In today's society there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done that we want; and quite often we find ourselves lacking energy and longing for our beds. Our lives seem anything but simple. True fatigue is not just feeling tired and overworked, it effects us physically (weak muscles, slow reflexes, dizzy) and mentally (trouble making decisions, moodiness, lack of motivation) making it difficult for us to want to get things done.
Chinese medicine, fatigue can arise when the body's energy flow becomes imbalanced. Strengthening the organs and systems in the body which are week and need to be restored and supported will help. The energy that fuels your body comes from the food we eat and the air we breathe. If one or both of these processes isn't working properly you may be low on energy.
Some tips to help increase your energy levels:
Change your Diet. Diet plays a key role in how we feel. Try limiting processed, sugar filled foods, alcohol and trans fats. The Chinese have an old saying “Eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king and dinner like a beggar”. They believed that breakfast should be the biggest and most nutritious meal to set us up for the day ahead. Lunch should be filling enough to fuel our afternoon and dinner should be our smallest meal, since we are winding down from our day and our bodies don't need as much energy. At night our bodies shift its focus from digestion to cleaning, repairing and regenerating our internal organs and cells.
Try acupuncture. Acupuncture helps the organ systems to build and cultivate qi (energy), it also directly affects the movement of qi and blood in the body, therefore moving stagnant energy and getting things to move more freely to feed our body its movements and its functions.
Get plenty of sleep. It is important that the body has sleep in order to repair and regenerate. Try eliminating TV and laptops at least 1 hour before going to bed. Get into a nightly ritual of winding down by practicing breathing exercises, stretching, meditation or a warm bath at least an hour before bed to prepare our mind and bodies for sleep.
Try moving. A great way to start your day is to either take a walk or do some stretching, there's no better way to wake up the body than to get the blood and energy moving through movement. Think of your body like your car, warm it up before you use it.
Try treating the source of your fatigue. We can all grab an extra cup of coffee or an energy drink but that is just a quick fix or band aid, it doesn't address the root of the problem so you'll more than likely continue to feel fatigued.
Thi
s was published in MyKawartha Nov 13,2018
https://www.mykawartha.com/opinion-story/9030378-natural-ways-to-fight-fatigue/
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