5 Tips for Increasing, Managing, and Conserving Your Energy
By Anita Boser, LMP, CHP
The price at the pump isn’t the most prominent energy crisis for someone with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. It’s running out of gas before the end of the day or, worse yet, waking up without enough steam to get out of bed. This article offers five ideas for improving your stamina, including breath, food, exercise, imagery, and rest.
It may seem that more energy—a recharge of fuel cells or addition of more get-up-and-go—is the solution. However, Robin Rothenberg, a therapeutic yoga teacher and author of theEssential Low Back Program, notes that lack of energy isn’t the primary issue in fatigue. Misappropriation of energy is the real problem, and proper pacing is the solution.
Breath
Conscious breath control can invigorate or calm. Rothenberg recommends the following breathing exercise to diminish fatigue.
- Take several breaths and notice the count of your inhale and exhale.
- Deepen the exhale with the intent to let go of any nonproductive, habitual patterns.
- Without any strain, let your exhale increase so that it is a couple of counts longer than when you began.
- Next, focus on the inhale. Divide your inhale in two parts, then continue with a deep, smooth exhale. For example, if your inhale count was four, take an inhale of two counts, pause for a count, then inhale for another two counts and release into a six-count exhale.
- Take up to ten breaths this way. If your breath becomes labored, discontinue the exercise and return to your normal breathing pattern.
Food
While oxygen is the primary ingredient for metabolism, food also plays a vital role. Studies have not linked certain foods with fibromyalgia, but it makes sense to avoid substances that play havoc with the internal energy system, like caffeine and refined sugar. A personal assessment from a nutritionist or dietician can give you a diet tailored for your own energy needs and potential food sensitivities.
Exercise
Exercise can boost energy or deplete it. The key is to pace yourself and find the “just right” amount. Choose an activity that gives you the flexibility to modify the duration and intensity so you can stop before your power surge turns into a meltdown. If you take a class, you need an instructor who observes personal limitations. Also, don’t scorn gentle exercise.
Staying active, even at a moderate level, is better than nothing or creating a flare with too much. Keep moving with variety such as regular walks, therapeutic yoga, dancing, tai chi, undulations, or warm water exercise.
Imagery
Words and pictures inside our heads powerfully affect our mood and energy level. Images that are too peaceful (sleeping in a hammock) or too intense (finishing the entire to-do list like a Tasmanian devil) create an energetic rollercoaster that usually ends on the couch. Instead, use sustainable images that create an even flow. Here’s a combination of my favorites fromDynamic Alignment Through Imagery by Eric Franklin.
Visualize warm water shooting up the insides of your arches and legs with the water returning in a flow down the outside, from hips to feet. Feel the spray; hear the gurgle of a geyser. Also, imagine your spine to be a water spout as your head floats effortless on top. Let the flow of water carry you effortlessly throughout your day.
Create your own visualizations, and add other sensations to increase their effectiveness.
Rest
Just because you are not working at a job, cleaning the house, or running errands, that doesn’t means that you are resting. You probably are planning, worrying, pondering, or wishing you were doing something all the time. When fatigued, the best action is to rest—unadulterated, quality rest. Here’s a non-activity that’s sure to boost your reserves.
Lie on your back on the floor with your legs raised on a chair or sofa so that your hips and knees are bent at 90 degree angles. Put a towel under your lower calves so your heels do not press into the chair and let your arms relax in any comfortable position. Repeat to yourself, “It is time to relax now. There’s nothing else to do now, but rest.”
Five to twenty minutes in this position will recharge your batteries between activities or release tension when you can’t sleep. You can also add breathing or visualizations to this rest position. For example, think of absorbing the strength of the earth through your back or letting your worries flow out on your breath with each long exhale.
In a situation of limited supply, rationing and conserving are more important than ever. Alternative energy sources such as regulating your breath, eating wisely, exercising judiciously, using potent images, and resting throughout the day can get you out of a crisis and into a sustainable pattern.
For more information about how to increase energy with simple movements, visitwww.undulationexercise.com. Anita Boser, LMP, CHP is the author of Undulation Exercises and Relieve Stiffness and Feel Young Again with Undulation. Her private practice is in Washington where she helps her clients regain fluidity, alignment and vitality with a combination of bodywork, awareness dialogue and movement education.
