Fatigue is a key symptom that tells a mind body practitioner about the state of their client. Fatigue on waking after sleep is quite different to fatigue in the afternoon or after activity. We will explain why below.
Some people sleep well but wake feeling tired. Once they get out of bed and moving around they then start to feel a bit better. This type of tiredness comes from stagnation – being in some way stuck or stagnant in life.
The most important type of stagnation comes from someone restraining or constraining the expression of themself. For example they may feel that they need their job and, in order to keep their job they need to behave as the boss expects or the organisation expects. As a result they don’t express how they feel or they don’t express who they truly are at work. This type of restraint is very fatiguing.
Another example is that someone may act differently around different people in order for them to like them. This chameleon behaviour will be stressful because again the person is not being true to themselves.
Another way of understanding this type of energy drain is to imagine how you would feel if every second of the coming day has been assigned to you doing things that you don’t want to do. How energetic would you feel waking in the morning? Then imagine how you would feel if you woke up on a day when you will be spending a whole day just doing what you feel like doing.
So when working on this type of fatigue in mind body medicine we need to address what is motivating the client to constrain themselves. Often they will feel like something external to them is constraining them – ie money, relationships, family. However, when they look closer they will find that there is some internal need (closeness, connection, value, acceptance, care or love) that they are seeking to meet externally. To get this externally then they constrain their behaviour in order have people (hopefully) give them what they want.
Of course this never really works because internal needs can only be met internally. For example, I may seek to connect with others by giving of myself. However because I then focus on others I am not really connected with myself. Since I am not connected with myself I can’t really feel connected to others. So what I am seeking – connection – can never really come if I seek it externally.
In the most famous Chinese philosophy text (Tao Te Ching) it is said that ‘if you chase after others approval you will forever be their prisoner’. This is a beautiful description of this type of constraint led fatigue.
So what does fatigue in the afternoon mean? It means that you are not producing enough energy to meet the needs of your day. In effect it points to your energy production as being insufficient for your needs. Energy production is primarily a function of your digestion. If you have poor digestion then you will lack the energy reserves to get through the day.
So what drives this type of fatigue? Digestion can be poor because your diet is poor – particularly if it is full of processed foods and sugar. Digestion can be poor also because you are overthinking and stressed. When we are stressed the nervous system tones down the digestive system: e.g. less digestive enzymes are produced. Long term stress can lead to long term digestive dysfunction and low energy.
So a mind body practitioner working on this type of fatigue will seek to build up the body’s vitality (through diet) while at the same time trying to determine what is behind the stress that is impeding the digestive system’s behaviour.
