Take care of your Energy

If you’re struggling with low energy, Āyurveda has some teachings that might help.

First, a question: is the amount of energy you have related to your current output? Are you putting out more energy than you actually have? Is this at the heart of your deficit? 

Most of us start to notice less real energy at mid-life, when our energy reserves, called Ojas in Āyurveda, begin to wane. It’s at this point that we can no longer outspend our real energy without suffering the consequences. Those might look like,

Feeling tired during the day

Brain fog/Lack of clarity

Depression

Lack of enthusiasm

Emotional Burn out

Lack of sex drive

When I was learning about Ojas in Āyurveda school, I read that the #1 cause of our low vitality is a stressed and worried mind. 

We westerners tend to go after diet and exercise pretty well,  but we don’t always attend to the state of our minds and emotions. All that fretting and worry wears us down. 

So before we add anything, the first step may be, in the words of Dr. Claudia Welch, DOM, the medicine of subtraction: making space—

Even freeing up one hour a week, from an activity you’re not really into anymore, can feel truly life changing. 

And if there’s  something in your life that elicits feelings like “I hate this,”it’s imperative to get on a path of moving away from that thing as soon as you can. Sometimes, circumstances are such that we must stay with something longer than we’d like—but, even so, we can get on a path of slowly disconnecting, so at the very least, we can look ahead and know this bad situation has a time limit on it. 

Some things that build/restore Ojas:

1. A calm mind

2. Regular sleep at night, ideally before 10pm, for at least 7 hours

3. Regular exercise, not too much, but enough

4. Regular periods of deep relaxation during the day (cat naps, yoga nidrā) of 24 minutes or less

5. Regular periods of meditation

6. Regular time outdoors (unplugged)

7. Touch

8. Loving Sex (too frequent ejaculation will deplete Ojas)

9. Freshly prepared seasonal produce

10. Loving what you’re up to in life

Some things that deplete Ojas

1. Fear, worry, anxiety, rumination

2. Lack of meaningful rest

3. Insufficient sleep

4. Doing things you “hate.” 

5. Too much sun, heat, intensity

6. Isolation

7. Insufficient touch

8. Poor quality food

Other physical and emotional causes of low energy include:

Monthly bleed, Low grade infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, low thyroid hormone, tired adrenal glands, post partum time, recovery from a long illness, healing an injury, chronic or acute emotional stress, grief.

All of these will be helped along by the Ojas enhancing activities listed here. And if those are insufficient, some herbal medicine to support the tissues. And in some cases, pharmaceutical medicine can be part of the solution. 

I hope this helps.

XO,

Shannon