while. The problems and the pain are still there when you sober up. Your energy would be better spent fixing those problems than delaying the pain. Find out what works for you, and alter what you do until it gives you the most energy. Eating nutritious food is important, too. We all know this. Sometimes, though, the nutrition-free snack just calls to us, especially when we’re depressed, bored, angry, etc. And like with alcohol, the problem is still there when we get off our sugar high or are done eating. They say that you should eat a certain amount of raw vegetables, with the skin on and uncut. Well, that’s very nice for them. I say, even if you can’t do it perfectly, you can do it better. If you don’t eat any fruit right now and you’re not about to start eating a whole apple at a sitting, then get some canned fruit in syrup. If that’s what it takes to get you to eat fruit at this time, then that’s what you should do. In time, change to light syrup, then perhaps to merely cut and skinned fruit, then onwards (maybe) in time to uncut fruit with the skin on. Or not. But if you eat fruit rather than something with no nutritional value – even fruit that has less nutrition than it’s raw counterpart – you’re eating something a little healthier. The same goes for other things. If you want to drink skim milk but are currently drinking whole, don’t jump immediately to skim. Change to 2%, then 1%, then go to skim, changing each time only after you’ve gotten used to the new milk. A friend of mine changed from regular soda to diet soda by going first to a glass of half of each to get himself used to the taste over time. You can do the same thing with whole-wheat bread, if you’re currently eating white. Change to wheat, first. Wheat bread isn’t much more nutritious than white, but it’s a change in taste. After you’ve gotten used to the taste, it’s not as large of a leap to whole-wheat, which is a lot more nutritious than white. You need to eat and drink things that give you energy – not temporary energy like sugar and caffeine, but real energy like complex carbohydrates and vitamins.

In addition to sleeping and eating, there are other things that can affect your physical energy level. Your body needs some exercise, though not too close to going to sleep. Even if you just get up and walk down the hall or stretch, if it’s more than before, then it’s a little bit better. You need to take care of yourself when you’re sick. If you can go to a doctor and need to, then do so. If you can’t go to a doctor, get a good book or a wise friend and find out what you can do to take care of yourself. Adjust your diet, get plenty of water, go easy on the physical activity if that’s what you need. Good hygiene will help with your physical health, as will keeping a clean environment.

Take care of yourself physically so that you can have enough energy to do what you need to birth the Future you want and deserve.