How To Manage Your Energy
Confession: I’m a bit of an “overdoer.” When it comes to my aspirations for a day, a weekend, a trip, or a season, I have spent most of my life cramming in more than most people would attempt to. I love to-do lists and I love checking stuff off of them even more! Only in my late thirties - as I became a mom and realized my body was crashing with the sheer focus on output - did I realize there had to be a better way.
First and foremost, I had to start by changing my relationship with “doing.” From a young age, I have never been all that content with simply being still. What’s worse, our culture does a double whammy on women, pressuring us to both hustle on the career front, while absolutely nailing every domestic duty under the sun. I am a work in progress, but am working on being much kinder to myself, setting lower expectations (or gasp, no expectations), and counting rest and relaxation as a form of success. As the saying goes, we are not human doings, we are human beings. This is a daily mantra for me.
While we work on our mental game there are also many ways we can support ourselves better on the physical level. Much of what we consume (here’s looking at you, quad shot latte) and how we go about our days and prepare ourselves for sleep are overlooked cues and triggers to worth getting much more acquainted with.
Getting to Know Your Daily Cycles
Have you ever woken up in the morning and felt like your body jolted out of bed without the need for an alarm or coffee? That’s your natural cortisol helping to get you up and at it for the day! Cortisol is one of many magical hormones that helps give you that natural energy boost to wake up. It’s also the hormone that your body pumps out during stressful moments (think fight or flight), and often overworked by our modern lives.
In a healthy, relaxed state, our natural cortisol would spike around eight o’clock in the morning and taper off through the day with its lowest point at three o’clock in the morning while you are deeply sleeping. When working properly, it should feel like a slow release energy shot just after waking up and you should have no trouble falling asleep. But when we’re chronically stressed, the body releases cortisol at all hours, which can ultimately lead to adrenal exhaustion. (And since cortisol effects the performance of other key hormones, like estrogen, testosterone, and thyroid - it’s worth keeping an eye on and speaking with your healthcare provider).
Clues to watch for:
Hard to fall asleep
Waking early hours of the morning (3-5am)
Tired and fatigued, even after a decent amount of sleep
Consistent energy crashes, especially in late morning or mid afternoon
Cognitive issues or “brain fog”
Burst of energy in the evenings (especially around 8-9pm)
Unusual cravings for salty and sweet foods
Insomnia
Frequent urination
Poor circulation (especially feet and hands)
Unwinding the Energy Spiral:
Ditch the Caffeine: Don’t @ me. I get it. I love coffee too. But most of us have become so addicted to caffeine that we can’t imagine a morning without it. (It’s also hard on your liver - learn more in my pretox post here). I know it’s hard to imagine for most, but the morning ritual truly is just that. The smell, the sound, the act of making and drinking coffee is almost as potent to our psyche as the caffeine itself. Try decaf or a new tea ritual (I love decaf green and herbals) and create a new morning moment of joy that puts life back into your body. Baby steps...every bit helps.
Cut the Stress: Ha! Every time my doctor says this I want to scream. For most of us, cutting things out starts to feel like just one more thing on the to-do list. I’d say, try to start somewhere. Ask for help. Lower your personal expectations and standards. Put on noise cancelling headphones. Take a bath. Breath. Whatever works for you, find little ways to do less, be less upset, and generally cut out the drama. And while we’re at it, let’s chill on the doom scrolling.
Go To Bed Earlier: Did you know your deepest, most restorative sleep will happen before midnight? If you aren’t asleep by 10pm, you are missing the best chance at restorative mental and hormone cleanup cycles for your body. Our entire nation is in the midst of a sleep crisis. One of the best things you can do is go to bed consistently by 9:30pm. Mom said.
Prepare for Sleep: Just like morning rituals, preparing our bodies for rest is incredibly helpful and restorative in its own way. I like to change into pajamas just after dinner, read with my kids, watch a relaxing tv show (not murder shows!), drink Yogi Bedtime tea and start to wind down. As little blue light as possible helps too - you can either go screen free or get some blocking glasses. PRO TIP: When you start to feel drowsy, go with it. Fighting it to do one more thing before bed can spike your cortisol again and create a problem falling asleep.
Exercise in the Morning: This is incredibly effective, especially if you are in a really challenging phase with your adrenals. Your body is meant to have ONE cortisol spike per day. Any high intensity exercise (such as running, HIIT, aerobics, weight lifting, or cycling) is going to cause a second spike that will trip up your natural rhythms. Low impact movement, such as walking or slow yoga, are fantastic choices at night. Do your best to work with the natural energy curves of the day and schedule your intense workouts for the morning hours. I have personally found that skipping high intensity workouts for a few weeks is the only way to get through a flareup quickly. I know that is a huge turnoff to some, but honestly feeling like crap and pushing your body (for what?) is not doing you any sort of favors long term. Please give yourself a break when your body is crying out for it.
Supplement with Adaptogens: Many find temporary support, especially during a flareup, from adaptogens and Ayurvedic medicines such as ginseng, rhodiola and ashwagandha. (Fun fact: These are very trendy ingredients in caffeine and alcohol replacement drinks these days!). When I’m in a huge flareup and energy slump, Eleuthero has been incredibly helpful. It is said to support increase DHEA and lower cortisol. It is important to know that your body will only respond to adaptogens for short durations (a month, for example) and that these are not meant to be long-term fixes. Check with your doctor before taking as many can interact with other medicines.
Ditch the Booze: Just like our morning addictions to caffeine, many of us are reliant on alcohol to relax or fall asleep. Zillions of studies show that alcohol in fact makes our sleep worse. It’s a viscous cycle that starts all over again when you wake up the next day.
While I know this list can feel daunting, I have found that unwinding the pieces together can make a huge difference. Try exercising upon wakeup and skipping or cutting back on your coffee. Then notice when you don’t need that glass of wine to go to sleep because you are naturally tired! These pieces work together and we fall into synch with nature.
Lastly, for those that need to hear it, it is high time to show yourself love. More than pleasing others. More than keeping up with norms. More than being cool. Saying no to frequent late nights out is a form of self love. Cutting back on coffee and alcohol is a form of self love. Saying goodnight to your partner before they are tired, not having the dishes done before bed, protecting your heart from taking on too many worries is a form of self love. You are worthy.
We have the gift of this one precious life. Let’s lean into our natural energy to enjoy as much as we can.
I would love to hear how you are feeling and what you are learning as you experiment!
