 Recently I’ve been noticing how feeling tired or drained doesn’t always relate to how much sleep I’ve had. There can be days where I’ve slept in and gotten at least 9 hours sleep consistently to ensure that I’m paying off my sleep debt, as I like to call it, and I can still feel tired and low energy, as if I’ve had only 6 hours sleep. So what’s going on? Is there more to tiredness than just our physical needs?
Although I know that feeling tired is influenced by more than how well we’ve been taking care of our physical body, I often forget that psychological and emotional factors can completely outweigh the physical. I find it fascinating that feeling stressed about getting everything done and worried that everything won’t get done in time, really can make us feel really tired. It’s like a protest from our bodies about the state of our lives. The other day I noticed my drained, low energy and decided to sit mindfully for a while to see if that made any difference – I didn’t have time for a nap and I often can’t manage them anyway. So I sat mindfully for 30 minutes and afterwards I noticed a significant increase my energy levels. It’s pretty incredible that sitting mindfully, doing nothing fancy other than paying attention to our self and surrounds in a non-judging way, can really transform how we feel. So next time you notice you’re feeling tired and drained, maybe sitting mindfully somewhere quiet for a while could really help ease this feeling, making your day that much more enjoyable. Posted by Selina Clare.
2 Comments
Susan Apathy
3/12/2014 11:39:31 am
I really liked your analysis of how tiredness doesn't directly relate to how much sleep we get. I remember a long time ago discovering how I felt so much better after my regular yoga class, and in recent times how even fifteen minutes of quiet time, a sort of inefficient meditation, still can make a huge difference, an if I do it for several days in a row, even just once a day for that short amount of time, it really smooths me out. The temptation of course is always to something else to relax, like eat something have a glass of wine, or watch an uninspiring TV programme. My question is, why do these counterproductive responses come more easily than the responses that actually work better. Would love your insight on this. 7/4/2025 11:47:18 pm
Adolescent trauma residential treatment centers specialize in helping teens recover from traumatic experiences, such as abuse, neglect, loss, or violence. These programs provide 24/7 care in a nurturing, therapeutic setting with trauma-informed clinicians. Treatment often includes evidence-based modalities like EMDR, DBT, and CBT, with a strong focus on emotional regulation, safety, and rebuilding trust and self-worth. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorsMichael Apathy and Selina Clare are practitioners of psychotherapy at Lucid who are excited about fresh, innovative, and effective therapy for individual and environmental change. Categories
All
Archives
December 2016
|
RSS Feed