Fatigue

Making progress on our spiritual journey involves many factors, often out of our control. Indeed, even the idea that we have control is a barrier. (laughs)

Please note that there is nothing wrong. There is no blame here. Just suggestions to make it better.

As we are consciousness and the world is formed in consciousness, our ability to experience that clearly depends on our mirror or vehicle, our mind, emotions, and physiology. I’ve talked here before about our beliefs and illusions and about clearing the emotional field. I’ve also touched on healing the body.

In this article, I’d like to talk about fatigue. Fatigue is a marker that the body needs rest, similar to hunger. It’s affect on our experience is cloudiness or fog. Thus, taking the rest that is being called for is key to our clarity.

What triggers fatigue, over and above our daily requirements for rest and repair is stress. Stress can be emotional, physical or mental or due simply to lack of quality sleep.

Stress is stored in the physiology and the subtle energy body as knots in the flow. Basically as manifestations of resistance. An excess of stored stress becomes reflected in disease. The disease itself points to the stress we’ve been holding.

Mental and emotional stress is resolved in dream state, physical stress is resolved in sleep when the mind is off. Thus when we are in a state of deep rest in meditation, we may find dreamlike thoughts or states arise, and sleep. Sleep triggered by meditation is often very deep, helping resolve our backlog. This is why they suggest not paying attention to the subjective experience of a given meditation. It’s all good.

Fatigue can arise due to current conditions but also due to opportunity – when the body sees a chance to rest, it will take the opportunity for healing and fatigue may result. Clarity can thus bring up fatigue. (laughs)

As you move down the path, you may also notice increasing wakefulness, even in sleep. Lucid dreams, awake during sleep. This does not mean poorer sleep, although it may be disruptive at first. It means sleeping with a much greater degree of restfulness. And that may of course trigger more fatigue, as above. (laughs)

There are practical things we can do to reduce the collection of stress that produces fatigue.

Most obviously of course is to reduce things that cause us stress. Some stress is useful. But stress is often more about how we’re responding to circumstances than the circumstances themselves. So they can be a signpost that our relationship with ourselves or the stressors is off. A marker for something that needs a little inquiry.

Sometimes, we need to make real changes. Or our stressors can be due to avoidance behaviors as we are unwilling to see what is that is giving us grief. Again, a little mindfulness and inquiry can help you get to the bottom of it.

Health issues can cause ongoing stress. While western medicine is very good with issues like disease and broken bones, it is often not very effective with chronic or systemic issues. Ayurveda is much better for that.

Routine can be very helpful for the body. A regular sleep time can work wonders. The invention of the light bulb and the TV have been detrimental to rest. Of course, there are influences that prevent a good routine, like some young children. And it’s always struck me as odd that nurses, doctors, and police officers are all expected to live with constant shift changes. Some people adapt to this better than others.

When and what we eat also has an impact on how effectively the body functions. The body has a natural intelligence to tell us what and how much to eat. But only if we pay attention and don’t throw it off with addictive substances. If you don’t function well in the morning until you have a stimulant like coffee, thats a bad sign. Sugar is also a great one for creating craving. Low quality carbs, such as those in processed foods, also become sugar. This is very clear if you ever try fasting. If you eat poorly, the first couple of days bring you lots of craving until the body resets.

Food manufacturers have learned that addictive substances generate sales and sugar is so prevalent in food that people expect the taste. As one observer noted, the more you stay out of the aisles in your supermarket, the better your diet. Interestingly, when you start to reduce some of these substances, other foods start tasting better and we need less in condiments. We choose foods for taste rather than craving. We may even choose sugar to help process that purification. It’s all good, in moderation.

Don’t make this a new list of what’s wrong or ‘shoulds’ to stress you out. That’s just ego talking. Just take it step by step. Pay attention to how things make you feel, then tune it to make you feel better. Make that a habit. Then see what else.

Don’t expect perfection. This is just about making the road more pleasant. But it also has some nice side effects, like being healthier, happier, and clearer. Opening the inner door to love. And fixing rising health care system costs.

We’re working to treat the environment better. Don’t forget to do the same thing for yourself.
Davidya

Last Updated on April 8, 2014 by