How do we feel more energy?
It is pretty much a guarantee that at least someone will comment ‘I wish I had your energy’ or similar if I am out & about, walking, running or cycling etc... The fact is I might be running 20 trail miles having been up since 5am, cleaned the house, done some yoga, batch cooked some chilli & done some work admin whilst entertaining a toddler & 2 spaniels. Yet here I am, full of beans (chilli & energy ones), feeling energised. I am not super human, I don’t have a magic potion, in fact, I am reluctant to lean into anything that can be ‘bought’ to help support feeling energised. The simple truth of the matter is I feel like we are approaching ‘energy’ backwards
We are waiting to feel like we have enough energy, but what if the doing is what generates the energy?
We all know that lethargic fatigue that clouds us after some time inside or on a computer. But we also know that getting up & moving can often pull us out of a funk, so how can we start to change how we ‘find the energy’?
I often find myself saying not to wait for motivation because life is always full of whatever you are busy doing, so waiting till you feel motivated can often leave you distracted by everything else that’s already a life priority, leaving you feeling deflated & without the change you hoped would come from motivation coming knocking
So instead I talk about consistency. Find ways of focussing on being realistic about:
When
What
How
When are you going to do this? You do not need to get up at 5am, sip lemon water & meditate for an hour, then yoga. You might, it might become your thing, but don’t put these changes on unrealistic pedestals that we can’t recognise as being part of our lives right now. Accept if you are a morning or an evening person, accept what are your non-negotiable parts of your routine & look at ways that you can make sustainable changes, e.g. start with 5 minutes. 5 minutes yoga, star jumps, walking… whatever it is, start with 5 minutes & if you feel great, carry on, if you don’t have time, you’ll still have raised your heart rate, connected to your breath, moved your body & tapped into some of those wonderful endorphins
What are you going to do? Peel away the layers of what we have been told to do, all & any movement is good movement, let go of being careful with a bad back, or not being flexible enough for yoga, build gradually, start with that 5 minutes & trust in the process. Our bodies are designed to move & with time, you will get there. Focus on what you enjoy, or what you want to bring you joy, be it a run in the forest, a walk at sunrise or simply dancing in the kitchen - your sense of energy will come with tapping into these accessible movements
How are you going to find the time, the energy, the commitment? As I said, start at 5 minutes, take time to decide what you what your routine to look like. Trust that not overthinking it when you feel like you have no energy, know that having no energy from sitting at a desk all day is a different type of no energy from running a marathon - that lack of energy you feel can be changed:
Make life easier for yourself by setting up an environment that helps it be realistic and sustainable, choosing your favourite workout clothes (or accepting that you don’t always have to wear workout clothes - less barriers/excuses to not the better!
Try something new - be it bouldering, aerial yoga, paddleboarding, get maybe the newness be your motivation & often the framework to want to do more around this will fall into place, e.g. you want to feel stronger to paddle so you stop & do 5 minutes yoga each day, double win win for your movement that day & future days
Commit with a friend, if you find exercising with someone helps motivate you, but equally, show up for you even if they don’t
So energy… the curious beast that waxes & wanes, that is there, available to us in abundance, we just need to take time to learn a little more about how to tap into it for ourselves. I haven’t delved into sleep, nutrition & mental wellbeing in this post as we will discuss more in other blog posts, but these are equally as important as movement for our energy levels
I hope you found this blog helpful!
Love Katie x