How To Overcome Physical Fatigue

Very few people are aware that illnesses and ailments are really just our bodies way of using metaphor's to communicate with us. In this instance, when you are trying to overcome physical fatigue, it's your bodies way of telling you that you are pushing too far ahead without the necessary preparations to get you where you're going. Some common terms you'll hear coming from your mouth and the crossing the lips of other fatiguers, would be:

"I'm beat..."

"I'm tired..."

"I'm exhausted..."

"I'm overrun..." "I can't go on..."

"I'm drunk with fatigue..." "I'm out of fuel..."

"I've got nothing left..." "I'm spent..." "I'm worn out..."

These may seem like simple sayings, but they hold much more meaning then we often give them credit for, and often, the answer to your problems is buried in the metaphors we use to describe the problem. Interestingly enough, if you look up the definitions to "overcome" and "fatigue" and you combined them, what you will find is:

Overcome Fatigue - Definition:

1. To get over an inability to function at normal levels.

2. A struggle against a lack of strength.

Now that you know this, tell me something... How in the world can you fight when you have no strength? How is that you can just 'overcome' an inability to function? If you can't function, and you have no strength, then there is no fight, or rather, there is only a losing battle. That's the metaphor of fatigue. The goal isn't to try and struggle over the problem or to get around it. The key is to stop what you are doing, because by continuing to struggle you only make your situation worse, and you're body already feels like it's locked in quick sand, doesn't it?

So stop what you are doing, and follow these simple steps to giving your body exactly what it needs.

I know it might seem backwards, though honestly, the next best way to beat fatigue, is to add more regular exercise to your daily rituals. If you don't exercise at all, add in 30 minutes of daily exercise. If you do exercise regularly, add an hour or so to your regular routine. This will build up your overall endurance, and will have the added bonus of helping you stay more alert throughout the rest of the day.

Seriously, the most common cause of fatigue, is a lack of proper hydration. Water is your bodies highest priority. Without adequate levels of water in your system, you can't digest anything properly, which means that you'll never really feel full and you'll never really get enough energy from what you eat or drink - until you are properly hydrated.

Remember:

• 8 oz per day MINIMUM - 2 Gallons per day is better
• If you're thirsty, you're dehydrated! Which doesn't mean you should grab a juice, soda, energy drink or coffee. Get water!

Turn off the alarm clock, ignore your "to do" list, and just sleep. Sleep like you've never slept before. If you have kinds or other responsibilities, plan some time for them with relatives or friends. One night isn't enough, but it's better then nothing!

What you're body really needs, is to have some serious sleep. Not just beauty or maintenance sleep, but truly deep sleep. The kind of sleep you can only have when you know you don't have anything to worry about and there isn't anything you really have to do. Make sure you do this at least once a month, not just for your body, but for your sanity.

I know it's tempting to throw on a movie or your usual television channel, to watch while you fall asleep. I grew up that way myself, and never realized anything was wrong with that until came across some information that changed my sleeping habits.

What I learned first, I learned through marketing. Did you know that television and radio commercials are played at 440hz? That's a sound wave that is specifically designed to trigger your fight or flight response. Advertisers do that, so that they can really capture your attention as they try to sell things to you. The problem with this, is that when your body is purposely exposed to that sort of stress multiple times a day, it starts to create a pattern of anxiety in your life, even when you're no where near a tv or radio. To compound on that problem, when you're awake, you are much more able to shrug off those 440hz, whereas when you're sleeping, you have no such control.

Did you know that people who sleep with the tv or radio on (including movies and commercial free entertainment), also:

• Are more prone to passive-aggressive behavior patterns
• Are more prone to heart attacks and strokes
• Are more likely to develop TMJ
• Are prone to panic attacks
• Grind their teeth (Bruxism)
• Don't reach REM Sleep
• Have lowered libido's

Seriously, turn on the television, click the radio off and get some REAL sleep!

Outlets are really no better either. They mess with out natural electromagnetic energy, by leeching it away from you. Then during times when the power has little flare ups that wouldn't normally be noticed, it sends your body little electromagnetic shocks throughout the night. If you run any sort of controlled heating, air conditioning or timed devices, this happens even more often.

I used to have this major problem of carrying my cell phone EVERY WHERE. I was so attached to my cell, that I slept with it near my pillow. It's charger had it's own little home at the nearest outlet around my bed. The sad reality never hit me until reports started to come out, clearly explaining the harmful effects of small ionizing radiation over time.

On top of that, sleeping with electronics in or near your bed, shows a level of anxiety in you (even if you've never noticed it until now), that is leading you to need to feel connected to those digital devices and is part of your fatigue problem.

So if you sleep with devices near you, stop it! Put them in the living room to charge. The world won't fall apart, trust me.

It's way to often that we combat stress by sleeping. It seems like a logical step, and it can be, if your stress is just physical. Though when you go to bed with mental or spiritual stresses (and often combined with physical stress), you take that stress with you into your dreams where you're body, mind and spirit continue to tackle the trouble.

This wouldn't be as necessary if you learned some sustainable ways to relieve your stress from the day, before you go to bed. Some skills you might want to develop to help you achieve this are:

• Yoga
• Reading
• Meditation
• Martial Arts
• Visualization
• Focus Breathing