Are you too tired to exercise, play with the kids, go out on Friday night?
Is the constant fatigue taking the joy out of your life? You are not alone. Fatigue or lack of energy is the #1 complaint heard in doctors’ offices.
So what is the answer? Drink more coffee, go hard core with Red Bull and crazy energy drinks, consume mass quantities of sugar, convince your boss to allow nap time, quit watching the news?
Those may give you some temporary relief but they are not going to solve the problem. The only real solution is to determine the cause of the fatigue. Many areas of our life impact our energy levels.
The quantity and quality of sleep; frequency and duration of exercise, when and what you are eating, posture and alignment, chronic discomfort and pain, frequency of negative thoughts, chemical toxicity; all contribute to you being tired.
Let’s focus on one of the causes: Poor sleep.
When was the last time you slept for 8 uninterrupted hours? Over 70 million Americans suffer from sleep deprivation and you may be one of them. If you go to most doctors they will prescribe a sleeping pill. Again this is just covering up the symptom. These drugs are not the answer and cause a host of side effects: drowsiness, headaches, dizziness and a 35% increase in cancer rates.
Here are some practical suggestions for healthy deep sleep.
- Go to bed and get up the same time everyday
- Turn off technology: TV, computer, games and cell phone (all of these are stimulating and actually put your brain into a state of fight or flight)
- Avoid stimulating conversations or arguments
- Lower the light level one hour before bedtime (this increases melatonin)
- Make the room dark, quiet (earplugs if necessary) and cool (68 degrees is ideal)
- Drink a cup of chamomile tea
Constantly treating the symptom may help for a short time but to experience real and lasting change, we must determine and correct the cause. If the oil light were on in your car, would you turn it off for a quick easy fix or would you find out the cause and fix it? You can get a new car but you can’t get a new body.
To help you identify the cause or causes of your fatigue, take our energy quiz and feel great again!
